Newsletters 2022

January 2022

 

To All Members of the Nanaimo Flying Club:

I believe we all realize that holding monthly Club general meetings during this seemingly endless progression of COVID19 viruses, together with the related Public Health restrictions, is not in our best interest. This is unfortunate. Meetings will be reinstated as soon as conditions permit. In the meantime, we will keep you updated on Club activities electronically, using this medium and our website (https://nanaimoflyingclub.org).

Before going further, I would like to thank last year’s executive for all their good work on our behalf. A special thanks to former president Ben Werbski, who was thrust into the deep end of the executive with little warning.

We are fortunate to have an excellent cohort of dedicated executive members serving this year. Many are continuing on from previous years and I thank them for their ongoing service.

Your executive is accessible. Any of these folks can be reached by visiting https://nanaimoflyingclub.org/contact

The executive has developed a list of projects for completion this year. The first is a major cleanup of our Clubhouse West Hangar. It has accumulated a large amount of orphaned matter, including paint, oil, unloved parts and lockers. If you have any valued ‘junque’ fermenting in the ‘VBA Hangar’, it has reached maturity. Please remove it promptly. This also applies to wealth hidden within secured lockers. We will put out one additional email warning before the Grim Reaper strikes (near the Ides / end of January). If you are affected, please don’t procrastinate. One might regret.

We will be seeking volunteers to help with this cleanup. If you would enjoy a few hours of congenial house-keeping, please drop a note to Keith at: parking@nanaimoflyingclub.org. It is said that cleanliness is its own reward but don’t be surprised if it is garnished with a hamburger.

Members in good standing wishing a website password to access the Members Only information should contact: webmaster@nanaimoflyingclub.org

Thanks to judicious purchasing by our Fuel Director, we have approximately 13,000 litres of fuel on hand. The current price for Members is $1.96 per litre. With the promise of better weather ahead, come and use some. If the Mogas prices are indicative, the 100LL is unlikely to decrease significantly over the near term.

Finally, a commercial moment:
Members are reminded that January is membership renewal month.
We have kept the dues & parking prices the same as last year. You can renew either/both items by:

 Membership $154

 Tie-down $710

 Tie-down with hydro access $781

Please note:
 Fees paid through PayPal are increased by the amount of the service charges.
 Our membership year follows the calendar (Jan01-Dec31).
 Pro rata fees are applicable to new members joining after January 31.
 If you have already renewed, please accept our thanks!

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Pop-up Quiz

1. With respect to your ‘whiskey compass’, what is the difference between ‘variation’ and ‘deviation’?

2. You are leaving YCD bound for YYJ and wish to fly above 2500 ft. Whom do you call, and when?

3. You tune in YVR VOR and the OBS needle centers on 085 ‘TO’.  What radial are you on from YVR?

(Answers in the February Newsletter.)

 

Smooth Skies and a Happy 2022, 

David P-W

 

 

 

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February 2022

To: All Members of the Nanaimo Flying Club

I believe we all have experienced the rapid accumulation of ‘stuff’ that, while once loved, becomes surplus to need yet always seems to just hang around gathering dust. Thus, I am glad to report the February VBA hangar cleanup was successfully completed with the help of numerous Members. The photo below was taken partway through the process. The container was almost full at day’s end. Many thanks to Keith Wilson for organizing this effort.

We see promising signs of the easing of Covid restrictions. Hopefully, this will allow us to return to regular general meetings before too long. In the meantime, executive meetings have been scheduled each month to ensure handling of the club’s business. Issues can be brought to the attention of any member of the executive (see Contacts on the website) or sent to: secretary@nanaimoflyingclub.org  

A new wifi access point has been installed in the clubhouse. This system provides better coverage and much higher capacity than our old system. Your wifi-enabled device can connect to either ‘NFC’ or ‘NFC-Guest’. No password is required.

The club’s fuel vending terminal broke down recently. Fortunately, we were able to repair it in-house. This equipment has been in use for more than 10 years and support will be terminated by the manufacturer (QT Petroleum) shortly. This is concerning because fuel sales represent a significant income source for our club. A major equipment breakdown could result in months of downtime for our system. With this in mind, we have requested a quote for the latest version of QT’s fuel terminal. Their new version will support both debit and credit cards and produce purchase authorizations much faster than our current unit.

A little known fact about NFC is that it operates under a federal rather than a provincial incorporation. Compliance with this charter requires an annual audit of accounts. This does not need to be a highly formal undertaking, nor does it require extensive accounting training. However, it must be conducted by persons who are not members of the NFC executive.

We need two volunteers from the general membership who are prepared to spend an afternoon ‘looking through the books’, with the assistance of the treasurer. This is an important task, so please consider helping with the requirement. Contact any member of the executive or drop a line to: treasurer@nanaimoflyingclub.org

Many pilots use the NavCanada website regularly to check METARS, TAFs, GFAs, etc. But did you know there is a wealth of other meteorological information available there? For example, the document at: https://www.navcanada.ca/en/lawm-bc-en.pdf provides vast coverage of aviation weather specifically for pilots flying in B.C. 

Monthly Quiz:

With respect to your ‘whiskey compass’, what is the difference between variation and deviation?

Your VOR OBS needle is centered with an indication of ‘280 TO’. What radial are you on?

After leaving YCD southbound for YYJ, you wish to climb above 2500 ft. When should you call Victoria Terminal and on which frequency?

Answers next month.

Safe flying to all.

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