Hello
Members and Friends of Chapter 1218!
It is hot and man and beast
and airplanes are suffering under the sweltering heat and
humidity. In spite of the heat and the solid cloud cover
we had a nice turnout at our Mountain Grove meeting in
July. Some 50 members, and friends and families showed up
and enjoyed the good barbecue of marinated chicken,
hamburgers and sausages that was done to perfection by
Lloyd Darter, the FBO at Mountain Grove Memorial Airport.
We heard from Delbert Sinor about his interest in Ava
Bill Martin Memorial Airport and we also signed up two
new members for our Chapter, Lynn Chandler and James
Vokac. Welcome to both of you from all of us. I hope you
will enjoy our friendship and the enthusiasm that we all
have for our airplanes — and for aviation in
general.
Ron
Wade
Sadly, at the meeting we
heard about very serious health problems having overcome
Ron "Tiger" Wade, one of our founding members.
We later learned that Ron died the same day. He leaves
behind his wife, Bobby Jo, his children, and
grandchildren. Ron was the pastor of Gainesville
Christian Church. In our Chapter, he always showed a
great interest in promoting aviation as a very
interesting and healthy activity for children and
teenagers. Just a few weeks before his death, he proudly
told me about his recent acquisition, an Avid Flyer. I,
just like Ron, would have loved to see him fly that
little white bird. But it was not to be, as God called
Ron to fly home instead. Several members of Chapter 1218
attended the memorial service, which was helpful to us as
we adjust to not having Ron with us.
August
Meeting Plans
Because of Delbert Sinor's presentation, we decided at
the July meeting to have a fly-in meeting in August at
the airport in Ava. It'll be on our regular meeting date,
which is Saturday, the 10th, at 10:30 A.M. Plan on
arriving before that so President Tom can pound the gavel
on time. The business meeting at the airport will be
brief because of the probability of it being a hot day.
Ava is AOV in your database or directory. The runways are
13/31, 3634 feet x 50 feet. Although there is currently
no unicom at the airport, the CTAF is a unicom frequency,
122.7. If you are driving, go to the signal at the
junction of Highways 5 and 14 and turn west on 14 to the
first street on your right, and turn right (north); go
approximately 4/10 mile and turn left into the airport.
After the meeting, you will be transported to a
restaurant of your choice, where we can coax(?!) some
Oshkosh tales out of Doc Openshaw and Ben Hurtt. The
choices are Lili's Steak House (American and Mexican),
Pizza Hut, Sonic Drive-In or Panda House (Chinese). We
will be provided with business cards which you can hand
out showing that you landed at the local airport and,
because of that, you spent X amount of dollars at
such-and-such businesses in Ava. I hope many of you can
take part in this positive economic assault on the City
of Ava. After lunch, starting at one o'clock, we will fly
Young Eagles. This will not be advertised; however, if
you know of a young person between the ages of 8 and 17
who would like to become a Young Eagle, invite them to
come (along with at least one parent) and explain the
purpose of becoming a Young Eagle when you extend the
invitation. The Chapter web site also includes
information for prospective Young Eagles. You could
suggest that they take a look at http://eaa1218.50megs.com/activities.htm.
…And
Before the Meeting…
Prior to the Chapter
meeting, there will be a meeting with Ava City Council on
Thursday, August 8, at 9:30 A.M., during which interested
parties in the local area will have an opportunity to
explain their interest in the airport and reasons why
city support of the airport is important. In June 2001,
we reported on the recent situation at Ava's airport, and
in September 2001, we reprinted the story of Admiral Bill
Martin, an Ava native, and the history of the airport.
(If you don't have either of these issues, copies can be
viewed in the Chapter scrapbook or here in the Archive of
Previous Issues.)
Hey,
Another New Pilot!
On July 22, our member Sharon Vaughn also joined the
ranks of licensed pilots. We are all very happy for you,
Sharon, and wish you and Mike many happy hours of flying.
May you enjoy seeing the beauty of this great country
together as it can only be experienced from the air.
Rosemary Gilbert also has a good start on learning to
fly, cut short (temporarily we hope) by an auto accident,
and I know of another lady who has the potential to
become a good pilot. I won't mention her name, but it
starts with a "P," and she can be seen a lot
around White's hangar! More power to you, ladies.
Fourth Generation of
Tradition
"Andy,"
don, Mark, and Andy. The Anderson family is an
unbroken line of aviators from the earliest days
to the present. |
In other news
from our members, Don Anderson reports that his
grandson, Andy, soloed July 6, a few days after
his sixteenth birthday on July 1. In the picture
you can see Don's dad, aviation pioneer
"Andy," Don, Don's son Mark, and now
young Andy, making four generations of aviators
in the Anderson family. To the right is Harvey
Cleveland, Andy's flight instructor. Andy soloed
in a 1948 Aeronca Champ, which in itself is
unique nowadays. Another unique feature of his
solo was that it was at a grass airstrip —
the one owned by his great-grandfather. |
| Young
Andy is restoring a 1947 Luscombe 8E. As you all
know, Don's airplane is a Luscombe, too. Andy is
following a time-honored tradition of working
summers at an airport to earn money for flying
and restoring the airplane. His plans call for
getting in lots of flying time during the summer,
including his cross-countries. He wants to take
his private checkride as soon as he is eligible
at age 17. Congratulations to the whole family
for all you've done to keep airplanes and the
dream of flying before us in this country. (In
the February issue we told "Andy"
Anderson's story, and in March we reported on the
celebration of "Andy's" 88th birthday.) |
Biography of the Month
Our bio this month
comes from Lacy Martin, who is known to many of us by the
aircraft he flies. But since I'm a dairy farmer, I also
know him well as owner and operator of a hydraulics
repair shop in the Manes area. He's a regular wizard at
fixing tractor or implement hydraulics. I've seen Lacy do
a very wild routine in his Benson Gyrocopter, but we see
him most frequently in his tiny Teenie II, arriving at
breakfast in Willow Springs or at an air show. He is the
only guy I know who has to wear a jacket when he flies in
the summer because the Teenie II has a pretty low sided
open cockpit. Motorcycle riders will appreciate that.
You'll enjoy his story.
Lacy
Martin, Jr. |
"I
was born and raised in the mountains of West
Virginia, having lucked out, and lived in close
proximity to the small mountaintop airport owned
and operated by "Five Dollar Frank," as
Paul Harvey called him. The reason for the name
was that Frank never charged more than five
dollars for a short airplane ride right up until
his death a few short years ago. I traded work
around the airport for fifteen-minute flying
lessons on Sunday evenings. After soloing off the
900-foot strip at sixteen years of age, I had the
use of a local plumber's J-3 for keeping it
clean. All my spare money went for gas to feed
the J-3 for the next couple of years. I never did
learn to do wheel landings as it was a full stall
three-point — or a fence encounter.
"I joined the Air Force and graduated from
air traffic control school at Keesler AFB in
Mississippi. From there, I went to Europe and
wound up being an air traffic control instructor
for the new German Air Force. While there, I
picked up 20+ hours in T-33s with the Iron Cross
painted on the fuselages. I could make passable
takeoffs and landings after a few hours. Then I
married Erika and returned to the States for duty
in control towers and ground controlled approach
at many bases, including Kelly, Tinker,
Richards-Gebauer, and Whiteman. I did a tour at
Junsan in Korea and one in Nakhon Phanom,
Thailand, during the Vietnam War.
"After retirement in 1975, we settled here
at Mountain Grove. A few years later, I made a
landing at Mountain Grove Memorial Airport in a
Cessna 150 (N1124Y) and met up with a crotchety
bearded dude named Lloyd Darter. At the time I
was part owner of 1124Y, which one you guys now
owns. Lloyd chewed on my rear end for not having
a license, so I got in gear and obtained a
Private Certificate. Well, I'm getting old, but
now I own a Teenie II and a Benson
Gyrocopter." |
Lacy
arrives at a fly-in with the Teenie II |
Lacy
prepares to put on a show with the Benson
Gyrocopter. That's Lloyd Darter steadying
things
with his foot. |
|
Doc Openshaw's Project
Doc has been working on extending
the leg room in his Smith Miniplane for several years.
Now he has the end of the work and the fun of flying the
airplane in sight. With the help of Bill Ghan, the
forward cowling was extended and a new CG was calculated.
This moved the seat of the single-seat airplane aft
making it a not-so-mini biplane. In July, they attached
the wings. As the pictures show, Doc has been doing some
taxi testing and getting up some speed. (Note the flying
hair and the raised tail.) I think, when all is finished,
it'll be a very nice biplane. It's a project that shows
what can be done if you have the will to stick with your
project and see it through to completion. You can build
an airplane in your spare time! Come and join us. We can
help.
 |
 |
| Taxi
testing—there's real temptation here! |
Smith Miniplane with
engine running |
Call
for Help
The nominating commitee is
still on the hunt for officer candidates who are willing
to guide the ship of Chapter 1218 through the coming
year. If you enjoy being a member of our Chapter and
would like to see us continue in the manner we have been,
please contact a member of the nominating committee, Bob
Brantley, Ben Hurtt, or Fred Kalhoefer. The jobs don't
require "political savvy;" but they do require
that you attend regularly and can smile — both at
yourself and the rest of us! Your help is needed and your
willingness to serve will be appreciated.
| He Can't Stay Out of
Mischief! |
 |
| Have you ever just sat
and watched purple martins fly? They have the
Angle of Attack idea down pat! This has been a
good year for purple martin broods and the babies
are having lots of fun at the Purple Martin
Aviation Academy, to the consternation of Buzz
Thunderbee. Take heart, Buzz, they'll soon learn
why they had to learn their lessons well —
it's a long way to Brazil! |
That's
it for this month, so I'll just say, "See you at the
meeting."
|
