The February 2010 newsletter - Text Version
Updated 29-May-2013 ==== Copyright (c) 2013 Corvairs of New Mexico
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FEBRUARY 2010 / VOLUME 36 / NUMBER 2 / ISSUE #413
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EDITOR: Jim Pittman
NEXT MEETING: Wednesday 3 February 2010 at 7:00 PM
Highland Senior Center at 131 Monroe NE
THIS MONTH:
Dues Due ............................. Membership Committee
Drive a Corvair! ....................... President Pat Hall
January Meeting Minutes .......................... Art Gold
January Board Meeting Minutes .............. Chuck Vertrees
Graph of Treasury Balance, 2004-2010 ....... Club Historian
The Ike Meissner Award ....................... Ray Trujillo
Birthdays and Anniversaries ............ Sunshine Committee
Thermostat Fixes ................ Matt Nall, CORVAIR CENTER
Garage Tour February 6th, with Map ........... LeRoy Rogers
Calendar of Coming Events .............. Board of Directors
Unprecedented Opportunity (Our B-17) .......... Jim Pittman
Alternator or Battery? ....... DENVAIR NEWS - Steve Goodman
Photos of Things You May Not See Except at a Club Breakfast
Seven, 14, 21, 28, 35 Years Ago ............ Club Historian
COVER: Jim's Corsa turbo on a lonely road in Alaska, winter 1966.
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ELECTED OFFICERS:
President: Pat Hall 505-620-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Vice-pres: Ray Trujillo 505-839-7436 ray @ bpsabq.com
Secretary: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com
Treasurer: Robert Gold 505-268-6878 beisbol30 @ msn.com
BOARD MEMBERS:
Car Council: Art Gold 505-620-7434 rollerart @ gmail.com
Merchandise: Vickie Hall 505-865-5574 patandvickiehall @ q.com
Membership: David Huntoon 505-281-9616 corvair66 @ aol.com
Sunshine: Heula Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Newsletter: Jim Pittman 505-275-2195 jimp @ unm.edu
Past Pres: Mike Stickler 505-856-6993 sticorsa @ hotmail.com
Correspondent: Chuck Vertrees 505-299-0744 vertrees @ swcp.com
Membership: Sylvan Zuercher 505-299-7577 flat6 @ hubwest.com
OTHER VOLUNTEERS:
Emeritus: Wendell Walker 505-892-8471 defarge505 @ aol.com
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DUES: CNM: 12 months $25.00 -or- 26 months $ 50.00
CORSA: 12 months $45.00 -or- 26 months $ 90.00
CNM & CORSA: 12 months $70.00 -or- 26 months $140.00
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CORSA's home page: http://www.corvair.org
Steve Gongora's page: http://www.corvair.org/chapters/chapter871
CNM's newsletters: http://www.unm.edu/~jimp
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DUES DUE DATES FOR FEBRUARY 2010
== DUE LAST MONTH = INACTIVE 25-FEB-2010:
2010.01 Darlene & William Darcy 2009.01
2010.01 Kim & Del Patten 1980.07
== DUE THIS MONTH = INACTIVE 25-MAR-2010:
2010.02 Susanne & Larry Hickerson 2002.08
2010.02 Brenda & Mike Stickler 1976.07
2010.02 Wendell Walker 1989.01
== DUE MARCH = INACTIVE 25-APR-2010: (none)
== DUE APR = INACTIVE 25-MAY-2010:
2010.04 Deborah & John Dinsdale 2000.02
2010.04 Heula & Jim Pittman 1974.04
== MEMBERSHIP EXPIRED = INACTIVE AS OF 25-JAN-2010:
2008.04 Florence & Bill Hector 2006.04
2008.10 Guadalupe & Jim Arellanes 2006.10
2008.10 Mary & Art Hurley 2007.10
2008.11 Nancy & Bernard Urbassik 2004.08
2009.02 Carl Johnson 1974.04
2009.03 Sally Williams 2003.09
2009.07 Jerry Goffe 1977.05
2009.08 Marci & Gary Calabrese 2008.08
2009.11 Linda & Dick Cochran 2006.09
2009.11 Pam & Charlie Mann 2008.11
2009.12 Robert Galli 2007.10
Send your Dues to:
Robert Gold CNM Treasurer,
1301 Valencia NE
Albuquerque, NM 87110
Past due memberships will become inactive after a one-month grace period. The
Club will mail in your National Dues when you renew, if you send us the renewal
form from your CORSA Communique!
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DRIVE A CORVAIR!
Pat Hall
Don't forget Valentine's day, February 14, 2010. Make your sweetheart happy with
a few special words, a box of chocolates or a heartfelt hug and kiss.
We are scheduling club events for the months ahead and any and all suggestions
will be appreciated.
I am currently building a 1964 Spyder engine for a friend, not a club member,
but that could change. When the engine is in the car and it is running well, the
owner will be a likely candidate to join CNM.
In mid-January Russ McDuffie and Geoffrey Johnson came down to the house. We
replaced the rear strut rods in Russ' 1965 Corsa convertible. We installed nylon
bushings at the transmission end of the strut rods, but left the rubber bushings
in the wheel end as they were in good shape. Our only problem with this project
was, it was mighty difficult to get the bolts out at the wheel end of the
struts. That took a lot more time and effort than we thought.
Vickie was in the house setting up our new HP four-in-one printer when she ran
into a problem with all those cords that needed to plugged in correctly. Well,
Geoffrey went to her rescue and got the printer working and she was very
thankful. We think it's great for Corvair club members to help each other out on
non-Corvair projects like computer printers! Thanks, Geoffrey.
And -- thanks to everyone -- see you at the February meeting -- Pat Hall
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REGULAR MEETING MINUTES 1-6-10
Art Gold
Meeting was called to order at 7:03 at Highland Senior Center with 30 members in
attendance. Meeting began with the approval of last month's minutes.
There was a discussion by Pat Hall of the tech talk for the evening to be
presented by Russ McDuffie concerning thermostats. There could be a possible
tech talk in the future by Alan Gold regarding Powerglide transmissions, maybe
in March or April. There was also a mention by Tarmo Sutt of a probable trek up
to Glorieta, NM to see a collection of WWI weapons. This event may occur in the
spring.
Vice President Ray Trujillo stated four very important points.
1. The Galles sponsorship is no more, due to the struggling economy. There may
be a prospect of their support in 2011 if sales improve. The Galles ad will
remain in the CNM newsletter.
2. There will be a breakfast at Jimmy's Cafe on Saturday 1-23-10 at 9:30 am.
3. Nominations for the Ike Meissner are needed. The deadline for nominations are
due by the end of the February meeting. The nomination form is located in the
January CNM newsletter.
4. For any future tech talks, contact Ray Trujillo to get them on the meeting
agenda. You may also contact any board member for this issue.
Robert Gold reported that Anne Mae Gold had arranged for the upcoming
anniversary luncheon to be held at the Macaroni Grill at 1:00 on Sunday, March
21. The Macaroni Grill is located on Louisiana NE just north of I-40 next to
Winrock Mall. Anne Mae knows the manager of the restaurant through her
daughter's soccer team. This should make arrangements easier. The meal will
consist of a salad, choice of entree and a non-alcoholic drink for $15.49 per
person (not including tax and tip). The menu was circulated to the members.
Robert asked if these arrangements were satisfactory. There was no objection to
those plans. At Heula Pittman's suggestion, it was decided that door prizes
would be simply brought by the members to the luncheon and then given out. An
article detailing the luncheon plans would be written for the March newsletter.
Treasurer Robert Gold reported current funds in the CNM accounts: Cash Account
$3,188.39, GMAC Demand Note $1,155.30, total $4,343.69.
Jim Pittman stated that he is concerned with the lack of newsletters from other
clubs. It seems that they are more and more appearing to being placed on the
web. He concludes that this may be cutting costs for these clubs. We no longer
get the printed newsletters to circulate at our meetings.
Upcoming events:
February: Garage Tour 2-6-10
March: Anniversary Luncheon, Meissner Award 3-21-10
April: Metal recycling at the meeting by Pat Hall 4-7-10
April: Old Route 66 clean-up at 9:00 am 4-10-10
After adjourning: Tech talk by Russ McDuffie about failed engine damper doors
thermostats and a way to modify and install a choke coil to replace the failed
damper door thermostats on Corvairs.
Submitted by Art Gold
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JANUARY BOARD MEETING NOTES
Chuck Vertrees
The meeting was called to order at 17:03 by President Pat Hall at Ray Trujillo's
print shop on 01/20/2010. Your old secretary Chuck Vertrees took notes since
Secretary Art Gold was not present. Art's father-in-law has recently died. Our
condolences go to Art, his wife Kelly, sister-in-law and Mother-in-law.
Present at the meeting were Robert Gold, Jim & Heula Pittman, Pat & Vickie Hall,
David Huntoon, Ray Trujillo, "Lube" Lubert and Chuck & Julia Vertrees.
Pat said that in somewhere in the "Care & Feeding" book it said that we were
supposed to have an Awards Committee. The last time an Awards Committee meeting
was held was December 20, 2008. It was decided that we did not need a new
committee at this time so it can be taken care of later if needed. Note that
the 2010 Meissner Award is on track, following last year's rules, and the 2010
Boydston Award is on track, following the Pikes Peak club's rules.
The board voted, as we have done every January, to give Jim Pitman $125.00 to
help cover supplies for the newsletter. Pat also said that we will be having a
Merchandise person and he appointed Vickie Hall. She will have club merchandise
at all meetings and the prices will be those in the "Care & Feeding" book.
V-P Ray Trujillo mentioned that nominations for the Meissner Award are due to be
handed in no later than the end of the February meeting. Nomination forms were
in the January newsletter and extras will be available at the February meeting.
The three members of the Meissner Award committee will have a short meeting
after the February meeting.
Treasurer Robert Gold reported that CNM had $2,556.72 in the checking account
and $1,157.39 in the GMAC account as of the first of this week. He reported that
his computer died and since it was running what might have been "Windows
Millennium" a more modern computer is probably in his future. He said, no worry,
he does have our financial data backed up so it will not be necessary to
recreate all of it.
Membership chairman David Huntoon said that he has not found any local new
members but he did recruit one for a California chapter. A fellow that he had
met at the "Fan Belt Toss" called him about getting some parts, so Dave put him
in touch with a club that is probably about 10 miles from his house. Pat Hall
said that he had a possible member with a 1964 Spyder. Pat has his engine in his
shop right now, being rebuilt. It was suggested that Pat tell him if he wants
his engine back he has to join CNM.
Pat told Jim that Cary Hubbard was no longer our Car Council representative.
Robert reported that Art Gold would like to resign as our Car Council
representative. A possible replacement has been suggested and Pat will talk to
him.
Heula Pittman said that little was going on right now with the Sunshine
Committee, mostly sending birthday cards and similar duties.
Newsletter editor Jim Pittman reminded us that the newsletter deadline was 9:00
PM on the coming Friday, January 22.
Pat and Jim recently received a communication from the Denver club and the Pikes
Peak club. The Denver club will be hosting the 2011 CORSA International
Convention. Also, 2011 is the year the Denver club is scheduled to host the
Tri-State. They asked if we could swap with Denver and have CNM do the 2011
Tri-State, and then Denver would take the 2012 Tri-State.
We initially agreed that we should take on the 2011 Tri-State since both the
Denver and the Pikes Peak clubs will be busy with the International Convention.
Jim had done some preliminary work on the idea and several members thought we
could host a Tri-State in Red River. We have had it there twice before and
everyone seemed to like it. But, someone said that if we were to have the
Tri-State the first weekend in June, the International Convention would be only
a few weeks later. With the economy as it is, how many people could or would go
to two events that close together? It was suggested instead that we just not
have a 2011 Tri-State. Then it was suggested that CNM could conduct a "Tri-State
Hospitality Room" at the convention. This Hospitality Room could be manned by
members of all three clubs and could serve as a focal point for showing the
activities we had participated in over the years. We would still be scheduled to
host a Tri-State in 2012. This plan seemed to be acceptable. Pat or Jim were
commissioned to talk with Denver and Pikes Peak about this.
Several of us said that CNM members should still be expected to help the Denver
club in some ways during the Convention. Exactly who and how was left
unspecified. We will need to start planning this activity.
The Pikes Peak Corvair Club has selected the recipient for the Boydston Award.
This was in accordance with our discussions at the Taos Tri-State as to how
future Boydston Awards were to be managed. They also asked if we could arrange
to get the plaque made, so that it would be consistent with previous plaques. We
can do this. They also wondered where the Tri-State attendance traveling plaque
was located. Robert Gold brought it to the board meeting. It has been updated
with the names and dates of all attendance winners, and someone will need to see
that it gets to Canon City for the 2010 Tri-State. Pat said he'd do it.
Paul Campbell of the Pikes Peak Corvair Club asked if we could help them by
circulating a signup sheet to get an idea of what would be ordered for the
banquet meal. It will be at Abbey's in Canon City which is famous for
outstanding dinners. The price will be under $25.00 including tax and tip. The
meals will be Chicken Cordon Bleu or Sirloin Steak. The hotel will be $65.00 per
night per room and includes a hot breakfast. There will be more on the 2010
Tri-State in future newsletters.
Jim went back to the old question of 100% CORSA membership for chapters. He
referenced an article in another chapter's newsletter about a "fee" for chapters
to stay with CORSA, particularly if they do not have 100% CORSA membership!
Nobody remembers paying CORSA a club fee to stay a member chapter of CORSA. Is
this supposed to be something that will be necessary to keep CORSA insurance for
our functions? CNM requires, per our constitution, that CNM members must also be
CORSA members except for a few who were "grandfathered" in.
Years ago, we would receive a chapter report each year from CORSA that we had to
fill out and return. It was never correct. There were always members supposedly
in our club that we had never heard of, and there were always some regular
paid-up members who were not on CORSA's list. Jim will contact Harry Jenson and
try to find out just what is going on. Is there a minimum percentage of CORSA
membership necessary to get the CORSA insurance for CNM activities?
There was talk earlier about a driving tour of Albuquerque. Chuck has
volunteered to organize this tour. The theme will be, let's say, interesting
architectural features to be found in the city. We scheduled it for May 8th. It
will be about 2 to 2-1/2 hours and end up with lunch. There will be more
information coming.
The meeting was adjourned at 18:25.
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GRAPH OF CNM TREASURY DURING THE PAST SIX YEARS
Jim Pittman
For those with a "graphic" mind, this illustration may be interesting. It shows
(red graph) our reported balance each month, and (blue line) the change from one
month to the next. Notice that our treasury balance has trended up for the last
year or so.
The precipitous drop at the left side of the graph represents the cost of our
30th anniversary dinner when we went to the County Line restaurant and invited
several former members, at our expense. As I recall, we also subsidized the cost
of the meal to all who attended.
It was a great party -- and we have been slowly recovering from it ever since!
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THE 2010 IKE MEISSNER AWARD
Ray Trujillo
Hello everyone!
Once again it's time for members to nominate a deserving co-member for our
annual Ike Meissner award. I would like to ask you to please take a moment to
thoughtfully fill out the nomination form attached to the back of last month's
newsletter, and then bring it to the February membership meeting. As you know
there are a lot of great members in this club who contribute their time and
efforts to make your club worthwhile. This award is a great way to recognize a
member for their contributions, and your participation is truly appreciated. So
I'm asking you to do your part by filling out the form
and help the award committee by selecting your nominee.
I hope I've made my point regarding your participation, but if I still need to
convince you then maybe this story might get the message across.
You see there once was a young boy that lived on a farm with his family. Now as
most of you know, there are a ton of chores to be done to keep a farm running
smoothly. For many years everybody on the farm did their assigned duties and the
farm prospered to the benefit of all involved.
Then one day the young boy thought to himself, "I'm going to skip on my chores
this week because nobody will notice anyway." Little does he realize that mom
and dad and his three brothers and four sisters and Uncle Jed all have the same
thought.
Well, a few days go by and nobody does nothing. You know that last sentence
doesn't quite sound right but I think you follow what's not happening on the
farm. Anyway, let's get back to the story. The farm comes to a screeching halt
and everyone is asking the same question, "Why has the farm stopped working?"
Now the young boy is feeling so guilty that he starts to confess to the others
that he stopped doing his chores a few days ago because he thought no one would
notice. Before the young boy can finish his apology his mom and dad and brothers
and sisters and Uncle Jed all begin to confess that they too stopped doing their
chores a few days earlier also. Now everyone feels bad about skipping their
chores, but they all realize that no matter how small the task, it's quite clear
that the overall success of the farm depends on everyone's participation.
So you see, the moral of my little story is: participate, participate,
participate. Whether it's something small like nominating someone for an award
or something bigger like volunteering to chair a project, just get involved.
Let's keep CNM going strong!
As last year's recipient of the Ike Meissner award I can tell you how special it
is to be recognized by my fellow members. It's truly a great honor and I'll
always treasure receiving the award. Thank you so much! Now let's get those
nomination forms filled out and turned in at the next meeting.
Okay, I'll get off the soapbox now and move on. Speaking of the next meeting,
Jim Pittman has volunteered to do a tech talk. He will demonstrate how a late
model shifter works, and how to align and adjust it for best operation. I hope
to see you there!
Ray Trujillo
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SUNSHINE COMMITTEE
Four CNMers celebrate birthdays this month:
Alan Gold February 2
Charlie Mann February 3
Nancy McDuffie February 6
Wendell Walker February 9 (91 YEARS YOUNG!!)
CNM Sends HAPPY ANNIVERSARY wishes to:
Rita & Steve Gongora February 14 (Happy Valentine's Day, too!)
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Russ McDuffie's technical talk at the January meeting was based on information
shared on http://www.corvaircenter.com and here is a page from a newsletter
outlining the choke coil installation.
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FEBRUARY 6th GARAGE TOUR
LeRoy Rogers
Put Saturday February 6th on your calendar. At 12:00 noon we will meet at the
RANGE CAFE 925 Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo, NM for lunch. Then we will drive
over to the J & R VINTAGE AUTO MUSEUM at 3650-A Highway 528 in Rio Rancho by
1:30 PM for our tour. The entry fee is $3.00 for all ages in groups or three or
more.
More information, contact: LeRoy Rogers 004873@q.com 294-0623 home 238-7302 cell
Check out the J & R VINTAGE MUSEUM web page: http://www.jrvintageautos.com
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C O R V A I R S o f N E W M E X I C O C O M I N G E V E N T S
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| February 2010 | March 2010 | April 2010 |
| Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa | Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa |
| 1 2 3 4 5 6 | 1 2 3 4 5 6 | 1 2 3 |
| 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 | 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 |
| 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 | 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 |
| 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 | 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 |
| 28 | 28 29 30 31 | 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
============================================================================
= MEISSNER AWARD: The nomination forms are due at TONIGHT's meeting.
Wed 3 Feb 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Tech Talk: Jim Pittman on late shifter adjustment
Wed 3 Feb 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 6 Feb noon Lunch: Range Cafe in Bernalillo before the Garage Tour
925 Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo, NM.
Sat 6 Feb 1:30 PM Garage Tour: the J & R VINTAGE AUTO MUSEUM, Rio Rancho
3650-A Highway 528
Sat 13 Feb 1:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. This is every second Saturday.
Wed 17 Feb 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 19 Feb 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Wed 3 Mar 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 3 Mar 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 6 Mar 9:30 AM CNM Breakfast - to be arranged - suggestions?
Sat 13 Mar 1:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. This is every second Saturday.
Wed 17 Mar 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 19 Mar 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Sun 21 Mar 1:00 PM Anniversary Luncheon at Romano's Macaroni Grill
2100 Louisiana NE - price approximatly $17.00 per person.
Anne Mae & Robert Gold - 268-6878 - beisbol30 @ msn.com
= MEISSNER AWARD: The Award will be presented at the Anniversary Dinner.
Wed 7 Apr 7:00 PM Pat Hall: scrap metal recycle project as a fund raiser.
Collect your scrap metal and bring it to the meeting.
Wed 7 Apr 7:00 PM Meeting: Highland Senior Center, 131 Monroe NE
Wed 7 Apr 8:30 PM (time approx.) after our meeting, we go to the 66 Diner
at 1405 Central NE (between University Blvd and I-25)
Sat 10 Apr 9:00 AM First Old Route 66 Clean-up of 2010.
Brunch afterwards? Ollie Scheflow 897-2611
Sat 10 Apr 1:00 PM Los Lunas "66 Cruise" starting in Bosque Farms at the
Wells Fargo Bank. This is every second Saturday.
Sat 17 Apr 10:00 AM TUNA at Pat Hall's place, 58 Avenida Valencia, Los Lunas
conducted by Alan Gold who will show us how to diagnose
and repair Powerglide transmissions.
Wed 21 Apr 5:00 PM Board Meeting: Business Printing Service - 4316 Silver SE
Fri 23 Apr 9:00 PM Newsletter Deadline - Jim Pittman
Sat 8 May ....... Albuquerque Tour - organized by Chuck Vertrees. Time and
starting point to be determined. The end point will be
at a restaurant where we'll have lunch.
Sun 16 May 10:00 AM NMCCC and Albuquerque Museum 32nd Annual Car Show
May 21-22-23 The 2010 Tri-State will be held in Canon City, Colorado.
Sponsored by Pikes Peak Corvair Club, Colorado Springs, CO.
= BOYDSTON AWARD: The award will be presented at the Tri-State banquet.
============================================================================
2011: 20-23 July - Rocky Mountain CORSA - Denver - CORSA Convention
============================================================================
More activities: New Mexico Council of Car Clubs: http://www.nmcarcouncil.org
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UNPRECEDENTED OPPORTUNITY
Jim Pittman
The other day I was in the back yard and I heard an unusual airplane sound.
Not a jet and not a helicopter, but not your ordinary propeller sound either,
certainly not a C-130. I looked up and saw the clear outline of a B-17 at a
moderate altitude, apparently on its way from South Peak in the Sandias to the
eastern end of Kirtland AFB. As I watched this unusual sight I clearly saw a
diagonal yellow stripe on one wing and I thought, "That's our B-17!"
Of course, "our B-17" is the Liberty Belle, the airplane we went to visit at
Double Eagle airport two years ago when it was in winter maintenance. I looked
up the Liberty Belle's web site on the internet and learned that there were only
two scheduled appearances so far: in January in Savannah and in February in
Atlanta. Nothing about Albuquerque in January.
Since Steve Johnson, who invited us to go see the B-17 two years ago, was the
most likely person to know about this flight, I called him up.
"Hey, Steve," I told him, "I just saw our B-17 flying toward KAFB!" He said that
he did not know it was going to fly today but, yes, it had been at Double Eagle
for winter maintenance again, so they must have finished up the work and gone
for a test flight. Steve did not know for sure because he had been working
elsewhere that day. He said this winter they did not have a hangar to do the
maintenance work in, so it didn't seem appropriate to invite us back to see the
B-17. He thanked me for letting him know that I'd seen it.
Later that evening the phone rang and the Caller ID on the phone said STEVE
JOHNSON. When I picked up the phone Steve asked for Jim Pittman. That's me, I
said. Listen, Steve told me, the B-17's maintenance is done and it is leaving
Double Eagle early tomorrow morning for Atlanta and there's an extra seat
available. I thought you might like to have it.
I could have fallen on the floor! No one had made me such an offer before: a
free flight from Albuquerque to Atlanta in a 1944 warplane. But I had to refuse.
Somewhat sheepishly I begged off, telling Steve I was just not at a point in my
life that I could drop everything and go flying across the country in a B-17.
Steve said, well, with your photography interest and skills, I just thought
you'd like to go.... But I repeated I just couldn't.
So I got off the phone and had to review all the sane, rational reasons I could
think of for not wanting to fly across country in a B-17 in the year 2010. Where
to start? That's an old airplane, rebuilt more than once. It was made to carry
bombs in war, not carry civilian passengers. It's got four ancient radial,
air-cooled engines, fed by carburetors. It has no pressurization and next to no
heat in the interior. From the "no pressurization" it follows that it's going to
be flying at low altitude, down where the weather is. Weather: the news had just
been full of tales of record snowfall in Atlanta and record freezing in Georgia
and Florida. I did not know the pilots or crew and had no notion of their
competence or motivation -- were they serious flyers or wild flyboys trying to
relive the glory days of World War II?
So I consoled myself that I had made the right decision. Now, if only I had been
forty years younger....
But as I thought about it, I remembered that back when I actually WAS forty
years younger, the offer of a similar ride had come along and I accepted it
without a second thought. When I was at Holloman AFB near Alamogordo in October
1968 one of my friends in the sports car club offered me a ride in a helicopter.
He had a 1964 Corvair that he had put a 140-HP engine in, but for some reason he
wanted to get rid of the car. He had heard that I was looking for a good 140
engine to buy. Maybe he was trying to butter me up to buy his engine? Anyway, he
was an ex-Army pilot, had flown helicopters in combat in Vietnam and now had a
job flying helicopters for the Army at White Sands Missile Range. Today's
mission was to fly in circles over the high-speed test track and observe a
rocket sled shot. Did I want to go along?
Certainly I did. I had never been in a helicopter and had never seen a rocket
sled test. Typically those things accelerate spectacularly to way more than the
speed of sound. Looking down at a test run from a helicopter sounded like the
perfect way to see one. We went out to the flight line and climbed into the
bubble-canopy Bell helicopter and took off. I remember the air-cooled helicopter
engine looked rather like a Corvair engine standing on end, but somewhat larger.
Soon we were over the test track and began circling around in slow
figure-eights. You could see everywhere from up there. Away to the east were the
rugged cliffs of the Sacramento Mountains, under them the town of Alamogordo,
northeast about 40 miles away was Sierra Blanca, away to the west stretched the
bright expanse of the gypsum sand dunes of White Sands National Monument, and
far beyond that the outline of the San Andres mountains north of Las Cruces. And
right below was the test track, a ten-miles-long straight-as-an-arrow line of
steel stretched along the desert.
My friend was on the radio monitoring headquarters and finally he said, they are
having a delay for a half hour or so. What do you say we fly around a little
instead of just landing to wait for them? Sure, I said. So we broke out of the
figure-eight and headed west, out to the white sand dunes. Soon we were in a sea
of dunes, and indeed they looked like frozen ocean waves, mile after mile
extending in every direction.
White Sands is a national monument, but the monument only occupies a small part
of the ocean of dunes which is some 26 miles north-to-south and maybe 20 miles
east-to-west. And since World War II most of it has been part of an Army missile
range. It is therefore littered with the carcasses of airplanes and rockets used
to test various kinds of deadly ordinance. As we flew over the dunes I tried to
identify some of the wrecks visible below. One, I thought, was clearly an
airplane and from its size and orientation I thought it was a small jet fighter.
I pointed this wreck out to my pilot. Hey, I said, is that an F-86, do you
think?
Let's go see, he said. Quick as thought, the helicopter tilted 90 degrees to the
right and I was looking out the side at the ground. Then the nose dropped and
suddenly we were going straight down and the wrecked airplane was dead ahead,
rapidly growing in size! Not to worry, though, because before we joined the
wreckage my pilot swooped out of the dive and started to circle the wreck. It
was a four-engine bomber, much bigger that the F-86 I thought I saw, its broken
wings bent back to make a jet-fighter-like profile. In fact now at close range I
could clearly identify the wreck as the scattered remains of a B-17. Those
little sand dunes we had been flying over, now that we down among them, looked
like big hills. When we were up above and they looked like waves on the ocean
there's no way I could have guessed just how high above them we had been.
Finding myself alive and more or less well, and with the helicopter now flying
on a more or less even keel, I settled my stomach back into its normal location,
tightened up my seat belt (just in case my friend had another fighter-pilot-
wannabee moment) and tried to sit back and enjoy the rest of the ride. I don't
remember anything else about the rest of the flight. I do remember thinking I
had no idea a helicopter could maneuver like that.
Soon we heard by radio from headquarters that the rocket sled run had been
cancelled for the day, so we could make our way back to our landing zone. For
some reason my friend never invited me on another helicopter ride and I never
did get to see a rocket sled test.
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ALTERNATOR OR BATTERY? -- DENVAIR NEWS - January 2010 - Page 6
Steve Goodman
If your car needs a 'jump' to get the starter going the question becomes is the
battery bad or is the charging system bad or is there a battery drain (short
circuit).
First let's assemble a couple of handy tools to help with basic automotive
electrical problems. A digital VOM (volt/ohm meter) will show DC voltage as well
as resistance and continuity readings. Also a 12V test light, a tool resembling
an ice pick with a ground wire attached and a bulb inside will find much use
checking to see if a certain wire has voltage. Also a couple of jumper wires 3
feet (1 meter) or so long with alligator clips on the ends are handy.
Now let's get started. First thing to check is the actual voltage in the battery
using the VOM. Look at last month's installment to get ideas of correct voltage
readings. If voltage is low it must be determined if the charging system is
failing or if there is a battery drain.
The easiest way to check battery drain (although you need a charged battery)
goes like this: Unhook the ground cable from the battery. Next, make sure that
everything is turned off in the car including things like the memory in the
radio.
Now place the test light between the ground cable and the ground side battery
terminal. The indication of a voltage drain is the glowing light. The brightness
of the bulb indicates how big the drain is. For instance, if the memory of a
radio is left on, the glow will be dim but if the headlights were left on then
the bulb would be very bright. Unplug various accessories or remove fuses to
isolate voltage drain.
To check alternator quality do this: With the engine shut off check voltage at
the battery. Next start the engine and again check voltage. If the alternator is
working, the voltage while running will be in the 13-plus volt range but
typically the battery alone will only indicate around 12.6 or so volts.
The most common problem encountered with hard start/no start/dead battery issues
is poor connections. These range from dirty battery cable clamps/poor grounds
between battery to engine to frame and deteriorated cable wire hidden inside the
insulation.
Next month I will try to provide a list of common sources for battery drain and
failed connections.
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If you were not one of the twelve members who attended the club breakfast on
Saturday January 23, you missed driving through the snow, not to mention a few
good conversations.
There were several interesting cars and trucks to be seen in the parking lot of
Jimmy's restaurant, some of which belonged to CNM members! See you at the next
breakfast.
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SEVEN YEARS AGO
Jim Pittman
Seven Years Ago - February 2003 - Volume 29 - Number 2 - Issue 329
A Golden late sedan, with two Golden children, adorned the cover. Our Golden
president (i.e., Robert) ran our meeting featuring 29 members and 3 guests. One
of the guests had Corvairs he wanted to sell. Another guest was Sally Johnson,
daughter of Carl Johnson. Wendell reported $5,735 in the bank. We planned a trip
to Bosque del Apache, a garage tour to Bode Aviation, a trip to Trinity Site,
and a campout at Ruth's cabin in June. Dissatisfaction with the administration
of the Boydston Award led to a plan to discuss it with the Colorado clubs at the
upcoming Tri-State.
President Gold told about how he was turned on to the Barrett-Jackson car
auction in Phoenix. He planned to go to the next one. Robert also mentioned that
the January issue had NO CORVAIR PICTURES in it, but, he said, that was okay
because he liked all kinds of cars. Mark Martinek reported on the doings of the
Car Council. Richard Finch reported on defective fuel pumps. Jim wrote an
article comparing the 1990, 1991 and 2003 Honda Civics, and comparing them to
Corvairs. For opinions about nice cars to drive and what features they should or
should not have, read this article. The 2003 Civic's headlight switch (like that
of the 1996 Miata) was graded D-.
Fourteen Years Ago - February 1996 - Volume 22 - Number 2 - Issue 245
The first gasoline-powered vehicle sold in the Unites States, built by Charles
and Frank Duryea in Springfield, Massachusetts in 1896, was on our cover. Chuck
Vertrees took minutes, Mark Domzalski ran the meeting. Will Davis said we had
$862 in the treasury. We learned that Francis Boydston had a stroke after heart
surgery and was back in hospital. We planned a tour of the Galles Racing
facilities and a garage tour to see the Maloff and Joiner collections.
Convention news included the status of the raffle car and a plan for all CNM
members to wear distinctive golf shirts: turquoise with a big red logo. Bill
Reider's revised CARE & FEEDING was available for $5.00. Ollie Scheflow
suggested that we should have a community service project. Guest speaker was
Bill Nelson who told us all about Pennzoil. Great information!
At our board meeting Wendell was treated to paid-up CORSA membership in
recognition for his work on the convention raffle car. Dennis tried to get the
CORSA membership database up and running so we could see all present and past
CORSA members. We voted to include in CNM family membership all spouses,
significant others and driving age children, presumably if residing in the same
household. Bill and Chuck had the raffle tickets and were about to start selling
them. Mark planned to run for CORSA Western Director. Ollie suggested that we
adopt a mile of old Route 66 to pick up trash for our community project.
Debbie Pleau previewed tours we planned for the convention. Robert Gold reviewed
the fabulous tour of Galles Racing. Tech tips included cleaning crud from old
carbs and rebuilding steering boxes.
Twenty-one Years Ago - February 1989 - Volume 15 - Number 2 - Issue 161
The cover had a see-through drawing of a Corvair coupe with V-8. The club's
library van was running but it needed sanding and paint as well as more material
for the library. We planned an April auction. Our Ed Black sponsor Milton
Sanchez opened up the showroom so we could see all the 1989 Chevrolets.
Francis and Bill planned a group purchase of windshields: an order of eight or
more would greatly reduce shipping costs. The board approved a jacket patch for
our 15th birthday. A special 15th Anniversary edition of the newsletter was
approved.
Kem Owen, a member from Alamogordo, started a series of articles on building a
V-8 Corvair coupe. Part 1 described the suspension, the 5-speed ZF transmission
and the 307-cid Chevy engine. Kem said the car weighed in at only 3120 lbs.
Bill Lawless described the use of a relay for the heater fan motor for better
heater performance. Jerry Goffe provided part numbers for Cadillac and Ford
shocks that would fit late Corvairs.
Twenty-eight Years Ago - February 1982 - Volume 8 - Number 2 - Issue 77
The cover showed a Corvair-powered dune buggy. We had $110 in the kitty. A new
member was Mike Stickler. You have all heard of Murphy's Law. Well, Louie's Law
states that giving a bolt that last turn to tighten it will snap off the head,
but failing to make that last turn will let it vibrate loose and fall off a week
later. Probably we have all met Louie.
Thirty-five Years Ago - February 1975 - Volume 1 - Number 2 - Issue 2
On the cover we had a couple of sketches by Mark Morgan: a 1961 Lakewood and a
graceful might-have-been version of a 1965 station wagon. Our 11th club meeting
was held on January 7th. We discussed "field trips" to scenic locations such as
Bandelier National Monument and the ghost town of Madrid. Suggestions included a
group purchase of viton O-rings, a club window decal and a photo session of
members and their Corvairs. Someone wanted information on spoilers to fit
1960-64 Corvairs.
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