| February Meeting The next meeting will be held Wednesday, February 23rd at 7:30 PM
in McElmurry Hall.
Our
program this month is a presentation by Burton Henry. Burton is an F4-U
Corsair pilot. He will be telling us about his exploits in the Pacific
Theatre during WWII.
Prez Sez
Hi Guys and Gals,
Due
to some technical difficulties you may not be receiving the newsletter
in the normal format. Mike says he thinks he can have everything
working by the deadline.
Please
get your dues into Frank Hurlburt, our treasurer, 3630 Beneva Oaks Dr.,
Sarasota, FL 34238. The dues this year are $25.00. We would like to get
the membership list firmed up by March 1. There are several reasons. We
need to get a roster into EAA National. The Sun ’n Fun issue will
probably be coming up soon. And finally, we want to put a membership
packet together for everyone.
So
far I have not been able to find anyone who is willing to provide the
refreshments for out meetings. It is really not that much work. I think
we can get some coffee makers so we do not need to pre make it. We have
a couple of coolers. You need only get some ice and put some sodas in
the coolers. Maybe buy some cookies at Publix. We can keep the coffee
makers, cream, and sugar at the room. Someone, please help us out on
this.
I’m
going to attend a meeting at the Airport with Bob Mattingly on
Wednesday about the current status of the Class C airspace surrounding
SRQ. I must admit I am getting a little burned out. It has certainly
shown me one thing. The FAA doesn’t care a whit about safety. They
appear to be just another empire building, government, bureaucracy.
Tampa, who has shown that they are completely unable to service our
sector, refuses to give it up. No one up the line seems to care. So,
until someone else dies out there, I don’t look to see it ever change.
It is in a word: insane.
I
got a call from John Warner. He said that John Burton, President of Sun
‘n Fun Management, had filed a lawsuit against the Chapter. I am the
agent for service and we have put John Burton’s lawyer on notice that
we are represented by counsel. I have received nothing, nor has our
attorney, Mike Raterink. John said that John Burton, or one of his
employees had called EAA to give him a heads up.
For the benefit of some of you, I want to give you a brief recap of the events at Sun ‘n Fun:
In
April 2002, we set up shop in one of the hangars provided to us by Sun
‘n Fun. At that time we were a separate entity. We were not affiliated
with Sun ‘n Fun in any way. We had our own tax number. We had signed
contracts with various vendors who had consigned goods to us for sale.
We had an informal agreement that we would make a contribution of 50%
of the proceeds (after expenses) for the use of the hangar.
During
the first day of operations Sun ‘n Fun Management came to out premises
and took over our operation. They demanded that all moneys collected on
behalf of our customers (signed contracts) be turned over to them. The
insisted that they, not we, would pay the consignees in direct
violation of our written agreement. They insisted upon controlling all
the funds. They accepted responsibility for all the accounting.
During
the operations a vendor named “Wiper Check” appeared on our premises.
They had a sign that said they were sponsored by Plane Parts Mart. We
had never heard of them and told them to beat it. Sun ‘n Fun management
insisted that they be allowed to stay and pester our customers and
vendors. Sun ‘n Fun had contracted on our behalf with Wiper Check. We
had no knowledge of this agreement and have never seen it.
At
the close of the Fly In there were several Sun ‘n Fun Management people
milling around in our money room. When I looked for all our financial
records I could not find them. Sun ’n Fun said they had no idea where
they were.
One
week later Sun ‘n Fun said that there was $19,000 missing and we owed
them an additional $25,000 in profits from the sales. We found out that
Tom Bryant, Chief Financial Officer for Sun ‘n Fun, had taken our
records and our deposit slips from our premises without our knowledge.
We also found a deposit slip missing from the book. A check with Bank
of America confirmed that there was no chain of custody. When Tom
Bryant’s agents picked up cash from us they just piled it on tables at
Sun ‘n Fun’s office. Other bags from other sources were commingled and
eventually were transported to Bank of America.
When
we asked John Burton about the records he denied any knowledge.
Subsequently, John Burton, and/or one of his agents removed all our
plane parts (conservatively valued at $25,000) from the hangar we were
keeping them in. They also removed all supplies and equipment. At the
2003 Sun ‘n Fun Fly In, we saw people from the Venice Chapter of EAA
wearing t-shirts missing from our inventory. Yes, we have pictures.
So,
here is the issue. Because of a credit card screw up Sun ’n Fun had to
pay out about $44,000 more than they took in. In November of 2002 we
received about $43,000 from the Credit Card Companies. Since Burton and
company had not given us any money I took our out of pocket expenses
out of the proceeds. I also took the profit for the entire period out
of the proceeds. We tried to settle several times but were rebuffed. We
said that we would not be responsible for any “revenue shortfalls”
because we had given over the money handling to Sun ‘n Fun. We are also
owed the money for the t-shirts and plane parts converted by Sun ‘n
Fun.
The
Florida statutes address situations like this. Just because you are a
bully and can do something to someone does not mean you will get away
with it. The record is quite clear here. If we go to court, and are
victorious, we will be entitled to triple damages plus all attorney’s
fees, for both 2002 and 2003. It is a risk we should be willing to
take. Based on several consultations with reputable attorneys I am
convinced Sun ‘n Fun will not prevail. I’m sure we will have a
difficult time collecting from them. But, I’m sure they must have
something we can attach. As George Bush might say” Bring it on”
Our
program this week is a presentation by Burton Henry. Burton is a F4-U
Corsair pilot. He will be telling us about his exploits in the Pacific theatre during WWII. I’m honored just to be in the same room with him.
I
hope to see you at the meeting. You remember: 7:30 PM, Wednesday,
February 22, at the McElmurray Building, Dan McClure Room, at SRQ.
Please wear your nametag, and bring your dues money.
Your humble servant.
Minutes of the January Meeting Vice
President Chip Miller opened the meeting at 7:34pm with the 'Pledge to
the Flag'. 35 members and guests were present. Visitors to the meeting
were introduced, followed by an introduction of chapter officers and
directors. Young
Eagles: Chip reported on the latest Young Eagle flights held January
21st at SRQ. A reporter and photographer from the Pelican Press were on
hand to cover the event. Steve Walters met with a 16-year-old boy who
had just taken his first solo flight. Steve remembered giving him a
Young Eagle flight four years ago. Tool Committee: Rob Brooke had nothing new to report. Builder
Reports: Frank Hurlburt is ready to set his Lancair IV-P on the gear
for the final time. Steve Walters said he hasn't made any progress on
his Queen Air project. Dick Wilke has his RANS S-6S buttoned up for the
winter in Michigan. Robe Brooke has completed the wings, empennage, and
fuselage of his Tiger Moth, and is working on cables and such. Brad
Smith's RV-6A is getting painted. Vance Noles has been busy. He has 265
hours on his RV-9, and is now building a RV-7. He hopes to have it done
by September. Richard Cheek is trying to get parts for his Taylorcraft
rebuild. Martin Sobel hopes to begin his RV-8 after hip surgery. Treasurer's Report: Frank Hurlburt reported a 12/31/05 balance of $14,447.85. Secretary's Report: The minutes of the November/December meeting were accepted as printed in the newsletter. New
Business: Paul Carson was given an award recognizing his service to the
Chapter. Paul is retiring from Refreshment Chairman after 5 years. A break was taken for
refreshments. The
program for the evening was a DVD presentation on Runway and airport
safety by Martin Sobel. Attending this program qualifies as part of the
FAA wings safety program Chip closed the meeting at 9:15pm. Respectfully submitted, Rolf Bostrom, Secretary |