President: John Murphy 783-1515 Ted Yon 783-7966

Vice President: Eric Kennard 631-3264 John Murphy 783-1515

Secretary/Treasurer: John Soukup 783-7128 Young Eagle Coordinator

Newsletter Editor: Fred Mahan 452-5797 Tony Yacono 459-0080

The next meeting will be the second Wednesday of May

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EAA Chapter 724

P. O. Box 320923

Cocoa Beach, FL 32931

May 17 Quincy, EAA Chapter 455 Annual Fly-In, 904-421-4335.

May 17 EAA Chapter 1102 Fly-In, River Acres Airport, 941-467-6741.

May 24 Orlando Executive Airport, Orlando Air Fair ’97, 407-678-5873.

May 24 Crestview, EAA Chapter 108 Pancake Breakfast, 904-862-2673.

May 24 Decatur, AL, EAA Chapter 941 9^th Annual Fly-In, 205-971-4060 or 961-4640.

May 24-25 Sarasota Polo Club Fly-In, 813-562-5321.

May 25 De Land, EAA Chapter 635 Fly-In Picnic, 904-734-1032.

May 31 South East Section Ninety-Nines Flying Poker Run, central Florida, 305-674-0495.

Jul 30 - Aug 5 Oshkosh, WI, 45^th EAA Annual Fly-In, 414-426-4800, http://www.eaa.org/

Every First Saturday, Cannon Creek Airpark, Lake City, Fly-In Breakfast, 904-755-4760

Every Second Saturday, Charlotte County Airport, Punta Gorda, EAA Chapter 565 pancake breakfast, 813-627-6461.

Every Third Saturday, Sebring Airport, EAA Chapter 803 pancake breakfast, 941-465-6996.

Every First Sunday, Ft. Myers Airport, Chapter 66 pancake breakfast, 941-945-7000.

Every Second Sunday, Naples Airport, EAA Chapter 1067 Fly-In Breakfast, 941-261-5701.

Every Third Sunday, Kissimmee Municipal Airport, west side of the field, 9 am on.

Every Fourth Sunday, Bob Lee Airport, De Land, Fly-In Lunch, bring your own, 904-985-5373

Every Last Sunday, Quincy, FL, EAA Chapter 445 Pancake Breakfast, 904-421-4335.

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Our last chapter meeting, on April 4, was also our annual banquet. The banquet site was moved to the Cocoa Beach Hilton for 1997. This year, we were fortunate enough to have three speakers.

Mike Seager, of Van's aircraft, was our scheduled speaker, who outlined the Van's Aircraft program to help builders who are about to make their initial flights in a Van's homebuilt. Mike tours the country helping builders who are almost ready to fly.

Our unofficial speakers were Astronaut Candidates Fernando "Frank" Caldeiro and Charles "Scorch" Hobaugh. Both spoke on the Space Program. Scorch added his comments on flying high performance aircraft, and Frank, one of our chapter members, talked at length about what a great place Central Florida is to live and fly in, and how much he misses it.

Steve Pangborn seems to have lost his touch this year at wining door prizes, and his reputed wheelbarrow went unused. Perhaps he felt sorry for the rest of us and intentionally bought what he divined to be non-winning tickets. Intercoms were contributed as door prizes by Velocity Aircraft and Sebastian communication, and Tom Teek won the Dave Clark 13.4 headset contributed by the Dave Clark Company.

Mike, Scorch, and Frank continued to answer many questions after the banquet was officially over. Overall, the banquet was a big success, and the evening passed all too quickly. The clean-up crew practically had to chase the stragglers out. Time to start planning for 1998 -- any suggestions?

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It's last call time for dues. If your newsletter label has a red or pink dot on it, you are in arrears! Please see our Secretary/Treasurer at the chapter meeting, or mail your $12 annual dues (cheap -- not raised in many years) to the Chapter Post Office Box on the letterhead. Make checks payable to EAA Chapter 724. Last call!

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If you haven't read about it in the newspaper, some homeowners who live nearby are attempting to influence local politicians to have runway 09/27 at Valkaria Airport permanently closed. Ironically, this runway was scheduled, with the help of Federal DOT funds, to be resurfaced next month, after three years of study by the Valkaria Airport Advisory Board. This push for 09/27 closure apparently is a first step towards having the entire airport closed. AOPA has decided to join local people in fighting the closure.

The Valkaria Aviation Association, 2880 Greenbrooke Street, Valkaria, FL 32952, 407-724-8671, has been working to get authority over Valkaria Airport moved from the County Roads and Bridges Department to a professional airport authority, either TICO or Melbourne.

Mark Cannon of the Valkaria Aviation Association had been asking that as many local people as possible attend a County Commission meeting on May 20^th to oppose the closing, but a few days ago the County Commission postponed the meeting until an unannounced future date. The meeting has already been postponed before, on April 15^th. Contact Mark at the Valkaria Aviation Association , or the Valkaria Aviation Association by e-mail at airport@iu.net, for the latest developments.

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Your newsletter editor recently got a mailing from American Ghiles Aircraft of Orlando (407-839-0581). They are the importers of the Ban-Bi MCR-01 2-seat composite kit airplane from Michael Colomban, designer of the tiny Cri-Cri twin that was kitted in the 80's. You may have seen the American Ghiles display at Sun 'n Fun. Stall speed is only 54 mph on an airplane with a wing area of only 56 square feet. Empty weight is 441 lb, and gross is 993 lb. Max cruise with a Rotax 912 at 7500 feet is listed as 183 mph, and with a Rotax 914 Turbo engine, it is supposed to cruise at 212 mph at 15,000 feet! Price for the complete kit, less engine: $32,995.

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From the Internet -- Here's a real deal for someone wanting a high-performance homebuilt 2+2 metal aircraft. New kits of this design are $18,500. But -- it's in California and you'll have to contact the seller by e-mail or look at the internet web site.

" For Sale: Bede BD-4 Kitplane. Asking only $2900. All structure and most systems firewall back are done. Good workmanship, safe and strong but not show quality. Painted inside and out with zinc-chromate primer. High wing, tail dragger, 4 passenger with a 190 mph cruse speed. Includes the following: Metal wing, Cleveland main wheels and brakes, Toe brakes on pilots side, Hand brake in center, Wheel pants, Dynafocal Lycoming engine mount, Flush fuel caps, Strobe lights, Nav lights, Curved extended windshield, Front and rear seats, Cowling, Circuit breakers, Engine instruments, Flight instruments including: Air speed, Sensitive Altimeter, Electric turn and bank, Vertical speed, Tachometer. This airplane was built years ago but never flown. All systems should be gone through. Not included are engine, radios, tail wheel, paint or

interior. I was not the builder, he donated the plane to a charity and I purchased it from them. It is for sale due to a pending move and I have too many projects in progress. It can be trailered on a small flatbed. I will have a web page with photos in a few days. The URL is: http://daniel.aero.calpoly.edu/mketter/bd4.html

Mark Kettering

mketteri@daniel.aero.calpoly.edu "

King KX-86 ADF with KA-42B Antenna. Fresh yellow tag from Sebastian Communication. Call Fred, 407-452-5797.

Poly-Fiber high-temperature epoxy system, one quart EP-420 green primer, one quart E-500 reducer, one pint EP-430 primer catalyst, total 2 1/2 quarts, never opened, $50 for all three. Also, one quart Randolph zinc chromate primer reducer, $4.50. Also, Sensenich metal clip-tip prop for Lycoming O-235, excellent condition, no logs. Pat Brady, 407-254-8135.

Volmer VJ-22 Amphibian, Continental O-200B, 650 hours since new, B&C lightweight alternator & starter package, 4-way CHT/EGT, T&B, electric trim, parking brake, shoulder harness and more. Optinal: Narco 11A Com, X-ponder, encoder, ELT. W wing work project. $6,900, Lake Seminole, FL, 813-392-1758.

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