To get a downloadable PDF membership application see http://www.eaa1311.org/PDF_files/membership_application.pdf

Chapter Fly-Out Postponed
Mark and Tina Eminger, who were to be the hosts for the annual Chapter 1311 breakfast fly-out to Pam's Place, have decided to postpone the event until later in the summer or early autumn. Mark cites a pending aircraft purchase and the resulting complications as taking a great deal of time. We'll post the new date in a future edition of the newsletter, as well as announce it at meeting(s) and through an email blast.

Former Members Keep In Touch
Chapter 1311 has had its share of members who are old pros in the aviation industry. Occasionally, one or two of those will leave the area, keeping their careers active. Sometimes, the young pros have to strike out to keep their dreams alive, too. David Parker is on of those young pros. As a recent graduate of Vincennes University, David joined Chapter 1311 in August of 2008. He quickly became an active member, giving the October 2008 program on the history of Aviation in Indiana. For the February 2009 meeting he brought in a pair of photo collages of historic Indiana aircraft, collected during his research for the documentary moving he had been developing on the same subject. David now lives and works in Louisville KY, and has been employed as a mechanic by Compass Airlines for just more than a year. Compass flies Embraer 175 jets for Delta Airlines. (Chapter 1311 member Myron Anderson flies for Compass.)

"I have joined EAA Chapter 110 in Louisville. They meet at historic Bowman field, which has been in operation since 1928. The chapter has purchased a DoubleEagle light sport airplane kit and I am looking forward to being involved in helping build that.

"I bought a Maxair Hummer ultralight when I was in Indianapolis. It is currently disassembled from moving it Louisville, but "I'm looking forward to getting that put together and flying it (after proper ultralight flight training, of course).

"My old friend from Chapter 226 in Anderson, IN nominated me to be in the 2009 Young Eagles Yearbook. EAA later told me I'd been selected and asked me to send a picture and write a brief article about myself. So that was pretty exciting when they sent me some copies and I got to see my name in print. LOL. (I was on the EAA website the other day and saw they had posted a video interview with Gus. That was pretty cool to see.)

"That pretty much sums up my aviation life over the past year. I've been really busy with moving and the new job, but still finding time to be active in aviation.

"I still pass through Indy on my way to visit family in Northern Indiana, Š and then make it a point to stop by from time to time and hang out with my old friends at 1311."

It's great to see a young guy start to make a place for himself in aviation. He's landed a job with the airlines, he's got his ultralight and he is becoming active in another EAA chapter. When you get a chance, send him an email at hoosierwingsfilm@live.com and include you best wishes.

Hitting the Fly-In Circuit
By Michael Mossman
I've never flown in a Poker Run before, so when the Indiana Pilots Club at Kokomo planned one for Saturday, May 22, I jumped at the opportunity. After putting the word out that it might be fun to fly it as a group, fellow Chapter 1311 member Chuck Leucht signed on, too. Chuck Long was interested but had a biennual flight review to conduct that morning, so he thought he was out. But that morning his ride got cancelled so he was in, too.

The Poker Run consisted of ten airports across north central Indiana. Pilots could fly to as few or as many as they wanted; they just needed to end up at Kokomo. I plotted out a dozen routes starting from my home base at Boone County Airport, trying to minimize the miles and maximize the number of stops. I figured if I started at about 9, m best route of 6 stops was about 94 NM of flying. At an average cruise speed of 90 KTs, this was just about an hour of flight time. I allowed an additional half hour for climbs and maneuvering, plus estimated another hour and a half for ground time. This total estimate would pout me on the ground at Kokomo right about noon, as they were serving lunch from 11-2.

Flight Service gave me a slightly encouraging report that morning. No TFRs, no NOTAMS, not SIGMETs, no active MOAs, just free airspace the entire route. Although the weather was strictly IFR at 9, it was expected to clear up in an hour or two. I thought we'd delay a bit to see how the weather would shape up, but by 11 the ceiling was still too low. We elected to eat lunch then check it out when we got back.

But 1:00 p.m. the weather was finally above minimums. With Charles Westerfield riding with Chuck Leucht in the RV-9A and Gary Baum in the Zenair HDS, I led the gaggle out of Boone County Airport and headed to our first stop at Sheridan. With a 100% overcast, the air was fairly smooth for that short jaunt and we had just enough ceiling to be legal and safe. Gus Gustafson and Jeff Apple were tending the store at Sheridan. We talked briefly about our planned route. One of the intended stops would be Glenndale Airport, which has a grass runway. Apple called ahead for us to find out the runway condition, which was reported to be solid if you missed the water puddle in the center. We said our thanks and headed out on the next leg to Frankfort.

With the northwest trip to Frankfort, the ceiling was starting to rise and we saw the sun pop out briefly. There wasn't a lot of action at Frankfort so we picked up our cards and fired up for leg to Delphi, another northwesterly route. The ceiling was continuing to rise and the sun was out more. It was starting to become a very warm day to fly in a bubble-canopied airplane. There wasn't much action going on at Delphi except watching someone mowing the grass. A pilot taxied out a very nice Bonanza with tip tanks and filled it with fuel. We waited to see him depart but he just taxied back to his hangar. After that it was time to fly to Logansport.

I had entered our entire route into my GPS the night before. Unfortunately, that was the leg where my GPS developed a bug. It wouldn't direct me to Logansport; it kept trying to direct me back to Delphi. I tried to delete Delphi from the flight plan but deleted Logansport instead! I already had the sectional opened and saw that a railroad went straight from Delphi to Logansport, so that leg was really a piece of cake.

Our stop at Logansport gave us a needed respite from the heat and sun. They have a really nice FBO building. We took a break and had a drink of water. Chuck Leucht had a nice visit with the manager on duty, who was also building an RV.

The next flight to Glenndale had the most adventure, as we knew the field could be soft, especially with a large water puddle in the center. Since I was flying the lightest airplane, the plan would be for me to go in first and drag the field. If it was OK I would land and report the conditions. Wanting to avoid the puddle, I descended for a short field landing, intending to touch right at the threshold on runway 36. Just before crossing the road on the south end of the airport, a bicyclist was right in front of me, oblivious to the action. I was just about to power up for a go-around when he turned and saw me. His double-take really cracked me up and he stopped just before the runway. The ground was solid and the landing uneventful, so Long and Leucht following me in. I reported the location of the water and they both avoided it.

Our last Poker Run leg was a short 9 NM hop over the city of Kokomo to Kokomo airport. We were almost perfectly aligned for a straight entry into the downwind for runway 23. After landing, the friendly ground crew chocked our airplanes and directed us to the hangar where the Power Run was concluding. We were temporarily diverted into an open hangar, where a crew was conducting an annual on a P-51. We did our "oohs" and "aahs" then went next door to turn in our cards.

At about 3:30 in the afternoon, I was only the second player to turn in cards in the Poker Run. The previous pilot had a pair of jacks, which I couldn't beat. Oh well, it was fun. Chuck Long had a full house, with a pair of aces and three queens. Now that hand was going to be hard to beat! Chuck Leucht had maybe a pair, but he wasn't going to take Chuck Long. Charles Westerfield and Gary Baum elected to not challenge Long's hand. A husband and wife team came in after us but didn't do any better.

Ultimately, about 25 planes flew in for the Poker Run, with about 50 participants total. That's been a bit down from previous years, as the weather kept a few planes on the ground. Steve Stants, the coordinator of the event, said one pilot drove to three airports during the IFR conditions then flew to two more airports after the weather lifted. His efforts went unrewarded; Chuck Long took the top prize, which is a ride in a T-6.

By the time we arrived in the afternoon, the club had long finished selling lunches and was trying to give it away the food. We had a few snacks, including some very delicious brownies. We tossed a few dollars into the donation jar then headed back to our home base, satisfied after completed another successful adventure.

Aviation is Featured in Reminisce Magazine
The Golden Age of Aviation was the cover photo and feature in the April/May 2010 edition Reminisce magazine, a publication that features photos and articles submitted by readers. One photo essay showed a Piper Cub crop dusting, while another short was about a family flying on a Constellation to Mexico City. A contributor (Warren Gustafson — he is related to Dale Gustafson?) wrote a short article about Greyhound Skyways flying a Sikorsky helicopter, while others wrote about family members teaching themselves to fly, or about designing and building their own airplanes.

This magazine would appeal to anyone who is interested in our country's recent history. Most issues will be about other nostalgic topics. Check it out in your local library.

Correspondents Needed
Chapter 1311 is always looking for correspondents and contributors to our monthly newsletter. Whenever you have a story or photo that would be of interest to our readers, we would like to publish it.

We are looking especially for correspondents for some of the upcoming fly-ins. If you are heading to any fly-ins this coming year, would you please consider submitting a story and photo or two about the event? We'd love to hear about it and hope that one of our members or readers will be there and write about it. Please contact the newsletter editor at michaelandkatie1@comcast.net.

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