President s Message Steve Krazer

Transcription

1 June President s Message Steve Krazer The Black Sheep got AirFest weekend off to a great start with one of their famous T-Hangar cookouts. Great food. Great fun! With the exception of those unfortunate people who got out of the parking lot last, I think most folks would agree that AirFest 2017 was a huge success thanks in large part to Chapter 471 members (and perfect weather). Everywhere I went on that Saturday there was a Chapter member taking care of business. We had a great showing of experimental aircraft on display in our hangar. Lots of people came through to see them, too. Wow! We did good! Many thanks to each and every one of you for the part you played in making AirFest a success! It is estimated that we had somewhere between seven and ten thousand attendees at this year s AirFest. The EAA s Ford Tri-Motor flew 24 full flights over the weekend. The Tri-Motor Crew, Bill Sleeper and Vicki Koziol were great to have around. Between passenger booking and souvenir sales commissions our Chapter cleared $1,018.25! Welp, with AirFest wrapped up what are we gonna do next? Speaking of wrapped up Audie Gill has outdone himself on the new cabinets he just finished up in the meeting room and the pantry. Way to go, Audie! Also, Dave Bradshaw finished the installation of the new sink in the pantry. and got the dishwasher hooked back up. Our Young Eagles event is coming up this Saturday, June 10 th after our regular monthly breakfast. Please let Charlotte know early if you will volunteer to fly kids this year. It is the highlight of the year for many of us to see those big grins as the kids return from their first flight. We need volunteers for registration, marshalling and other jobs, too. Come out and have fun this year at Young Eagles Day! Yep. It s already June. Who will step up and plan a fly-out for us? Let s do it!

2 Sweetwater Young Eagles Big Success Abilene YE This Saturday By Charlotte Rhodes Sweetwater Young Eagles was a big success. We flew approximately 35 kids and 7 adults. Bill Johnson provided us with food, drinks, tent, tables, chairs, power and that makes it easy for us to provide the rides. All the kids appeared to have a good time, even with all the bumps. Ron Pearson took KTXS for a ride and got a nice piece on the nightly news, Congrats Ron! We were able to wrap things up at 1:00pm before it got any hotter and those who volunteered still had the afternoon to enjoy for themselves. Our pilots for the day were, Ron Pearson, Wes Schwartz, Larry Chapman, Gary Potter, Bill Johnson and Brian Trail. Betty Clements, Chris and Debbie Ulibarri helped with registration and certificates. Thanks to all of you for your dedication to this event. Don t forget Abilene Young Eagles is this Saturday, June 10 th. Registration is 9:00-1:00, pilot brief and breakfast is at 8:00am. If you know you are going to be able to fly kids, help on the ramp or with registration please let me know at or charlotterhodes@hotmail.com, so I can plan accordingly. l to r: Betty Clements, Debbie and Chris Ulibarri work the registration desk. background: Larry Chapman awaits next Young Eagles l to r: Gary Potter, Brian Trail, Wes Schwartz and Betty Clements work the KSWW Young Eagles event. ************************************************* EAA 471 Young Eagles Program Receives Benefit During AirFest, Air Force Association President Kelly Jones (right) presented a $500 check to Steve Krazer to benefit Chapter 471's Young Eagles program.

3 Tales from AirFest By Sam Evans Here are a few of stories that came out of AirFest: A Ride Re-Lived: Jim Snelgrove contacted me just after the Ford Tri-Motor arrived and was interested in getting a ride for him and his friend, Bob May. Bob was a wing executive officer at SAC headquarters. As it turned out, Bob, a retired Air Force B-52 and C-130 pilot, rode on a Ford Tri-Motor as a young boy. He was excited to get to relive the experience many years later. Flat on Arrival: Just about the time I was getting really settled-in to a relaxing evening at the Black Sheep party, my cell phone rings a number from Ogden, Utah. I don t normally answer calls from people or places I don t recognize. But for whatever reason I answered this one. A guy by the name of Mike Patey was on the other end and he had a problem. Soon after Mike arrived in Abilene, he discovered that the nose tire on his plane, Turbulence, was flat; tire and tube both were ruined. Bummer! The next morning he was supposed to participate in the air races. Well, Abilene Aero wasn t much help since they don t work on experimentals plus the fact that it was an odd-ball size. Mark Reed, at Abilene Aero, gave Mike my phone number on a chance that I might be able to help. As it turned out, the tire and tube size on his plane is the same as my RV. I just happened to have an extra new tube, but not an extra tire. Thankfully, Dave Bradshaw offered to come along to help. We gathered-up the tube and tools and took off to Abilene Aero. On the way over, Dave suggested that I call Wes Hays to see if he had an extra tire. Wes had a used tire and offered to bring it to Abilene. (Wes lives in Winters. 40 miles away!) After a couple of more trips back to my hangar for tools and Dave, Wes and Mike fussing with changing a tire and tube on an airport ramp at night, the plane finally had a usable tire and tube on the nose gear. Whew! The plane would be ready for the race the next morning. On a side note, Mike s plane, Turbulence, holds the world record for the fastest single engine turboprop. He said he made the Ogden, Utah to Abilene flight in an hour and twenty-eight minutes. Here are a couple of interesting links about him. Mike Patey1 Mike Patey Video

4 Burritos, Flying and a Ford! by Ron Pearson On Friday, May 5th, Debbie and I were working the crowd for the EAA Ford Trimotor tour and since attendance was a little lite we took some time off and flew over to Cisco s Gregory Simons Airport (KGZN) for the Cinco De Mayo Flyin/Luncheon. The new FBO manager, Emily Green, was there to greet us and direct us to the FOOD! What a great way to have lunch, surrounded by good friends, Gary Potter, Dean and DeMeta Crofford, Brian Trail and Katelyn, all of the ever friendly staff at KGZN and of course, AIRPLANES! In true Mexican style, the food consisted of chicken or beef burritos, fantastic rice, chips, smokin hot dip as well as drinks (no Tequila, thank you). Because Bill and Vickie from the Trimotor were waiting for us back at KABI, Debbie and I had to eat and run no, and walk. There was no running after that meal. Unfortunately, Emily was busy at the fuel pumps and we had to leave so we weren t able to properly thank her for inviting us. (We contacted her later). After a bumpy ride back to Abilene (nothing new there) we suited up and got back to the reason we were there to sell tickets to ride in the Trimotor. And boy did we ever sell tickets! Chris, Brian and I were on the flight line from morning till night for the whole four days working under Cliff Hale s direction. The people who purchased rides sometimes entered the plane with a bit of apprehension, but everyone returned wearing huge smiles. One man said it was the best day of his life while some of the older folks talked of days past and how they remembered the first time they saw a Ford Trimotor. And the kids, many of whom were flying for the first time, were the best. While sitting in the co-pilot seat I looked back to see a little girl, who had been a bit nervous while boarding, give me a thumbs-up and a huge smile. I guessed her to be about eight years old. And so it was for four great days. When it all finally came to an end and we had tucked NC9645 safely away in Hanger One, we sat in the break room drinking some much needed cold drinks sharing tales collected over the many hours we had spent ensuring that every ticket hold got a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Bill and Vickie gave us autographed posters (Debbie informed me we are framing ours) and then we said our goodbyes and see you in Oshkosh in July and closed the book on what my wife called a wonderful weekend. As I sit here this evening semi-exhausted I wonder if I would do it again? In a NY Heart-Beat!!

5 Right place, right time So the saying goes. And Lynn Beard met those requirements. The Ford Tri-Motor had just finished its last Abilene flight. Pilot, Bill Sleeper was making plans to head to the next venue which was San Marcos, Texas. However, the Tri-Motor has a quirky little problem if one of the engines fails in flight: It requires an extra set of legs to be able to push the rudder pedals hard enough to counteract the yaw forces. Yikes! So Bill starts looking for a co-pilot for the trip to San Marcos. Since Lynn had just gotten off the last flight and apparently had become acquainted with Bill, he was asked if he d like the job. Let me think about it (two second pause) OK! So, bright and early the next morning, Bill and Lynn departed Abilene. Besides getting to co-pilot a Tri- Motor, Lynn was able to log 2.5 hours of dual multi-engine / tail-dragger time. What a deal! then Audie says to the guy, I wish you d let me get up in that thang so I can get my picture taken.

6 Photos from AirFest Courtesy of Steve Krazer What a day whew! These and many more photos from AirFest can be seen on the EAA 471 website here. ************************************************* Young Eagles Day Hangar 3 Saturday, June 10 Pilot Briefing & Breakfast 8:00am Registration 9:00am 1:00pm see more fly-in events next page.

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