From jerry.rosendahl at gmail.com  Sun Dec  3 13:34:46 2023
From: jerry.rosendahl at gmail.com (Jerry Rosendahl)
Date: Sun, 3 Dec 2023 12:34:46 -0700
Subject: [Pilots] MN Wing Aircraft Maintenance Officer Report
Message-ID: <CADB6+yqr-7Y5Ah161uri_BBm2khX7tjf0KdB-eS0AncAgOaggA@mail.gmail.com>

*MN Wing AMO Report - 12/3/23*

*1.  Mouse and mouse nest inside airplane cowling!*  Baby it's cold outside
- for humans and critters. Maintenance recently found a mouse and nest
inside the cowling when opening it up for maintenance. The pilot bringing
it in noticed a smell enroute and had an interesting flight. This is a
plane that was routinely flown, it hadn't been sitting a long time. So -
it's time for critter protections in our hangars. Check your hangar for
clues.

[image: IMG_5453.jpg]


*2.  Our 3rd cracked fuel tank "neck".*  I previously sent out an alert
about proper fueling technique - holding the nozzle upright so there is no
stress on the neck of the fuel tank. We just found another crack so this is
3 within a couple months. This takes a plane out of service while the tank
is removed and repaired - at significant expense and loss of flying time.

*3.  Where did the avionics cooling fans go?*  I also previously sent out
information on the preflight checklists for the C172P and N models,
containing an item to verify the avionics cooling fan is operational. Since
the planes that have/will be upgraded with the G650 and 400 no longer
require cooling fans, this is confusing to the pilot doing due diligence in
performing each step on the checklist. We advised NHQ of this issue and I
believe they will be making this change on the ORMS page containing the
checklists. Listed below is what their contact sent back to me, but I don't
see the change on the website yet. At any rate, be advised of this issue.


*If Avionics Fan is Installed (15-17):*

*15. Avionics Power Switch.............On*

*16. Avionics Fan............Check Audible*

*for operation*

*17. Avionics Power Switch.............Off*

*4.  Almost time to remove the engine from N439CP.* This engine is about 26
hours from 2,000 hours total time and will be removed and sent in for
overhaul. The amount of time this plane will be down is unknown as we wait
to hear when we'll get an engine back. Currently Viking Squadron is flying
off these 26 hours. The engine will be removed after it is moved to the
Wing hangar and it will stay there in the back corner until an engine
arrives and is installed. A plane without an engine is completely
off-balance and must be blocked/secured in place very carefully. Working
around this requires caution.

*5.  New piece of equipment is in a few of our airplanes.* The AIF book in
the planes getting the avionics upgrade to G400 gps will now have a
database loader device in a pouch in the front of the book. The G400 uses a
different size of data card that requires this special loader. Your
squadron member who updates the navigation database will be
contacted/trained by Greg Erickson on how to do this.

[image: image.png]


*6.  Cowling blankets, propeller blankets, bug eyes & oil cooler plates -
it must be Winter.* The process of getting these items into all 16
airplanes is ongoing. Blankets and bug eyes should be on all but one
airplane, with a few more now needing their oil cooler plate. The following
airplanes/locations need to contact me about getting their oil cooler
plates installed by maintenance - Mankato N369CP, St. Cloud N695CP and
Duluth N98824.

*7.  Squadron Duty Officer Reports Due.*  Stan/Eval Officer Greg Bestul
provided all DOs with a template to use in a monthly report to me on their
assigned airplane. I have received 4 reports so far, which are due by the
7th of the month. This report is valuable to me and I appreciate everyone
sending them in .

*8.  Year to Date Hobbs hours by Squadron.*  Five squadrons are at or above
the target Hobbs hours (200 hours per fiscal year, 35.1 as of today) -
Pipestone 95.7, 130th 47.7, Red Wing 43.9, Crow Wing 39.4 and Viking 37.8.
Closed runways have been in place in 2 of our locations, no doubt impacting
those squadron's hours. Total flying hours naturally slows down in our
"frozen tundra" but as you can see, some squadrons are getting a good start
for the fiscal year.

*9.  Year to Date Hobbs hours by Airplane.*  N369CP leads the pack with
65.3 hours followed by N439CP with 61.7. Most others fall in between 25 and
58. Lowest numbers are N98824 with 21.7, N50935 with 15.6, N98424 with 14.8
and N828CP with 8.0.

*10.  Current Open Discrepancies.*  Attached is the current list of open
discrepancies in AMRAD. I very much appreciate being contacted before
putting in a discrepancy and the pictures you send of the issue. Several of
the issues relate to the upgrading of our gps units. The remainder are
pretty typical ongoing items.

Please contact me with any comments or questions about Wing maintenance.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Jerry Rosendahl, Lt Col, CAP
MN Wing Aircraft Maintenance Officer
651.785.8911
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From jerry.rosendahl at gmail.com  Fri Dec 15 11:29:37 2023
From: jerry.rosendahl at gmail.com (Jerry Rosendahl)
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 10:29:37 -0700
Subject: [Pilots] Plugging in the Tanis Heater - or not
Message-ID: <CADB6+yrB5pKt9Zy9whUBioX8D+PCeFAxkVqk5VKvg2jEXPR7JQ@mail.gmail.com>

I've been fielding questions recently about plugging in the Tanis heater -
or not. Our MN Wing supplement to CAPR 70-1 states "During cold weather,
i.e. ambient temperature less than 40 degrees F, aircraft engines will be
pre-heated using the installed Tanis heater prior to flight if the aircraft
is NOT in a heated hangar."

I'm aware of 3 situations where the hangar is "heated", but only to a
temperature of 40-44 degrees. Technically they are heated hangars.
Realistically, there isn't much difference between 39 degrees and 40 - 44
degrees. The pilots who flew the airplanes in these cases related the
difficulty in starting up.

Our Centralized Maintenance Contractor says, "plug them in, it doesn't hurt
the engine". "With as much flying as we do in CAP, leaving these airplanes
plugged in is OK." Especially now that we know we need to run the engine up
to operating oil temperature routinely to keep the battery charged. Using
the cowling blankets with the Tanis will keep the airplane ready for
service through our winter.

Jerry Rosendahl, Lt Col, CAP
MN Wing Aircraft Maintenance Officer
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From gbestul at gmail.com  Fri Dec 15 11:36:20 2023
From: gbestul at gmail.com (Greg Bestul)
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2023 11:36:20 -0600
Subject: [Pilots] December Stan/Eval newsletter
Message-ID: <CAEJ9OoJmLPnBUrG17m-KpCHvXOwTZiLOdsqs131wcH5Qbn-J_A@mail.gmail.com>

Hello MN Wing pilots,


Even though we haven?t seen much winter yet, we have completed winter
operations briefings in all the squadrons that have airplanes. If you
haven?t been able to attend one of these briefings there is an alternate
method of compliance with this requirement.

-        First, review the 2024 winter ops briefing on the wing website.
It?s found on the operations tab > Standardized procedures and training.

-        After you review that contact me and I will email you a short quiz
to complete and return to me. I will then add you to the winter flying
mission.

One item to keep an eye on with the warm weather we have been experiencing
? If you are flying a C172 that has an oil cooler plate installed, make
sure to monitor the oil temperature to make sure you do not overheat the
oil.


We continue to see errors in our data entry in WMIRS. Take your time and be
careful entering your sortie information into WMIRS to make sure it's
accurate and complete information. We will concentrate on improving this
area in the coming year.


An item that has been mentioned by maintenance and seems to be becoming a
problem, is damage to fuel tanks due to fuel nozzles bending and breaking
the fuel filler openings on the tanks. There have now been three cases of
this. The aluminum fuel tanks are not a match for the heavy steel fuel
nozzles. Make sure to take care when fueling the airplanes. Fueling nozzles
should never be left ?hanging? in the fuel tank, they should always be held
by hand any time they are in the fuel tank.


One final item to mention is uniforms. We all know that one of the
requirements for flying CAP airplanes is that you are wearing an approved
CAP uniform. We have several different types that are all approved. We must
also make sure that when we are flying cadets, that they are also in an
approved CAP uniform. The cadet programs spend a lot of time on uniforms.
Teaching cadets how and when to wear them and providing them many times as
well. By letting someone slide on wearing an appropriate uniform leads to a
bad trend in uniform compliance. The uniform is what binds us together as a
group.


I know sometimes new cadets haven?t received their uniforms or legislators,
or teachers come with us that don?t have uniforms. We can use flight suits
for these situations, BUT they need to have insignia on them so that the
person can be identified as a CAP member. The exceptions should be rare,
not a regular occasion.

So, make sure your crew and you are wearing appropriate uniforms, including
correct footwear, hats, and uniform pieces.



New flight instructor joining our ranks;

Mark Moskal      MN 136

New Check pilot:

Curt Johnson    MN 136

Thank you for your help and dedication to helping out our MN wing flight
operations!!


I have attached a link to this month's edition of the NHQ stan/eval
newsletter, and included a Christmas poem for pilots.



Take Care, and Happy holidays to everyone,
[image: image.png]

*Capt. Greg Bestul, CAP*

DOV, MN Wing

612.251.4786

gbestul at gmail.com

U.S. Air Force Auxiliary

GoCivilAirPatrol.com <http://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/>



CAP_StanEval_Dec_2023_c2730df82091a.pdf (gocivilairpatrol.com)
<https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/media/cms/CAP_StanEval_Dec_2023_c2730df82091a.pdf>
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