Two people soloed in September. Wayne Crump (picture 1) on September 24, and Ryan Stapf (picture 2) soloed on September 7. Congratulations to both of you on achieving that milestone. It’s a big step toward getting your pilot certificates. All of the club members encourage you to persevere in getting to your check ride. Wayne is a student of Niki Gaskins; Ryan is being instructed by Diane Carbiener.
Jim Wiegand is resigning as the club’s treasurer. He has done an outstanding job keeping the club solvent. As you all may know, the club has had a lot of unexpected expenses over the course of the last three years. It was Jim’s understanding of the accounting process that enabled the board to make the hard choices that enabled us to stay solvent at minimum cost increase to all members. We all owe Jim a thank you for his excellent work.
I’m resisting turning the newsletter into a complaint column, but every once in a while an issue comes up that requires the attention of all members. The plane captains are telling the board that engine oil changes are persistently running hours past due because members do not notify the plane captains when an oil change is due. It is not uncommon for an oil change to run five hours past the due time. I’m sure we all understand that dirty oil shortens an engine’s life which translates to unnecessary cost for all of us.
With that being said, I want to review the process for reporting to the plane captains that an oil change is due. The time to change oil is posted on the white board in each hanger. That time is the hour meter on the tachometer. When the tach hour meter has run up to the time on the board, notify the plane captain and tell him the number of hours on the tach hour meter. Depending on how close oil change time might be, the captain will know, if he has the hour information, what urgency level he needs to assign to changing the oil. The plane captains with their cell phone numbers are listed below. When an oil change is due, send the respective captains a text notifying him of that fact.
6456P, C152 Josh Brooks 810-348-0911
4352R, Skyhawk David Ratliff 563-676-7060
6012J, Sundowner Ron Morton 309-737-1999
30854, Cardinal Ray Ratliff 563-676-2893
887W, T210 Jim Goetsch 309-314-0002
If we make checking the tach hours for oil change time part of our preflight check, there should be no problem with getting the oil changed in a timely manner. I would like to suggest that you note on your preflight check list the tach hours at which an oil change is to be done.
The board is considering ways to make the oil change time more visible. Would any of you have ideas on how to do that? Should we be doing something different from the why it is being done?
As mentioned at the outset, Jim is resigning the treasurer’s position. That leaves the board looking for a new treasurer. We are soliciting the membership for someone that would like to take up the tasks of being treasure. The tasks of the treasurer are listed below.
– Collect aircraft flight logs at the end of each month and determine charges for each member
– Process member invoice payments, prepare bank deposits. The majority of invoice payments are
through QuickBooks
– Pay bills, process fuel credits, manage hanger and office key log and deposits
– Manage checking and savings accounts
– Prepare monthly and annual financial reports from QuickBooks
– Receive new member applications and changes in membership status (going inactive as an example)
– Develop membership cost changes as needed to ensure club viability
– Prepare annual federal 990 tax return (or ensure prepared by outside firm)
Because there is a fair amount of work to the treasurer’s position, the treasurer get some compensation in the form of waived dues, be it $90 or $125 level.
Taking on the responsibility of a board position (be it president, secretary, treasurer) does indeed take some time. However, as with most things worth doing, you usually get something in return. Being engaged in the processes of administering the club’s business expands one flying knowledge to make him/her a better pilot which in turn makes a more proficient and safe pilot.
Please consider the treasure’s position. It is an important position and is very critical to keeping our club the excellent one it is.
If you would like to discuss details of what is involved in being treasurer, Jim Wiegand would be more than willing to answer any questions that you have. His phone number is: 563-949-5825. Jim will also available to train the new treasurer. If you are the one that would like to do the treasurer’s job, please contact Jim Goetsch (309-314-0002)
Richard Kramer
Editor