President’s Message
By: Tom Johnson - 04/15/11

It has been too long since I banged one of these out to you.

It has been a very busy eight months since Aug 10, 2010 when the Blanik AD became effective.  Since that time, we have:

  - Mothballed the Blaniks
  - Purchased the 103
  - Sold the Scout
  - Purchased the Pawnee
  - Purchased the 2-33
  - Had the 102 spar spigot AD to deal with

The wings for the 2-33 are finally ready and at the field.  We need to strip the old paint off and repaint the wings.  This will require 4-5 people woking a couple of hours with harsh chemicals, toxic fumes, and low wages.  The only thing stopping us from painting the wings is the stripping.  It would be great to get a group together this weekend to work on them.  The interior is almost done.  Again, it will take a couple of folks putting in some hours to get it done.  There are many small things that need to be done.  Any and all help would be appreciated.  Justin is reworking the fiberglass nose cone.  Art did a fantastic job with the rear window and door.  Rus has the sticks wired for sound, the transponder in, and an electrical system installed in 2-33.  Andy Webb has been doing alot of little dirty jobs.  If we get some bodies out to the field, we can get it up in the in a couple of weeks.

The 102 has had the landing gear mechanism repaired, the support rib repaired and the spar spigot AD complied with.  We just have to reassemble the cockpit seat and it will be up again.  It will be ready for flying this weekend.

The 103 is going strong.  We had 83 flights for the month of March.  The vast majority were in the 103.

Rus should have contacted all of you regarding dues.  We need everyone to up to speed on their dues before you go flying.  The club finances have been structured for years to have the dues pay for the fixed costs and the flying fees pay for the other expenses.

Many thanks to Donna and DeWitt for keeping the avgas flowing from Ferguson.  Ralph is manufacturing a fuel bowser with some professional help for us to use.  Tony has OK’ed our use at the field.

The Soaring Safety Foundation came to town last week and put on their Flight Instructor Revalidation Clinic (FIRC).  We had seven people show up and hopefully learned something valuable.

I would like us all to start calling out our position when airborne, when the tow plane calls for take-off.  This will hopefully allow for the OSO, tow pilot, glider pilot, and others to build a picture of where everyone is.  “Pawnee tow and glider departing runway 18 at Coastal” .... “Bravo Gulf is at 2500 ft 2 miles NW”....etc

I encourage all of you to get out and fly.  I am hoping for a lot of help on our May pancake breakfast/cleaning party.  Hopefully the 2-33 will be ready.!.!

Take care.
Tom

Additional News Items

» Andy Webb - Solo - 26Feb11
» Two New Glider Pilots!!!
» 2012 World Gliding Championships - Uvalde, TX - July 28-Aug 18, 2012
» Pensacola Airshow 2010
» Our new Twin Astir
» Our New Pawnee Tow Plane
» Minden - 2010
» Saturday Pancakes
» Doing the Right Thing
» Brad Jackson - Diamond Altitude
» Tow Plane Positioning Procedures
» Pancake Breakfast/Lube Day - 03Apr10
» CSA Nuts and Bolts - 01Apr10
» Notes from the Club President - March 2010
» Notes from the Club President - February 2010

Club Officers:

  • President: Tom Johnson
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  • Vice President: Art DeTonnancourt
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  • Secretary: Emmett Moran
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  • Treasurer: Rus Howard
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Club Instructors:

Certified Flight Instructors - Glider (CFIG)
  • Dave Galloway
  • Roger Hinote
  • Tom Johnson
  • Joe Kuehmeier
  • Emmett Moran
Certified Flight Instructor (CFI)
  • Dave Galloway

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