Happy New Year, Everyone!
Where has the year gone? Time flies when you have lots to do, and we've
had a lot to do this year. The Wright Flyer is in Springfield, and we
have a major start on the Chapter hangar. This year we will finish it.
Then we can put it to good use for our projects, and start new ones,
especially involving kids. Let's make it a lively gathering place.
Christmas Dinner
We had such a fun Christmas dinner-party on the day of our meeting in
December. The food was just great, with thanks once again going to Ron
and Sharon White and all the other members of the White family. But the
members who faithfully bring a variety of yummy side dishes deserve
praise, too. So, "thank you all, members."
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A nice
crowd, nicely dressed, turned out for the Christmas meeting and
dinner party.
Photographs by Sue Kalhoefer |
2005 Officers
The new slate of officers for 2005 were installed and took over the
meeting at the appointed time. Doc Openshaw is our new President; Henny
Christensen stays on as Vice President; Phyllis White will serve another
term as Secretary; Gene Pascoe continues as Treasurer; and Jim
Tausworthe will continue as Board Member at Large. Young Eagles
Coordinators and Newsletter/Web Editor are the same. The Hangar
Committee will also remain the same. For those who have forgotten, we
have two other important people who serve the Chapter: a Technical
Advisor, who is Clint Allen; and a Flight Advisor, who is Bill Newton.
These are positions that require certain qualifications, are ongoing,
and had to be approved by Oshkosh when the appointments were made. These
resource people become particularly important as you work on your
homebuilt aircraft and prepare to fly it.
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Charlie Ward hands off the
President's duties to Doc Openshaw. Doc started by handing out
service awards. |
A Plato grandfather won this
P-51 Mustang pedal plane which Charle built and donated to the
Chapter.
Photographs by Sue Kalhoefer |
Service Awards & Raffles
Service awards were given out. And we had
the drawings on the two raffles. A member of the public in Houston won
the pedal-plane built by Charlie Ward. We understand the winner has a
little boy. That's just the way it should be. Dan Gilbert won the
handheld radio. Phyllis does a great job of "marketing" in our
fundraising efforts. She also does such a nice job of decorating for our
festive occasions. Don't forget the work she did on the "hangar sale,"
too. Now, however, we have just gotten the bad news that she has had
another mishap, falling and breaking her foot, and is in a cast again.
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The Lemonade Lady
Did you know Jim Tausworthe has a new book
out? And that he has donated twenty copies to the Chapter to sell for
fundraising? It is called The Lemonade Lady, the eighth in the Cade
McCane Mystery series. I'm reading it right now. I've already read all
the others. If you haven't read Jim's books, get your copy before
they're all gone. A description of each book is available on the Chapter
website; click the "Books to Buy" link on the home page. Little by
little, Jim's books are finding a wider audience. Considering how many
books are published each year, that's quite an accomplishment. |
January Meeting
Typically, our January meeting centers
around planning for the year's activities. If you have ideas, this is a
good time to present them. We will be meeting at Ron's hangar after
breakfast—be sure to come early and join us for breakfast. Have you met
any pilots who are new in the area? anybody wanting to learn about
flying? Bring 'em along, get 'em started right.
Updates
If you have a change in your contact
information—new address, telephone number, cell phone number, or e-mail
address—please let me know. I am preparing the new member directory to
be sent out with the February newsletter.
Member Bio: Jim Evertsen
Jim Evertsen kindly agreed to write his
bio for us this month. He wanted to know "why me?" Well, I
explained, the reason for having bios is so we all get to know one
another better. They were started by Len Ahrnsbrak when he was the
newsletter editor, and we have continued them ever since. Since we
welcome new members into the Chapter all the time, the bios are
available on the website in the archive of previous issues, with the
name of the "Featured Member" who appears in a particular issue
listed to make them easy to find. There is an incredible amount of
talent "embedded" in the membership of Chapter 1218, as anyone who
browses these bios will discover. So Jim came through for us and
here is his story: |
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Jim Evertsen
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"My name is Jim Evertsen.
My sweetie's name is Christina. I have been interested in flying
since I was a youth. My father would tell me stories of his Air
Force days as a Flight Instructor. I dreamed that someday I would be
able to learn how to fly and enjoy getting to places through the
skies.
"In the early '70s, after being newly married with one son and a
daughter on the way, I thought, 'Now might be the time.' I had a
construction business going and thought, 'Maybe I can trade some
construction for some flying?' I located a flight service in
Litchfield Park, Arizona, that it just so happened, needed a new
hangar built. The agreement was that I build the hangar, and their
instructors would teach me to fly. A trade off. I started in a
Cessna 150, and really enjoyed the time in the air. Ground school
didn't seem as interesting, however.
"I was signed off for my solo cross country. A BIG DAY. I planned my
route to Tucson and back. While following the VOR 'TO' Tucson,
thinking I 'knew better,' I would fly slightly off course because…'I
know it is not that way!!' Well, things on the chart started to not
look the same as what I was seeing below, and I was considering my
options:
1. I could keep on flying THIS course…which would have ended me in
Mexico…nope, no good.
2. Enter Tucson airspace unannounced and plead…'just a student,' or
3. Admit that I was wrong, and ask for help!
"Number 3 obviously being the best option, I contacted Tucson Tower.
'Tucson Tower, Cessna 150 nnnnn' (Pride being swallowed probably
makes a very distinctive sound on the radio.) 'Cessna 150, Tucson
Tower.' I knew that I had to reply because dead air time was a
no-no. So I replied..'Tucson Tower…Cessna 150 nnnnn…(gulp)…I am
lost.' To which a reply came back, 'On my command make a 90-degree
right turn… Cessna 150, turn now.' I immediately made the right
turn, and said, 'I think I am over such-and-such.' The reply was,
'Cessna 150, no, we have you on radar, and proceed on such-and-such
heading.' I really wasn't too [far] off course because their
instructions said that 'in about five minutes you will see the
airport.' As I approached I could see a HUGE airliner on the apron
waiting for…me,…a dumb student who got lost. I landed and got my
logbook signed and vowed to myself, I would always make sure that I
knew where I was from then on.
"On my return flight at 6,500 feet, I started smelling smoke, and
the whole console started vibrating so much I couldn't even read the
gauges. The cockpit was filling with smoke. I thought, 'Oh boy, my
instructor never told me what to do if I had a fire!!!' Thinking the
mixture was too rich, I slowly tried to lean it out a little. Carb
heat?? Maybe that's it. Nope. The only thing I knew for sure was
that I had no power, and I was going down, and would have to LAND
SOMEWHERE BELOW. From my lesson I had just learned, the ground below
just so happened to look like my charts. 'You have got to be
kidding, I can't land on curved roads.' I looked again, and could
see a small strip about 10 miles away, at Eloe, Arizona. I thought I
had better try and make it over there.
"Losing altitude to about 200 feet by now, I crossed the freeway,
and was so close I could see the faces on the drivers of the cars.
All of a sudden I found myself slumped down in the seat and realized
that I had just caught a thermal, which lifted me to a better glide
angle for the airport. I made my approach to final and headed for
the ground. I had enough power to taxi to the apron, and went in and
asked a guy if he could come out and look at my plane. He raised the
cowling and said, 'You're lucky to be standing on the ground. You've
got a busted cylinder.' 'Oh no,' I thought, 'What did I do to this
plane?' He assured me that I didn't do anything to it and suggested
I cancel my flight plan and call my instructor. He said, 'You should
ask your flight service to give you your license right now because
you didn't crash their plane.'
"My family and my construction business was growing, which put a
halt to my flying at that time. After having raised our four kids
and our work all over southern Missouri, I decided to get back into
flying. Construction job sites usually don't have runways, so
helicopters seemed more practical, and would make visiting job sites
much easier. I learned how to fly helicopters in St. Louis. I
purchased a Hughes 269B with lots of component time remaining. I am
currently working on my Commercial and Instrument ratings.
"We love it!!!"
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Jim's
Hughes 269B helicopter
Photograph by Sue Kalhoefer |
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If you attended
the October meeting at John Smith's Aerodrome north of Mountain
Grove, you got a good look at Jim's helicopter when he flew it in. |
Buzz Thunderbee, by Squawk
Squawk is such an astute
observer of bee-havior! I wonder where she gets her ideas…
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