by Darren Coomler
Welcome Chapter 1541 Members and Friends,

What a difference a month makes. Last month as I was writing this message the country was concentrating on the number of vaccines being distributed, now it seems the message is when businesses, schools and events will open. This is great news for our chapter’s future face to face meetings and events. As many of you know EAA AirVenture will be happening this year, and EAA national is encouraging chapters to start planning for normal meetings. As soon as the state and local restrictions are relaxed we will be ready to go.

Other news the chapter received recently was that we were awarded for the third year the opportunity to award the Ray Aviation Scholarship. The Ray Aviation Scholarship is a $10,000 scholarship grant to be applied to the recipient’s flight training. A special thanks to Shirl Whelan, Shirl has solely managed the grant request and disbursement of these scholarships for the past three years. Shirl’s efforts exemplify the mission of EAA and has and will change a young person’s life and possibilities. Thank you, Shirl, for your contributions to EAA’s Mission: To grow participation in aviation by promoting the “Spirit of Aviation.”

Another event that happened since last month was the engine failure of the United Flight 328. Being new to aviation the analysis and coverage of this event has been fascinating. I recently listened to a Pod Cast called Aviation News Talk related to Flight 328, this podcast is hosted by Max Trescott. These podcasts are full of news and topics covering all of aviation, and the guests he interviews are the best in their field of interest. In podcast #179 Max reviews eight lessons pilots can learn from the flight 328 engine failure.

The item he started with is a term “Wind the Clock”, I had never heard this term before but after hearing what is meant by this, I find it to be a viable tool as a pilot in a possible emergency situation. Basically, the term means when in flight something happens unexpectedly you need to stop and wind the clock before reacting. Winding an imaginary clock takes a moment for your brain and adrenaline to catch up with the situation and to assess if it is an actual emergency and how to proceed. Apparently, there have been a few crashes that have occurred not from the initial event but from a pilot’s immediate response and worsening the situation. For example, shutting of the fuel to the remaining running engine before confirming what engine was out.

I encourage all of you to spend an hour listening to Max’s podcast (Aviation News Talk #179) , I’ve also attached a link to an IFR Magazine article “ Just Do Nothing”. This explains the Wind the Clock term and how to apply it. https://www.ifr-magazine.com/technique/just-do-nothing/

We’ll let keep our fingers crossed that by this time next month we will be discussing our face to face meeting dates.
Be well, and thank you.