| April Meeting The next meeting will be held Wednesday, April 26th at 7:30 PM in McElmurry Hall.
The program for this month’s meeting was not available at press time. See you there.
From the Left Seat This
has been a very busy month for the chapter. Several members have worked
hard clearing out David's hangar at the request of his ex-wife/widow.
We did this after she furnished us with the necessary paperwork (a
court order) proving that she had the legal authority to do so. We
returned many tools to members (David kept a list of what he had
borrowed and from whom) and the tool locker. As I write this we are
still trying to find a home for a couple of workbenches. Pam sold some
stuff to members. One of Chip's grandkids will be benefiting from a
little kids motorbike. No fire sale here. As trustee Pam is responsible
for getting at least low retail for everything. In a VERY nice gesture,
Pam has donated David's RV8A airframe kit to the chapter in return for
our help getting the hangar cleaned out. She also wanted to give it to
the chapter to use as an asset to continue Young Eagles, which was a
passion of Dave's. There are no strings attached. The chapter will
decide its outcome. We could sell it or build it. In my opinion, it
would take at least another forty thousand dollars to finish. On
the legal front, our attorney has been notified of the changing of the
guard. He has filed a motion to dismiss. There is apparently no time
constraint on the judge to rule. Stand by for news. We have been told
that our attorney is a great letter writer but could be stronger in
court. If this goes to court, we will probably be retaining Peter
Branning to represent us. Peter is not only an extremely experienced
litigator, but also a chapter member. It hasn't happened yet. Lets hope
the case just gets dropped. On
the Lumberton front, after the GIF chapter agreed to sell us their tie
downs, and I committed to the Lumberton group, I got a call from the
GIF president saying that he was sorry but they had sold them to the
AOPA convention people. Where do you go from here? I called the VDF FBO
and tracked down one hundred tiedown kits. They did want to sell them
but for $15 a set. I had agreed to buy them from GIF for $10. Finally
after a great deal of whining and groveling, we agreed on a price of
$12.50. They are still losing $250, but are getting rid of a hundred
little white elephants. I then called TPF whom had bought fifty. They
said that they would like to sell some, but not all fifty. I am still
waiting for a call back on numbers. Gang, Chapter 180 has committed to
the Mid-Atlantic Fly-in. We have to make this work. Those whom have
been there before will tell you that it is the best fly-in since sun 'n
fun twenty-five years ago. I would like to see at LEAST twenty members
there. See you at the meeting Wednesday. Remember, if you don't volunteer, you WILL be picked. Blaise Minutes of the March Meeting Vice President Chip Miller opened the meeting at 7:35pm with the 'Pledge to the Flag'.
24 members and guests were present. An introduction of guests followed.
Chip read the chapters mission statement from the chapter by-laws.
Chapter officers were introduced.
Blaise
Pierson notified the group of the passing of Chapter 180 President Dave
Bothe. Chip related Blaise was willing to serve out the remaining term
of President if asked to do so. It was agreed the Board would decide a
successor following the meeting. Treasurer's Report: No report was given as Treasurer Frank Hurlburt was not in attendance. Secretary's Report: The minutes of the February meeting were accepted as printed in the newsletter. Tool Committee: No report was given. Young Eagles: Chip reported 15 kids and 4 adults went for flights at the last outing. Builder
Reports: Dick Wilke says he is anxious to get back to Michigan to
'button up' his nearly complete RANS S6S. Chip Miller recently had the
opportunity to see Ed Wycoff's L-19 in Arcadia reporting it is
'beautiful'. Bill McManus has his Zenith 601XL for sale. Vance Noles
has just cut the canopy for his RV-7A. Earle Swann's RV-8 has the
cowling on and is 'finally looking like and airplane'. He wants to
finish by the end of the year. Jim Ellis is putting the wings on his
RV-9A in a hangar at the airport. Brad Smith has completed the flap and
aileron gap seals of his RV-6A. Mike Weed continues the rebuild of his
RV-6A in Venice. Wray Whiting gave a brief chronology of his experiences as an aviation engineer and mechanic. Dick
Wilke shared with the group a letter he received from EAA headquarters.
Dick had sent them a DVD of Burton Henry's talk to the chapter during
the February meeting. Excerpts from the video will be posted at
timelessvoices.cog sometime in the future. Blaise
reminded the group of the Mid-Atlantic Fly-in at Lumberton, NC May
18-21. He suggested an opportunity to sell aircraft tie downs at the
event was available to the chapter. A short break was followed by a 50/50 drawing. Earle Swann was the winner and donated the winnings back to the chapter. The chapter took
a vote on the aircraft tie down opportunity. The vote was overwhelmingly in favor and the Board elected to back the plan. The
Board members were assembled and a quorum was present. The Board voted
to have Blaise Pierson complete the remaining term as President of the
Chapter. Blaise closed the meeting at 9:18pm. Respectfully submitted, Rolf Bostrom, Secretary Young Eagles The
YE report of the past two months is a bit low, but have no fear, the
kids continue to come for their free flights. The number of planes and
pilots also has been a bit low, but thanks to such fervent Young Eagle
pilots as Stan Brown, with his Piper PA-28/180; Curt Eskew Jr. and his
friend Jeff with Curt's new C-172SP, and Frank & Steve with their
Mooney M-20C, the kids have been flown with a smooth regularity. We
keep calling the other pilots and have had some success. We look
forward to several of the EAA-180 builders with their planes after
their hours are flown off. Blaze helped us recently and his wife was
very evident helping Tom Sell and the great ground crew diligently
working with the pilots, their YE's to get them their photo's and YE
certificates. Tom has taken the printer and other important papers for
YE's home now, since Scott Becker and others have been busy recently
with their work requirements. Tom
will bring the YE numbers to the meetings and with the help of the
super ground crew, the 3rd Sat. YE Day remains a steadfast EAA-180
commitment to the kids that are the FUTURE of aviation. Pete Peterson
has agreed to call the air and ground crews monthly, as Frank your
YE-Co-Chair heads to St. Louis for Grand daughters wedding, and later
in May a Grandsons graduation as a Lt. JG in the US Navy after a
four-year education and sterling athletic effort as a wrestler for the
Annapolis/US Naval Academy. Thanks Pete for helping out this old
snowbird. Thanks to all the many EAA-180 members and friends for their
continued support of the vital Young Eagle Program at SRQ. Fly Safe Frank Szachta & Scott Becker YE Co-Chairs More Sun ‘n Fun stuff next month. Sorry for the late / thin edition. To say the chapter was in turmoil this past month is an understatement. No US mail edition of the newsletter has been mailed, so please pass the word. Thanks.
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