Oshkosh for this year has now come and gone and the thinking and planning is already in progress for 2010. So far, the comments that I have heard about Oshkosh have been positive and the attendance was up over the previous year. However, the "showplane" attendance could have been better. Somewhere in this country there is always a weather block and the people are forced to drive. This happened to one of my antique judges. He must have had a very long shopping list because he said his car was full and he had to ship some of his purchases home.
August's meeting
August's meeting was held August 5, 2009, 6:30 p.m., outside the Operations Building at Hendricks County Airport, and chaired by Chapter President Dale Gustafson.
In Attendance: John Broyles, Mark Eminger, Dale Gustafson, Doug Hatfield, Dave Helton, Mike Laurenzano, Jim Lewis, Glen Matejcek, Doug Moncreiff, Michael Mossman, Gary Reynolds, Mark Rinehart, Bryan Ruberson, John Saalwaechter, Jim Snyder, Vern Sullenger and Steve Weathers. If you were there but we didn't record it, let us know.
Guests: None present
President's Remarks: The EAA had a small award to Paul Vogel for his weekend work party participation. Ford had a reception for chapter presidents, with lots of hors d'oeuvres and free gifts.
Vice President's Remarks: Doug Hatfield commented that this year has been a crazy year for corporate flying. Lilly is flying the same amount of hours as last year but almost all of it has been domestic flight.
Secretary's Report: Michael Mossman read the minutes from the July meeting, which were accepted without amendment.
Treasurer's Report: Vern Sullenger: We just bought some tools to round out one of the tool kits. Our current account balance is $2,303.88, plus a few funds from the meeting to deposit.
New Business: Dale Gustafson bought a video for $10 at Oshkosh about hand propping an airplane. The chapter will buy it as an education material., Gus thinks that with the increase in interest of Sport Pilot airplanes, more older airplanes without electrical systems will be flown often, with a need for safe hand starting. Mike Laurenzano suggested keeping it in the chapter library as using it as a program sometime.
Fly-Ins announced: Noblesville has a breakfast on Saturday, August 15; HCAA is having a lunch that same day; Marion's Fly-In/Cruise-in is on September 5.
50/50 Drawing: Michael Mossman won half of the $20 collected and donated his winnings to the chapter. After the 50/50 drawing, participants kept their tickets for a drawing of the gifts brought back from Oshkosh by Dale Gustafson. The winners: Dave Helton (shirt), Vern Sullenger (shirt) and Jim Lewis (tote bag).
Program: Roundtable debriefing of 2009 AirVenture. See story later in this newsletter.
To get a downloadable PDF membership application see http://www.eaa1311.org/PDF_files/membership_application.pdf
Board of Directors Meet
Mark Eminger, Doug Moncreiff and Michael Mossman were appointed to the chapter elections nominating committee.
Recommendations for the chapter Christmas party were discussed. The group informally agreed that the party should be on the west side of Indianapolis for convenience to the majority of the members, in a room that is large enough for members to visit with each other. The group is investigating on whether or not we will want to host a joint Christmas party with the HCAA. Dale Gustafson wants to the Christmas party to be on the same night as the chapter's regular business meeting night.
In recognition of his many years of high-level service to the EAA, the board voted to extend lifetime chapter membership to John Beetham.
The board also in investigating whether or not it would be possible to add a second mini barn to the airport property. The present mini barn, built in conjunction with HCAA, is completely full, and the chapter still has 50 chairs and a cart that need to be stored.
Oshkosh Report
Why an Amateur-built Airplane?
Newsletter continued on Section 2
Newsletter concludes on Section 3
Web Newsletter in Three Sections
The web newsletter is divided into three sections to take some of the sting out of the download time. If you receive only one section of the newsletter, or if the sections you receive are missing the embedded photo attachments please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net. The PDF version that gets posted on the website will remain as one file. See http://www.eaa1311.org/newsletters.html to download a PDF newsletter.
Welcome New Members
New Chapter 1311 member, Tom Jacobs, lives in Danville with his wife, Amy, and three-year-old son, Brandon. He also has two daughters, Ashley and Brittany, who live in Florida. He got started in aviation because of his father, who was pilot. His family has had many other pilots since the early days of flight. Over the last 15 years, he has flown Jetstream 31s Chicago Express and also flew N727, B737 and B757 for ATA Airlines. He currently holds type ratings in all of these aircraft except the B727 and has just shy of 11,000 hours. He also maintains a CFII/MEI. His is currently a Pilot Instructor for Chautauqua Airlines on their EMB 035/140/145 aircraft and work mostly in Indianapolis. His future aviation plans are to get back in to fun flying, make some new friends, learn a lot about the world of experimental flying, and keep it in the family with his kids. Jacobs would like to get a hold of a Grumman Cheetah or Tiger and start either a Harmon Rocket or Murphy Moose.
We have had many guests over the past few months and many people have expressed an interest in our organization. Look around and see if you have any friends, family members or acquaintance that are interested in aviation. Take the time to invite them as a guest to the next meeting. If you see somebody new, introduce yourself, welcome him or her, and invite them to sign up.
The Board of Directors for EAA Chapter 1311 met on Wednesday, August 5, 2009, before the regular chapter business meeting at Hendricks County Airport. Action taken:
Story and photos by Glen Matejcek
This was the first year in quite a few that I've had the ability to attend our convention for its full length, so I figured "what the heck" and planned to do just that. On the Saturday afternoon prior to opening day, my friend Todd and I set up in Camp Scholler. This is about the 25th year he and I have camped together up there, and getting there early affords us plenty of time to relax, catch up, and wander the grounds. Dave Clark gave us a call and invited us to that evening's grand opening of the new Antique/Classic Hangar, which he and Wanda helped to build. It proved to be a fine building, especially when the skies opened and the rain came pouring down! The antique gas pump he and Wanda provided out front provides a nice period touch.
As the week progressed, various old and new friends joined our campsite. Todd is now the president of IAC chapter 1 and had invited that group to camp or visit with us as they were able. Consequently we had some new faces in and out of our site. A couple of guys from the site next door would join us in the evenings for our traditional spirited debate and lie swapping, and various old friends from around the country came and went through the course of the week. Vern camped with us for several days, as did our friend Terri. She has participated in some of our chapter activities in the past, and this year she brought her 11-year-old niece Dakota along for this trip. What started out to be a two-day foray ended up being a five-day adventure. Somewhere along the line she took a liking to Vern Sullenger, and is now looking forward to her first flight in a Cherokee. After three days of Kidventure, including a helicopter ride, she got to watch part of the Friday airshow from the new tower. Not bad for her first time up.
Our merry little troupe would ebb and flow as people came and went about their business, pursuing their individual interests. For my own part, I found some real deals on obscure Harpoon bits in the fly market, attended a couple forums, scratched my head over the Pitcairn rotor rigging, marveled at seeing five P-40's on one airport. I also drooled over a Hurricane with extremely witty nose art, laughed over the Piet that took second place in the unlimited category AirVenture Cup race, hung out at the seaplane base for a bit, bought a book, and ate one or perhaps two more brats than I really needed. Oh yeah, I think there was an airshow or two in there somewhere as well. However, the highlight of the week had to be an evening presentation at the Theater in the Woods, wherein David Hartman interviewed the crew that landed an Airbus in the Hudson River. While informative, it was also humorous and provided a very human look at a couple of professionals. If this interview should come available, I would highly recommend watching it.
There was a lot more that we got into during the week, but the best and most important part of our convention experience was that we got to spend time with some old friends, make some new friends, and help get a young person fired up about aviation. All in all, it was a great week.
Why should anyone consider building an airplane when there are many perfectly good used airplanes available, often at lower acquisition cost than a homebuilt? Here are ten good reasons:
10. The Wrights were amateur builders;
9. It'll keep you out of the bars at night;
8. You might learn something;
7. It's fun to build an airplane;
6. You'll know your aircraft inside and out — literally;
5. You'll save on maintenance costs and annual inspections;
4. You'll have a sense of pride and feeling of accomplishment;
3. Your aircraft will be brand new, not 30+ years old;
2. You'll get better performance, or at least an aircraft more suited to your needs and skills;
1. Noah's Ark was built by amateurs; the Titanic by professionals.
From Chapter 1311's January 2003 newsletter