M eadow Lak e Airport - C o l o r a d o S p r i n g s, C o l o r a d o. Pike s Peak Flyer. The Voice of EAA 72

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1 M eadow Lak e Airport - C o l o r a d o S p r i n g s, C o l o r a d o Pike s Peak Flyer The Voice of EAA 72 January 2016 Brian Chris an CHAPTER PRESIDENT By Sandy Mar n Hey,:we:didn t:have:a:slate:of:candidates,:debates,:commercials,:or:pla orms ::But: you:know:what,:we:got:the:best:guy:to:lead:our:chapter:as:president for the next 2 years Brian Chris an ::He:was:elected:along:with:the:slate:of:incumbents Bob: Hall,:Tony:Neese,:Sandy:Mar n,:vann:norred,:mike: Jerger by:acclama on:at:the:december:holiday:banquet: and:mee ng Our: many:thanks :to:jim:steward:for:his:guidance:these: past:two:years ::He:successfully:took:us:through:the:ML..: Open:Houses:and:the:.OP.:Fly-in ::In:addi on:to:raising: money:for:the:chapter,:more:people:learned:about:e..:chapter:72:and:what:we: do :: Read:Brian s:bio:and:message:inside Next Mee ng Date: Saturday,:January:23rd Time: 9 00:.M Place: ML..:Hangar Serving:small:breakfast:and:co ee Program Chapter Founder ward Bruce McCombs If:you:don t:know:bruce,:come:out:to:meet:him ::If:you:do:and: want:to:share:an:anecdote,:please:do :: See a reprint inside of the January 2000 Newsle er that featured Bruce McCombs. er:the:award,:bob:hall:will:be:showing:a:video: from:the:na onal:website

2 PAGE 2 PIKE S PEAK THE VOICE OF EAA 72 CHAPTER PRESIDENT BIO Brian Chris an I have been turning my gaze skyward since I was a toddler; my parents said I used to try to chase airplanes since I was able to walk. My grandfather and uncle were aviators, so it must have been in my blood. I was born in Trinidad, W.I., so any trip to visit family meant a flight to America, I used to love those early flights and they would further strengthen my desire to fly. When I was 4 years old, we moved to Slidell, Louisiana - just outside of New Orleans. I grew up there daydreaming of flying and airplanes. As a young kid, I stumbled on one of my father s older popular mechanics, where I found an article on the BD-4. This was the first time I had heard that you could build your own airplane. I was hooked! The article had 3 view drawings and I had just been learning about ratios in school so I scaled the drawing up to a bigger scale using some of my father s vellum paper. I drew that BD-4 several times and even used string to lay out a full scale one in our back yard. bought a Quicksilver MX Ultralight. I worked at the university s flight lab and the Quicksilver was kept in the hangar. After work, while my co-workers were heading home, I was opening the hangar doors for an afternoon flight. I would fly it every minute that the weather would allow. I had several hundred hours in my quicksilver by the time I graduated. After graduation I chose a career with a company that would allow me to relocate to the Rocky Mountains. I moved to Cheyenne in 2010, where I became the president of the Cheyenne EAA chapter and found an L-6 in the back of the hangar in Laramie. I moved to Colorado Springs in 2012 and brought the L-6 with me to finish restoring (I finished the restoration last year). Not long after that another uncle that I am close to got into flying radio control airplanes. We went to the local hobby shop and he bought a kit, engine, radio, various support equipment and began to build his plane. Because of this, I had discovered the hobby shop and began saving up to buy a kit. I got an engine for Christmas and a few parts here or there and eventually ended up with my own trainer. I joined the local R/C club and they taught me how to fly my planes. RC flying fueled my desire to fly the real thing. I wanted to get in the air! On one of my trips to the Slidell airport, I was told that I should come out to the next Tuesday night to the EAA meeting. I remember being very nervous about being the only kid there but they group made me feel welcome and even sponsored my membership over next few years. Several of the members invited me to help with their projects or lend me a set of plans to look over and dream about. I made several good friends in chapter 697 as I was growing up. After graduating high school, I attended the local community college. While taking college classes during the day, I began taking flight lessons in the evenings and weekends. I went on to finish up my private pilot in After junior college, I went to senior college for mechanical engineering. While there I I got married last year to my wonderful wife Kareena who enjoys flying just about as much as I do. We look forward to continuing to fly the L-6 and finishing the construction of our Bearhawk, which has been a work in progress since We also look forward to the many exciting adventures we will share with you in the coming year!

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4 CHAPTER # 72 MONTHLY NEWSLETTER Editor/Publisher: Richard Martin 7505 Mallard Drive Peyton, CO Phone: Fax; wemartin@sprintmail.com January 10, 2000 December Meeting: December 14, 1999 Everyone had a great time at the Annual Banquet last month. With members and wives, there were 60 + in attendance. Thanks to Jean Jenkins for selecting Bennett's. The food and service were very good. Burrall Sanders passed the gavel to the new Chapter President, Don MacNiven. Special awards were given to Bruce McCombs, Founding Member, and Pete Gonzalez, Member of the Year. Burrall received a Special Recognition plaque for the dedication and energy that he has given to the office of chapter president for the past two years. Thanks to Dick Rowley, who, with his usual flair, provided fun entertainment, a bird serenade, during his slide presentation highlighting Bruce. Member Profile Bruce McCombs Interview with Sandy Martin early December Written by Richard Martin Only the newest members do not know Bruce, but, as most of you do know, he was awarded a special plaque at the Annual Banquet last month for being a founding member of this chapter and a very active participant in aviation hereabouts for the past 50 years. In the Pete Gonzalez story a few months ago I wrote about studying the chapter history and how that story is really one about Bruce, Pete, Hurstle Stidham, Larry Dale and others. OUR CHAPTER 72 Well, Bruce can take satisfaction in what this EAA chapter has become, he had a lot to do with it. At the first meeting in 1962 he was elected one of 3 chapter officers and in 1963 took over as chapter president when the 1st fellow had to leave town. He has served in many capacities since then and was chapter president again when Burrall replaced him in At the banquet, I was talking to Pete about his Member of the Year award and the history of sport aviation here. He said, I was just a follower where Bruce and others led the way. Now remember Pete is a modest fellow, but certainly Bruce had a lot to do with our airport, Meadow Lake, that included building the first hangars, building the first airplanes, teaching others how to build airplanes, and working on many of them himself. BEGINNING IN NEBRASKA Bruce s first memories of airplanes were as a boy in Lincoln, Nebraska, where his father worked as pattern makes on a plane called the Aerosport, which was put out of business by the depression. At the age of seven, he began building models, the first one a 1932 Bristol fighter. When he was 15 the family moved to the Springs permanently. He joined the Navy in WWII and became a paint and body man at Conover motor after the war. He got his pilot s license in 47 and the next year or so began a flying club on the side. They were flying some beat up Aeronica Chiefs and Champs til about 57 when they sold the planes off. (Continued on page 2)

5 Member Profile Bruce McCombs (Continued from page 1) built 6 homebuilts and restored about another 10. Along the way many airplanes have been acquired, restored, flown and sold. After the flying club, Bruce got a Bruce got his commercial ticket in 52 but still calls T-Craft BC12-D, then a Cessna 120 from Ben Kelly and himself the world s oldest student pilot because he is by 1965 a Cessna 170. still learning about aviation. McCANDLES RANCH It was about this time that Everett Conover approached Bruce about starting an airport here on his wife s (Helen McCandles Conover) family ranch. Along with a builder, Bill Godwin and realtor, Bill Erickson, they put together a deal to put up the first hangars here at Meadow Lake in With the help of others like Hurstle they drug a runway and moved their planes here on New Year s Day Times were different then and there were no kit airplanes. Plans were very rudimentary, using raw materials and scrounging parts and supplies wherever. Bruce built and flew the first homebuilt in El Paso County, an PRESENT DAY At the present, Bruce and Evan are restoring a famous 1930 race plane, the Firecracker which Tony LeVier ran in the 1939 Thompson Trophy race, coming in 2nd to Roscoe Turner. It has 500 hp, while Roscoe had 1200 and LeVier only lost because he backed off for fear of destroying his engine. This is what it is all really about..the airplanes. But along the way, Bruce started our chapter, built our airport and a heck of a lot of airplanes. So the next time you taxi out to take off on One Five, tip your hat to Bruce and guys and what they accomplished for us. It was a lot of hard work. EAA Biplane. Hurstle was second in a Spezio tuholer, which Bruce welded, then Pete was third with his T-18. AIRPLANES AND THE OLDEST STUDENT PILOT Bruce s passion has always been the airplanes. In 74 he built a Cassutt which he calls a dragon. He rebuilt a Lark Commander, a wrecked Cessna 170. He and Evan, his son, acquired a Cessna 140 which they sold to buy a Mooney that they rebuilt and still have. It has been Bruce s travelling airplane. With it he has been to Alaska and Canada and various parts of the USA. In 1989 he traded a Luscombe in pieces for the L-2 that he completely restored. In 92 it won Best Warbird at the Rocky Mountain Fly-in. The list of planes is endless. Between him and Evan I could double the size of this story. He Update: The Firecracker made an appearance at the 2007 Air Venture and then was taken back home to Flabob Airport in California by Pat Halloran. See the details in the Newsletter May 2008.

6 PAGE 4 PIKE S PEAK FLYER THE VOICE OF EAA 72 Hello:fellow:aviators:and:aviatrixes!:: I:hope:the:New:Year: nds:everyone: in:good:health:and:planning:exci ng: new:airborne:adventures:for:the: coming:year :I d:like:to:thank:everyone:who:nominated:and:voted:me: in:as:this:year s:chapter:president ::I:look:forward:to: serving:our:chapter:the:best:i:can:throughout:the:year :: Having:served:previously:as:the:program:coordinator,: my:promo on:to:president:has:le :a:vacancy ::If:you: are:interested:in: lling:this:posi on,:can:fog:a:mirror: and:are:willing:to:help:shape:the:future:of:our:chapter,: President s Message please:contact:me!::this:is:a:great:opportunity:to: help:guide,:teach:and:provide:useful:content:for: our:monthly:mee ngs :: In:closing,:I:want:to:encourage:you:all:to:provide: input,:be:involved:and:help:make:this:chapter:a: great:one ::I:am:always:open:to:your:sugges ons: regarding:our:direc on:and:want:to:ensure:that:this: chapter:is:a:re ec on:of:our:values:and:vision : Un l:next:month,.lis:volat:propriis:(i: y:with:my:own:wings) Brian:Chris an,:e..:chapter:72:president.s:the:wife:of:an:aviator:(and:a:homebuilt:one:at:that),:the:uniqueness:of:our:daily:lives:may: be:hard:for:the:non-avia on:community:to:understand ::How:many:wives:have:to:ask:their: husbands:to:move:rivets,:clecos:and:engine:parts:o :of:the:kitchen:table?::how:many:hours: do:we:share:with:beau ful:(and:some mes:needy):mistress:that:is:experimental:home:building?: For:some,:the: me:apart:and:the:crazy:things:our:husbands:all:of:the:sudden:need:to: nish: that:part:of:the:plane:can:be:trying ::For:those:of:us:who:look:skyward:every: me:something: interes ng:sounding: ies:by,:this:is:as:normal:as:picking:up:those:socks:that:for:some:reason:can:never: nd: their:way:into:the:laundry:basket ::I: nd:myself:shaking:my:head:and:reeling:him:in:some mes,:but:at:the: end:of:the:day,:i:am:honored:to:share:this:life:with:my:husband:and:wouldn t:trade:it:for:all:of:the:dirty:socks: in:the:basket:or:all:of:the:clean:kitchen:tables:in:the:world Kareena:Chris an,:e..:chapter:72:first:lady:: First Lady (Brian s Wife) For Sale Continental O-470-R for sale. 50 hours TSMOH with yellow tagged millennium cylinders. Please call or Nathan Hawkins, A&P at (719) or nhawkins@falconbroadband.net.

7 JANUARY 2016 PIKE S PEAK FLYER PAGE PAGE from the desk of... Sandy Youth Protection Policy Kills Young Eagle Program Thank you for supporting these EAA Chapter 72 members! A Travel Advantage That could be the headline everywhere this year as EAA and Young Eagles implement the Youth Protection Policy that involves all volunteers who work with young people. By May 1, 2016, volunteers will be required to complete online training. Young Eagle coordinators, field representatives, and pilots will also need to submit to a background check. Joan Spratford, Owner (719) (800) Fax (719) There have been no known charges against any Young Eagle volunteer. As the letter enclosed states, this is to bring us into alignment with best practices of other youth organizations like scouts and youth sports leagues. Really! Our pilots have provided over 3000 free flights to local young people. Sadly, I have already heard of some who will not submit to the background check. We will be scheduling meetings to look at our options and how we move forward. Sandy P.S. Hope all of you show up to recognize Bruce and his contributions to our chapter on Saturday. Richard and I regret that we will not be there but express our heartfelt thanks for all that he has accomplished in making aviation and our chapter strong. Renew/join EAA Chapter 72 Jerome Limoge, M.D. Senior Aviation Medical Examiner here North Academy Blvd Suite 155 Colorado Springs, CO (719) (719) fax

8 MEA DOW L AKE AIRPORT - COLOR A DO SPRINGS, COLORADO Sandra Martin Newsletter Publisher 7505 Mallard Drive Peyton, CO Phone: (719) sandy_martin@earthlink.net Visit our website: Next Meeting Saturday, January 23, 2016 Chapter 72 Officers President: Brian Christian skyaker@gmail.com Vice President: Bob Hall robjhall@comcast.net Secretary: Tony Nesse tonynesse@gmail.com Treasurer: Sandy Martin sandy_martin@earthlink.net Membership Chairman: Mike Jerger michaeljerger@hotmail.com\ Director: Vann Norred vann@pikespeak.net Young Eagle Coordinator: Sandy Martin sandy_martin@earthlink.net Young Eagle Co-coordinator: Carl Benda carl@automatic-access.com Young Eagle Pilot Coordinator: Lee Wolford leefly@sprynet.com Newsletter : Sandy Martin sandy_martin@earthlink.net Webmaster: Bob Hall robjhall@comcast.net Technical Counselors/Advisors: Fred Carter - Engines John Lingwall About Our Chapter Burrall Sanders Jay Brinkmeyer EAA Chapter 72 meets at Meadow Lake Airport. Meetings are on Saturday, usually following the 3rd Tuesday of each month with a Young Eagle Rally and/or breakfast/brunch/lunch. Look for the calendar of events to highlight special chapter events like Young Eagle Rallies, fly-outs, and all other chapter sponsored activities. The Chapter Newsletter is published monthly, normally mailed and available on the website a few days before each meeting. Readers are encouraged to contribute articles, photos, etc. by submitting them to the Newsletter Editor in hard copy , pen/ paper, as long as it s not verbal by the first Saturday of each month. Annual membership is $25. Send to Sandy Martin, at 7505 Mallard Drive, Peyton, CO and start receiving the newsletter each month, attending the meetings and having a great time with sport aviation.