President s Message Jeff Clement

Transcription

1 September President s Message Jeff Clement Well what an August it was! So many fine people we have among us. You all just don t know how appreciative I am of you. A moment to thank the father of Wes Hays for his service to this country, and express sincere condolences to Wes and his family for their loss. Commander Hays was a true hero. Our thoughts and prayers are with you Wes A lot of things happening with the Chapter: The inaugural VMC meeting was so much fun. Look forward to seeing all of you and more in October. Riding on the spirit of Oshkosh, there just seems to be so much energy in the air. If you see this after Monday, I hope many from our chapter got to participate in the fun on Labor Day at Elmdale Airpark. Chapter meeting for September will bring us together again to reenergize for the fall. The FAAST Team from Lubbock will be providing a Wings credit worthy presentation at the breakfast this month. I hope you enjoy and get something from it. Ranger and Dublin airports have fly-ins planned for the first week in October (Flyers attached I think). Wouldn t it be fun to fly in to Dublin on the way to Ranger! Let s talk about it EAA Chapter 471 has the opportunity to really show the aviation community that we care and promote the industry by the shear love we have for flying. Will you share your passion with others? October will bring the Rusty Pilots Seminar put on by AOPA to Hanger 3. I really hope to see many there as this is a fantastic program for pilots of all experience levels. Stay tuned for more updates on this and thanks to David Bradshaw for bringing the idea and doing tireless work involved in preparation for the event. We are planning a cookout for the fall, probably in the afternoon following the Rusty Pilots event in October. Thank you to Charlotte Rhodes and the cooks for the time spent getting ready for next meeting. Until I can thank you all in person on the 8 th, Thank You! We should be introducing a few new members maybe Clark Murray and Eddie Stash will be with us then and having, as usual, a great time together. On a selfish note. August brought a couple of great opportunities for me. One was flying with Gary Potter for a bit; regaining currency for my ticket. The other was some REAL bush flying with Eddie Stash on the Brazos River. I hope you got to see some of the video I posted on our Facebook page. Thanks guys for the experience. Until next time, Blue skies and unlimited visibility! Jeff Clement

2 Below is a group photo from the Eyes Above The Horizon event at Dyess AFB, sent to me by Ben Mallon. Several EAA 471 members flew Young Eagles at the event and can be seen in the photo. Thanks, Ben! (If any of you would like a copy of the photo file, just shoot me an & I ll get it to you. Sam) First VMC Club Meeting Held The Chapter s first VMC Club meeting was held on Monday, August 13 and proved to be a popular for several pilots. As stated on the EAA website: The meetings use real-world scenarios to engage members, and allow a free exchange of information that improves awareness and skills. The intent is to create a community of pilots willing to share information, provide recognition, foster communications, promote safety, and build proficiency. David Bradshaw led the meeting where there was discussion on aspects of flying safely. The next meeting will be in October with time & location to follow. Sam

3 Meet Chapter Member Ryan Hendrickson! Many of you have probably seen and met Ryan Hendrickson when he has been at his hangar working diligently on his Cub. Ryan, a C-130 pilot at Dyess has been working on the Cub since the beginning of the year. He came to Dyess from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. Ryan said that it was during his childhood years growing up in Utah that he fell in love with backcountry flying. And, the fact that he spent two tours in Alaska added to that love. The plane he is working on is a 1953, PA Special Super Cub that he acquired when he was in Alaska. He had taken the wings off and put it in storage after he got it and he is now in the process of putting it back together, replacing some parts and checking everything out. Ryan also owns an RV-8 and a Cessna 185. Ryan has been in the Air Force for nineteen years and said he looks forward to getting the plane finished and doing some back-country flying after retirement. He and his wife, Chauri have four boys. Left: Ryan with his Cub project back in May before the wings had been put on. Below: A recent photo and the plane is much closer to being back together. Ryan has also recently done an engine run.

4 The Backcountry Bug Bites Aviators by Sam Evans Lately, just about every issue of Sport Aviation or Kit Planes or AOPA that comes to me in the mail has something about backcountry flying. It seems to be the new fad in aviation; and for good reason. As one article I read stated, the baby-boomer bunch was looking for something lower and slower. That reason along with getting away to some quite, pristine location with no one else around and no roads into or out of does have its appeal. Of course, if you re in Alaska, nearly all of the flying there is backcountry. They ve been doing it up there for ages out of necessity. Although the Cub has been one of the go-to planes for backcountry flying, there are plenty of other choices to be considered; but, most always of the tail-dragger flavor. I check out the RV forum most every day and even there has recently been a big push for Van s to come out with a high wing backcountry plane. I don t know if Vans ever will, but I know there s a bunch of RV guys that would build one in a heartbeat if they did. And Vans does know how to do kits. As Jeff mentioned in his president s message, he had the opportunity to do some backcountry flying with Eddie Stash up on the Brazos River. Below are a couple of photos. If you go to the EAA 471 Facebook page, you can see videos that Jeff posted there. Sure looks like some fun stuff!

5 and in other news Together again After an unfortunate prop-strike incident resulting in an engine tear-down, Mike Hanneman has the engine on his Cherokee 235 back together. Mike said it fired right up on the first engine start. Nice work! New Ride Dick Humphry stands next to his new-to-him 1960 Piper Comanche 180. Dick has been going through the engine and checking everything out and replacing some items. He has recently been taking some transition training from Gary Potter. In addition, he is going up to Norman, Oklahoma in the near future to get some more specialized pilot proficiency training. AOPA Rusty Pilot Seminar Slated for Abilene Thanks to the work of David Bradshaw, EAA 471 will be sponsoring an AOPA Rusty Pilot Seminar on October 20 th. The seminars are designed for pilots that have gotten away from flying for whatever reason and want to get their knowledge and skills back up to speed before flying again. For more information, here s a link to the AOPA website. I ll be sending out reminders as time gets closer. Sam

6 Fly-ins Abound! The fall fly-in season is just around the corner, so it s time to start making your plans. Below, are a few to choose from. For starters, don t forget about the Elmdale Airpark and Turbo s Aircraft Maintenance Customer Appreciation Day which is on Labor Day. If you know of a good upcoming flyin, just shoot me an & I ll pass the word. Sam

7 and then there s some talk going around about a fall (October?) Poker Run promoted by Gary Potter we ll see

8 and some information I received from Wayne Jones about the Rising Star Fly-in First Annual Rising Star Wings and Wheels Fly-in Saturday, September 15 th will be the First Annual Wings and Wheels Fly-in, benefiting the Rising Star, Volunteer Fire Department. Experimental, as well as factory built planes, along with biplanes, helicopters and specialty aircraft will be at the flyin. We will probably have a spot landing contest, as well as a short field take-off and landing demo, along with the usual flybys, and maybe some formation flying. I m still looking for someone to do some aerobatics. We ll also have several car clubs bringing out classics and hot rods as well and perhaps some antique tractors to grace the field. There will be food available for lunch. We also will have a multi gun raffle, with tickets available online or at the event; you don t have to be present to win. This year the guns are a Ruger M77 Hawkeye rifle in 6.5 Creedmoor, a Beretta A gauge semi auto shotgun with multiple chokes and a Ruger LC9S pistol. TX88 is an all turf field on 120 acres, with three runways. Runway 230/50 is 3100, runway 200/20 is 1750, and runway 300/120 is 2900 ; all with no power line obstructions, but some with trees at the ends. The surrounding area is mostly coastal fields with brush along fence lines. All runways and taxiways are at least 80 wide. Water, power and emergency fuel are available. We are five miles north of Rising Star, or 15 miles south of Cisco, on County Road 290, one mile east of Hwy The communications frequency will be for the event, hope to see you there. Monthly Breakfast Hangar 3 Saturday, September 8 9:00AM Full Breakfast Will Be Served We will be having an FAA sponsored FAAST presentation after the breakfast. This is a Wings credit-worthy presentation.