EAA CHAPTER 31 AUGUST MEETING & DINNER

Our August meeting and dinner will be held this coming Wednesday, August 1 at our clubhouse. Don’t let it sneak up on you! This is one of those rare times when our meeting falls on the first day of the month! Our program speaker will be Doctor Damon Armitage, Creswell’s newest FAA  Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). Doctor Armitage gives medical exams for all all three classes of medical certificates as well as BasicMed. Several chapter members, including yours truly, are flying on BasicMed certificates obtained after being examined by Doctor Armitage. Doctor Armitage is also a Lt. Colonel in the Oregon Air National Guard serving as a Flight Surgeon. He is a Cottage Grove native. 

Both Rod Johnson and Bill Dewey have offered to prepare our dinner. As I write this I don’t know which one will take the lead but it’s possible we’ll have both of them sharing the load. However it turns out, it should be good food and great hangar flying! As always, dinner is at 6 p.m. with the meeting starting at 7 p.m. I hope to see you all there! President John won’t be present as he will not have yet returned from Oshkosh.

Veep Gary

July 4th Young Eagles Day

I want to thank everyone of you who worked to make this year’s event great! It was somewhat tough this year with the challenging crosswinds and the bumpy air but everybody did their best to give the kids a great and safe flight. Many people, both pilots and ground personnel, worked until they literally dropped from exhaustion. Along with Chapter 31 members, we had great help from Chapter 1457, Albany, Daniel’s Field and several parents and grand parents of Young Eagles. I won’t try to list names because the list is long and I’m sure I would inadvertently leave someone out.  I sincerely want to say it was an honor and a privilege to work with all of you on this event! THANK YOU!

Gary Ludeke, VP

JULY 4 PARADE FLYBY

For all of you who have been participating in previous Creswell parade flybys, and who would like to participate again this year, please have your aircraft on the mid-field ramp not later than 10:20 and be in the vicinity of the fuel pumps by 10:30 for the pilot’s briefing. We’ll plan to be belted into the aircraft for a 10:55 engine start and an 11:00 takeoff. I hope all of you can stay around to fly Young Eagles after the flyby. The weather forecast is for good weather so we should be able to have a great day of flying!

VP Gary

GEARING UP FOR THE 4th OF JULY

You don’t need to be a member of EAA Chapter 31 to fly young eagles on the 4th.  If you are a current EAA member (national), current in your aircraft with a current flight review with passenger liability insurance and your plane is airworthy, and you have completed the EAA on-line background check, YOU can fly young eagles.  See young faces beaming with satisfaction!  We need all the pilots we can get.  If you haven’t yet signed up (you can just show up) please send me the following:

Full legal name; Aircraft type; N number; your email address; phone #; EAA #; EAA Chapter # (if applicable). 

We especially need multiple passenger aircraft (172’s 182’s etc) to give more kids a chance to experience their very 1st airplane ride.  Text me at 541 729 1217 or e-mail @ johnkuehl@comcast.net     Thanks

President John

Meet and Greet at Eugene Skydivers – Wednesday, June 20

The members of EAA Chapter 31 have been invited by Eugene Skydivers to come by on Wednesday, June 20 between the hours of 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. to say hi and enjoy a hot dog and soda.

If you don’t know where on the Creswell Airport they are located, they are at the north end, south of the big hangar. You can’t miss it. If you need further information, you can contact them at:

Info@eugeneskydivers.com      541-895-3029

VP Gary

“Russian Lindbergh” Book

Someone in the chapter loaned me the subject titled book and I’d like to return it. If it was you, please call or text me at 541-914-8605 and I’ll bring it either to this Saturday’s breakfast or to our next meeting. DO NOT reply to this message directly. It will be lost by our email server.

Gary

Opportunity to participate in significant aircraft restoration project!

Chapter 31 has been asked by the Oregon Aviation Historical Society (OAHS) to take on the restoration of a aircraft known as a “Story Special.” This aircraft is one of two identical aircraft, both owned by the museum. One is in flyable condition and the one we would be working on needs a complete restoration. All work will be done at the OAHS restoration center located at the Cottage Grove Airport. We will have access to the flyable airplane to use as a guide if any questions arise as to how something goes together on the restored airplane. The airplane is a single-place, open-cockpit, low-wing aircraft powered by a Continental A65 (65HP) engine. It was a welded tube fuselage and empennage and a wooden wing. All surfaces are fabric covered. The first major job will be to build a new wing. The wooden spars and  ribs have already been completed so the work will be essentially one of assembly and covering. All firewall forward, engine controls, instrumentation and interior will need to be done.

The goal of the OAHS is to fly both airplanes to EAA Oshkosh, along with the museum’s Great Lakes airplane, in 2021 which will be the 100th anniversary of the creation of the Oregon Department of Aviation. This will allow a comfortable and realistic time frame to accomplish the work. Guidance and training will be provided to those who want to participate in this exciting project but don’t feel they have the required expertise to help out. Work scheduling will be flexible to allow people to participate based on their availability. Please email me at “rv6an200gl@charter.net” if you are interested in participating in this very significant aviation project. DO NOT reply to this post directly as your response will be lost by our server.

Sad News!

I just learned this morning from a friend that Sid Voorhees wife passed away about a week ago due to complications during surgery. For those of you who do not know Sid, he has a yellow Cub hangared at Creswell Airport and has been active at times with Chapter 31. He is also a real asset to the Creswell community and is currently serving as an Airport Commissioner as well as volunteering for many other community projects. If you know him and see him, please pass on our condolences from Chapter 31.

VP Gary Ludeke