Feb 2016 Meeting Notice

Feb 2016 Meeting notice.
Well, I’m off to EAA Chapter 1, Flabob Field in Riverside (LA area) California to get some needed “Leadership Training”. I should be back the day before EAA Chapter 31 Feb 2016 meeting Wed 2/3/2016.
Among the items on the agenda that night will be:
(1) Monthly Chapter Video

(2) Gary Ludeke will report on the new “rules” for Young Eagle Flights and we will discuss same.

(3) We will see a fascinating video “Spitfire 944” about long range reconnaissance by an American pilot flying photo flights over Germany in WWII. YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS THIS.

(4) I will report on what I learned from my California trip. We will discuss how to grow Chapter 31 and make our meetings better.

Again Dinner at 6:00 PM Meeting at 7:00 PM
See you there.
John Kuehl Ch 31 president

Feb 2016 Meeting Notice

Feb 2016 meeting notice

EAA YOUNG EAGLES PROGRAM LETTER

You probably have received by now a letter from the EAA Young Eagles Office regarding the introduction of a “Youth Protection Policy and Program” for the Young Eagles Program. I am quite concerned and upset that EAA is implementing this program! I have taken the required on-line training and submitted my information for the required background check. However, while I may continue to fly Young Eagles, I will be resigning my position as Chapter Young Eagles Coordinator. I will make this official at our next chapter meeting. I don’t want the responsibility 0f assuring that the required “adult supervision” is in place at our July 4th (and other) YE events. If you haven’t gotten into this new mandate yet, you will see that EAA is requiring two trained adult supervisors on site for every 10 kids under 13 years of age that are present during the event. Two staff are required for every 24 kids over the age of 13. The way I see it, the only way we can be assured of complying with this requirement is to have the kids fill out the YE forms before they enter the event area or provide us with a birth certificate or other proof of age documentation. Based on the number of adult supervisors on site, we would probably have to restrict entry to a limited number of kids at any given time. Also, as most of you are aware, it is always an issue trying to get sufficient pilots and aircraft to fly the kids that we can attract at our July 4th event. Realize that, per this mandate if, for example, we were to have 40 kids under the age of 13 show up at the clubhouse (not an unrealistic assumption based on your past two years event) in a short period of time, we would need 8 trained adult supervisors circulating on site! This, obviously, is in addition to the pilots, aircraft loaders, etc that we need to safely fly the kids! Please, if you have any interest at all in the Young Eagles Program, come to the February meeting so we can try to sort this out! (John, please put this item on the February meeting agenda.) If you share my concern I also encourage you to contact the two people listed at the bottom of the subject letter. I will be forwarding the text of this post to them to let them know what I think of this mandate.

Gary Ludeke, Young Eagles Coordinator

EAA Chapter 31 Dues are Due now!!!

Hi to all EAA Chapter 31 members!
You may have forgotten but dues are due every year in January.

This post should clear up that confusion and (hopefully) direct you to send in your check for 2016

All members need to send in their (hard earned but well spent) $25 or bring it to the next meeting. We have only received about 15 of our 40+ members money so far this month. The address for sending the $25 check is:

EAA Chapter 31    86277 Panorama Rd.     Springfield, OR 97478.

Better yet, come to the meeting the first Wednesday of the Month at 6:00 for dinner and 7:00 for entertainment!

Want to be a Lifetime member of Chapter 31? Either save the Secretary/Treasurers life, or send in $1000. Believe it or not, we have about 8 Lifetime members of the club now ( and no – his life was never in any real danger)

Thanks again for belonging to the greatest bunch of aviation people in the world!!

Meeting Minutes for the 1-6-2016 Meeting

EAA Chapter 31 Meeting, January 6th, 2016

The dinner portion of the meeting started at 6:00 PM hosted by the wonderful Virgil and Bridget Pratt. There was elbow macaroni with meat sauce, French bread, salad and Bridget’s wonderful brownies and a drink for only $5. She is such a great cook; don’t miss the next meeting! It could be prime rib or cheese bakes, you just never know.

It seemed opportune to start the chapter video magazine presentation at 6:40, so we enjoyed that until the meeting began.

The business and entertainment portion of the meeting was called to order at 7:10 PM by Past President Gary Ludeke, with President elect John Kuehl and Secretary/ Treasurer Randy Stout also present. There were 23 members and guests in attendance.

The meeting as normal started with the pledge of allegiance, and an introduction of the guests in the audience. We hosted Richard Dandrea from Roseburg and Mark Preston(?) from Creswell, with Richard becoming a member after the meeting! Welcome guys and I hope you enjoy the upcoming year as much as we enjoyed 2015

PP Gary then gave out the 2015 Chapter Service awards, and his newest creation, the “We couldn’t have done it without you!” awards. Jim Beale was presented on of these WCHDIWY awards for his help painting the runway markings, Tom Cunningham for his Parade efforts, Dave Eason for help on the RV-3 Project and Honor Garden, Ray Morse for help with the RV-3 project and Walt Weischedel for his building maintenance efforts and egg delivery. As a special award, Alan Weider was given the “MVP of Chapter 31” award. Thanks to all who made 2015 a great year. Remember, you get out of a group what you put in!

Past President Gary then spoke about the RV-3 project, with which he will stay involved after stepping down as President. Doug Kindred noted that due to our efforts to honor Dick VanGrunsven, their foundation has given $2500 to the Oregon Aviation Historical Society to help with the restoration of 3 more of their airplanes, in addition to all the materials they have provided us for our restoration. Thanks again Gary for being the Spark Plug for this worthy project.

In his final act, PP Gary also brought us his discussion with the City of Creswell administrators in his position as liaison with the airport commission. He said that they wanted to increase the number of people who enjoy Creswell during Airport Days. Although I am not sure what the final outcome of his discussions were, it appears that if we emphasize the Young Eagle day during the July 4th festivities, we will draw on the 14,000 people who are in Creswell for the Parade. Stay tuned for further news and planning for YE days in 2016

As his first act as new President, John Kuehl noted that we still need nominations for Vice President and Secretary/Treasurer. He suggested that any who would be willing to serve in this capacity (and as President in 2 years as is our custom), please make this known now. Bill Johnson asked about the responsibilities, and seeming satisfied he could manage, put his name forward. The nominations were then moved to be closed, seconded and voted in affirmative. The election was then held, and Bill won by unanimous vote. Thanks Bill!!

The Secretary/Treasurer spot was again in total disarray, so by default Randy Stout will muddle through another year as Chapter Secretary/Treasurer. He suggested an audit of the books by the incoming President, and a very short term in Jail after the results are reported.

Next Chapter breakfast is Saturday, January 16th. Come out to the clubhouse in the AM and pay $5 for an “all you can eat” breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, OJ, coffee and camaraderie!! Starts at 9:00 and runs to about 10:30 or so. Bridget Pratt said that she would not be there, so she asked again for volunteers. Gary, Tom, Bill, Rod and Alan will coordinate getting the breakfast going. Thanks to everyone who makes this special time a priority. Alan will get with Bridget to be sure that all the supplies we will need are in the fridge.

President John then asked if we could look into getting internet access for the clubhouse. At a cost of $720+- a year, it is not in our budget, but it was suggested that someone might allow us to use their cellular hot spot when we need access. Secretary Stout offered the use of his hot spot, so hopefully we have enough band width to use it effectively.

Pres John also noted that he will be traveling to Flabob, CA for the EAA Chapter Leadership meeting with hopes of becoming a better President and leader of the chapter. Thanks John for your efforts!!

There being no other business, President John then asked PP Gary to come forward and present his slides of his recent trip to Australia to visit various air museums and radio telescopes. Very interesting and fun to watch. Thanks Gary!

The meeting was then adjourned at 8:20 PM
respectfully submitted,
Randall Stout, Secretary/ Treasurer

MEETING TONIGHT!

Just a reminder that tonight is our chapter BBQ and meeting. 6:00 BBQ and 7:00 meeting! Please try to make it if you can to welcome and support our new President, John Kuehl. We’ve got a number of things on the agenda that should be fun and interesting to all!

President Gary

CHAPTER 31 MEETING AND BBQ – JANUARY 6, 2016

Our first meeting of the new year will be held this coming Wednesday with our BBQ at 6 p.m. followed by the meeting at 7 p.m. I hope we can start the year off right with great attendance and participation! We will induct our new President, John Kuehl. We need to have elections for Vice-president, and for Secretary-Treasurer. We need to get back on track with the RV-3 restoration project to turn the airplane over to the OAHS for a mid to late-Spring ceremony at the museum in Cottage Grove. At the Airport Commission meeting last Wednesday I promoted the expansion of the Young Eagles Day event on July 4th instead of having a separate “Airport Days” event that was being discussed. The extra activities (such as a fly-in and public open house) will be under the direction of the Creswell Chamber of Commerce but we will be expected to help out with details. Several people are receiving awards for service to Chapter 31. In addition to the awards presented at the Christmas Party, I request the following persons make a special attempt to attend the meeting to receive their awards in person. They are:

RANDY STOUT, JIM BEAL, TOM CUNNINGHAM, DAVE EASON, LARRY DAVIS, RAY MORSE, KEN SCHMITT, WALT WEISCHEDEL, ROGER WELSH, AND ALAN WIEDER.

The program for the evening will be done by yours truly. I have pictures and stories related to the three airplane museums I visited while touring in New South Wales, Australia in November. I was able to get to the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society (HARS) museum at Parkes, the Warbird Museum in Temora, and the HARS Museum at Albion Park. Australia, and particularly, New South Wales, has a very interesting aviation history that I hope you’ll find interesting. We should also have time to watch the January EAA Chapter Video.

Please try to make the meeting and BBQ and help give our incoming president a warm welcome!

President Gary