August/September 2007

Greetings, Members!
Once again, AirVenture Oshkosh has come and gone. People who went are still talking about it. Each year, and each person's experience, is different. That's one of the neat things about it. It's one of those things you can tailor to meet your own aviation interests. Myself and two other Chapter 1218 members, Jerry Pfister and Kent Clotfelter, made it there. Both of them took some beautiful pictures and shared them. Most of the pictures in this issue are ones they took. Jerry took several pictures of P-51 Mustangs, which is a good thing, since two more were lost in a tragic accident this year. He also got some great airshow shots. Kent was clearly looking at LSAs with a view to Chapter project ideas.

An F-18, a P-86, and a P-38 flying in a slow formation.	The Aeroshell Aerobatic Team flies T-6s	Everybody’s new favorite, the F-22A Raptor.
Photographs by Jerry Pfister

Henny planned to go to Oshkosh, too, but the worst possible scenario spoiled her intentions — engine failure while working on her aerial photography missions. She used the NRST button on the GPS for real, and made a safe landing at Bowling Green, Missouri. A week later, with four new cylinders, she was back in the air, trying to catch up on her work. One landing, and a dead battery, later, she came home, took up airport sitting duties. She loaded the tent in my airplane and waved me off. No, I didn't fly all the way to Oshkosh; I'm not up to that yet. I joined up with Chapter 461 friends and rode the rest of the way to Oshkosh by car.

This year was a shopping and learning time for me. I bought a fuel computer that I'd been looking at for two years. I also had the 196 database updated. I bought a pipette for checking the remaining fuel in tanks to compare with the gauges, just another little cross check. And I bought my 2007 AirVenture pin — can't miss that.

The new Maule LSA.	The Maule’s fuselage framework.	The Bearhawk LSA.
Photographs by Kent Clotfelter

After Oshkosh, a stationary front parked itself across Missouri. One attempt at flying home met with poor visibility and deteriorating weather, a landing at Jacksonville, Illinois, to wait things out, an overnight there, and a return to Chapter 461 country. That's where most of this newsletter was written while trying to figure out how to get it onto paper and into the mail. (That didn't happen; I didn't have enough of the stuff I needed with me.) It turned out to be a kind of extension of Oshkosh because I met some very interesting people, saw some interesting airplanes, and learned a lot of things about airplanes that I didn't know before. One of those things is how propellers are balanced. Another is how skin repairs are made. One day, I observed a pre-buy inspection. That was very revealing…what looks like a great airplane on the surface can have a lot of problems. In this case, most could be fixed. It is protection for both buyer and seller to know about them, as well as a bargaining tool. It should help to eliminate the emotional or sentimental factor in buying an airplane, but there is no guarantee of that. I haven't heard whether the sale ever took place.

A Chapter 461 member won this TIG welder in an EAA drawing.	The instructor giving orientation in a forum is a NASCAR welder.	The daily Chapter 461 cookout feast in Camp Scholler.
Photographs by Sue Kalhoefer

On the matter of user fees, there was a big push to get EAA and AOPA members active in opposing them. Both organizations distributed buttons saying 'No' to fees. AOPA had a huge petition for members to sign. The airlines may push for them, but their pilots often are GA pilots and aircraft owners in their off-duty time or retirement years, and they are uniformly against user fees. Who does that leave who is for them? The corporate people — the directors, executives, administrators, bean-counters, lawyers, and such. Keep writing our congressional representatives. For most of us in Chapter 1218, that is Rep. Joanne Emerson; our senators are Kit Bond and Claire McCaskill. It doesn't matter how you get your letter there — e-mail, snail mail, or FAX. Or you can call their Washington offices. State who you are and your interest in aviation. Give one sound reason for your opposition. They don't really read or listen to all the details, so this is just to establish your credibility and see whether you are for or against. You become a tick on a tally sheet, equating to how you might vote at the next election. Be sure they know you are a member of EAA, AOPA, and Missouri Pilots Association (you are, aren't you?), which increases your credibility. These individual contacts are much more effective than the petitions. They are serious support for the work that our association leaders do for us.

July Meeting / Young Eagles
What a great time we had at the July meeting. We flew seventeen Young Eagles. Four pilots participated, but we could have finished earlier if there were more. All of our ground support crew did a marvelous job. It is great having a ground crew member for each pilot. Almost all the kids were an eager group of Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts. The scoutmaster did a great job of preparing and organizing the group, who came with their application forms already filled out and signed. The excitement shown by the new Young Eagles is really infectious. The pilots for this session were Bob Bohemier in the Tri-Pacer, Mike White in the 170, Sue Kalhoefer in the Tomahawk, and Benny Butler in the RV-7. This, by the way, was Benny's first Young Eagle flight. He had the wholehearted encouragement of Cheryl, who also was his great supporter and helper in the building of the airplane. Benny was all smiles upon returning with his new Young Eagle. Our ground crew included Tom Bentele, Gene Pascoe, James Wiley, Lynn Bentele, Phyllis White, and Bill Ghan. A great big thank you to all of you. Ray Fine was prepared for his duties supervising the flight simulator but, for the first time since having it, the flight simulator crashed. Wouldn't you know, Henny wasn't there to rescue the situation. All in all, the Rally was a great success.

All it takes is a little adjusting by Tom to get it to fly straight.	Boy Scouts do a "walk around" with Ray Fine.	Ground crew member Tom Bentele keeps things safe.
Photographs by Jerry Pfister

Members not involved in Young Eagles had the good judgment to go ahead and serve the potluck lunch, helping to keep things on track as far as timing. The food was excellent. Pilots and ground crew grabbed some between duties. Once the last Young Eagle was flown, the business meeting was held. Even though it was too late to keep a quorum present, there really wasn't a need to make decisions this month, so we listened to reports and adjourned.

August Meeting / No Young Eagles
Once again, we had a good time on meeting day. This meeting was held in the late afternoon. We called off Young Eagles because of the extreme heat. Airplanes turn into small ovens on days like that, and they really don't fly that nicely either. But we had a great potluck supper and enjoyable conversation. The fly-in planning committee is making progress on our event for October.

Member News
We were all greatly worried to learn of Bob Bohemier's accident with the KIS. But we were also buoyed upon learning of his heroic effort to get out of it and walk to safety. This was in spite of pain from broken ribs with lung contusion, and disorientation in the dark, complicated by losing his glasses. The KIS is a loss, but we still have our valued member. Give thanks to God for being Bob's copilot and protecting him. Even though SAR included Civil Air Patrol from Salem, Missouri, it was our fellow member and Bob's neighbor, Jim Vokac, who located the accident site in his ultralight. Bob is now making a nice recovery from his injuries and assures us he plans to keep on flying — "absolutely!" He received several rounds of applause for different aspects of this adventure (that's an understatement).

We wish to welcome new members Martin and Carol Young. We are glad to have you with us. Don't be shy — jump right in and be active — there's no "learning curve" here!

The KIS is a total loss, but Bob walked away from it	Mike White grinds away some rough spots before priming and painting the handrails

Bridge Work
That sounds like a visit to the dentist, but it's not. Several members have put their all to it, and are getting the bridge over the creek completed. The handrails have been primed, sanded, painted, and moved to the hangar to await installation.

September Meeting / Young Eagles
Moving right along, we will hold the September meeting once again in the late afternoon when it is cooler. We will have potluck. (Nobody ever gets enough of them!) This time we will hold the business meeting before eating, since the days are getting shorter. That way those who fly can gauge the time they need to get home while there is still sufficient daylight. Sunset will be at 19:26 and the end of twilight at 19:52. We will have Young Eagles flights at the usual time in the morning. It's time to put a nominating committee to work again for next year's officers. Volunteers will be selected to serve; they will report back with a slate of candidates in October; elections will be in November; installation of new officers will be in December with duties assumed then. Be prepared to serve in some capacity. You'd be surprised how quickly a one-year term of office goes by — you can do it.

Hootin and Hollarin
"The Granddaddy of All Missouri Festivals" is coming up later this month. It runs from Thursday through Saturday; EAA members who can fly in and out of the short grass strip are planning on flying kids from 8:00 to 12:00 on Saturday, September 22. The help that will be most needed on that day is ground crew (one person for each pilot, if possible) and registration table crew. We don't know yet if the simulator is ready to go again, but we hope it will be soon. The parade starts at 2:00 p.m. and we hope to have the EAA/MPA float there. Be thinking how you can help in this effort, and let me know at the meeting. The turnout for this event is always fantastic for such a small town as Gainesville, our Chapter's "old hometown."

As I write this, I hope everyone is enjoying their Labor Day weekend, the traditional end of summer holiday. We should all be able to get outside and fire up the grill. The heat spell is giving us a little respite. Don't forget to put up your flag if you don't fly it all the time. Let freedom ring! See you all at the meeting next Saturday. Fly in or drive in. Till then, tailwinds!

We Celebrate

September Meeting Announcement