Last month our meeting was held in Mansfield at the Ghan workshop. This month the meeting will be held in West Plains, at Ryan’s Steak House, at an earlier time than usual--6:30 PM.

President Allen has a great program in store for us. Mr. Steve Long, who serves as the Airworthiness Safety Program Manager at the St. Louis FSDO, will be our guest. The jurisdictional dividing line between the Kansas City and St. Louis FSDOs is the county line dividing Ozark and Howell Counties. So, since the mountain can’t come to us, we are journeying to the mountain.

Mr. Long’s presentation will be of particular interest to all aircraft owners, operators and builders. He will provide guidance on proper entries that should be made by owners, operators or builders in aircraft maintenance records. He will also introduce a new awards program for A&P Technicians.

So, here’s the scoop..........meet Monday, 13 March at Ryan’s Steak House in West Plains, Missouri. Have your food plate on the table at 6:30 so that Mr. Long can begin the presentation as near 7:00 PM as possible.

Jerry has talked to other schools in Ozark County, and will have more rallies in the future. Let’s make this first one of the year a good, safe, enjoyable experience for Young Eagles, volunteers, pilots and onlookers!

Having no crystal ball into which to gaze, there is no way to predict the election outcome. Having observed many such seasons in the past, those of us in the aviation community can await certain initiatives or helpful (!?) programs to be proposed. Whether from the executive or legislative branch, we can await the annual attempt to raid the Airport Trust Fund, and hear of proposed taxes couched in “Washingtonese” as “user fees.”

Hang in there, fellow aviators, while some things change somewhat, much remains the same. When it comes time to write or call your representatives, do so for the good of the aviation community.

After a prolonged tour of Africa and Europe at taxpayers’ expense, and earning my “Ruptured Duck” I came home and enrolled in a flying school south of Chicago. After the failure of a “surefire plan,” I returned to the school to find a 160-acre hole some hundred feet deep (stone quarry).

Several years later (1955), I stopped by a local airport restaurant and met Gordon Glendenning (EAA #9) and Albert Neunteufel (Chapter President, EAA #101) and arranged to go to the upcoming Rockford Convention. Close association with Chapter #101 has lasted 45 years."

The above narrative is absolutely true, but it is a rare EAA member who cannot, on occasion, shame a golfer or fisherman.

I wore mechanic’s coveralls until I retired in 1981. After the war, I was a mechanic for California National Guard and then Hughes Aircraft. I was able to get a Private Pilot License in 1947 by using the GI Bill, like lots of other lucky people.

Benson-type gyro planes were the one and only thing I ever built and I taught myself to fly the first one I built. I enjoyed flying them more than the Aeronca.

We used to stay over night at El Mirage Dry Lake. The lake was 1/2 mile wide and 5 miles long. We could take off and land in any direction, and any time of day unless somebody else was coming in the opposite direction.

Now it is just good to watch other people do the flying and hope they never stop. Good luck to all!"

Thanks to Homer and Willis for sharing their love for aviation. We can always count on these two stalwarts of the chapter to show up whenever there are Young Eagles to supervise, or any meeting is in progress--good weather--lousy weather-- it makes no difference to them! And, how about those 5-digit EAA numbers!

As a junior in high school, I bought a leftover Harley 45--retired military--but still good. The plan--to ride to Stinson Airport in LaGrange, Illinois, every Saturday and some Sundays--clean airplanes, change oil, etc., in the flight school planes. Dick, the owner of the school, agreed. Pay was to be one hour of flight time in a Cub for every two Saturdays I worked. Any flight time I paid for myself was $5.00 per hour plus gas. In my senior year, I bought an Aeronca Chief 1939 model. Cost $300.00, paid $30.00 monthly from my pay at the candy store (nights and weekends). At graduation time I had my private ticket and 150 hours of flight time. I joined the Army Air Corps in the summer of 1948, took basic at Sheppard Field, Wichita Falls, Texas. On 1 January 1949, our uniforms were replaced with blue and khaki, and we were now the United States Air Force.

After basic, things went my way. First, I went to Instrument Specialist School and got my 686 MOS. Next came Aircraft Maintenance School in Rantoul, Illinois, and I got my 747 MOS. Upon completion I was called to Barksdale AFB in Alabama and took a lot of tests. My new orders came--Flight School at Randolph Field, San Antonio, Texas. After Flight School, I was assigned to the Training Command, Advanced Flight Training. We were still flying P-51s and B-26s, but a new era had started to emerge--jets. I went to F-80 Jet School, Kelly Field, San Antonio, Texas, and had a chance to fly F-84s and F-86s. I had a special assignment, my first trip on CIA duty. It lasted only nine months. Now that there was [seemingly] no room for pilots in the Air Force, I left the Air Force in 1951. My second stint with the CIA was in 1968. Caracas, Venezuela, was our primary base, with operations in Quito, Equador, Belize City, or Bogota, Columbia, doing general camera work, transportation, etc. The third stint with the CIA was about 1973, assigned to drug enforcement, flying surveillance in Aerostars and Aero Commanders.

Off to crop dusting in Georgia. I flew special Stearmans and Super Cubs. After 6 months I could see this was not my career--I quit. Next came Delta Airlines. After a short training period, I was off flying co-pilot on a DC-3. Six months later I got my fourth stripe and flew the Atlanta-Miami schedule for a year and a half. I couldn’t stand the schedule--I quit. I then went back to the Chicago area and started a flight school at Hindale Airport, owned by Charlie Feris, who later bought the bankrupt T-Craft factory. We used Cubs, Aeronca 7ACs and 10 Tri Pacers. We sold airplanes, too. This was the first flight club in the U.S. I ran an ad one day in the Chicago Tribune: “JOIN OUR FLIGHT CLUB - $100.00. FLY FOR $5.00 HOUR.” I went home on Sunday with enough to finance what I wanted to do. Next year I sold the club and flight school for a great profit. Then I bought a new Piper Apache and I was up and running with my new project, Executive Airlines, at Midway Airport, Chicago. At the same time I built my own airport west of Chicago called Brookridge (look on your charts). We sold lots with runway access. What a success! A wonderful project. While running Executive Airlines, I was Mayor Daley’s consultant to the organization and construction of O’Hare Field in Chicago--a proud achievement for me. Upon completion of O’Hare, I established my offices at Butler Aviation and had our ramp space.

My second aircraft was a twin Navion by Temko. This was a marvelous flying airplane. I later bought many Twin Beeches, Lockeed 12A, Cessna 310s and 320s, Aero Commander 680E and 569E, many new Aztecs, two Lear Jets and one Aerostar. Later I started our offices at Meigs Field, the downtown airport at Chicago.

It has been my great privilege to have flown some great people--Jackie Kennedy, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Walter Cronkite, the Smothers Brothers, R. P. Bygel, president of Montgomery Ward. We had many divisions: Special Freight, News Agencies (NBC, CBS, and ABC Network News).

I've been retired from aviation, except for personal flying, since 1989. My total flight time to date is under 19,000 hours. It has been a great career with lots of challenges and rewards."