December 2005

Merry Christmas to Everyone!
Have you all been out Christmas shopping? Were you good this year so Santa will bring you some new little aviation toy?

This newsletter won't have many pictures. I didn't make it to last month's meeting until it was all over, and Henny was kept busy with her new duties as President. On the other hand, we have the 2005 photo montage with this issue.

The Columbia Trip
Boss Lady decided that all of the nurses at the hospital are going to go to seminars in the coming year, each one of us to share what we learn with our fellow nurses afterward. We have no choice of where we go or when. I was the first one picked, and I was sent to Columbia Regional Hospital for a Saturday morning program on our November Chapter meeting day. It was either drive for 4½ hours or fly for 1¼ hours. Either way, I had to go there the night before, and come back right after it was over. If the weather was good, it was an easy decision. Fly. Driving was a guarantee that I'd miss the meeting. Right up until the time I left on Friday afternoon, the forecast said good weather until Saturday evening. I'd be home by then.

It was good weather flying to Columbia. A tailwind turned my 100-knot TAS into a 130-knot groundspeed. Wow! It was still daylight, close to sunset, when I arrived near Columbia. There was a layer of clouds on the western horizon, obscuring the sun and flattening out terrain features. It was hard to find the airport, and when I did, it was right under the wing. Shucks. Lengthen the downwind to lose some more altitude, then come in on a long final. Kind of neat flying over those fancy lights leading up to the runway. The big runway is a playground, but rubber deposits from big aircraft tires make it rough for a little airplane with 5.00 tires. No, thank you, to the FBO guy, the gas price was $4.03 a gallon. But they were nice, anyway. They called a taxi for me, since they don't have courtesy cars for overnight use. So I got to the motel picked out by the boss, close to the hospital, but not close enough to walk there (it was on the other side of the major highway). So I reserved the taxi to get to the hospital in the morning, and again for the trip back to the airport at noon. I went to my room and ordered pizza delivered, watched TV (The Weather Channel and the local cable weather station), read a book, and went to sleep. The weather was still expected to be OK.

In the morning, I looked out the window and there were clouds. High enough not to be a problem. I went to the seminar. At the break, I went outside. Broken overhead, thicker to the west. Boy, I hope it's still going to be OK at noon.

Looking west from the parking lot at Columbia Regional Hospital. The clouds are moving in.	Looking northwest. Note the hospital’s heliport and windsock.
Photographs by Sue Kalhoefer

When the program was over, my cab was on time to pick me up. It was still a half hour drive to the airport. When she got me there, she took me right to the airplane, and I loaded my stuff and preflighted. I ran inside and looked at the radar. It was still OK, everything was still to the west and southwest. If I got out then, I'd be moving out faster than it was moving in. The tower taxied me to Runway 13 (much smoother, not used by the big guys) and gave me clearance to depart as I arrived there. Final checklist, and I took off. This trip would be much slower. The wind was still from the south and wouldn't turn to north until frontal passage. My groundspeed averaged 78 knots. I hadn't gone very far across the Missouri River toward Rolla when it started misting on the windshield, and the cloud bottoms lowered to around 3,200 feet, give or take a few hundred feet. The rest of the trip was flown between 2,500 and 2,800 feet to stay the required distance under them. When I got to Rolla, the airport looked pretty good compared to the look of things down Highway 63. So I crossed over the airport to look at the windsock, picked Runway 13, and landed.

I stayed at Rolla for a little over an hour, talked to Lloyd by phone while looking at the radar, and took off again when it showed a break. I followed Highway 63. By the time I got to Houston, it was a lot lighter to the southwest, and it looked like I'd make it back to Willow Springs in time.

When I got to Cabool, though, it had just started raining again, hard this time, and the highway heading southeast from Cabool disappeared into solid grayness about a mile or so from where I was, while it was still good visibility looking west on Highway 60. I made a turn into the pattern at Cabool and landed, deciding that was as far as I was going that day. I called Fred to come pick me up. By the time we made it to Willow Springs, the meeting was breaking up. I was really hungry by that time and managed to fill a plate with what was left.

That night, there was a thunderstorm with hail that passed through the area, and I worried about finding dimples in the skin of the airplane.

The next day, Sunday, was bright and sunny. It was still windy, gusty, but not too bad to take the airplane back to Willow. Henny and I drove my car out to Cabool. Whew! No dimples. I flew back to Willow Springs while she drove my car. I filled the tanks and put her back in the hangar. The total flying time for the round trip was 3.5 hours, 1.1 for the trip to Columbia, and 2.4 to come home! It was never scary, but I kept remembering the admonition not to have get-there-itis, to be willing to quit before it got scary. As a result, it was an interesting experience. I guess the best reason to miss a meeting is flying!

Sunday morning at Cabool, getting ready to fly Baby to Willow Springs.	Back at Willow Springs, refueled and heading to the hangar. It’s good to be home!
Photographs by Henny Christensen

From the Minutes
Ron White reported on the progress on the Chapter hangar. The heating system has been installed, and the drywall is up. The committee has decided to take a break during the holidays. All of our volunteers have been working hard and they need a break. We've received several new donations. Recent donors are Ed Walker, Clint and Marge Allen, John Bailey Chevrolet, and Gabel Stone.

Jim and Bob finish the drywall.	Don carries heating system ductwork to the loft.	Mike completes work on the mechanics for the bifold door.

This work results in…	…this working!
Photographs by Henny Christensen

Ted Businger sent a letter about his intentions for the library. He wants it to be the "seed" of a larger library to which we will make ongoing contributions of materials. Aviation prints were on display at the meeting. (Since then, I've also had a very kind letter from Mr. Businger regarding the newsletter.)

From now on, the November meeting will be held the first Saturday to avoid the conflict with the opening day of deer season.
The slate of candidates for office submitted by the Nominating Committee was accepted by the membership without nominations from the floor. Our new officers are:

The last two offices, Technical Advisor and Flight Advisor, are ongoing, approved by HQ, requiring special qualifications on the part of the office holders.

The drawing for the beautiful leather jacket will be held later, probably in January or February. The tickets are $10.00 each, or seven tickets for $50.00.

It was noted that there will be no Saturday morning breakfasts at Ron's hangar until after New Year's Day. This has been customary, so this is just a reminder, nothing new.

Four people volunteered to decorate the hangar for the December meeting: Phyllis White, Tina Evertsen, Janet Brantley, and Henny Christensen.

December Meeting
The December meeting will be our Christmas party, when we get festive, dressing up a little bit, and having a meeting with recognition of members' service for the year. It will be held Saturday, December 10, at 3:00 p.m., at Ron's hangar, starting with dinner. Ron, Sharon, and the whole White family go all out for us with the main dishes every year, and it is really very good. Members should bring their best side dishes, breads, salads, and desserts. Everyone should try to be there for this extra-special meeting. (For those who don't know, no gifts are required or expected.)

Arnie Zimmerman arrives for breakfast in his Aztec.

Photograph by Sue Kalhoefer

Member News
Congratulations to Arnold Zimmerman, our member who divides his time between Downer's Grove, Illinois, and Ava, Missouri. He has received the very prestigious Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. This is an FAA award to pilots who achieve 50 consecutive years of safe flying. The qualifications are rigorous. Candidates must:

• Have a total of 50 years involved in U.S. aviation as a pilot. The effective "start-date" for the award occurs from the applicant's first solo flight or military equivalent.

• Have held a U.S. Civil Aviation Authority or

• FAA pilot certificate with 50 years or more civil experience, up to 20 years of which may be U.S. military experience, to total 50 years.

• Have been a U.S. citizen or permanent resident for the 50 years.

• Revocation of any airman certificate will disqualify a nominee for the award.

• Prior accident history is considered by the selection committee on a case-by-case basis.

• Any previous enforcement actions, other than revocation, are reviewed by the selection committee, with consideration towards eligibility.

We Celebrate

Buzz Thunderbee

December Meeting Announcement