Even though I departed early, I wasn't the first to arrive. Some friends of the field flew in with their very pretty KitFox, powered by a Rotax 2-cycle engine. Brian Ruberson, who is now based on the field, had his ward-winning Aeronca Chief out for display. Arriving shortly thereafter was Ray Johnson from Marion IN, with his matching Aeronca Chief. A very fast GlasAir flew in, too. And Vern and Lou Sullenger flew in with their pretty Piper Cherokee. Several other chapter members drove in for the fun and were joined by a few of the airstrip tenants, with some of their flying their trike aircraft to make themselves official fly-in "guests."

Pam's Place is a small airport "community" located near Eminence IN, with a very smooth and nicely-maintained grass runway. A new grass runway, running approximately north and south, is in the planning stage, and at lease one airplane departed toward the south from that field. "Pam" has several nice, new hangars erected and are full of tenants but the only home on the field appears to be the Emingers. They also have a super nice hangar/workshop on their property, where Mark keeps his property maintenance equipment and his Christavia project.

Tina set up a table with a small skillet and cooked some very satisfying and delicious sausage, egg and cheese breakfast sandwiches, which were complimented by doughnuts, coffee and juice. I had just two of those sandwiches and had to skip lunch later that day. In fact, if you ate just a few of them it could seriously alter your CG and gross weight calculations!

As usually happens during the summer flying season, its gets pretty hot early in the day, and flying on a sunny day under a bubble canopy can be downright uncomfortable, so I had to plan on departing while the flight home could still be enjoyable. I took off just after Johnson, who departed the pattern to the east. I stayed in the pattern and flew a low pass over the field the pulled up, pointed the nose north, and headed for home.

Katie and I were in Michigan City for a little beach time on Sunday, July 12. While researching fun activities for the weekend, she discovered a fly-in breakfast planned at Michigan City Airport that day and added it to our schedule. That morning we drove over to the airport to see what they had and get a little breakfast.

Michigan City has a very nice municipal airport with a well-maintained runway and taxiways, ample ramp space, tidy hangars and a beautiful FBO building. When we arrived the grass parking area was filling up with cars and the ramp was covered with airplanes. I couldn't tell how many flew in for the breakfast or how many were either transient or based on the field. Nonetheless, there were a lot of airplanes there, making an impressive "static display."

The folks at the field were offering airplane rides for a suggested donation of $30. They had several airplanes hopping rides and a good waiting list of people ready to ride, so the business was brisk.

We all love to see the airplanes at a fly-in breakfast, but the real reason to go is for the food. Michigan City's EAA Chapter 966 had set up their pancake breakfast in the main maintenance hangar, but they had a twist to the food preparation: they hired a guy to do it. It turns out it was a very good move. Jim Kuper, "The Pancake Man" from Council Bluffs, IA, was the only guy cooking pancakes. The Pancake Man had a portable propane griddle about 12 feet wide and a rack-mounted batter sprayer that squirted out appropriate doses of batter for four pancakes in one stroke. By the time he got to the end of the griddle from left to right, the first pancakes were ready to turn over. He had it timed so that when he got them all turned over the first ones were ready to serve. And serve them he did. He would hold a stack of plates and serve up four pancakes per diner, with the line moving much more quickly then I have ever seen a pancake breakfast move.

The Pancake Man put on his own little show, too, flipping pancakes in the air and chatting with the breakfast diners. Every once in a while he would pick out someone and ask them to step back from the line, then toss pancakes one at a time onto their plate. Anyone who caught all four would be treated to a round of applause. And if you wanted a second serving, you just had to stand up and call out; he would toss them across the room to you. Naturally, quite a few pancakes were "Mulligans," but he cooked the pancakes so fast that the line never stopped moving.

Kuper appeared to have just two volunteer assistants, one mixing batter and another tending to the sausage. The chapter had its share of volunteers selling tickets, serving drinks and cleaning up the tables, but otherwise it was clearly the Pancake Man's operation.

After Katie and I stuffed ourselves with the yummy breakfast, we headed out to the ramp to see the airplanes. She really wanted a ride in the open-cockpit biplane, but they weren't selling rides in it. The fly-in had a few other homebuilts, including a RANS, a Challenger, a single-seat biplane, a BD-4, a couple RVs, a Magni Gyro, even a single-seat helicopter powered by a two-cycle engine. Many of the other aircraft were Cessnas, Pipers and other type certificated airplanes. Katie's favorite was a multi-colored Fairchild T-19. I was intrigued by a long-neglected Funk parked out on the ramp. There was a Bellanca-built (or was it Aeronca?) PT-19 out on the grass, and Katie wanted to see it, too. She must really have something for those open-seat aircraft. Later that afternoon, when we were on the beach, the Bellanca PT-19 flew back and forth across the lake front several times.

Coming up later this month: The world's biggest fly-in, AirVenture, or just "Oshkosh." I hope to get to fly there this year.

Chapter 1311 Builders' Local Resource Directory
Start thinking of the places where you locally buy for AN hardware, sheet metal, paint, tools and other items. We'll need an address, phone number and web site, if they have one. Be sure to let us know if you would recommend them to others or not. The idea here is that members should be able to look to suppliers that you trust and would continue to do business with. Please forward your ideas and recommendations to Michael Mossman at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net

Check out our online directory at http://www.eaa1311.org. Click on the link "Homebuilder's Resources" on the left. Note that all resources listed are merely suggestions; as a chapter we do not endorse any of them. Our recommendation: "Caveat Emptor" (let the buyer beware).

Young Eagles News
By Michael Mossman
Photos by David Stucker
Chapter 1311 held its first Young Eagles event of the year on Saturday, June 20, at Hendricks County Airport. David Stucker's son is in Boy Scout Troop 305, based in Clayton IN. David said the kids needed to work on aviation merit badges and thought that a Young Eagles flight would be a good start, so he and Young Eagles Coordinator Chuck Long set up the event.

The troop, led by Joe Strole, showed up with 14 kids ready to fly and a few parents, too. At 9 a.m., which was the scheduled start time, the ceiling was a bit too low for flight so we handed out copies of aviation magazines and talked flying for a while. The volunteer pilots let the kids across the ramp and opened up their airplanes, showing them the features and described the pre-flight procedures. Most of the boys had many questions, which the volunteers were happy to answer.

Shortly before 10 the clouds began to burn off and it was time to fly. The first kids drew their assignments and piled into planes pilots by chapter members Chuck Long and Michael Mossman, flying Zenair HDS homebuilts; Gary Reynolds, flying his RV-6A; John Saalwaechter in his V-tail Beechcraft Bonanza; and Jim Snyder and Vern Sullenger in their Piper Cherokees. Frequent Young Eagles volunteer pilot Susan Zellers also flew in the Cloud Niner's club Cherokee.

The Young Eagles flights departed 2R2's runway 36 and headed north towards Pittsboro, then performed a few maneuvers west of Danville before returning to the airport. Both of my passengers were attending Cascade High School, so I took them over the school for a quick aerial tour before heading back.

With seven pilots and 14 kids to fly, almost every Young Eagles got some front seat time, and most of the pilots only had to fly two flights. With as much extra seat space as we had, several of the brave parents got a little air time, too.

That Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day for Young Eagles rides. The weather didn't get too hot and the air was fairly smooth, at least during the time we were flying the kids. After the sun finished burning off the cloud cover the air got a bit rougher but by that time the kids were on the ground, the pilots were signing the Young Eagles certificates and the parents were happy (and perhaps relieved) as we concluded another successful event.

EAA Young Eagles Update: By newsletter publication date more than 1,475,031 Young Eagles have taken their first airplane ride.

Aircraft Spotter
I saw this Piper Aerostar painted in a patriotic scheme at the Michigan City fly-in and thought that it made a good subject for the July newsletter.

Calendar of Events
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.

July 27 — EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Wittman Regional Airport (OSH), Oshkosh WI. For more information see http://www.airventure.org

September 12-13 — Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-In, Grimes Field Airport (I74), Urbana OH. For more information see http://www.merfi.info

September 26 — Wood, Fabric and Tailwheels fly-in, Lee Bottom Field, (64I) Hanover IN. For more information see http://www.leebottom.com

For details on EAA Chapter fly-ins and other local aviation events, visit http://www.eaa.org/events

Next Meeting
The next meeting will be on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, 6:30 p.m., in the Operations Building at Hendricks County Airport, Danville IL. Program: Oshkosh Report and other unbelievable stories

Directions from Indianapolis:
Take U.S. 36 (Rockville Road) west past Avon.
Turn left (south) on CR 300 E (84 Lumber is on the SW) corner of the intersection.
At about 1/2 mile turn right (west) into the airport.
The operations building is straight back from the road.

On the Radar:
August 5, 2009 — Oshkosh Report and other unbelievable stories
September 2, 2009 — TBA
October 7, 2009 — TBA
November 4, 2009 — TBA
December 2, 2009 — TBA (date tentative)
January 6, 2010 — TBA

Classified Ads
AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: Harmening High Flyer's Powered Parachute (owner deceased). Two place. 5 hours total time, 503 Rotax engine, includes skis, price negotiable based on fair market value appraisal. Chuck Long 317-417-1604 LoneEagleHDS@aol.com

BALCONY FOR SALE: Hangar balcony at 2R2 for immediate sale, $300, price includes moving to local site. Dave Clark 317-839-4500 davecpd@att.net

AIRCRAFT PROJECT FOR SALE: Nearly complete Fisher Skeeter, ready to cover and assemble. Includes engine and propeller. Debbie Sullivan, 270-293-3515 or 270-759-9451.

ENGINE PARTS FOR SALE: Hartzell 69-inch constant-speed propeller, Woodward prop governor, plus parts for one additional propeller (from Lycoming 320 B3B); aluminum spinner for prop above; oil sump for Lycoming B3B (yellow tag) with intake tubes and new rubber hoses; oil sump for Lycoming O-290, oil sump for Lycoming 0-235. Chuck Leucht 765-481-9661 charlesleucht@sbcglobal.net

AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: Cessna 170A, Imron paint, 1-piece windshield, slide out pull handles, hew headliner, door panels, baggage compartment, floor panels, firewall panel. King KLX 135 GPS/com, KT76A, XPDR, Sigtronics 4-place intercom, single channel EGT, vernier throttle and mixture, many new engine parts. AC TT 4465.88, ESMOH 559.22, ESTOH 506.3. Ernie Winters 317-996-3696 pr 317-727-6504, flywithwingsaseagles@yahoo.com

AIRCRAFT KIT FOR SALE: Sonex kit #115. Have everything but the skins. Kit not started so it could be either a tri-gear or taildragger. $8,000. Contact Fred Baldwin 317-354-6200 (cell phone), bladexz2@comcast.net

WANTED TO BUY: Used Rotax 912, Jabiru 2200 or Rotax 582 engine. Contact Mark Rinehart 317-745-2466, capt_riney@yahoo.com.

FOR SALE: Piper jumper cables in excellent condition (round plug type), $50 or make offer. Portable intercom, $20. Contact Larry Rush k9hxt@sbcglobal.net or 272-2153

WANTED TO BUY: Used 4-foot brake and 4-foot shear. Contact Troy Grover, 317-919-6594 (cell phone), rv6grover@sbcglobal.net

AIRCRAFT FOR SALE: One-third interest in an RV-7A. Fully equipped for IFR, including autopilot and extended range tanks. Based at Eagle Creek Airport. $35,000. Contact Vern Sullenger at sullenger@iquest.net, cell phone 317-695-7929.

BUILDING PARTNER NEEDED: Partner for RANS S-19 project needed. Contact Mike Laurenzano at mikelaurenzano@yahoo.com, cell phone 317-201-5889

Support Our Servicemen
Be sure let the newsletter editor know if any of our members or their families has someone in the service, especially if they have been called up for active duty. We'd like to recognize them and thank them for representing us so honorably.

SERVICEMAN UPDATE NEEDED: In December of 2002 Jim Griffin joined Chapter 1311. Shortly before the war with Iraq started Jim signed back up as a Major with the Marines and has been serving in Iraq. If anyone knows how to contact Jim, or knows of his whereabouts or of any way to track him down, please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net.

Newsletter Publication Schedule
EAA Chapter 1311's newsletter is published by email notice on the 15th of each month, with a PDF version available on the chapter web site around the 20th. Newsletter contributors: Please email your material to the newsletter editor by the 14th of the month.

Get back editions of the newsletter at http://www.eaa1311.org. Click on the link łNewsletters˛ at the left then click the link for the edition that you want.

Chapter 1311 Board of Directors
President: Dale "Gus" Gustafson, 1-317-293-4430, dalefaye@msn.com
Vice President: Doug Hatfield, 317-745-6691, hatfielddoug@hotmail.com
Secretary: Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie1@comcast.net
Treasurer: Vern Sullenger, 1-317-839-8728, sullenger@iquest.net
Director: Dave Clark, 317-839-4500, davecpd@att.net
Director: Mark Eminger, 765-528-2146, tjemee@yahoo.com
Director: Dave Helton, 1-317-745-7916, davehelton@heltonssoc.com
Director: Chuck Long, 317-892-3146, LoneEagleHDS@aol.com
Director: Doug Moncreiff, 317-280-1621, cdmoncreiff@sbcglobal.net
Director: Gary Reynolds, 317-745-6223, n98gr@att.net
Director: Paul Vogel, 1-317-272-2106, p_vogel@sbcglobal.net

Newsletter editor Michael Mossman, 1-765-483-9533, michaelandkatie1@comcast.net

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