Hello, Everybody!
I purposely delayed getting
this newsletter together so I could report to you about
our first Young Eagles Rally of the season, in Houston
for the Emmett Kelly Clown Festival. A lot of planning
and work went into the preparation for this event because
it incorporated several new projects, some of which were
experimented with during the winter and early spring. A
couple of these projects are in cooperation with South
Central MPA, too. One is the flight simulator; the other
is the "airplane" train. Henny Christensen
really picked up on the development of the flight
simulator and has spent many hours working out bugs and
adding nice details since finally getting the hardware
with which to do it. The other new introduction is the
table where younger children make paper airplanes. This
activity was introduced at Mountain Grove, but we didn't
present it at Houston because we really had our hands
full for a while (who's complaining, though?).
Young
Eagles
We flew 81 Young Eagles in our scheduled two-hour
session, the end of which was marked by increasing
bumpiness as the weather started to change. Eight pilots
participated. They were Bob Obert of Gainesville in his
Cessna 180; Howard Wolford, a brand-new EAA member, of
Houston in his Mooney; Joe Stockard, also of the Houston
area in his Piper Arrow; Mike Vaughn of Mountain View in
his Cessna 172; Tom White of Willow Springs in the Cessna
170; Dan Gilbert of West Plains in the Cessna 150; Jerry
Luna of Gainesville in his Cessna 150, and Ben Hurtt of
Mountain Grove in his Beech Sport. All went smoothly,
thanks to a great ground crew including Gene Pascoe and
Dave Altis. Thanks to Charlie Ward, Bob and I were seated
under a canopy, permitting us to see the computer screen
so we could record our Young Eagles and print their
certificates.
Marilyn Tilley was pulled off the flight line and became
the "engineer" for the barrel
"airplane" train. It was always full and she
was kept busy.
As we browse through our lists of Young Eagles, we find
some youngsters who are quite enterprising and eager to
get into airplanes. The caveat on the Young Eagles
application does not prohibit a child from taking more
than one flight, but it says that first timers will be
given priority, and certainly that should always be the
case on the same day. However, in the ranks of those who
have had more than one flight, we see that some are
enthusiastic enough to make the trip to airports far from
home in order to get another ride. Among those, we have
found a brother and sister from the Houston area who,
between them, have taken rides at three different
airports in three different kinds of airplanes with four
different pilots. There are some other similar examples.
I think kids like this are the kind who are likely to
learn to fly!
The simulator was also in use. It is designed to give a
prospective student pilot the "feel" of flying
in a training airplane. At least that was the intention.
We hear some folks flew jet aircraft.
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Charlie Ward and Tom
White relax on the float as Young Eagles flights
wind down. |
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We
were very fortunate to have a narrow weather window in
which to fit the Young Eagles flights at Houston Memorial
Airport. Most of the preceding week was marked by
thunderstorms with lots of wind, rain, and hail. On one
day when I had been at Houston and was coming home, I had
to scoot from one overpass to another to hide from the
hail. Talk about noisy! The spring storm activity
returned in the afternoon and evening following the Rally
and produced several tornados in Missouri.
The
Parade
The float debuted in the parade. It says Experimental
Aircraft Association on one side and Missouri
Pilots Association on the other! It has a
lighted grass runway, a hangar, a beacon, and a
population of airplanes. Jim and Millie Tausworthe set up
a table at the parade and sold some of Jim's aviation
books.
May
Meeting at Poplar Bluff
And just think, we have
other opportunities to play in May. Our May meeting is
next Saturday and will be a "tailgate meeting"
at Poplar Bluff, where Clint Allen will be performing in
the air show. Drive, fly, bum a ride in an empty seat, or
whatever it takes to get there. We will be treated to
sneaking in the back door of the café, so we won't have
to wait in line to eat. Usually, we don't take the
meetings so far from the home territory, but we want to
support Clint, so let's try our best to get there. The
airport closes at 10:30 a.m. and the air show starts at
11:30 a.m., so the meeting will be at 10:30 a.m.
Cookout
at Taus River Ranch
Then, on May 24, we are invited to a cookout in Jim and
Millie's rebuilt hangar in celebration of Memorial Day
and the privilege of being Americans. If you remember, we
missed this event last year when the hangar was destroyed
by a tornado. We should be there around 11:00 and be sure
to bring lawn chairs and a covered dish or dessert. And,
by the way, Jim is close to completing the repairs on
Killer Bee, the ultralight airplane. In addition to
enjoying their hospitality, the Chapter will again
benefit from the donation of twenty of Jim's latest book,
Voodoo'd, to be sold at $15 each. This book is the
first one published of a series of murder mysteries Jim
wrote, completely different from the aviation stories
you've come to love. Now you will see just how diverse
his writing talent is. I always detect an underlying
thread of hidden humor as he weaves in minute details he
has observed about people over the years.
The
Last Meeting
At our April meeting, in Mountain Grove, five pilots flew
23 Young Eagles. Then we had a meeting in the pilots
lounge. It was a beautiful day for a barbecue. Lloyd
Darter cooked up yummy hamburgers and hot dogs with all
the trimmings, followed by a potluck of desserts brought
by members.
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| At the April
meeting, Ben runs through the agenda, while the
smell of lunch wafts through the open windows. As
the meeting ends, Lloyd cooks up hot dogs and
hamburgers while the visiting starts. |
During
the preceding week, Ben Hurtt flew a group of eight Young
Eagles from a home schooling group, and in the afternoon
following, Mike Vaughn flew 13 Young Eagles from a
Mennonite school. We now have over 700 Young Eagles
logged for our Chapter. Nationally, there are over
893,000.
Learning
Project
At the invitation of Ben
Hurtt and the Christian school in Mountain Grove where
his children attend, Bill Ghan and Gene Pascoe have
started a new learning project with the children. They
introduced them to homebuilding by getting them started
with building the ribs of an EAA biplane. Gene
"premanufactured" some kits of precut parts for
the ribs, which the students then assembled under Bill's
and Gene's tutelage. They caught on quickly, and became
very enthusiastic about this "real" project in
aviation. The project will be resumed during the next
school year. As with many things that start small, I
imagine this one will have growing interest.
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The
Christian school is adopting an aviation theme to
integrate classroom learning. Boys assemble the
first wing ribs of an EAA biplane under
supervision of Gene Pascoe and their instructor. |
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These kids are happy
with their accomplishment. And this is just the
beginning! |
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Wright Flyer
Of course, there is the Wright Flyer project to be
completed. Now that the weather is warmer, it will be
moving along at a rapid clip. Some engine work was done
during the winter. The project is registered, the tail
number assigned as N7073Q. The examiner has mandated the
installation of basic flight instruments for
certification. The major work in the next few months will
be dressing the airframe with fabric and applying dope.
Come one, come all on work days each Wednesday.
Member
News
All of our sick and injured members for whom we've been
praying are out of the hospital and making good progress.
Phyllis is up and around following surgery, using a
walker, but keeping her leg elevated per instructions;
John Zook is back at it and "feeling great."
Bill Marx is out of the hospital and has been seen
driving his pickup truck. We applaud all of them for
their determination. Never give up, guys.
Chuck Hiett sold his Grumman Traveler to a buyer in
Tennessee and delivered it to him. Now what, Chuck?
Our son, Craig, who with our grandson Kyle, many of you
met at the March meeting, passed his checkride on April
19 in a Tomahawk. We, of course, are quite proud of him.
Our other son, Eric, is planning on resuming his flying
lessons in upcoming months.
In
Other News…
Hey, didn't you all really enjoy seeing the President
land on the USS Abraham Lincoln? The very next day, the
news mentioned several times the part general aviation
can play in homeland security. It's the first favorable
mention we've had in the press in a long, long time.
Let's hope to see more of it. EAA has now joined with
AOPA in sponsoring the Airport Watch program.
Buzz
Thunderbee by Squawk
Buzz, we know you are
enthusiastic about teaching
all the little bugs to fly. But
take it easy on Auntie Ant—
after all, she's not a winged
ant.
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Last Minute Things
Well, that's it for this month, except for a little
contingency planning. We hope to see all of you at Poplar
Bluff on Saturday. But if the weather is bad, and the
forecast says there is a definite possibility of that,
call Ron's hangar before you head for Poplar Bluff,
because we will meet there for breakfast if the air show
is canceled. The number is 417-469-3708. If there's no
answer, then Poplar Bluff is on. Again, the airport will
be closed at 10:30 and that's when we'll have the
meeting. See you there.
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