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New topic posted by Larry Kase. Title: General Discussion, Winch Safety Discussion
Just my opinion, but I don’t think the SSI e-mail system is the proper forum for a safety discussion. As has been pointed out for decades by numerous Boards, safety issues are best discussed off of public message forums and such public discussions leave the Club and its members open to legal repercussions should an operational issue come up. We would be wise to adhere to that admonishment.
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
From: Sky Soaring <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2021 17:30
To: phelanjf@gmail.com
Subject: [Sky Soaring] New topic: General Discussion, Winch Safety DiscussionThe real question here is how we raise the funds we need to service the debt and expenses we face in 2021-22. The winch is just an avenue to obtaining those funds.
There should be a whole separate discussion around how we safely operate the winch if we proceed in that direction.
John F. Phelan
(S20 Mobile)SSI Members,
It’s great to see all the comments, suggestions and ideas on the winch. Open discussion is good, in my opinion, and brings to light ideas that we may not have thought of ourselves.
With that in mind, a few of my thoughts on the idea of entertaining an offer to sell the winch and use the funds to address coming expenses. I have been around long enough to have been through several rounds of challenges to Sky Soaring’s on-going operations. We have survived previous challenges, and this is simply another one to be properly addressed.
One thing I learned in business school a long time ago is to ask the following question: What does the data tell us? We all have a lot of ideas and opinions on what we like or want and how we would like to see things play out. Turning to the data can give us some hard evidence of the situation at hand.
Here is what the data that I have had access to over the life of the winch project tells me.
Going back as early as 2015, the numbers for the winch have been a moving target. The original presentation for building the winch was that it would become a cash cow for the Club. That once paid off, there would be a continuous, positive cash flow that would add to the coffers of Sky Soaring. One of the original set of numbers claimed a cost of around $30,000 to build the winch and an annual rate of over 1,600 flights, each of which would contribute $8 gross profit to the Club ($2.00 in costs from a $10/launch fee). In reality, the winch cost closer to $50,000 to build by the time we got it finished. At one point, the breakeven number of launches was pegged at 625/year. That figure would allow us to cover the operating costs of the winch for a year, and service the debt of a 7-year loan at a 5% interest rate. No ‘profit’. No contribution to the general operating funds. Just enough to cover the operational costs and service the debt. It looked great on paper. The debate back then was lively, with members on both sides of the debate holding strong feelings about the viability of a winch operation. The majority voted for the winch and it became a reality over the next couple of years.
Fast forward a couple of operation years, and as pointed out in John DeRosa’s message, the most launches we have ever had is 427, in its first year of use. This is 68% of what was presented as the breakeven point. From there, for whatever reason, it has declined dramatically. The cash cow never materialized. Sure, there were bad weather days, lack of a full crew, lack of winch operation coordination, etc., etc. Things get in the way of even the best plans. But the data here tells me that the winch has not and, more than likely, will not live up to the projected financial windfall that the project was sold on. It’s a nice winch. It works well. But it is underutilized and represents an asset that is not anywhere near returning its promised ROI.
Now we are looking at the need to collect $20,000 for an engine overhaul for the Pawnee and the looming $80,000 payback of earlier debt to original members. All of this comes due by January of 2022 or earlier. The funds have to come from somewhere and monetizing underutilized assets is a perfectly valid approach to addressing the challenge.
The Board is elected to run the Club and they have a fiduciary duty to properly oversee the financial activities, both current and projected, and manage the Club as an on-going business entity. The buying and selling of assets are in line with those duties. I believe that it is their duty to entertain an offer to sell the winch and to investigate the parameters of such a sale and the use of the resulting funds. While we may not like to hear that assets may be sold to fund upcoming expenses, it is not at all uncommon in business to do so. I would encourage the Board to investigate the offer and see if it makes sense from a financial management standpoint, and if so, to proceed with the sale. They are elected to run the Club. Please allow them do their job.
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
Thanks, Mike. I have Malwarebytes on my laptop & desktop. I’ll add it to my phone.
Happy New Year.
John F. Phelan
(S20 Mobile)I went to our site from my phone and it went to one of those “Congratulations! You’re the one billionth search on Google” sites. I shut down Chrome, reopened it and it went to the SSI site without ant redirect.
John F. Phelan
(S20 Mobile)Is the leading or trailing edge drilled for any hinges or latching mechanism? Might narrow the search down if we know which end is the attachment edge.
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
From: Sky Soaring <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
Sent: Monday, December 7, 2020 9:01
To: phelanjf@gmail.com
Subject: [Sky Soaring] General Discussion, Reply To: Canopy “Blank” IdentificationDon,
I’ve bought car parts over the years from Rock Auto. They do a great job and have a pretty deep supply of parts. I also buy from our local Advance Auto Parts store for our old Honda Odyssey van. They can get stuff in a couple of days if they don’t happen to have it in stock.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/honda,2005,accord,2.4l+l4,1430764
Interesting idea on adapting the roof rope assembly for a 2” trailer hitch receiver. I believe Karl Landl had a hand in designing that whole rig. You might want to check with him on what may need to be customized for trailer hitch operation. I would envision an assembly similar to a trailer hitch bike rack, that comes up at least to window level and will fit on most SUVs and vans. Kind of depends on the moment and how much load the ropes put on the assembly to determine how high it can go. Great winter project.
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
From: Sky Soaring <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2020 11:34
To: phelanjf@gmail.com
Subject: [Sky Soaring] General Discussion, Reply To: Mule repairDon,
U-haul rents tow dollies where the front wheels are on the trailer and the rear wheels are just following on the road (front-wheel drive only). $45/day rental. Anyone with a tow hitch should be able to hook up the trailer.
https://www.uhaul.com/Reservations/RatesTowing/
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
From: Sky Soaring <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
Sent: Friday, December 4, 2020 9:52
To: phelanjf@gmail.com
Subject: [Sky Soaring] Reply To: Mule repairI can be at the field on Saturday, Dec. 5th about 10:30am. Do we know which end the leak may be at? And if it leaks while it is just sitting there or does the engine have to be running and/or the Accessories turned on?
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
From: Sky Soaring <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 1, 2020 14:03
To: phelanjf@gmail.com
Subject: [Sky Soaring] New topic: Mule repairNew reply posted by Frank Smith. Topic title: Reply To: THE EVER DANGEROUS GOLF CART TOW
Content:
What was the cause of that fire?
From what is written in the article, it appears they are blaming the glider being towed with the brakes locked on. I find it rather curious that someone wouldn’t realize the brakes were locked and even more curious that it was towed so far and so fast that the brakes heated up to a point of causing a fire. It takes a lot of aggressive braking to heat the brakes up to red-hot status.
My guess is the photo was just some eye candy for the article and the fire was probably caused by an electrical issue with the on-board battery.
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
From: Sky Soaring <webmaster@skysoaring.com>
Sent: Wednesday, November 4, 2020 18:47
To: phelanjf@gmail.com
Subject: [Sky Soaring] Reply To: THE EVER DANGEROUS GOLF CART TOWA little knowledge of it won’t hurt you.
Actually, a little knowledge in the wrong hands can kill you. Aircraft maintenance and repair has its own fully vetted set of rules and regulations, a large number of which were posted in an earlier message. Applying ‘civilian’ fixes to aircraft is a violation of those regs and likely to lead to highly undesirable results. This is one reason the Club has a Maintenance Chair and a Flight Chair who work hard to make sure we have a safe operation.
Best Regards,
John F. Phelan
