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Hello Again, Members!
Wet, wet, wet. That describes our spring
weather so far. Records have been broken in a few cases. There has been
quite a bit of damage to pavement where water flows over the bridges
instead of under them. On days when the sun comes out, it is windy. Now,
all that rain is good for nice yards, gardens, and pastures, and we
should not be complaining. Hot summer dryness will be here all too soon.
Save your budgeted gas money from the weeks when you couldn’t fly for
the weeks when you can fly — you’ll need it! The price for car gas
fluctuates minute by minute. Usually, avgas fluctuates load by load;
with a little luck, on the days you fly you can say it really was
cheaper to fly than drive and you’ll feel better!
Always Learning
“Minimums have a way of becoming maximums.”
This axiom, unfortunately, does not apply to a sudden improvement in the
weather just before taking off into the wild blue yonder. It applies to
the idea of setting standards for quality or achievement. Where are we
going here? Well, think about the standards set for us as pilots. Do we
just meet what is required of us? Or do we always try to do it better?
Do we only meet the minimums to pass a biennial (no longer called a
biennial, by the way) or a Wings phase? Or could we be doing more? If it
was more interesting to do so, would we do more? Well, courses offered
by AOPA’s Air Safety Foundation could be the answer to this. They keep
getting better and better, and there are more and more of them. They are
available as FREE seminars in our area (Springfield, Missouri) twice a
year, as FREE interactive online courses, and also on DVDs. Almost all
of them qualify for Wings credit. When you attend a free seminar, there
are also freebies given away there, and you get a chance to win a
Sporty’s handheld nav/com. If you’ve never been to one of these
seminars, you are missing something. One was available in April, called
“Top 5 Mistakes Pilots Make,” and there will be another one announced
for October. Top 5 included not only the stupid things we do all too
easily, but the inherent hazards in the normal things we do. It is good
to be aware of them and avoid the traps lurking out there. We probably
already knew them, but they slip our minds over time.
April Meeting
The April meeting featured a breakfast
potluck. While waiting to eat, some members always seem to gravitate to
the wonderful books in the Businger Aviation Library. Others just find a
lot of enjoyment in conversation with other members. Major topics for
discussion at the business meeting were the question of help with the
cost of fuel for flying Young Eagles, finding members to fly the people
who won free rides in the drawing at the last open house, and thinking
ahead to October for this year’s open house.
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Is this what is known as a “basket case?” |
Ray Fine sets his breakfast plate on the table. |
Millie listens intently as Kent explains
something. |
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Photographs by
Henny Christensen |
The food prepared everybody for an
active day of working around the hangar and grounds after the business
meeting. Not everything got done, but isn’t that always the way? The
mower blades needed sharpening. Items arriving for the yard sale needed
sorting.
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Ed Walker is proud to have served in the U.S.
Navy. |
Clint Allen checks out airplanes in a book from
the library. |
A few of the books in the Businger collection. |
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Photographs by
Henny Christensen |
Thanks go to Henny for taking all the pictures at the meeting. The
creeks were up and over the pavement in many places between Gainesville
and Willow Springs, and it’s too long a trip when going the long way around
with gas prices so high right now.
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Tom White hands a sharpened blade to Jerry
Pfister. |
Tom Bentele tries to loosen another one of the
blades. |
Jerry puts the blade back on. Ben Andre holds the
flashlight. |
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| Does this
remind you of working on airplanes? It’s always the floor! |
Naaman
Still, Ben Andre, Ed Walker, Jerry Pfister, Tom White. |
Some of the
items donated for the yard sale. |
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Photographs by
Henny Christensen |
May Meeting
The meeting this month, on May 10 at noon,
will feature another Mexican potluck luncheon. Mexican food is very
popular with everyone. The day will start in the morning with a “tube
and fabric” construction class presented by Bill Ghan starting at 9:00
a.m. Even if you don’t plan to attend the class, chores around the
hangar and grounds will continue from last month, when the weather was
not really suitable for outside work, so plan to be on hand early.
Warmer weather makes it much nicer to spend time outdoors, so the work
becomes a sociable time. Hopefully it will be drier on meeting day.
Don’t forget to bring your clean yard sale items and all those Wallie
World plastic bags you can’t bring yourself to part with week after
week.
Member Memo
Darrell Ownby’s e-mail address has changed.
Make a note in your directory:
ownby@mst.edu.
A Question
This week a question was put to our member
Jim Vokac, who is the Willow Springs airport manager. It sounded good on
the surface (pun intended, sorry) but there were niggling doubts, so we
checked. The question was if the Howell County Sheriff’s office could
use the airport for driver training for two days, which would entail
closing the airport on those days. Checking with MODoT, we found out
that they “cannot use the airport for non-aeronautical events under
various agreements.” Good thing to know if any of you ever find out that
any such use is anticipated for the airport where you live. Just tell
the local authority to contact MODoT; that takes the onus off you. This
applies to all airports that have received FAA funds, which in Missouri
are channeled through MODoT, and any funds from the aviation fuel tax
trust fund.
So, until Saturday, happy building and flying! See you then.
We Celebrate
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May
& Early June
Birthdays
May 13: Sharon Vaughn
May 19: John Zook
May 19: Joyce Smith
May 28: Ray Fine
May 31: Bill Easley
Anniversaries
May 24: Benny & Cheryl Butler
May 28: Don & Peggy Anderson
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