Gettysburg Barnstormers EAA Chapter 1041

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1 Chapter 1041 NOTAMS: Henry s Hangar January 4th Chapter Monthly Meeting By Henry Hartman G burg Airport 7:00 PM January 16th Fly- Out, Destination Dubois, PA KDUJ January 22nd SARAA HIA January 24th Souper-Sundae G burg Airport 1:00 PM February 1st Chapter Monthly Meeting G burg Airport 7:00 PM Happy New Year! Those of you who attended our annual Christmas Party had a very nice evening. The meal was as good as always and Stormer Claus opened up his bag and had goodies for the Barnstormers. This New Year will be another very active and productive time. Please start thinking about volunteering to run for an elected position in our Chapter. We hold elections in October of every second (even) year and this is one of them. We will need candidates for all the officer and director positions. One sure way to prevent your name from appearing on the ballot is to be on the Nominating Committee! I ll be looking for volunteers for that committee at the next few meetings. There will be runway re-construction at the airport taking place later this spring, and we ll have some discussion about the impact of that project during upcoming meetings. We are glad to see continuing improvements at Gettysburg Regional Airport and thank SARAA for their good stewardship. Looking forward to seeing you at our upcoming meetings, February 20th Fly- Out, Destination TBD February 28th Soup -er-sundae G burg Airport 1:00 PM March 7th Chapter Monthly Meeting G burg Airport 7:00 PM 1041 Bowlers are meeting every Thursday at 11:45. Bowling locations alternate between Hanover and Taneytown. Call Herb or Savy for details. Our January 4 th meeting will feature a most interesting and special speaker presenting the program. There is more info in this edition of The Observer, and I hope you will make the effort to be on hand. We are fortunate to have the programs already lined up through our April meeting. Stay tuned for more news as we proceed. One more date to make note of our first 2016 Soup-er-Sundae event will be Sunday, January 24 th, starting around noon to 12:30 pm. We get together at the airport and make a pot of soup, everyone brings a dish to share, and we enjoy a few hours of great food, hangar flying, and usually a video presentation. Chapter 1041 website Chapter 1041 Name Tags are available for new members. Please attend one of our chapter regular monthly meetings to get your name tag

2 Page: 2 Editor s Notes If you have read an interesting aviation related book let me know and I will include it in a future edition of The Observer Have an aviation related link? I ll include that in a future edition also. Program and speaker for this Month John Flynn will recount some of his experiences including those as a crew member of FIFI and DIAMOND LIL He was born July His education began at "Mud College", a one-room country school near Littlestown, PA. He graduated from Littlestown High School, Class of He earned a BS from Southern Illinois University with post-graduate studies in aviation safety management at the University of Southern California. He served 23 years in the U.S. Air Force in aircraft maintenance and safety. One key assignment was as the Chief of Ground Safety for the 89th Military Airlift Wing, (Air Force One) at Andrews Air Force Base during the Johnson, Nixon and Ford Administrations. He is a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War and served as the Command Chief Master Sergeant//Senior Enlisted Advisor of Twenty-Second Air Force After an aircraft maintenance and safety career in the U.S. Air Force, he was a safety director for American Airlines, retiring in He has volunteered 17 years for the Commemorative Air Force's B-29/B-24 Squadron. He serves on the Squadron Staff as the safety officer, aircrew scheduling officer and training officer. He is an air show tour leader, flight engineer, aircraft mechanic and lead scanner. He develops aircrew operational procedures, training programs and flight manuals. Links albumid= &pagesize=60&page= Dues are payable now. Pay John or Betty Hart ASAP. 95 Hoffman Home Road Gettysburg, PA FLYING FORTRESS By Edward Jablonski Available on AMAZON Edward Jablonski's FLYING FORTRESS is a classic of aviation literature and is unique as the earliest, bestwritten "biography" of any aircraft. Sometimes imitated but never duplicated, FLYING FORTRESS is a wonderful read, less military history than memoir, and anyone who does read it comes away with love in their heart for the Boeing B-17, one of the most lethal, effective, rugged, and beautiful (if such a word applies to warplanes) flying machines ever built. Jablonski takes us through the step-by-step evolution of this airplane, from its earliest wooden strut-and-wire precursors to its ultimate development into the B-29 "atomic" bomber of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The general design of the B-17 proceeded from Boeing's Model 299 to the wartime B-17G, of which almost 9000 were built. Although the "E," "F," and "G" variants were the most common of the more than 12,000 B-17s constructed, the Flying Fortress underwent literally hundreds of modifications and served variously as a heavy bomber, a command plane, a radar platform, an antisubmarine hunter, and even a kind of long-range superfighter during its decade-long career.

3 Page: 3 Barnstormer Christmas Party December 11th About 58 Barnstormers enjoyed the festivities Santa and Mrs. Claus relax before the rush Pilot Joe and co-pilot Hayden discuss Hayden s Christmas surprise as briefer Larry looks on Thanks to Sam Kistler for providing the photos published here. More are available at VP Sam receives a timely memento courtesy of Stormer Claus AKA President Hartman

4 Page: 4 Fly-Out to Delaware Costal Airport, Formerly Sussex County Airport, (KGED) Georgetown, DE 12/20/2015 Looking back at Sussex County Airport Rwy 04/22, cross runway is 10/28 3 Airplanes and 6 Barnstormers made the trip to KGED Paul prior to departure form KGED homebuilt-aircraft-and-homebuilt-aircraft-kits/resources-forwhile-youre-building/building-articles/instruments-and-avionics/ live-weather-and-traffic-for-less-than-$120 ADS-B Traffic alert generated leaving KGED by Bob s $ Raspberry PI ADS-B Receiver. Plans available on the EAA Website. Alert displayed using IFly Ipad APP.

5 Page: 5 Farewell to a Friend Airplanes are people too By: Jack Hoke Life often presents us with opportunities, forks in the road, challenges met or unmet, friendships fostered or not, and surprises of immeasurable joy. This story has moments of all the above equation. In early 2007 my wife Sally and I embarked upon the search for an aircraft for our personal use, for what additional purpose we could not tell. As a licensed private pilot from the '70s, who had taken a twenty year hiatus from flying while our children attended college, I wanted a taildragger. Sally, who had soloed in the 70's but then abandoned pursuing her license, was game enough to follow my lead. The search was initiated looking for a Stinson, but soon we stumbled across a 1949 Luscombe 8-F. Not being a student of the Luscombe brand, we took to the internet to find out more. Our research allowed us to be introduced to Garrett Nievin, a Luscombe owner somehow affiliated with the Luscombe Association, who then led us to Bill and Sharon Tinkler, Luscombe owners of both an 8-F and a four place Model 11 Sedan. The Tinklers became our mentors and were in Tullahoma. We were in Nashville, and the Luscombe for sale was in Lebanon - all very close together in the state of Tennessee. We made arrangements that I should have a test flight with the aircraft piloted by another Luscombe owner, Mike Bowers. Subsequent to that test flight on a Saturday morning in late February, the Tinklers, Sally, and I met to once again look at the plane and its documents and to evaluate its ground handling. It was at this time we met Ken Poley, the current owner of the aircraft who had been its registered owner for more than 17 years. Ken was of an age where he had chosen not to pursue his third class medical as his health and mental capabilities were deteriorating. When I called Ken about the Luscombe, his first words to me were "It's not LSA," and our relationship never really got much better than that. He did reveal that he had worked for Piper Aircraft Co. in Lock Haven in his teens, had flown B-26's for the US Air Force and was a graduate engineer. The Luscombe for sale was an 8-F Special, meaning that it had the Continental 90 HP-8 engine which had no starter or alternator. And no provisions for adding such paraphernalia. Consequently, the engine had to be "hand propped" to start, a talent with which I had no experience. However, having been enamored with the art and romance of aviating in the 30's, I was more than willing to learn. Ken Poley Our meeting with the Luscombe, which was then sporting the name "Marcia Anne," was dreadful. It was a raw, cold, winter day, and with Ken providing direction to me as the starter, while Sharon held the brakes from inside the cabin, we achieved nothing other than a fully warmed up Jack. We decided to quit, rolled the plane back into the hangar, and Bill, Sharon, Sally and I went to lunch. Bill was strongly of the opinion this was an aircraft to avoid acquiring, that no-electrical system and hand-propping would lose their attraction. Later, we were to learn that the Luscombe had been involved in an incident in which it got away from Ken while starting it by himself. The aircraft knocked Ken down and proceeded across the tarmac until it did considerable damage to a new BMW and a nearly new Mooney thus requiring an engine overhaul due to the prop strike damage. This information was to make Sharon even more wary of the machine. Editors Note: This article first appeared in the November 20th Edition of General Aviation News page 21, reprinted by permission of Jack Hoke, the author. Continued on page 5

6 Page: 6 It is an axiom among Luscombe owners that their aircraft found them rather than the opposing consideration, and this Luscombe had spoken to me. Sally deferred to my desire, and Ken and I negotiated a deal, which included an IA s review of its mechanical health. Arrangements were made to fly the aircraft to Lewisburg, TN, to have Steve Foster perform the evaluation, which was then rolled into our first annual. Steve had been recommended by Ron Picket, another Luscombe owner from Lebanon, TN, whose aircraft was in the process of restoration. While the annual was being performed, another prior Luscombe owner and CFI, Mike Kellems, entered the shop. Steve introduced us and said that Kellems could teach me to fly the Luscombe. Mike agreed to provide instruction but only if I would come to Lewisburg for the lessons. And so the Luscombe remained tieddown at Lewisburg while I received 25 hours of instruction covering changes in regulations over my twenty-year hiatus, transitioning to a tail-dragger and the necessary license endorsement, buffing the rust off of any piloting skills I may have had and of course the required experience to insure the aircraft. Middle Tennessee was a wonderful environment for the airplane and its new pilot and owners, Jack and Sally. We promptly named the Luscombe "Huckleberry" after Mark Twain's character Huckleberry Finn. The three became frequent attendees to the EAA-sponsored Saturday morning pancake breakfasts in Murfreesboro, Shelbyville, Moontown, and Winchester, and all were welcomed into a new family of friends through the Luscombe brought yet another challenge for us to consider: The Hoke family farm in Carroll County Maryland, portions of which had been acquired by Jack s parents in 1969, was available to be purchased. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to which we agreed sight unseen. After settlement in December 07, we made our first inspection and met the current resident tenants and the farmer tenant. We were not happily surprised at the horrible state of disrepair into which all of the buildings had fallen. We left the tenants of residence with a signed lease and the admonition that we would give them 90 days advance notice of our evicting them so that we might move forward with our plans to reside there brought more pancake breakfasts, expanding aviating friendships, tandem flying with Mike Bowers and his '38 C-Model Luscombe (which he had upgraded to an E via a 75HP to 85HP engine change), working towards a VFR Commercial license in the Luscombe, an opportunity to work for Disney and acquire Screen Actors Guild credentials through the filming of Hannah Montana The Movie, initiating retirement from Builders First Source, and a first year outing as a Mall Santa at Lehigh Valley Mall in Allentown, PA. All these were wonderful experiences! 2009 arrived with the completion of the sale of our home in Nashville and moving lock, stock and airplane to Westminster, MD. Hangars were at a premium at Carroll County Airport, and they could find no record of our name on their hangar wait listing, something we had initiated at the time of our purchase of the Luscombe. Further exploration led us to 6W6, an airfield with a turf runway in Hanover, PA, and an invitation from Dan Gebhart, the current airport manager, to house the Luscombe in the large common hangar. The monthly rental was much in the order of what we were accustomed to paying in Middle Tennessee. And so we settled into our new community, one in which the Hoke family had resided since 1928, and learned our new roles. Soon we evicted the resident tenants and tore down the old brick home replacing it with a larger modern 5 bedroom- 4-1/2 bath house. We were architects and general contractors and soon took possession of the home and the surrounding 50 acres. Little did we realize how much of a change we were to experience. Much of this change was to affect our use of Huckleberry, namely by our close proximity to the Special Flight Rules Area (SFRA) around the nation s capitol, which limited extensively opportunities for flights to the south. continued on page 6

7 Page: 7. Soon our much loved Luscombe was to find itself a much neglected orphan. While Dan, our landlord and IA, kept us legal with timely annuals, little time was left for stretching our wings. There were however, two remarkable exceptions: an attempt to fly to Oshkosh in 2013 (which ended in Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a result of IFR-only weather conditions) and completion of the Explore Maryland by Air campaign, becoming the recipient of 1 of only 27 leather jackets in In late 2013 we arrived at the conclusion that our commitments to farm, job, family, and an aircraft not welcome in the SFRA meant that the time had come for us to find a new steward for Huckleberry. So advertisements For Sale were placed, and results were slow in coming, perhaps because we were too honest. Then in June of 2014, I received a call from a young man who asked if this Luscombe had been Ken Poley s, and what modifications had been made during our ownership. A one hour conversation ensued during which I was to discover much about this young man, Ryan Mudry, and Ken Poley, the previous owner. I responded to his questions that little had been done to the aircraft save improving some minor details, maintenance items replaced and always keeping the license current over the seven years we were the owners. We talked of people that the Luscombe had known: Ron Picket and Mike Bowers and especially Ken Poley. Ken had been an Air Force single seat pilot after Korea and before Viet Nam, was qualified in the B-25, F-102, F-89 and F-94C and was a founding member of the EAA Chapter 863 at Lebanon, Tennessee. When Ryan was 9 years old, Ken was the president of EAA Chapter 863. Ryan as a nine year old had scraped together $40 so that he might join EAA as a young Eagle. This membership entitled him to learn the airports that supported an EAA group and to gain access to the presidents of such groups. Ryan, then a resident of Lebanon, TN, made contact with Ken Poley. Their initial phone conversation was reported to have lasted over one hour while the professional engineer-pilot and the nine year old discussed things about aviation and flying, including Bernoulli s Principle and ended with the invitation for Ryan to join Ken that weekend for an aviation outing to an EAA Pancake Breakfast in Middle Tennessee. Thus began a friendship which was to last nearly twenty years, with Ken mentoring the want-to-be pilot, teaching him to hand prop the 90HP Continental, introducing him to long-time friends as the Luscombe s new starter, and allowing him training time in the Luscombe. All of this lead to introductions to three United States Congress Members from the State of Tennessee, Sen. Lamar Alexander, Sen. Bill Frist, and Rep. Jim Cooper, in a bid for the then-flying high school senior, with a perfect grade of 1600 on the SAT exam, for an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. Senator Alexander called Ryan on the day after Thanksgiving his senior year of high school and gave him the good news personally: Ryan had secured the appointment. During Ryan s time at the Academy, Ken sold the Luscombe to Jack and Sally, and soon after he passed to that great aviating airfield in the sky. Ryan pursued his aviation career at the Academy, successfully convincing a want to be medical doctor room-mate to pursue aviation, and graduating as an officer and pilot of the Air Force s AC-130U gunships. Ryan's and Jack s telephone conversation ended with Ryan stating that he had not really been in the market for an aircraft, but he surely wanted to keep tabs on the 49 Luscombe we had named Huckleberry, and that he would consider making an offer over the next week. Unlike many other potential purchasers Ryan s call came the following Sunday, exactly one week later, with the decision to pass on the purchase. continued on page 7

8 Page: 8 Soon after, while recounting many portions of the above story to Sally s son, Commander Allen Maxwell USNR, a former F-14 pilot and currently a pilot flying 777 s for United Airlines, Sally said that there was much of this story she had not heard. There quickly was conversation and a decision made to call Ryan with an offer he could not refuse, and so it came to pass. Arrangements were made for hangar space in Florida at Peter Prince Field near Elgin AFB, and Jack piloted the Luscombe from 6W6 to its new owner. As yet another caveat to this story, the Luscombe may have made the last aircraft take-off from 6W6. Surely it was the last aircraft regularly based there to do so, as the airfield has been sold, and the new owners have closed it to further operations. And so yet another Luscombe friendship has been fostered, another vintage aircraft placed into the hands of a true steward of the brand, a new chapter in this aircraft's log has begun including meeting a host of fellow vintage aircraft aviators. And our fear for the friend we called Huckleberry to end up parted out for pieces to be applied to other aircraft has been dispelled. We wish Ryan Godspeed as he and his crew have been given yet an additional prepaid holiday in Asia, where they are currently serving, courtesy of the United States Air Force. N2054B with Brennan and Author Jack Hoke New owner and longtime friend of N2954B Ryan Mundry

9 Page: 9 RUNWAY RECONSTRUCTION SCHEDULED FOR W05 On the morning of Thursday, Dec. 17 th (yes, the 112 th anniversary of the Wright Brothers first successful powered flights), Phil Roth and Henry Hartman attended a Pre-Construction Conference meeting at the airport. Also present were representatives from SARAA, their engineering and consulting firms, Frederick Flight Center, and the contractors that will be doing the work. SARAA personnel have been noticing cracks in the runway surface for several years and they undertook a series of test borings to determine what was causing the cracking. The asphalt was analyzed, the base under it was tested, and the determination is that there is a problem with Damage from thermal changes and water infiltration. In other words, rain and surface water does not drain away from the base material of the runway, and in cold weather it freezes up! Starting this spring, the western half of the runway will be completely re-constructed. Exactly why they are only doing half of the runway was not discussed, however there was reference to doing the other half the following year. Leave it to government to do things that make the rest of us shake our heads! The starting time of this 2-1/2 month project is currently scheduled for late April early May. There is a construction window of 78 days in all, subject to delays by unexpected severe weather. The contractor is New Enterprise/Valley Quarries. The runway will be totally rebuilt, drainage pipes running under it will be up-sized, and a 24 stone base will be placed under the new asphalt to allow water drainage below the frostline. When asked, the engineers on hand said the current base is a mere 11 deep, and there is a lot of clay and some other soil types that inhibit the draining of water. The FAA is funding 90% of the job, the State another 5%, and the remaining 5% will be paid for by SARAA. During the construction period, the airport will be closed. Aircraft owners based at Gettysburg will be offered tie-down space at Franklin County Regional Airport or Capital City Airport, hangar space for those currently in hangars will be offered at Cap City only. More information on this subject will be coming to airport tenants directly from SARAA. Marshall Stevens, Deputy Executive Director at SARAA, offered the Barnstormers an opportunity to hold their June Breakfast event at Franklin County or Cap City, if we would not want to stay at Gettysburg while the runway is closed. That subject will need to be discussed over the next 8-10 weeks and many factors need to be considered. There will be updates coming at regular intervals, so stay tuned for more news. Official notification to airport tenants will be issued in March, according to SARAA.

10 Page: 10 Gettysburg Barnstormers EAA Chapter 1041 The Observer Editor 140 Valley View Drive Hanover, PA Fly-Out Destination January Fly-Out destination is Dubois, PA (KDUJ). Departure is scheduled for Saturday January 16th. Plan to arrive between 11:30 and Noon. Call Herb Bartell to confirm your flight. THE EAA 1041 SKY RAIDERS The EAA 1041 Sky-Raiders have a scheduled fly-out on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Each pilot will make their own go/no go decision. Please call Herb Bartell ( ) no later than Friday afternoon if you plan to join the flight. Herb will make restaurant reservations at the destination airport; therefore, an accurate count of participants is appreciated. Check out our website. It has been updated!! Chapter 1041 Officers and Board of Directors President Henry Hartman, keystonesnowmobiler@comcast.net Vice President Sam Kistler, csamkistler@gmail.com Secretary Phil Roth, philroth@embarqmail.com Treasurer Herb Bartell, Membership John and Betty Hart, hart34@embarqmail.com Newsletter Editor & Web Master Bob Howe, eaa1041 webmaster@comcast.net Young Eagle Coordinator Savy Maranto, savym653@comcast.net Board of Directors Savy Maranto, John Hart, Randy Kalp, Art Shaw, Paul Selmer, Jeff Beard,