| |
Previous issues | |
| BRIEFINGS | January, 2005 | The Yellow Rose B-25 Squadron Newsletter | Vol. 08-01 |
A younger Grant Lannon and friends several years ago.
Photo supplied by Grant Lannon
SUCCESS FOR THE YELLOW ROSE SQUADRON!
A farewell article from Grant Lannon
We had a successful year in 2004 and I have narrated individual events each month in the newsletter. We made almost all of our scheduled events this year, and that included the ones we salvaged from the crew grounding with substitute crews. We have increased the money in our account and have started on the new fund raising activity that promises to bring stable future income. Our responsibility on this plan is to provide what we promise to these sponsors. I have confidence that we will. I have seen near miracles because of the hard work of our members in getting the Rose to events, which with most units, would’ve been cancelled. The Ada appearance is one that comes to mind. In that case, the airplane was repaired, after a main gear actuator failure on the day of departure, in time to make the event. Many of our new members have joined the group of people who have made a major commitment of their time to make sure that the Rose keeps flying. We are very happy to have Dick Cole on the Rose team to help us gain more notice for the Rose and her mission.
It has been my pleasure to be the Squadron Leader for three years after Jim Liles became CENTEX Wing Leader. As Ron takes over, we must continue our search for more pilots who not only have a desire to fly the airplane but are willing to make the commitment of time and effort to make sure that the Rose keeps flying. That way we know that we can continue our unique marketing strategy for those who want our airplane at their events. That strategy is “first to arrive-provide maximum benefit-last to leave” which gives the sponsors the most for their money. As we continue that strategy for the upcoming “major donor” program, those people will also feel they received benefit for their money.
May you, and the Rose, have a happy and productive 2005.
-Grant-
MAINTENANCE MATTERS
(Maintenance really does matter!)
By Ron Dietes, Squadron Maintenance Officer
We have begun the “B” inspection and so far all looks good. All cylinders on both engines passed the compression check, so now we are beginning to remove the rocker covers from the left engine in preparation for checking all the rocker arms. We have had two bad rocker arms on that engine and so we want to check them now before we start the flying season. That also gives us the opportunity to replace any bad pushrod tube hoses that may be leaking again. We are also changing the oil on both engines. There has also been some discussion about the left engine carburetor.
The artificial horizon is back from the overhaul shop and has been installed. The loaner is being returned to them with our thanks. Otherwise we would have been grounded and not been able to fly the Fredericksburg trip. We are also thinking about having the cylinder head temperature gauge overhauled too. It seems to be erratic and now would be a good time to have it done. Both pilot’s seats have been removed so we can adjust the co-pilot brake cables. Howard seems to think they need to be adjusted again. I was thinking about asking Howard to do the adjusting since we have done it twice already and he still seems to think they are not right.
AeroTrader in California is still looking at our main gear actuator cylinder. They were going to test it this time prior to repairing it. Hope to know more soon.
The wings inspection access panels have been opened, the wings inspected and lubed and the access panels re-installed. We also have to re-rig the control lock cables as they are not correctly locking the control surfaces. This is a time consuming task once the access panels have been opened. We are also planning to replace the elevator control cables. While the cables are out we are also planning to replace the pulleys.
So once again, if you would like to get your hands dirty and help the Maintenance Guys and Gals, stop by the hangar on a Saturday. We could use the help and the Rose would really appreciate it.
Hope you had a really great Holiday.
NOTES FROM OPERATIONS
By Howard Martin, Squadron Operations Officer
Hope the New Year is finding all the Rose folks happy, healthy and full of enthusiasm for the New Year! How’s that for a cheerful and uplifting opening? Now here comes the cold dishwater. As far as I am personally concerned, 2004 is a year that will live in infamy. An otherwise totally awful year capped off by a medical emergency that occurred the day after Christmas and wiped out Holiday plans. Everything is fine now but I have become a believer in O’Leary’s corollary to Murphy’s Law. For the uninitiated, Murphy was both an engineer and philosopher who from years of observation formulated a set of laws governing the behavior of inanimate objects; the foremost of which is: “If there is anything that can go wrong, it will”. Subsets of the same theorem include: “Given two things that can go wrong, the one causing the most damage, will”, “A dropped tool will always fall to the most inaccessible location”, “A fuse designed to protect a sensitive circuit, won’t”. Well, you get the idea.
O’Leary, on the other hand was a research scientist, not satisfied with what he considered to be casual, undocumented observations on the part of Murphy. He undertook an exhaustive scientific investigation into the validity or lack thereof embodied in Murphy’s postulations. The recently published work of O’Leary concluded simply that Murphy was a wild-eyed optimist. In siding with O’Leary, I offer as further evidence that getting to know the local EMS and Emergency Room personnel on a first name basis, might be a clue that things are not exactly going your way.
In a previous dispatch I indicated that the total number of shows was down because of conflicting dates. We have had some influence on the scheduling of at least one military show and are working on another. Dyess, originally scheduled for the same date as San Marcos, is now June 25 where we have an open date. I had emailed the Dyess POC about two weeks ago that their date of May 21 would be problem since most of the local warbirds were committed to San Marcos and suggested the June date. Got an email this week letting me know that they had changed their date. We will be trying to schedule all our aircraft in to Dyess. Don’t know of another conflict that date. The same may happen with Sheppard. We have alerted them to the scarcity of warbirds that weekend (Little Rock, Houston). Not going to try to update the schedule now. Just be aware that it is a work in progress. The * dates are firm so plan around those. Meanwhile, stay tuned.
2004 FINANCIAL SUMMARY
By Judy McMillan, Squadron Finance OfficerOfficer
The beginning balance in the Yellow Rose Squadron checking account on January 1, 2004, was $43,800. The balance on December 31 was $28,000. The Squadron spent more money for some major repairs and bills than in most years. A new turret cost $5,000 and a new fuel tank took $6,900. However, $11,000 was moved to a new money market account. We paid out $65,100 (including the $11,000 to the new money market) and took in $49,400. The Aircraft Account was reduced by $13,000 when we paid aircraft insurance, repair costs and a $8000 back bill (items that we had not been billed for before) from AeroTrader out of the balance. The Squadron was able to handle the financial requirements that came up this year because we were in a reasonable position at the beginning of the year.
Facing us in 2005 will be increased insurance costs and probable increases in ANUAC (annual contribution to support Midland operations) based on the fact that the yearly statement has been delayed while the General Staff is having meetings to make changes in how the CAF operates. We can't let up in our recruitment of new members and our work to bring in income.
