February breakfast

We had another great breakfast Saturday with a good turnout, including some fly-in visitors from down south!  Breakfast was French Toast (thank you Kaydee), scrambled eggs (Bob the Egg Man was on the job again), sausage & bacon (Well done, Bruce) and more.  The first half of breakfast was foggy with poor visibility, but as the sun began to burn through, planes started showing up.  We heard about five planes above calling in before that, sorry about the weather, guys!  We’ll set up a bank of hair dryers next time to try and take out the low clouds a bit earlier.  😉

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Afterwards, many of us visited Dale Young in Springfield who graciously invited us into his shop at Gary Ludeke’s suggestion.  The RV-9A project is looking fantastic, can’t wait to see how it turns out!  With a 160hp O-320, it should really move, and the panel that Gary is helping wire is coming together quite nicely.

The next regular meeting is March 4th at 7:00PM, with dinner around 6:00.   The next breakfast is 3/21 at 9:00AM.

Until next time!

February 4th, 2009 Meeting

The meeting started with a special Taco Night (in place of our normally great hamburger/hotdog/ Chili Bar-B-Q) at 6:00. Ben Hallert, our new President, did himself proud again!! It was delicious! One of our guests was past member Gary Ludeke. Welcome back Gary!!

Meeting called to order at 7:04 PM by President Ben Hallert. V.P. Bill Dewey and Sec./Tres. Randy Stout were also present. The 21 members and guests in attendance then introduced themselves. During introductions, Walt Weischedel mentioned that his 90% complete (with 90% to go) RV-4 is for sale. Call him at 747-4808 if you have an interest.

Daniel Cathy thanked the club for agreeing to put on the breakfast and lunch at the July 18th Oregon Aviation Historical Society in conjunction with the Bohemia Mining Days group at the Cottage Grove airport. He said we should expect about 50 people for lunch.

A great time was had at new member Wayne Bowers workshop in Monroe after the January breakfast. He is building a RV-12 and really went out of his way to host the group on very short notice. Thanks Wayne, you will be a great addition to the club! BTW- Ben missed this trip due to a YE type 1st flight he gave a young lady. A perfect flying day- how will he ever top that ??!!

Gary Ludeke, the aforementioned past member, volunteered for a field trip to Dale Young’s workshop at 725 26th Place in Springfield after the February breakfast (on the 21st). He is helping Dale build a RV-9. Sounds like a good time!! Gary also mentioned that our sister club in Eugene is building a donated RV-6.

John Keuhl noted that he is now in the process of building a Protek PT-2. I am not sure what this one looks like, so I hope he brings in pictures for the next meeting.

Bob Severn is repairing some wheel pant damage on his RV-4. Don’t ask!

V.P. Bill Dewey and Rusty Bartel were asked to replace the 2 windows in the clubhouse (the only ones not replaced this summer!) and have not yet made the trip to the window supplier. They will try to get to JC this month. Bill also brought up for discussion the potential to cover the patio area, at least during the summer. Suggestions to cover the 45×16 area included tarping, using polycarbonate sheets and several other ideas. No final decision was made, but we all agreed that it would have to be temporary only to comply with all regulations.

A decision was made to change the breakfast from the 2nd Saturday to the 3rd. Saturday so that we would not conflict with the Independence group, and that they might find that Creswell is a great place to fly out to for breakfast. We are going to change for a 6 month trial period and see if we can generate some interest.

Daniel Cathy suggested again we call up Charlotte Writer and ask if she would like the club to come over and get Phil’s airplane cleaned up and made presentable for sale. Several people liked the idea, and so a call will (hopefully) be made to Charlotte to see if we can be of help.

Secretary Stout noted that dues are due again. Please see him at the meeting or mail your $25 to EAA Chapter 31, 86277 Panorama Rd., Springfield, OR 97478

President Ben then gave out the chapter service awards for 2008. Thanks to everyone who helped this past year. The club is a group of people, not a building! He also asked everyone to check out the new and improved web site. The hope is that eventually everyone will have a access code to add content (that means pictures and words to you old timers) when possible. Thanks to Ben for the hard work that this project required!!

Ben also mentioned the recent TSA announcement that they want to check passengers on all GA planes over 12,500. This has everyone nervous and agitated. This is a huge infringement upon our civil rights and privacy, and only a matter of time before the TSA needs to “Secure” all GA aircraft. Fight this one whenever and however you can!!

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There being no new business, the meeting was adjourned at 7:59 and a brief workshop by V.P. Bill Dewey was given on Marvel carburetor repair. Thanks Bill- I learned a lot (mostly how little I know about these things). The following months include this list of workshops after each meeting:

• March- Rusty Bartel- Plastic panel repair
• April- Bob Severns- Engine overhaul procedures.
• Rod Johnson- Magneto repair

Respectfully submitted,

Randall Stout
Secretary/ Treasurer