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Newsletter

X-Country Crier

We publish a newsletter for the benefit of our flying club members, renters and students to keep them informed of what's going on at A & M Aviation! Below is the January 2010 newsletter.

Prez Sez

Happy New Year!
The New Year is upon us and the days are starting to get longer.  The weather in December was not very good for flying, but I am expecting January will be a much better flying month.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our members and frequent flyers for your support in 2009.  We hope 2010 will be even better than last year.  We will plan a number of flyouts for dinner, trips for an overnight stay, and our Bahamas trip next fall.  Check the newsletter for dates and join us for one or more flyouts.  [We will also be offering an e-mail list for those interested in any of our flyouts - webmaster]  The flyout dinners have really grown; this is a great way to do a little flying and have something to eat.  We will start the dinner flyouts in April, and will schedule them for the third Saturday of each month.  For our winter flyers we will try to put the planes in the hangar overnight to ensure they are ready for flight the next day.  We hope this will enable you to come out early and often.

INSTRUMENT RATING

Is it time to start your Instrument Rating?  An Instrument Rating will make you a better pilot, whether you are flying VFR or IFR.  It will also make you a safer pilot because of the expanded knowledge you have with regard to weather, airspace, ATC use, and aircraft performance.  Winter is a great time to start your instrument rating; you can finish this rating by the summer and use your new skills to fly those trips you always wanted to make.  At A & M we offer you a very structured course that is designed to get you your rating in the shortest period of time and provide you with the skills and knowledge to feel safe and fly safely within the IFR system.  We have state of the art airplanes with GPS and MFDs and aircraft with the G-1000 system that offer unbelievable situational awareness, our aircraft have great autopilots that will reduce your workload and make instrument flying enjoyable.  Currently, all our instructors are capable of training students for their instrument rating.  We also have a Frasca 141 that is great for training; it allows you to stop in mid flight and see your mistakes, plot your course over the ground and see how you did vs. the instrument approach you were flying.  The only thing that is keeping you from that instrument rating is a two hour commitment per week and a little studying at home.  An Instrument Rating is one of the biggest accomplishments you will ever complete in aviation.  For the weekend flyer it will give you the confidence you need to use your license on less than desirable days and get above the clouds for that smooth ride to your destination.  For the person looking for a career in aviation it's like crossing the Continental Divide; it's all downhill from there.  So call up the Front Desk and schedule your first lesson.  Begin the adventure!

Flight Training Device

The simulator is available for instrument flight training and keeping current.  If you need to get those six approaches in, the simulator will get you the best bang for the buck.  You don't have to worry about icing or low ceilings in the simulator.  Get on the schedule and give it a try!

Hours

We are open 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day.  If you want to fly after hours schedule with the front desk and we will handle it in the normal fashion.

COLD WEATHER OPERATIONS

It was just the last newsletter when we were talking about warm weather, and now the mornings are cold, and we need to think about cold weather starting procedures.  Those procedures include pre-heating if the temperature is below 20 degrees F.  Follow the checklist, and ask an instructor if you need help.  If the plane does not start after five turns of the prop, you need to re-evaluate the starting sequence.  If the window has ice or frost on it, do not use any kind of scraper.  Use only a cloth towel.  The windows are plastic, and will scratch easily.  It only takes 10 minutes to pre-heat an aircraft; when in doubt, pre-heat.

SAFETY TIP

All Pilots:  Be sure to use the checklists.  It makes us all safer pilots! 

New Planes

We have some new planes on line this month, and we also have the return of the Cessna T210.  We added a very nice Cessna 152 that has dual radios, nav and GPS.  This will give anyone who is time building or just looking to have some low cost flying another airplane in our line.  It will also help students in the C152 to have better availability.  The other new aircraft is a Beech Sierra.  This is a nice low wing retractable aircraft.  It is a lot like an arrow, but it has two doors and more cabin space.  Is is equipped with a Garmin 430 GPS, dual coms and navs.  The return of the C-T210 offers a nice trip plane for those winter trips to the south. The engine was redone along with some other issues so this should be a trouble free airplane for some time.  To help those winter travelers we are offering a 10 hour dry block rate for $1000.  Grab a friend or two, head south and split the fuel for an enjoyable winter break.

Happy Flying,

and a Happy New Year

from JIM and the rest of the A & M Aviation Team

and Jet and Turbo

Chicago Aviation Weather Radar

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