Hello,
Everyone!
Our meeting on July 12 was
certainly different. We made such careful plans for a
morning of flying Young Eagles at Thayer Memorial
Airport, to be followed by a lunch meeting at Warm Fork
Cafeteria, that it was really disappointing to have the
weather fail to clear up in time. We've been so very
fortunate several times this year in having "weather
windows," that we all hoped for more of the same on
the day for Thayer. We were well advertised on the radio
station there, run by the man who is also the airport
manager, Bill Martin. Mr. Martin, it turns out, is a
pilot who owns an airplane and flies frequently—a
prospective member? We also had good planning
communication with the Boy Scout leader from Alton, Tom
Marcum, who had promised to get out not only the Boy
Scouts, but the 4-H Club as well. At the announced time,
a few families did show up ready for flights. We had to
tell them that the weather required cancellation, a very
hard thing to have to say. Chapter members drove all the
way to Thayer ahead of the meeting time and convened at
the airport, knowing full well that there would be no
flights. Others waited until the last moment at their
respective home airports to see if the weather would
clear so that they could come to Thayer to fly Young
Eagles. When it didn't, some still drove down for the
meeting at Warm Fork. How's that for a dedicated
membership? You folks are a great group! We plan to keep
Mr. Marcum and Mr. Martin informed of the dates of
upcoming Young Eagles Rallies in Gainesville, Houston,
Mountain View and Willow Springs. Maybe some of the kids
will be able to come to one of those places for their
Young Eagles experience.
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| Saturday morning,
July 12, at Thayer Memorial Airport |
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Some of the members
waiting and hoping for the weather to clear |
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| The business meeting
at Warm Fork Cafeteria (this is business?) |
Return
to Roots
The August meeting will be at Gainesville. We will have a
breakfast meeting at Don's Place across the street from
the airport. We met there in April 2002 and had a very
nice time. And we had a workday at Gainesville Memorial
Airport last October which was preceded by breakfast at
Don's Place. (The MPA meeting in January was also held
there.) Each time, the food was topnotch. So come to our
next "return to our roots" session this
Saturday, August 9 at 9:30 a.m. Gainesville is H27, 1895
feet of firm turf, oriented 1-19. There is a shorter
crossing runway suitable for ultralights. The windsock
and wind T are on the east side of the runway near the
north end. If you can't fly in, at least drive in. Jerry
Luna has invited members of Chapter 115 of Norfork,
Arkansas, to be guests at the meeting, weather
permitting.
Young
Eagles News
Speaking of Young Eagles, there were 945,398 registered
at the www.youngeagles.org website on July 30. That's an
increase of 42,760 since May 3. At that rate, the 54,602
needed to reach one million by December 17 will be easily
achieved. We have at least four Young Eagles Rallies
coming up, as mentioned above, in the remainder of the
"flying season." Two of those sessions will be
on the same day, so we will be needing two teams of
pilots and ground support personnel on that day. The day
will be September 20, when we will fly Young Eagles in
Gainesville for Hootin' 'n' Hollarin, and in Houston for
Heritage Days. We would like to have those pilots who can
handle the short, grass runway at Gainesville opt to go
there, with the rest going to Houston. We would like to
have two flight line personnel and two sign in personnel
at each place. We will have two computers and printers
available, too. Please, volunteers, start thinking of
where you can help on that day. Past experience has shown
that turnout can be large at both places. Bob and I would
like to hear from each of you starting immediately! The
float will probably go to Hootin' 'n' Hollarin' because
it has already made one appearance in a parade in
Houston. The flight simulator and the barrel train could
go to Gainesville on Friday and Houston on Saturday,
unless anybody has a better idea—or a strong
preference…
The
Wright Flyer
Covering the wing panels on
the Wright Flyer is moving along swiftly. Several people
have gotten a little beginning experience with ironing
and rib stitching. Ed Fillmer came again on July 7 to do
some more videotaping of the work. There have been
interruptions since then while Bill Ghan had cataracts
removed, and others have been in "sick bay,"
notably Doc Openshaw and Margaret Ghan's brother, George
Davis, who has been a helper to Bill. Prayers are always
appreciated for each person who has been ill. We'd like
to see some especially good turnout for work days in the
next few weeks because both George and Bill are
restricted from lifting during their convalescent time.
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| Ed Fillmer
videotapes and interviews Bill about the Wright
Flyer |
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The
"dressed" wing panels lined up for the
videotaping session |
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| Creating an opening
in the canard for the controls |
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See the difference
before and after shrinking the fabric |
Pilgrimage
Several members had the "Oshkosh Experience"
this year. Ones we know about were Len Ahrnsbrak and Bill
Newton, who flew there in Len's Cessna 150
"Rudolph;" Jerry Luna, who went in his 150
"Goldie;" Ben Hurtt and family, and Henny
Christensen, who drove there. Bill Newton files the
following report with On Top !:
"We had a great time at Oshkosh. On the way up
there, we had to divert to Kankakee for weather and stay
there for about three hours. After we arrived at Oshkosh,
though, the weather was fantastic. It was in the upper
70s or low 80s during the day. We had to put on jackets
in the evenings. We parked in the "North Forty"
next to some buddies from Tulsa, so it was like 'old home
week' for us. We never saw any of the other Chapter 1218
members. The place is just huge, with over 100,000
people. We flew up there in formation with Jerry Luna,
who went by himself, and we camped under the wings of the
airplanes.
"While we were there, Len came down with shingles.
We thought we should just come home, but Len said 'no,'
he wanted to stay. He went to the dispensary, which was
fully equipped and staffed by volunteer doctors, and got
$186 worth of medicine. When we came home on Thursday, I
flew the whole trip, with Len acting as navigator.
"When the storm came through, it blew the tents
over, but Len had everything fixed up again by the time
we got back in the evening. There were plenty of
facilities such as showers, all immaculately clean.
People were friendly and thoughtful, just as you'd expect
aviation people to be. Some of the most fun was just
getting to talk to other people from all over the
country—and from other countries—in the
campground.
"Food costs a lot, but we sneaked out and bought
food at Wendy's and convenience stores.
"We saw so many things we really enjoyed. The
ultralights and homebuilt helicopters were neat because
they could fly right in front of you. We saw the new
Hughes racer, a gorgeous airplane. The new aircraft
displays were really neat too, especially the Glasairs
and Lancairs. The seaplane base was just
beautiful—it made us fall in love with seaplanes. We
saw vintage aircraft, antique aircraft, and the
warbirds—surprisingly, there were only about 50
warbirds. We went to the museum on Monday. It's so big,
it would take the whole week to see it all. There were
lots of neat workshops. One was about how to rig your
Cessna for extra speed!
"You could take a ride in the B-17 for $395, or a
ride in the Ford Tri-Motor for $40.
"We saw Arnold Zimmerman flying his Breezy with
Young Eagles every day. He must really have a lot of
Young Eagles by now.
"Gas at Oshkosh, amazingly, was priced at only $1.99
a gallon for 100LL from Texaco or Phillips.
"There were no accidents during the entire time,
which was great. We thought getting in up there would be
terrible, but it was a piece of cake. When you are 50
miles out, you turn off your transponder, and start
listening to ATIS. You never talk on the radio, just
listen and follow instructions, use the map for the
checkpoints, fall in trail with the guy ahead of you, and
monitor the tower frequency. They give each airplane
instructions for the spot on the runway where they want
you to land, and you acknowledge by rocking your wings.
If somebody has to wave off, like somebody in a fast
twin, they seem to work him back in without any trouble.
When it comes time to leave, nobody is allowed to move in
the morning until ATIS comes up. When it does, you can
start your engine and taxi, and the tower will see you
and give instructions. They tell you when it's your turn,
you take off and follow runway heading to a certain
point, then you can turn to the four winds and go. The
field is only closed during the air show.
"Coming home on Thursday, we stopped at Lebanon and
were treated like royalty with a great lunch. This was my
first trip to Oshkosh, and it was just fabulous."
After this report, there is no doubt that I will be
trying to get to Oshkosh next year. We hope to hear from
other attendees at the meeting Saturday. If you took
pictures, be sure to bring them with you and pass them
around, OK?
Member
Bio: Bob Bohemier
We have a bio this month from Bob Bohemier. He's a fairly
new member, and has been dividing his time between
Florida and Missouri until just a few weeks ago, but is
now here to stay. He loves being here, and thinks the
Ozarks are a great place to fly.
Bob
Bohemier
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"My interest in flying
and airplanes goes back to the earliest days I
can remember. As a young boy I was consumed with
model airplanes, such as those by Cleveland (my
favorites), Comet, Gwillows, etc. Balsa sticks,
glue and rice paper, how great it was.
"There was an airport in the city where I
spent my early years, Springfield Airport in
Springfield, Massachusetts. I would spend all my
time at this wonderful grass airport looking at
the early bi-planes lined up on the grass and in
the hangers. I would climb into the cockpits and
take the stick in my hands and let my imagination
take me up into the wonderful blue skies. What a
great place this was; it is now a shopping plaza.
"It was not until my 28th year that my dream
would become a reality (affordable, that is) and
I started my flight lessons at Stormville Airport
in New York State, not far from the old Rhinebeck
Aerodrome of Cole Palen fame. Stormville was a
grass strip on which you could land in any
direction. Large shade trees surrounded the old
farmhouse which served as the flight school and
everything else. It was a great place to hang out
and tell flying stories.
The
Piper Colt was the trainer of choice back
in 1965, but the Cessna 150 was required
for the checkride for the private ticket.
The chief flight instructor for the
school was also the FAA flight examiner,
how convenient. I still remember the
names of my instructor and the flight
examiner. I have flown Piper Colts,
Cessna 150, 172 and 182, Cherokee 140,
and now my experimental KIS-TR1, which I
hanger at Willow Springs.
"I am still a low-time pilot, having
a twenty-five year gap in my flying
activity. I resumed flying in 1999. I
have had the KIS for two years now.
"My wife Kathyrin and I have five
children and eight grandchildren between
us. We recently relocated to Willow
Springs from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
This required the longest cross country
flight I have ever flown, from Hollywood,
Florida, to Pomona in a little over eight
hours. The flight was a great experience
and confidence builder.
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Bob
Bohemier and his KIS-TR1 |
"After
years working for IBM, general contracting in
North Carolina, eight years cruising my sailboat
in the Caribbean, Bahamas, Europe, and the New
England coastal waters, and most recently (if
seventeen years is recent), running my business
in Florida, we have retired. Kathy and I find
much to keep us busy on our small farm on Highway
HH. We are excited to be in this part of the
country and it also brings Kathy close to her
parents and her brother. I enjoy flying over the
lakes, rivers, and beautiful farms here and look
forward to many enjoyable flying hours exploring
what the Midwest has to offer. I did not build my
airplane— this is a dream yet unfulfilled.
Maybe someday it will become a reality.
Bob Bohemier."
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Buzz Thunderbee by Squawk
Here's a new twist on "flying for a living" as
a "commercial" pilot:
See
you all Saturday in Gainesville!
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