February Meeting

     Our second meeting of 2010 was held on Sunday, February 21st starting about 2:09pm. Since it was such a great day, the members were anxious to get outside to enjoy the nice weather, so the meeting only lasted about an hour, but it was very interesting. First, the officers quickly went through a chapter business discussion. We're planning for two fly-ins this year, but still deliberating on the specific dates, probably in middle to late May and early November. We're trying to coordinate with other local chapters and clubs to avoid conflicts in scheduling. Paper licenses become outdated after March 31, 2010. Most members have already replaced their paper licenses with the new plastic version.  Member, Larry Lorenz, had a serious operation recently, but is recovering well.

Chapter Officers conducting business meeting

     Don Schmotzer then made a presentation on which runway to select in a direct (or nearly direct) crosswind situation ... and why. Essentially, all other factors being relatively equal, it's best to make your downwind leg on the opposite side of the runway from which the wind is blowing. That way, you don't get pushed over the runway, you're crabbing into (not away from) the runway on downwind (and thus have better visibility of the runway),  and you don't need to bank as steeply on base leg to final (a frequent cause of fatal accidents due to stalls), plus you are already set up for a "crab" down the runway on final until "crossing up" the controls for landing. Makes good sense!

     Next, Vice-President, Tony Nicorvo, gave members a synopsis of his aviation background throughout the early days of hang gliding and ultralights starting back in the 70s through the present. He was one of the first hang gliding and ultralight enthusiasts and was involved with some well known names, such at Phil Lockwood (Lockwood Aviation), Tom Peghiny (Flight Design, Flightstar, Pioneer), Jack McCornack (USUA aviation writer), John Moody (father of ultralighting), and many others. He worked at Advanced Aviation (Cobra, Buccaneer, King Cobra) during their glory days, participated as a member of the flight team at Disney World in Orlando, Florida back in the 80s, flew in the Citrus Bowl, towed hang gliders at the Astrodome, and jumped off a 10-story building in Florida (as documented in a newspaper article there). He has many interesting (and often amusing) stories of his adventures. Tony has also flown helicopters. He's lived much of his life in Florida, but now lives in the local area and owns a XAIR sport plane based at KCUB.

Tony Nicorvo leaping off 10-story building in Florida

     Click on either of the above thumbnails to view photos of the event, taken by our own Eddie "Rickenbacker" Price

January Meeting

     Our first meeting of 2010 was well attended and was held on Sunday, January 17th from approximately 2:00pm - 4:30pm at Pelion Airport (6J0). Mr. Roland Herpst (Jim's father) kicked off the meeting with a presentation/discussion on his experiences as an aviator in class 44F (June, 1944) of the Army Air Corps during WWII. He flew a 2-engine Hudson bomber and once experienced a fire in his left engine. SOP was that the crew should bail out, but they were already in the pattern and were able to land on the very last third of the runway ... which was good, since a go-around was not an option on 1 engine. He was slated to participate in the Pacific theatre (i.e. invasion of Japan), but the atom bomb changed those plans. It was interesting hearing how things were back then.

     Secretary, Libby Berry, was out of town, but Kelsie Temples read the minutes in Libby's stead. Leon gave the financial report. VP, Tony Nicorvo, was also unable to attend, but Randy read an email that Tony sent. Randy also reported that EAA paperwork due on 1/15/10 was sent on 1/9/10 along with a check for chapter dues and insurance. Therefore, our chapter should be in "good standing" with EAA for the upcoming year. Randy asked all members to read the terms of our EAA agreement  (click to see), especially point #5 on page 1, in our "MEMBERS ONLY" section as all members are expected to abide by those terms.

     We set general guidelines for the upcoming year and discussed future chapter directions. Everyone agreed that our chapter is doing well and headed in a good direction. We made tentative plans to have two fly-ins during the upcoming year ... probably one near the end of May and another in the first part of November. We went "round robin" and let each member make any comments that they might have individually or for group discussion. Several members plan to attend Sun-n-Fun and/or AirVenture this year.

     Click on the icons below to see photos of the meeting. 

Eddie's Photos             Kelsie's Photos

 Click below to review chapter activities during 2009.

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