Airport association member Chad Williams flew his 1960 Cessna 150 to Georgia on November 10, where he traded it in on a "new" 1958 Cessna 172. He brought the 172 to Boone County Airport the next day. For more than a year Williams has been looking for an affordable four-seat airplane to accommodate his growing family.
Hangar Space: There are several hangar vacancies available. Anyone desiring to base an aircraft at the airport or use the maintenance hangar will be required to join the association. For more information contact Michael Mossman, association secretary, or see the website http://www.booneairport.org.
Young Eagles
Editorial Comments Sought
Calendar of Events
April 17-23, 2007 — Sun 'n Fun Fly-In, Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL), Lakeland FL. For more information see http://www.Sun-N-Fun.org
June 1-2, 2007 — EAA Southwest Regional — The Texas Fly-In, Hondo Municipal Airport (HDO), Hondo TX. For more information see http://www.SWRFI.org
June 8-10, 2007 — Golden West EAA Regional Fly-In — Yuba County Airport (MYB), Marysville CA. For more information see http://www.GoldenWestFlyin.org
June 23-24, 2007 — Rocky Mountain EAA Regional Fly-In — Front Range Airport (FTG), Watkins CO. For more information see http://www.RMRFI.org
July 11-15, 2007 — Northwest EAA Fly-In — Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO), Arlington WA. For more information see http://www.NWEAA.org
July 23-29, 2007 — EAA AirVenture Oshkosh — Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh WI. For more information see http://www.AirVenture.org
For details on EAA Chapter fly-ins and other local aviation events, visit http://www.eaa.org/events
Next Meeting
On the Radar:
Chapter 1311 Board of Directors for 2006
Newsletter editor: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie@insightbb.com
Chapter 1311 Board of Directors for 2007
Newsletter editor: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie@insightbb.com
Classified Ads
FOR SALE: Four sets of very nice Koss headphones. Contact Michael Mossman michaelandkatie@insightbb.com for details or to make offer. Proceeds benefit Chapter 1311.
FOR SALE: Three lighted and adjustable "flight desks" for aircraft installation. Contact Michael Mossman michaelandkatie@insightbb.com for details or to make offer. Proceeds benefit Chapter 1311.
FOR SALE: Stinson L-5 Landing gear Struts. Contact Kenny Shull 317-539-5542.
AIRCRAFT WANTED: Sport Pilot aircraft. Contact Gus Gustafson at 317-293-4430 or dalefaye@msn.com
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: Cessna 150, currently in Florida. Contact Gus Gustafson at 317-293-4430 or dalefaye@msn.com
WANTED TO BUY: Hirth 2702 engine with a 2.59 G-50 reduction unit. Contact Doug Moncreiff at 317-280-1621 or cmoncreiff@netzero.net
WANTED TO BUY: Used 4-foot brake and 4-foot shear. Contact Troy Grover, 317-919-6594 (cell phone), rv6grover@sbcglobal.net
WANTED TO BUY: Headsets and intercom. Contact Mark Rinehart, 317-745-2466, capt_riney@yahoo.com
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: '57 C172 TT approx. 3700 hr. Engine approx. 700 hr since overhaul. Good paint, nice interior. VFR: Narco Mode C, Narco 720 channel comm.; Horton STOL kit w/gap seals. Last annual 6/06. Hangared at Franklin, IN. $30,500. Reason for selling: starting a project. Tom Chapman, cell 317-625-3126, home 317-888-6866, tschapman1@aol.com
2006 Membership Roster
Did we miss anybody? Please let us know; we'll get it updated right away.
Airplane Spotter
Quote of the Month
November's Program
Skip and his financee Kay were supposed to get married in March, just before he got his draft notice. Receiving his draft notice at the same time as a friend, the two of them signed up for the Buddy Program, which was really a volunteer draft. After basic training, he didn't work very hard at getting high scores on his military competency test; his heart wasn't in the military, but they both applied for aircraft maintenance at Fort Rucker.
At Fort Rucker, Budny was watching the helicopters fly in and out while he toiled away at fixing them and thought that flying would be more fun than bending wrenches. So he approached his sergeant and asked for a reassignment. That's when he learned about the consequences of the military's tests. In those days the trainee's scores were averages between Math and Verbal. To get into flight training the applicant (or draftee) needed a score of at least 115; Budny got a 108. Realizing the implications of his previous test, he asked to take it again. He was told that he'd have to wait six months, and learned that he would get only one more chance. So he said "forget it," then waited for his chance.
Budny found himself at Leavenworth, where he was a crew chief. At Leavenworth, the helicopters were there strictly for the officers to get their monthly four-hour flight requirement for flight pay. He took his military test again and passed it. A full bird colonel at Leavenworth took to Skip, finally getting him into flight school.
When entering Flight School, the student must sign up or three years. Budny already had one year and 10 months of service. In February of 1964, with 109 hours of flight experience, all of it in helicopters, Budny shipped off for Vietnam.
When Budny went to Vietnam, only 16,000 Americans were there at the time. Since the United States hadn't declared war, those 16,000 Americans were classified as "Advisors." As advisors, Budny thinks that some of what he was asked to do was technically illegal, as they weren't supposed to fight. But all of their units helicopters were fully armed, often flying at over gross weight, fully loaded with ordnance.
Budny says that during those years, anytime an aircraft pilot engaged a target or had to fire, that portion of the flight qualified as a mission. With a typical range of a couple of hours, one flight often earned credit for several missions. By the time Budny left Vietnam he had about 667 hours of combat flight time, flying in 1314 missions.
Budny was shot down twice, and once escaped what would have been a sure disaster because of a little additional preflighting. That day his unit had flown in combat and returned to base for more fuel and ammunition. They were ordered to power back up and return to battle. But Skip had been thoroughly coached on preflighting his aircraft, especially on the controls. He related that if the aircraft could be controlled the aircraft was survivable; without controls it was not. So before starting back up he ran his hands across the rotor hub. Sure enough, two of the bolts holding the hub together had been shot out. It was only a matter of moments before the other two either vibrated out or failed.
After his tour of Vietnam, Budny spent his last 18 months was as a flight instructor at Fort Rucker. He thought of making a career out of the military, but decided to pursue airlines instead.
After leaving the Army, Budny bought a former military Hiller that had been coverted to civilian use. He owned the Hiller for 18 years. At about the same time he got his fixed wing rating at Enterprise, Alabama. Already having a commercial helicopter rating, he soloed in a Piper Cherokee, only needing 15 hours for fixed wing commercial. Since he starting his flight training in helicopters instead of in airplanes, he aquired some unusual flying skills, but also had his share of problems with ratings and bureacracy due to the rare circumstances of his flight training.
Budny headed down to the Indianapolis GADO to work out the problems and found out that the South Bend GADO had already called ahead to Indianapolis, warning them that Lake Central had a pilot without instrument rating. There he was told that they didn't know what to do about it and couldn't proceed. His boss at Lake Central understood the problem and promised him the use of airplanes and other resources to properly qualify. Unfortunately, the FAA didn't want to budge, and Budny couldn't fly until it was resolved. At the time another airline had a pilot who was flying Electras with only a commercial ticket and no ATP rating. The incident had embarrassed the FAA and was now watching the situation a lot more closely.
At Lake Central, Budny started flying DC-3s, which were quickly being replaced with Nord 262 turboprops. He was furloughed seven months after starting. After the Lake Central and Allegheny merger, Budny got sent to Pittsburgh to qualify on the Convair 580.
Budny started a Mini 500 helicopter kit, but has now diverted his attention to participating in the restoration of an H-model Huey helicopter that saw service in Vietnam, qualifying it for true warbird status. Based at Indianapolis Metro Airport and sharing hangar space with a Shrike, it will be used for Search & Rescue and making the local airshow circuit. Budny says that he goes to work on it every Thursday evening, and the group hopes to have it flying by late spring or early summer.
Go back to November 2006 newsletter Section 1
EAA Young Eagles Update: By newsletter publication date more than 1,281,381 Young Eagles have taken their first airplane ride.
If you have an opinion on any story that appears in the newsletter, or any other aviation-related issue, we want to read about it. We will make editorial space available for your responsible comment. Please contact the newsletter editor at 7-765-483-9533. Or just write what you wish and send it as an email to michaelandkatie@insightbb.com.
Chapter 1311 will try to list the aviation-related events in Indiana and surrounding states, plus the major events across the country. Do you know of an event that isn't listed? Please inform the newsletter editor to get it included.
January 11-14, 2007 — U.S. Sport Aviation Expo, Sebring Regional Airport (SEF), Sebring FL. For more information see http://www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.com
The next meeting will be Saturday, December 9, 6:30 p.m. at Dale and Faye Gustafson's home, Indianapolis. Program: Christmas Party. Directions: Will be included on the invitations, which will be sent via regular mail to all members, and via email.
December 9 - Christmas Party at the Gustafsons
January 3, 2007 - Program TBA
February 7, 2007 - Program TBA
March 7, 2007 - Program TBA
April 4, 2007 - Program TBA
May 2, 2007 - Program TBA
June 7, 2007 - Program TBA
July 4, 2007 (date subject to change) - Program TBA
August 1, 2007 - Program TBA
September 5, 2007 - Program TBA
October 3, 2007 - Program TBA
November 7, 2007 - Program TBA
December 5, 2007 (date subject to change) - Christmas Party
President: Dale "Gus" Gustafson, 1-317-293-4430, dalefaye@msn.com
Vice President: Dennis Crawley, 1-317-387-1737, Crawley27@comcast.net
Secretary: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie@insightbb.com
Treasurer: Vern Sullenger, 1-317-839-8728, sullenger@iquest.net
Director: Dave Helton, 1-317-745-7916, dhelton@iquest.net
Director: Glen Matejcek, 1-317-839-5444, aerobubba@earthlink.net
Director: Paul Vogel, 1-317-272-2106, pvogel@indy.rr.com
President: Dale "Gus" Gustafson, 1-317-293-4430, dalefaye@msn.com
Vice President: Doug Moncreiff, 317-280-1621, cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net
Secretary: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie@insightbb.com
Treasurer: Vern Sullenger, 1-317-839-8728, sullenger@iquest.net
Director: Dave Helton, 1-317-745-7916, dhelton@iquest.net
Director: Glen Matejcek, 1-317-839-5444, aerobubba@earthlink.net
Director: Paul Vogel, 1-317-272-2106, pvogel@indy.rr.com
FOR SALE: Custom composite 6.24"-wide panel flush-mount for Garmin GPS 296 or 396, $75 Contact Larry Rush k9hxt@sbcglobal.net
Current as of October 10, 2006
See our chapter roster online at http://www.eaa1311.org/memberroster.html
NAME EMAIL ADDRESS PROJECT(S) BEETHAM, John jabeetham@earthlink.net Fokker D VII, Piper Dakota BROYLES, John JohnC-DELTA@worldnet.att.net — BUDNY, Skip skbudny@tds.net Mini 500 helicopter BYRUM, Jon jbyrum@byrumarchitects.net RV-7A CHAPMAN, Jeff PoP6756@aol.com Piper Tri-Pacer CHAPMAN, Tom tschapman1@aol.com 1957 Cessna 172 CLARK, David davecpd@iquest.net 1946 Aeronca Chief CRAWLEY, Dennis Crawley27@comcast.net Grumman Tiger DAVIDSON, Ginger planecrazy13@att.net RV3 DAVIDSON, Rich ifitsoldillflyit@msn.com RV3 GRIFFIN, Jim jimg@netcapade.net Questar Venture GROVER, Troy rv6grover@sbcglobal.net RV10 GUSTAFSON, Dale DALEFAYE@msn.com Piper J-4 HELTON, Dave dhelton@iquest.net Piper Tri-Pacer HENDERSON, Robert robert_10215@msn.com Christavia MK2 HILL, Ken khill5@indy.rr.com RV-9A KOPESCHKA, Dave iedvk@iquest.net Little Wing Autogyro KOPESCHKA, Steve stephen.j.kopeschka@rolls-royce.com Little Wing Autogyro LeBARON, Tim tjlebaron@sbcglobal.net RV-4, RV8, Breezy, Ercoupe LEWIS, Jimmy rudder4@aol.com RV-7A LONG, Chuck charles.long@GM.com Zenair 601 HDS MATEJCEK, Glen aerobubba@earthlink.net RV8 MATEJCEK, Robin aerobubba@earthlink.net RV8 MCCORD, PAUL pfmccord@gmail.com RV-4, Kolb FireStar LSA MELCHIOR, Dirk d-r-melchior@msn.com F1 Rocket MONCREIFF, Doug cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net JDT Hi-Max MOSSMAN, Michael mmossman@fujifilmgs.com Zenair 601 HDS NG, Bart bng@math.iupui.edu RV-7A NOLAN, Bill — — REYNOLDS, Gary n98gr@aol.com RV6A RINEHART, Mark capt_riney@yahoo.com Kolb Mark III Classic ROBBINS, Will werobbins@flightline.com — ROEVER, Doug dmroever@iquest.net RV-7 Tail kit ROLDAN, Erick Phone 765-482-7287 Ducted fan research ROTTLER, Mark mark@rottler.org — RUBERSON, Bryan bruberson@aol.com Aeronca Chief RUSH, Larry k9hxt@sbcglobal.net RV6A, RV-8 SHULL, Kenny Phone 317-539-5542 Helping Others SHUMAKER, Kim kkrv-9a@sbcglobal.net RV-9A STUCKER, David d.j.stucker@worldnet.att.net — SULLENGER, Vern sullenger@iquest.net Cherokee 140, RV-7A UTLEY, Ted ted.utley@in.ngb.army.mil — UTTERBACK, Tom Phone 317-839-2505 — VOGEL, Paul pvogel@indy.rr.com Sonex VONDERSAAR, Bob rvondersaar@austin.rr.com Steen Skybolt VONDERSAAR, Teresa tvondersaar@ausin.rr.com Steen Skybolt 
This month's feature is this Waco biplane, which was spotted at Boone County Airport on October 14. Owned by Paul Kite, the airplane was recently restored.
(photo courtesy of EAA Chapter 729, Columbus)
"Covering 2,441 miles in 3-1/4 hours less than nothing is a trick. Some scientist figured it out after the earth was proved to be round. I had it impressed on me when we took off from Khabarovsk at 6:56 Monday night, June 29, and arrived at Solomon, Alaska, at 2:38 in the afternoon of the same Monday, June 29." From Around the World in Eight Days, by Wiley Post and Harold Gatty
By Michael Mossman
Chapter 1311 member and former airline pilot Skip Budny started his career with rather humble beginnings. Not interested in college but being very good at mechanical skills, he attended an automotive maintenance trade school in Chicago, specializing in auto body mechanics. Budny went to class day and night, completing the six-month course in three months. He soon found a job with a Chicago auto dealer and thought that his life was set.
Budny's basic training helicopter was in a Hiller H-23 D-model helicopter. From there he transitioned to a Bell 47, A and B models. He was qualified to fly the tandem rotor aircraft, too.
When asked if Skip and his buddy wanted to fly armed helicopters, they thought about it for about five seconds then said yes. Five minutes later they were in the UTT Unit, which was the first armed helicopter company in the history of armed services. Although the designation changed three times, it was known as the UTT for Utility, Tactical and Transport. The unit consisted of three platoons, with about 25 aircraft, all armed. Initially equipped with "A" model Hueys, they were quickly upgraded with the more powerful "B" model Hueys. Eventually, the unit flew Cobras.
When Skip was flying helicopters, the FAA had no instrument rating for helicopters, although he had the qualification and experience in the Army. He got his fixed wing commercial rating Cherokees, then went on to fly the DC-3s for Lake Central Airlines. After flying for Lake Central, he went on vacation in California, meeting up with Bob Hunt, who was flying for San Francisco Airways. Hunt told him that the FAA was instituting a Helicopter Instrument Rating, so he hurried to the South Bend GADO (now FSDO) office to apply for the rating. Around that time the FAA had recently converted to a computerized record system and had no provision to document his rating. That's when he found out that through a bureaucratic SNAFU he didn't have the official instrument rating on paper! And he was already flying airliners for Lake Central at the time.
Finally, Budny says that he confronted the FAA and told them that there were about 40 or more other pilots with identical qualifications and circumstances who were flyiing for the airlines. He said that whatever they did to him they'd have to do to the rest of them, but they'd have to find out who they were. And if he got disqualified he'd go to the press and let them know what the FAA was letting slip through the cracks. Finally, the FAA relented at granted him his civilian instrument rating.
He eventually checked out as a DC-9 co-pilot, and finally moved over the the left seat in the DC-9. By the time his career was winding to a close, he was qualified on the Boeing 757 and 767s. But when he got to the Boeings, the airline was starting to have some serious financial difficulty so they were offering the more senior pilots a buy-out to get them off of the payroll. Budny was six years from retirement but thought about his poor prospects of getting his retirement from Allegheny, let alone another lump sum buyout in the future. So he retired early and moved back to Indianapolis from Pittsburgh.