Ultralight/Lightplane Safety Seminar
Article by Bill Mills
Safety? Safety? I Don’t Need no Stinkn’
Safety….
Ahh does that have a ring with you? Well not if you were one
of the 19 Fox Valley Flying Club members and guests who attended this year’s
24th Annual Ultralight/Lightplane Safety Seminar sponsored by the Illinois
Ultralight Advisory Council (IUAC), the Illinois Department of Transportation,
Division of Aeronautics, and the Federal Aviation Administration, Springfield
FSDO. This is an increase in participation by the club over last year. Way to
go.
Earlier in the week, when the turnout appeared to be dismal,
Rickey Anderson had this to say “I am saddened by the lack of interest in the
safety seminar this year. It serves three purposes to me. One, it keeps the
members focused on safety. Two, it serves to not only let the ultralight flying
community know that we are the largest UL Club in Illinois but we are safety
conscious and supportive of the ultralight activities in our region. And, last
but not least, it serves as a good contact forum for people in our sport, e.g.,
there are some people I only see at the safety seminar.” Well Rickey, while you
are healing from your broken leg, your fellow flyers came through. I had faith
in you all to support this important function.
For those who missed it, here is a recap.
Several groups assembled from around our area, Clow, Cushing,
Joe’s place, etc. and carpooled for the 3+ hour drive and converged on
Springfield around 8:30 am on Saturday morning After running through the free
registration, the next thing that was on everyone’s mind was food; so we all
secured our $5 lunch ticket and felt like we were all set for the day. Another
important activity at this seminar is getting a chance at winning some cool
stuff. Besides the ticket you got when you registered, everyone had a chance to
purchase additional door prize tickets and place them in containers to win
things such as an ICON A-25 radio. And we did have some winners in our group;
but sadly no one in our club took home the “BIG” prizes. I won a 20th
anniversary Challenger hat that I know Brian will try to swindle away from me… [Editor's
note: Nah; got one already!]
The big topic of discussion was …. you guessed it … Spot
Pilot. Now you can’t say we get too much of this yet, as the way I see it the
details of the interpretation of the rules are still being worked out. So we
learned how to get you ready to be a Sport Pilot (from getting a student pilot
certificate, be recommended to take the written exam and to take the Practical
tests) and how to get your plane ready to be a Sport Pilot plane (remember all
the Fat Ultralights will need to be either N-numbered, grounded or take the
cavalier attitude and continue to operate as you do today with the new threat of
being busted). The FAA guys were quite informative and “are there to
help”---Really….
An annual favorite for everyone is the segment put on by Phil
Lockwood. Phil showed us all the “issues” with winter storage of our bad
machines, from carbs and needles, to bearing wear and oil coolers for the 4
stroke bangers. Phil really knows his stuff. He even volunteered to test Kevin’s
Fly-Market special ingredient he got up at Oshkosh (by the way Phil confessed he
never heard of it). I say the buyer beware.
The day was wrapped up by 4:30 and we were on our way home
(not before stopping for a great meal and conversation at Friday’s in
Bolingbrook – well at least for some of us).
Bill Mills
Where To Now?
Safety? We DO Need That Steenkin' Safety!