July 2001

Our Precious Freedom
Hello again. As I write this, we are just a few hours away from celebrating another Fourth of July and, as you read this, it is my wish and hope that you all were able to enjoy this day in all its glory, and that you also took time out to reflect on the great freedoms and opportunities offered us in this country. This includes your right to the airspace above you. Unlike the situation in other countries, we still have rules and regulations here that -- in most cases -- mean not obstructing your right to take to the air and enjoy the miracle of flight.

July Meeting & Thinking of Oshkosh
Now let's talk about our next meeting. It will be at the White's hangar Saturday, July 14, at 9:00 AM sharp and breakfast will be served. We will not have an official program but will take care of business as usual and after that we will have a good hangar session and talk about anything that anybody wants to bring up. I would like to see how many in our group will be Oshkosh bound (Tuesday, July 24-Monday, July 30). Maybe we can coordinate this trip. If you think Oshkosh is too far, your next chance at a major fly-in will be the Southwest Fly-In, which takes place in Abilene, Texas, on September 21-22, 2001. More information can be found in Sport Aviation or the EAA.org home page on the 'Net. Someone else may have another idea that he or she wants to discuss. So all come and enjoy a Saturday morning with us at the beautiful Willow Springs airport.

Maybe here is a good place to apologize for the flub-up of two different meeting times given in our last newsletter. To start with, what you read in the text is always the correct meeting time. This is one of the few times when what I say goes. Sue, my wife, does the formatting and addressing of the letter. Well, what happened to her last time was kind of like what happened to my "Cousin Harry" down in Tampa a few years back. Harry is a very good and conscientious pilot. When I fly with him, I always think that he is so careful that he is a little too loud with reading off his checklist and have the feeling that he wants to end every check with a loud "SIR!" Well, one day when Harry was downwind, just when he came to the "Gear down and locked, Sir!" part, the tower called and told him that his traffic was turning base and to follow the blue-and-white Cessna. Harry looked and looked and couldn't find the Cessna. Finally the tower informed him that the Cessna had landed and he should turn on base. Relieved, Harry turned base, gave it a couple of notches of flaps and then, cruuunch, Harry landed. As you might by now guess, he had been distracted and had not completed the checklist. As a result, he forgot to put the gear down.

Well, something similar happened to Sue. Just as she was reworking the template from the previous meeting, the phone rang and somebody tried to invite her to two free nights at the XYZ timeshare and all she had to do was attend three showings of the place. While that spiel was going on, the call-waiting beep came on and when Sue answered that, someone told her about the five cents a minute phone calls and unlimited free calling from one minute before midnight till midnight on Sunday nights. Well, Sue blew a gasket and totally forgot to finish changing the template from an afternoon meeting to a morning meeting. My apologies to anyone who showed up in the afternoon and found the hangar locked.

Last Month's Speaker

Our program last month was presented by Kent Dean Nichols of Salem, Missouri. He introduced us to a new concept in flight, which is a way to go from a vertical hover and slow flight to high speed forward flight. His idea won him first prize in a NASA competition and he has demonstrated it in tethered flight. He spends hours in calculating and testing. The presentation was followed by a discussion of how to avoid the pitfalls inherent in such a mode of flight. He also shared where he wants to go with his idea. Kent said he has a personal interest in helping get critically ill patients to medical facilities in the least amount of time. Right now, Kent thinks there will be a great niche for such an aircraft in the air ambulance and search-and-rescue fields because of the ability of the craft to get in and out of tight spaces. Once a patient has been loaded, it could proceed at speeds of 400+ knots to the nearest trauma center and land on the roof. Kent, we all wish you good luck and much success in the development of your invention.

Clint Allen & Young Eagles are OK in OK

In the "Where Is Waldo?" department, I'm showing you a picture of our own Clint Allen at the airshow in Oklahoma. Clint is now in his seventies and still performs aerobatics at airshows. In fact, he did another airshow on Saturday, June 16, at Joplin. Clint, I really hope you can keep this up for a long time yet, because I was thinking of you when I signed a 20-year hangar lease at Mansfield! I might also add that 109 Young Eagles were introduced to the joy of flight at that airshow, which was held at Blackwell-Tonkawa (Oklahoma) Community Airport. Len Ahrnsbrak accompanied him and filed this report. "This is an airport located just off I-35 halfway between the two little towns. Two other airshow performers were there, as well as a radio-controlled group from Enid, OK. The EAA Chapter from Ponca City, OK, flew 109 Young Eagles during the morning hours. It was a busy day." Len brought back some terrific pictures, including the one of Clint.

Perfectly Quiet!

Our Mountain Grove Fly-in
This brings me to our own fly-in and Young Eagles Rally at Mountain Grove on June 21. I had no sooner landed and walked over to the hangars when I heard an aircraft on downwind. Suddenly, the engine went dead silent and smoke began trailing behind the blue-and-white airplane. Uh oh, I thought, that's all we need -- begin the fly-in with a crash. But, no fear, it was Clint making one of his famous dead-stick spot landings. Another demonstration that gave many of us an adrenalin rush later in the day was Lacy Martin flying his Benson gyrocopter. At times his turns were so tight and low that I thought he was practicing to become a giant weedeater. Hey, Lacy, did I see you spit out grass after you got out of that contraption? We all had a great time though. The weather cooperated, and the food was super-good (hamburgers and hot dogs and, at the Smith hangar, Joyce was letting us eat all the donuts we could). To everybody's great relief, Ben Hurtt donated the rental of two PortaPotties, which almost made me think I was at Oshkosh. West Plains Air Evac was on hand to let us take a good look at their helicopter, and also to assist had there been any emergency. We thank them for that.

Here are some of the statistics: At noon I counted 26 aircraft on the ground or in the air taking part in the fly-in. Lloyd Darter was the air boss and three aircraft provided rides for 32 new Young Eagles. Jerry Luna flew 7 kids, Bill Marx flew 5 kids, and the valiant Michael Vaughn flew 20 kids. On the ground, the Young Eagles operation was supervised by Robert Harshman, our Young Eagles Coordinator. He was skillfully assisted by Bill Ghan, James Wiley and Gene Pascoe. These three not only made sure the children got in and out of the airplanes safely, but also showed them the controls, engine and propellers so that the kids' experience would be more complete and educational. A hearty "well done" and "thanks" to you all.

Gene Pascoe Prepares a Young Eagle for His Flight

Ben Hurtt demonstrated his "Bumblebug" to some interested prospective pilots. That little airplane truly is a performer. It seemed to get off the ground with ease when the rest of us were struggling to get airborne in the summer heat.