September 2005

Late Summer Greetings, Members!
We are rounding the bend of another season already. Summer was marked by more frequent than usual rain and thunderstorms, putting a real damper on flying. Gas prices were already on their way up when the terrible hurricane hit New Orleans and environs along the Gulf Coast, sending them skyrocketing—with no end in sight. I went on a little cross-country flight Saturday (last chance before Willow Springs Memorial Airport closes for rescheduled renovation) and the FBO at the airport where I landed was saying there had been almost no activity; usually they have so many airplanes on a holiday weekend that they can't find places to park all of them. But as usual, I guess we will get used to this new level and keep on flying!

August Meeting Report
The August meeting was a breakfast meeting at Ron's hangar. It was a beautiful day to be outside. Accordingly, the guys spent quite a bit of time before and after the meeting working on the Chapter hangar. Bob Brantley brought his Bronze Lindy and other Oshkosh memorabilia to the meeting to show us. The Lindy is quite impressive. Congratulations again, Bob. The Falco is a very impressive airplane and deserved to win.

Bob shows the Bronze Lindy, third place award for plans-built aircraft. This is a remarkable achievement.

Front and back of the Bronze Lindy awarded to Bob Brantley for the Falco at Oshkosh.

The judges' signatures.	Falco builders' dinner pass.

Homebuilder's patch.	Showplane mug.

The original expected start date for runway work at Willow Springs was announced as August 22, to take about one month. (Subsequently, the City sent out a letter to those renting hangars that it was expected to take only three weeks. That sounded optimistic, to say the least.)

It was proposed that new welcome signs be constructed for the airport after the runway is finished, a measure which was approved.

Chapter Hangar Work
The Chapter hangar is coming right along now. Those with construction skills have been getting together for frequent work sessions. The framework of the interior walls is in progress this weekend. Cash donations for materials will be gladly accepted—large or small (lots of little ones add up quickly, you know). Your labor is needed, too.

The hangar as it looked on August 13, the day of the last meeting, with walls, roof and insulation complete.
On Saturday, September 3, interior walls are being constructed by Jim, Ron, Tom and Charlie.

Library Gift
A complete library of aviation history was given to Chapter 1218 by Mr. Ted Businger, a longtime friend of Ron White's, who is now in his 80s. It consists of books, magazines, pictures, and memorabilia. It is all catalogued, and presently stored in file boxes in Ron's hangar. It will only require unpacking and organizing on shelves when the hangar is completed. Mr. Businger is being made an honorary member of Chapter 1218. He wants to be present for the dedication of the hangar, and Ron plans to fly to Ash Flat, Arkansas, where he lives, and bring him back to Willow Springs for the ceremony. The entire Chapter thanks Mr. Businger for this gift. It will be a great asset as we plan to present some educational programs, especially to young people interested in aviation.

Storage boxes containing a complete history of aviation. This Popular Science issue is from December 1928.

Young Eagles Events
We had a very successful Young Eagles Rally at West Plains on August 20. Thirty-three Young Eagles participated. Runway work at the airport was finished just three days before the Rally. Five pilots were on hand, and six ground crew and desk workers. We needed every one of them. We were able to fly all the participants in the time allotted. Ray Fine, who was instrumental in setting up this Rally, reports that there were a lot of favorable comments from the Young Eagles and their parents. It was very helpful to have the use of the air conditioned FBO lobby in which to do sign-ups and allow people to stay out of the heat if they chose until time to fly. Likewise, the simulator was in a roof-covered area.

Preflights at Ray Fine's airplane	Bob Bohemier preps a Young Eagle	Justin Williams with Jerry Luna
Jack Bowman helps load Mike's 182	Tom White returns from a flight	A Young Eagle in Clint's Matilda

The West Plains Radio-Controlled Aircraft Club donated a model Messerschmidt 109 to be given away to one lucky Young Eagle. This group meets at Ray Fine's turf field, called Ray's Roost, near West Plains. It was very nice of them to take an interest in the youth and the Rally at West Plains. We had an informal drawing a few days later, and Justin E. Williams, 17, of West Plains, won the model. Justin and his family came to breakfast at Ron's hangar the following Saturday to receive his prize. Doc Openshaw introduced them as our guests, Bob Brantley described the model, and Bob Bohemier (who has flown Justin at two different rallies) made the presentation. The family was also awarded a one-year honorary membership in Chapter 1218. Justin is planning to start flight training. Our records show that Justin has taken six Young Eagles flights over a span of four years, at four different airports, with two pilots (the other pilot is Jerry Luna).

The rest of the "stats" for the Rally are as follows, with the pilots and the number of missions for each:

We were glad to see Jerry Luna again, especially for a Young Eagles Rally. Jerry seems to have a real knack with the kids—they are always very enthusiastic about flying after a ride with him. Jerry was one of our Chapter's first Young Eagles pilots. He, together with Clint Allen and Len Ahrnsbrak, organized the first Young Eagles Rally at Gainesville in April 1999. It was held for a high school science class. They flew twelve kids that day, and became familiar with the process of managing a Rally. The Young Eagles program has been a major focus of Chapter 1218 ever since. To see the complete Chapter 1218 roster of Young Eagles, go to www.eaa1218.org/yeroster.htm.

The ground crew included Gene Pascoe, Don Anderson, and Jim Vokac, who were responsible for preflights and loading kids in the airplanes. Organizing the flow in this job is no small task. They are the key to safety on the flight line. Ray Fine supervised the simulator. Henny Christensen helped me by preparing certificates. They all did a great job. Thank you to everyone for your help! We have flown 144 Young Eagles so far this year.

We were planning some Young Eagles rallies in September and October. At the time, it looked as if the runway would be finished in time for these activities, enabling our Willow Springs-based pilots to get to the other airports-and fly at the Rally during the Food and Forest Festival in Willow Springs. Already, our President, Doc Openshaw, has canceled the Heritage Day Rally in Houston on September 17. The Rally tentatively scheduled at Gainesville's Hootin' 'n' Hollarin' has already been put off until next year. The Rally at Mountain View's Pioneer Day on September 24 is still expected to take place, with pilots from other airports needing to take up the slack for marooned Willow Springs pilots. We will not cancel Food and Forest yet, but it is unlikely that the project will be finished in time for it.

September Meeting Plans
The expected runway improvements at Willow Springs are causing some scheduling uncertainties. After it was announced that the project would begin August 22, our meeting for September was set for 11:00 a.m. at the Hayloft Restaurant in Mountain Grove on September 10. After that, the new start date for the runway was changed to September 12. But the meeting will still be at the Hayloft.

The Fuel Situation
Another problem causing some dislocation in our usual way of doing things is that the fuel tanks at Willow Springs are empty. At this time, the City seems unwilling to fill them again. Besides the price of fuel, there is the problem of availability after Hurricane Katrina. It is unfortunate that the fuel ran out just at the time when the runway project is due to begin (which means no sales for a while), prices are climbing, and fuel is hard to find. Hopefully, the situation will level off or improve in a few months.

Member News
We are sorry about the news that Chuck and Marty Hiett have lost another house. Hurricane Katrina got the one in Diamond Head, Mississippi, which is located on St. Louis Bay between New Orleans and Gulfport. We are glad they themselves were here at the time. Chuck says they will again live in the motor home while they rebuild, that they are now "old hands" at this. You will remember that they lost the house here to fire a couple of years ago. That one has been rebuilt.

Our Birthdays & Anniversaries

Buzz Thunderbee
Buzz Thunderbee is taking a sort of sabbatical leave for a while. I know he will be full of flying adventures to tell about upon his return.

Don't forget the meeting Saturday at the Hayloft, 11:00 a.m., followed by lunch. See you there!

September Meeting Announcement