Past Meetings
2001- 2002

Go to 1996 Meetings

Go to 1997-1998 Meetings

Go to 1999-2000 Meetings

Go to 2003-2004 Meetings 

 Go to 2005 Meetings

Board of Directors meetings: January, 2001

He will be greatly missed.

Larry

On December 4th, Al's son, Bruce, wrote the following:

We've finally got Dad's funeral arrangements pretty well ironed out.  The funeral home is Thomas Poteet & Sons on Davis Road - (706) 364-8484.  There will be visitation at the funeral home Friday night between 7:00 and 9:00 PM.    The funeral is at St. Marys Catholic church on Monte Sano at 1:30PM Saturday.  There will be a graveside ceremony immediately afterwards at Westover cemetery across from Surry Center.

I would like to encourage anyone who has a special remembrance of Dad's days at the Pea Patch to speak at the wake Friday night.  It would mean a lot to all of us, and give Mom some special memories.

I believe that the funeral home is running obituaries in the Chronicle tomorrow and Friday.  But please try to get the word out concerning the arrangements so that everyone knows what's going on.

Thanks for everything.........Bruce

The  meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM  by President Larry Garner. This was after we ate another fine meal of hot dogs and assorted side dishes set out by Maureen Rhodes, Sheila Connell and the other Aerospouses. Al Newman gave the invocation for the meal which started at 6:38 PM. There were 44 members, relatives and guests at the meeting.  Secretary John Magnan introduced the guests: Ed Brock (who said he was Keith’s son!), Diana Brock, Carl and Loraine Eaton from Okechobee, Florida, and Omie Miller, Dennis Allen’s mother, who said she was there to keep “Dennis in line.” Larry made several announcements:

• Ron Netzer’s stepfather’s funeral was today.
• O.B. Brown’s wife, Allene, is doing better. O.B. confirmed this.
• Al Douglas is in the hospital to have some stomach blockage taken care of.
• Larry said that the Vidalia Fly-in is coming up on November 16th.
• Also the meteor shower will be on November 19th, starting about 2:00 AM. Over 200 meteors an hour are expected.

Old Business: Larry Garner thanked Randy and Jennie Powell for towing the food trailer to the Aiken rotorcraft fly-in. Maureen Rhodes said that the Aerospouses sold a sizeable quantity of food and ice cream bars and other frozen desserts and made a nice profit for the club.

New Business: Larry told the members that he had no choice about the Skyfest Boshears volunteers party being held the same day as the Millen Fly-in (November 9). The party will start around 6:00 PM in Hangar One at Augusta Regional - Bush Field. Those attending can park in the spaces adjacent to the hangar.

Gerald Ballard reminded the members about the Toys For Tots Christmas Party at his hangar at the Twin Lakes Airpark on December 14th. The party will start around 6:30 PM in Gerald’s hangar. This will also be the EAA 172 Christmas Party.

Larry also reminded  everyone about the Christmas Party at the Hacienda De Gay, near Garfield, Georgia, on December 14th, starting at 1:00 PM. [ed. note: Larry contacted members on November 25th  that there will be a special Young Eagles Rally on December 14th  from 10:00 AM - 2:00 PM at Daniel Field for children associated with Make-a-Wish and Angel Flight. He asks for anyone who can help out to let him know].

Keith Brock gave some last minute remarks about the Millen Low-Country Boil Fly-in which was taking place on Saturday. John Magnan said that he had confirmation that at least fifteen ultralights were coming to the fly-in. Keith said that if you are flying in an ultralight don’t fly between the NDB antenna towers. There is an almost invisible antenna wire between the towers. Gerald Ballard remarked that the worst thing that could happen is that they would run out of food. Keith said that he has two more refrigerators running and that Don and Langga Gay are in Savannah and they will be getting more shrimp than already purchased by Dennis Allen, just in case. Keith said he will need the big pot for the Gumbo which he will be making this
year. We’re going to hide the desserts this year to make sure they aren’t eaten before the main meal as they were last year. Keith said he has plenty of chocks and four or five golf carts. There is also power and water for the motor homes. Kevin and Kessler Brock helped out on laying out the lines for that. Larry Garner said that there will be Young Eagles flights at the fly-in. Leroy and Betty Dant’s Aztec should be there to help out.

Al Newman brought up the thought that Augusta Bush Field is not the best place for a fly-in like we had this year for Boshears-Skyfest. He said that a fly-in should promote General Aviation and that people want to go to a fly-in to look at airplanes. He’ll talk about this more at the January meeting.

Program: Captain Richard McGahee, our EAA 172 F-18 pilot, has returned to Augusta for a short time. He presented an interesting program about what he does -- he was in Afghanistan in March. Flying at 300 feet AGL at 500 knots in the mountains is not as scary as taking off and landing at the airport near Kabul where people were shooting at you. He did a lot of combat flying there. He now has a special mission coming up.

ELECTIONS: Al Patton presented the slate of Nominees the Nominating Committee had chosen for EAA 172 officers for 2003. These officers were elected: President: Larry Garner; Vice-President: Keith Brock; Secretary: John Magnan; Treasurer: Tom Garcia.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Many members seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:21 PM.
 

Old Business: Larry Garner thanked everyone for the help at the Young Eagles Rally at Daniel Field on October 5th. We flew 53 youngsters. Tom Jackson is now ahead of Larry Garner by one!

New Business: Gerald Ballard proposed that EAA 172 join him for the Toys For Tots Christmas Party at his hangar at the Twin Lakes Airpark on December 14th. The club accepted the invitation. The party will start around 6:30 PM in Gerald’s hangar at Twin Lakes.

Don Gay is inviting everyone to a Christmas Party at his place, the Hacienda De Gay, near Garfield, Georgia,  on December 14th, starting between noon at 1:00 PM.

Larry Garner reminded the members that there will be a November meeting – Thursday, November 7th. We will need to come up with officers for 2003 before then and we will vote on them at that meeting.

The Millen Low-Country Boil fly-in was discussed. This will be on Saturday, November 9.  In the next newsletter Keith Brock will have a diagram showing where to park planes. He said that he will give advice but will not do the airplane parking. Keith said that he will hand select some people to help him get the planes closer together. The grass runway for the ultralights is closer to the main runway. Keith asked Al Patton to see that the golf cart gets down there. The restroom in the hangar will be used for the ladies. He’s obtained prices of $220 for two and $360 for four portalets for the men. Camping will be available. Keith said he’d leave it up to the club if they want to use the people mover trailer.

We will need about 50 pounds of shrimp ($300 worth). Dennis Allen bought it last year and he’ll be getting it again this year. Judy and Richard Fender will get the ice. Tom Garcia, Rich Gabor and Bob Rhodes will do the cooking.  George and Marilyn Odom will not be doing the Gumbo this year since George is going in the hospital for surgery. There will be a bonfire Saturday night. Larry Garner said that he will try to fly some Young Eagles during the day.

Program: Tech Counselor Al Patton gave some tech tips:
If you have a tire with wheel pants you have to roll it back and forth to check the air. Make a paint mark to mark the valve stem.
Oil tips:
* Use an oil can with the top cut out of it for a funnel.
* Oil is better today so we have a longer engine life. Synthetic oils are not recommended for aircraft. Air blend additive is OK but never use an additive with Teflon in it for air cooled engines. If you use 100LL fuel add TCP to the oil to get rid of the lead.
Al talked about how to determine 75% power in your engine.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Ken Rayburn seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:30 PM.

The weather was “fly-in perfect” for the rotorcraft fly-in – Rotors Over Carolina-- held at the
Aiken, South Carolina, airport October 10-12. There was a light wind and temperatures in the
70s and often a slight overcast so that there was no burning heat from the sun. Several EAA 172
members are also members of the Georgia-Carolina Rotorcraft Club, EAA 1313, which sponsored the event. A number of EAA 172 members were there on Saturday with the food trailer, but because the fog had not lifted in Georgia, none flew in. However, some South Carolina EAA 172 members flew in including Freeman Newman in his Tripacer and Gerald Ballard in his Baron “Salvage I.” Gerald enjoyed himself immensely, even though, when asked, he declined flying in one of the larger gyroplanes on the scene. The rotorcraft club members believe that they will get him in a gyrocopter some day. The weather was warm enough on Saturday to induce the visitors to purchase a goodly amount of cold ice cream treats from the food trailer. Maureen Rhodes said that the food trailer “did well” in the profit category.  The several hundred visitors to the rotorcraft fly-in came from about fifteen states. Because the national Internet and satellite media had erroneous reports about the Aiken weather (some said a 70% chance of rain) fewer visitors and aircraft came to this year’s fly-in. Yet nearly thirty gyroplanes/gyrocopters (and one Apache AH-64 attack helicopter on Thursday) were on the field this year as well as nearly twenty conventional and ultralight aircraft and one Trike. Many were flying around the area or on cross country trips from dawn into the night. Maureen Rhodes wrote that with ice cream, drinks, hot dogs, some nuts and candy sales we made $569.

There was an excellent turnout of youngsters for the Young Eagles Rally held at Daniel Field on October 5, 2002. Fifty-three new Young Eagles were flown. Tom Jackson now has flown one more Young Eagle than Larry Garner. Tom was interviewed about the Young Eagle activities by the media. Those helping out at the rally were Rita and Michael Garner, Randy, Jennie, Kristel and Brandi Powell, Dick Schoenfelder and several more club members. Larry Garner wrote “Low clouds kept us on the ground for a while. I flew at 9:00 and as soon as I departed runway 29 I saw the wall of clouds to the west (you could not see Augusta Mall). Scattered low ceilings kept most of us from flying until mid day. Leroy Dant and Tom Jackson did most of the flying with instrument departures.”

• To help with the aircraft ground operations: Tom Collins. Phone: (706) 860-8985  or e-mail toms182@aol.com Also leading the ground operations will be Tom Garcia and Randy Powell.
• To help with the food trailer: Maureen Rhodes. Phone: (706) 798-1954; e-mail to Jenny Powell: rsjlpowell@aol.com
• To help with guarding the planes OR if you want your aircraft on static display: Larry Garner: Phone (706) 790-4365  or e-mail garner49@comcast.net

The Boshears-Skyfest Website announced recently that Bush Field (Augusta Regional) has waived the ramp fee both Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29, for pilots flying in for the Airshow. From: http://www.boshearsskyfest.com/misc/index.html

Q. What are the rules/guidelines for fly-ins?
A. Spectators desiring to fly into the air show are requested to arrive before noon on  Saturday and Sunday. Spectators are not allowed to watch the air show from the  FBO or their aircraft [ed: maybe this is a good time to get your hand vac and give the inside of your aircraft a good cleaning!]. The FBO will provide transportation to the air show gate. Augusta Regional Airport is waiving ramp fees for Saturday and Sunday. Tickets will  be available at the FBO.
 

• Don Bush bought a Cherokee;
• Rich Gabor now has a yellow airplane;
• EAA has an Oshkosh program on SpeedVision September 6 --- 8:00 - 10:00 PM.;
• Columbia, South Carolina,  Owens Field has an Antique Aircraft fly-in on August 24th. An antique aircraft is one from the earliest to 1926 according to someone at the meeting.

President Garner also said that Aiken Tech is starting an instrument ground school for $195.
Loraine Schoenfelder’s cancer is in remission. The group clapped heartily at that news.

Vice-President O.B. Brown’s wife, Allene, has stomach lymphoma but she is undergoing chemotherapy and the prognosis is good.

Old Business: Members were reminded about Don Gay’s fly-in August 10 at the Hacienda de Gay. Also Ladies Day at the Pea Patch is coming up Saturday, August 24th.

New Business: President Garner brought up the principal topic of discussion for the meeting: Boshears-Skyfest 2002, scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29. He said that by August 26 advertising had been spread over a 200 mile radius of Augusta. September 11-13 and also 18-20 there will be a setup on the field at Augusta Regional Airport. This may be farmed out. Mike Gunn, the FAA Tower Manager, wants a TFR (Temporary Flight Restriction) area between 12:30 and 5:00 PM.

These points about Skyfest were discussed:
 

• Boshears Skyfest will be at Augusta-Regional ( Bush Field) only. It will be on Saturday and Sunday, September 28-29.
• EAA 172 will have their food trailer there but Maureen Rhodes said that they  may limit the amount of food purchased by EAA 172 (so we won’t be stuck with a pile of food if there is bad weather) so  the food trailer may close down early if we do run out of food.
• Unlike the 2000 Skyfest there will be 200 portapotties, not 35!
• There will be a reception at Ft. Discovery (not free!) All performers including the Blue Angels pilots will be there for a Korean War Commemorative Dinner. Advance tickets are $15.
• Boshears Skyfest 2002 is an air show not a fly-in! If you wish to fly in you will have to park across the runway and pay perhaps a $35 landing fee. Members did not like this.
• There will be a limited General Aviation display for the public to see. If you wish your aircraft to be on display contact Larry Garner at (706) 790-4365 or eMail to: garner49@comcast.net
• If you do display your aircraft you will not have to pay a landing fee but you are supposed to leave it there from noon Friday  to late Sunday afternoon. Members did not like that idea. [In the Newsletter Larry wrote "We've been given space to display our aircraft, on the grass so that we can tie-down (bring your own)." also ". . . the only requirement for the display aircraft is radio contact with the tower."]
• We will perhaps have ribbon or tape to encircle aircraft on display to keep the public from pawing over the planes and damaging them. Keith Brock and others said that this was a problem in 2000.
• Some EAA 172 members will be working on the Flight Line. Tom Collins has not yet decided if he will take charge of the ground operations. [In the Newsletter Larry wrote "Tom Collins, Tom Garcia and Randy Powell are the 'tri-chair' of qircraft ground handling. They will need others to help with this and you will be asked."]
• This will not be like former Boshears: you won't be able to park motorhomes next to the food trailer. Any tent at the food trailer will be just for our members. This will then be like the Skyfest we had a couple years ago.
• We need volunteers to help with the food trailer and to guard the planes on display. There most likely will be a EAA 172 called meeting later this month to find out who will be volunteering to work. If  you volunteer you must be on the field before 6:00 AM! Some members complained but Ken Rayburn said that he and John Magnan were on the field both days in 2000 at 5:30 AM and had no problem getting into Skyfest. [In the Newsletter Larry wrote "Keep in mind, that if you are a listed volunteer, you will get an airshow gate pass and there may be more incentives as well."]
• Unlike the fiasco at Skyfest, visitors will first park then line up to pay the admission fee.
• Volunteers will not need to undergo a security check but will need photo IDs and will need to be on the volunteer list.
• There is nothing so far about a volunteer party. Also there will be no VIP tent. It will be called “The Mayor’s Tent.”
• There will be no Young Eagles flights. Those will be scheduled for sometime in October. [In the Newsletter Larry wrote "We will be promoting YE flights on the next weekend (October 5th) at DNL from 9:00 AM until noon. . . I would appreciate your help with that, as well."

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. John Magnan seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:24 PM.

82 members and guests attended. Unfortunately, because of the uncertain stormy weather, only four aircraft flew in. The first aircraft to land was a Challenger I flown by our Vice-President O.B. Brown. Freeman Newman came in a Tri-Pacer. Benoit Clavel flew his Cavalier in. Visitors Glenn and Lena Goode came in Glenn’s Cherokee. Charlie Connell handled the air traffic though he wasn’t very busy.  At 1:00 PM we ate the barbecue and grilled chicken along with salad, vegetable and dessert side dishes the members brought.  Al Newman gave the blessing and there was plenty of food. In fact, after the meal, President Garner said that members could purchase a take-out meal – all the food they could put in a styrofoam carton -- for only $5.00. Many members took advantage of this offer. There was no club business transacted but Treasurer David Parrish did give the financial report: $4300 in the checking account and $303 in the Kitty.
 

Old Business: Maureen Rhodes said that we sold two (2) hamburgers at the Wrens fly-in. Larry said that for the next meeting, the Cold Cuts Fly-in, we will have barbecue, chicken, hot dogs and hamburgers rather than cold cuts.

Blair Kendall talked about his aircraft mishap in which he received injuries after getting out of the plane and tripping over a stump. The aircraft is a total loss. He thanked Margaret Zimlich, who was at the meeting, for giving him assistance at home while he recovers. Margaret is a private pilot, a flight attendant and chief purser for United Airlines.  Blair also thanked everyone for the help they gave him after the incident. Blair’s son, who was a passenger on the plane,  was not injured.

Larry Garner, the Young Eagles Coordinator, said that 92 Young Eagles were flown on International Young Eagles day, June 8. Our club has flown 2393 Young Eagles since the program began.

New Business: Larry reported that Terry Florie’s Cessna Skyhawk was stolen at Daniel Field, perhaps during the day on June 8th but more likely in the early morning hours.  N6468E is white with a brown stripe on the fuselage and an orange stripe  on the top of the cowling and on the vertical stabilizer. The N number is small and on the tail. If you have seen it or know of its whereabouts please contact the owner, Terry Florie, at 706-651-1660 or EAA 172 President Larry Garner.

Larry said that Don Brown has an unmounted retread 500/5 tire, yellow tagged, for $15.

Keith Brock said that the Georgia governor is coming to Millen June 28th.

Leroy Dant was injured when his horse fell on him. He is recovering well with the able assistance of his wife Betty.

Upcoming events:

• Trenton Fly-in June 22nd.
• South Carolina Breakfast Club June 16 at Laurens (34A).
• PIG PICKIN' LOW-COUNTRY BOIL At the Hacienda de gay (7GA3) June 29.
• South Carolina Breakfast Club June 30 at Hartsville (HVS)

Program: Secretary John Magnan introduced the speaker, Gary Waggoner, a BFI – ultralight instructor and a dealer for the Titan series of aircraft.

Gary talked about the Titan aircraft which, he said, are well constructed and handle excellently in the air. Interspersed in his discussion of the Titan were several interesting stories dealing with aircraft. One had to do with a Rotax engine that wouldn’t start. The engine was torn down and it was found that mud daubers had made a nest in a cylinder. The only way they could have come in is through the exhaust pipe and muffler. Gary passed around a photo of the mud clogged cylinder.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Sondy Lawrence seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:17 PM.
 

Varietal Meats Fly-in The Varietal Meats (formerly Cold Cuts) Fly-in is on Saturday, July 13, 2002. Food is at 1:00 PM but come earlier. Club members with last names beginning with A-G should bring salads; H-Q should bring desserts; R-Z should bring vegetables.

Old Business: Larry mentioned that we will be working to upgrade the clubhouse soon. The floor needs to be sealed and some of the ratty looking furniture should be replaced. Rich Gabor has a good price for steel siding which needs to be put on the clubhouse.

New Business: Gerald Ballard told the members that he bought out all the chairs from the Augusta civic center. He said these are “really nice chairs” with upholstered seats and backs. Any club member can have some of the chairs if they stop over at Gerald’s business in Augusta and pick them up. He also said the knows from personal experience that in South Carolina the FAA is stepping up its ramp checks, so be careful when landing there – if you see an FAA man and you are still taxiing your plane get back on the runway and take off!

The Wrens Fly-in is May 17-18 with the Early Bird Day on May 16. John Magnan said that most things have been taken care of but people are still needed to direct the public parking. Larry Garner said that the food trailer still needs to be cleaned out and suggested that this could be done on Saturday, May 11, perhaps at 9:00 AM. Tom Collins and Tom Garcia announced that they would be able to be at the fly-in and to cook the pigs on Friday the 17th. They were planning to come Wednesday evening. Social Director Maureen Rhodes confirmed that there will be a big breakfast at the fly-in at 9:00 AM on Saturday the 18th.  She also said that two 40 pound bags of ice should be sufficient. Larry asked that everyone bring some side dishes
to both the Friday and Saturday meals. More vegetable dishes are needed – perhaps fewer desserts. Randy Powell said the tents are OK and he will bring them on a trailer, maybe Wednesday evening.

Upcoming events:

• Wrens Fly-in May 17-18.
• Ladies Day at the Pea Patch on May 25th.
• International Young Eagles Day at Daniel Field on June 8th. Larry said the pilots will be flying the youngsters from 8:00 AM until about noon.

Program: Vice-President O.B. Brown introduced Joe Miles who gave a fine presentation about the “enshrinement” of Colonel Phil Colman into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Joe said that EAA 172 was one of the sponsors and that the Lt. Governor of Georgia was there. It was held in the large hangar which houses a B-29, P-51 etc.  About 400 people were present. The Hall of Fame is on the second floor of the building. Joe had a beautiful display of photos and other items about Phil Colman.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Several members seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:21 PM.

Stormy weather and torrential rain and high wind washed out the Wrens Fly-in for the first time in our short seven year history. Some aircraft were able to fly in, though. Richard Fender came in his SeaRey on Thursday, but left Friday afternoon before the bad weather hit. Three aircraft from the Savannah, Georgia, area also flew in on Friday and left when Richard did. Club members who flew in were Larry Garner in his Piper Cherokee and Rich Gabor in his Pup.   A Meyers airplane from Gainesville, Florida, flew in on Friday and was finally able to leave Sunday. An Arrow, headed toward its home airport in Bartow, Florida, came in during a lull in the storm on Saturday and the pilot also stayed overnight until Sunday morning. Six aircraft from the Wrens hangar also participated: A Cessna 172 with pilot Mark Slone, John Sligar's Phantom, Duane Brooks' Kolb and Will Robertson's gyrocopter. Ray Trenter and Ralph Powell showed off their nearly completed Nieuport 11s in the hangar.

Bear Perkins did bring his large motorhome and two powered parachutes on Friday but the weather was too inclement for him to fly.

Three Young Eagles pilots were present: Young Eagles Coordinator, Larry Garner, Ron Netzer and Terry Florie. However no Young Eagles were flown because of the rainstorm. A couple of prospective Young Eagles did come Saturday morning but were told that the weather was too stormy to fly them.

We still had our scheduled meals. The men prepared barbecue on Friday, the Aerospouses cooked a fine breakfast Saturday morning and the men grilled chicken Saturday evening. There were about 40 members, family and guests at each of the evening meals.

Read more about the Wrens Fly-in in the next newsletter.

Old Business: Not too many aircraft came to the Fish Fry Fly-in in March. We had expected some from Chapter 242 but the weather prevented them from coming. One ultralight and six or seven other aircraft did manage to fly in. About 75 people enjoyed the fried fish and trimmings.

The Wrens Gourd Festival March 23rd had about 20 visiting aircraft. Larry Garner flew 48 Young Eagles. A couple of other pilots, Mike Morris and Benoit Clavel flew five or six more in their two-seat aircraft. Larry said he was very tired at the end of the day. To date, he has flown 361 Young Eagles while Tom Jackson has only flown 350! Brandi and Krystal Powell handled the Young Eagle registrations while their dad, Randy, organized the youngsters and assigned groups to airplanes.

New Business: Reminder that Phil Colman will be inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame on April 20th.  The black-tie Enshrinement Banquet will be at Warner Robins.

Larry asked who was going to Sun’n Fun. Only two or three at the meeting were going to fly in. A few more were driving. As customary, members there would meet at noon at the flagpole at the FAA building.

President Garner reminded everyone about Summer Young Eagles Day on Saturday, June 8, at Daniel Field. He said that there would be no Young Eagles flights on May 19th at Vidalia. Also there will be no Young Eagles flights at the September Boshears Skyfest 2002.

Upcoming events:

• South Carolina Breakfast Club at Allendale on April 7th.
• South Carolina Breakfast Club at Broxton Bridge on April 21st.
• Ladies Stamp Club meeting at the Pea Patch April 27th.
• Wrens Fly-in May 17-18    WEBSITE: http://jcmservices.net/wrens02.htm
• Fly-in at Quincy, Florida on May 18th.  WEBSITE: http://www.eaa445.org/flyin.htm
• Ladies Stamp Club meeting at the Pea Patch May 25th.

Larry and Rita Garner are volunteer Chairs for the Children’s Miracle Network. There will be a Telethon (Channel 12 - WRDW) at the Medical College of Georgia on June 1st.  They need people to answer the telephones during the Telethon. Please contact Larry at (706) 790-4365 if you can help out.

Program: The scheduled speaker had to cancel at the last moment and it was too late to obtain another speaker. However, some of the members regaled the group with stories of their own flying adventures. Ron Netzer made comments about his new Skyboy. Terry Stout talked about his Cobra. But the principal impromptu speakers were Al Newman and Dr. Jowers. Al told an interesting story about his wife flying with a friend. Al also told about doing rolls in a Champ. Dr. Jowers told us about a plane, on fire, crashing in  Waynesboro, as well as other flying tales.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. John Magnan seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:05 PM.

Even though the weather was cold, Young Eagles Coordinator Larry Garner reported that 170 Young Eagles were flown on Winter Young Eagles Day at Daniel Field February 23rd, 2002. Records indicate that this is the largest number of Young Eagles flown in one day in the EAA 172 Young Eagles program. During Boshears, 1999, there were 215 Young Eagles flown, but that was the total for the two day Rally.

Larry Garner arrived early to set things up for the scheduled 10:00 AM starting time. But by 9:30 AM there were over fifty parents and prospective Young Eagles on the field. By 11:30 AM the seven pilots had flown 118 Young Eagles. Pilots flew from 9:45 AM to 2:00 PM.

Flight Leaders (pilots) for the Young Eagles were LeRoy Dant with his granddaughter Arianna Woumans, Keith Donker, Terry Florie, Larry Garner, Tom Jackson, Ron Netzer and David Reville. Jennie Powell, David Shoffitt and Brandi and Kristal Powell worked at the registration desk. Rita Garner was the dispatcher and assigned Young Eagles to the aircraft. Al Newman gave the pre-flight orientations. Other EAA 172 members helped out by doing paperwork, leading Young Eagles to and from the aircraft and other duties. Among them were Betty Dant, Wyman Fox, Blair Kendall, John Magnan, Al Patton, Will Robertson and Mark Slone.

Larry asked that everyone help out at Daniel Field for the Winter Young Eagles Rally set for February 23rd at Daniel Field. He still needs pilots so contact him at (706) 790-4365. Young Eagles will be flown from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM or later if there are  some waiting for rides just before 2:00 PM. Larry reminded everyone that there will be no adult flights for the Young Eagles rally. If parents wanted to fly with their children we can direct them to the Daniel Field FBO and suggest that they obtain an airplane ride there.

Larry reminded everyone about the installation of our double ace Phil Colman into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame at the Warner Robbins AFB on April 20th. To obtain an invitation to the  formal induction ceremony members should contact Joe Miles at 706-733-8376. President Garner said that we have been asked to donate some money to the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. We would have a Board meeting to discuss that.

Dues are to be paid by March. Al Patton said that he sends a self-addressed envelope to those who have not paid by then and if they don’t pay they are taken off the membership list. The member directory will be available in March.

Old Business: The events calendar came under discussion. After the Winter Young Eagles event on February 23rd we will have the Fish Fry Fly-in on March 9th. We will not have a poker run since we have had few participants in the past usually because of the weather conditions. Tom Collins, Tom Garcia and Terry Evans were suggested as cooks but if they can’t be there Larry Garner, Dennis Allen,  Steve Thompson and possibly Ken Rayburn could cook. We need shallower cookers for the fish. Four or five cookers were needed. O.B. Brown said that he has a cooker at his house. Charlie Connell would get the fish. We will have a cleanup day on Saturday, March 2nd to prepare the clubhouse and field.

Terry Stout talked about the Wrens Gourd Festival Fly-in set for March 23rd. He said he had talked with city administrators about it. The city will advertise EAA 172's participation. Larry Garner said that Young Eagles will be flown from noon to about 3:00 PM.

 Secretary John Magnan brought up the Wrens Fly-in set for May 17-18. He asked about the possibility of a motor scooter raffle. Tom Garcia and Tom Collins will probably be there to cook the pig. Kim and Terry Evans did not know if they can handle getting booths and vendors this year.

Larry Garner asked Al Patton if we could perhaps have a half-page calendar in the next  newsletter.

New Business: We will be having a fly-out to the Millen airport on February 16. Keith Brock said he would arrange transportation for anyone flying in so that they could eat a barbecue meal in Millen around noon. Keith also said that he and his family will be moving to the airport side of the road in about 90 days.

Visitor Brad Kyzer, the Co-Chairman of the Boshears Skyfest, talked about what's happening at the Skyfest, set for September 27-29. Among the aerobatic performers will be the Blue Angels, Patty Wagstaff, Gary Ward   and Jamail Larkins. The previous porta-john problem will be taken care of and the food prices will be reasonable this time. Tickets will be sold only after the visitors have parked their cars. Only one side of the airport will be used since there is ongoing commercial air traffic. He asked for EAA 172's static aircraft displays. Al Newman suggested that we should still have a regular fly-in at Daniel Field during the year. Larry Garner said that this year the focus is on the military jet team.

Larry said that the EAA 172 clubhouse needed work. The siding should be replaced. Rich Gabor would be handling that. The floor in the back part needs to be sealed. Some furniture should be replaced. We do have a bad mouse problem.
 

Program: Tech Counselor Al Patton talked about knowing where your airplane controls are -- blindfolded! He related a story about the problems he had in an unfamiliar aircraft when he did not know where the controls were. Also he gave some hints about riveting and not using Teflon tape on any aircraft lines. Pieces of Teflon will get into fuel, vacuum and air lines and clog things up. Builders should use Permatex, Loctite, Parker Seal Lube or even good pipe dope.  Al gave examples of why he, as Tech Counselor, is always hollering about weight. He told a very amusing story about someone who built a Nieuport 11 (none of our members!). The aircraft tail and other structures were so heavy with Bondo that the plane stalled and crashed on its first flight.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Wyman Fox seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:27 PM.

Larry also announced that the next chapter meeting would be February 7th rather than the 14th because of Valentine’s Day. Also the Winter Young Eagles rally would be February 23rd rather than the originally scheduled February 7th.

Old Business: Gerald Ballard gave a brief summary of the Christmas Party which had been held at his hangar in December. He said that they had fed 438 guests. The Marines had picked up two truckloads of the “Toys For Tots” that the party goers had brought. The leftover food was donated the next day to the Captain’s Table, an organization which provides food for the poor.

New Business: Buster Boshears, Daniel Field Airport Manager, announced that EAA 172 member, Phil Colman, had been inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. The ceremony will be the weekend after the Masters. To obtain an invitation to the formal induction ceremony members should contact Joe Miles at 706-733-8376.

Blair Kendall talked about the Vidalia Onion Festival Fly-in which is scheduled for May 18 & 19. He invited our chapter members to attend and possibly have the food trailer there. Blair said that motor homes can stay on the field. He said that he had sent out fly-in notices to numerous airports and media.

Larry turned the meeting over to Vice-President O.B. Brown who thanked everyone for their cards and visits to him while he was in the hospital. O.B. also thanked Mike Wasden for leading the Jefferson Electric crew which restored his power after the ice/snow storm.   He then introduced the program speaker, Augusta Regional Airport Air Traffic Manager Mike Gunn. Mike said that a person in his position used to be called
“Tower Chief” but the title has changed.
In a very lively program punctuated by many questions and answers during and after it, Mike had  a number of observations:

Mike also answered other questions including one about the “airport dog” at Bush Field. Bob Rhodes concurred that there is one there, named “Radar.”

As for the upcoming Skyfest 2002 the end of September, another road has been made using old crushed asphalt and visitors won’t pay for their tickets until after they park their cars.

The FAA tower at Bush still can’t be visited because of the heightened security.

The FAA now has brochures for the public which perhaps will cause them to report any low flying aircraft, even those in the traffic pattern or on final!

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. The motion was seconded and passed and the meeting adjourned at 8:34 PM.
 

Old Business: President Gabor reminded everyone that after the meeting he needed the ballots for the ten members who should receive an “Outstanding Service Award - 2001.” Rich also reminded the members about the Christmas Party which will be  at Ballard’s hangar at the Twin Lakes Airpark on December 8 at around 6:30 PM.

New Business: Larry Garner discussed the airspace changes. He said he talked with a Gwinnett County pilot who was intercepted by fighters and after landing had his plane confiscated. It seems that the pilot had inadvertently flown over a nuclear restricted area. Larry reminded the members to call flight service before each flight and to get flight following if you can.  He said the Bush Field tower chief Mike Gunn said to take off from the Pea Patch in such a way that you don’t cross U.S. Highway 1. Larry said the whole idea is cooperation between us, the FAA and the military.

Keith Brock led the discussion about the Millen fly-in which will take place in two days, on the 10th. He asked about the shrimp. Dennis Allen said he was handling that. Keith said that he and his sons have built tables.  He also reminded everyone to keep their eyes open for military jets which may be flying near the airport.

Keith said that a few things are still needed: salt & pepper; butter for the corn; garbage cans; paper products; hand held radios; and, ice. Richard Fender said he would be getting the ice. Marilyn Odom and Gina Brock would be making the gumbo. It is preferred that aircraft land to the north. The UNICOM frequency would be 122.9. Ultralights have their own field -- they should watch out for the powerlines. As for restrooms: the women would use the one in the guest house; the men would use the refurbished one in the toolroom. There would be a bonfire Saturday night. People should bring their own hotdogs and marshmellows. They would be lighting the fire around 5:30 PM.

Rich Gabor said he has had a number of calls about the fly-in. Keith said he also has had calls. Secretary John Magnan said he has had both calls and e-mails.

There will be an EAA 172 Board of Directors meeting at the Pea Patch next Saturday, the 17th, at 9:00 AM.

Rich showed the group one of the fancy airplane clocks that Ron Netzer makes.  The prices range from $60 to $150, usually at least $90. He said that one of the clocks would be presented to the person who wins the President’s Choice award. This presentation would be made at the Christmas Party.

Al Patton, the chairman of the nominating committee,  presented the roster of candidates for officers. He nominated Larry Garner for President. The motion was seconded and passed unanimously. Al nominated O.B. Brown for Vice-President; Rich Gabor seconded the nomination and it passed unanimously. Both John Magnan and Sondy Lawrence were nominated for Secretary. The majority vote was for John Magnan. David Parrish and Pat Murphy were nominated for Treasurer. The majority vote went to David Parrish.

Randy Powell was made the assistant Logistics Director. [ed. note: at the December 17th Board Meeting Randy was made the Logistics Director; Ken Raburn will be the Associate Logistics Director]   Larry Garner will continue as Young Eagles Coordinator.  Larry said that he will be doing Young Eagles at the Millen fly-in.

Rich said that there will be no December meeting. Al Newman moved to adjourn the meeting. Ken Raburn seconded the motion and the meeting adjourned at 8:26 PM.
 

Old Business: John Magnan told the members that he had just been at the Rotors Over Carolina Fly-in at the Aiken, South Carolina, airport, and would be returning there the following morning. He invited all the members to fly in so they could inspect and even get a ride in some of the gyrocopters that were on the field.  Maureen Rhodes said that she and the Aerospouses would have the Food Trailer at the fly-in on Saturday. They did need someone to drive the truck to pull the food trailer there.

Al Newman and others remarked that only between 20 and 40 aircraft were at the Darlington, South Carolina fly-in. However, there were nearly 100 aircraft which flew in to the South Carolina Breakfast Club held at the Darlington airport that Sunday.

Rich mentioned that the decision to postpone and then cancel the Boshears Fly-in was a tough one, the vote was 50-50 at the first meeting. Next year Boshears could be in the springtime. This will be decided by the Boshears committee in December.

New Business: President Gabor passed out ballots to be filled out so that the ten members who should receiving an “Outstanding Service Award” for 2001 could be chosen.  Rich needs this ballot by the November meeting at the latest.  The awards will be given out at the Christmas Party.

Keith Brock discussed the Millen Fly-in on November 10. All aircraft and ultralights are invited. There would be a bonfire Saturday night. Food will be served at 1:00 PM but there will be there would be Gumbo at 10:00 AM.  People could fly-in and stay over Friday to Saturday and also Saturday to Sunday. Keith said he has invited ultralighters including the powered parachute crowd. Dennis Allen said he would coordinate with other EAA 172 folks abut getting the corn and shrimp.  Last year they needed 40 pounds of shrimp. The year before it was 30 pounds. The people mover would be brought there – Keith will check on obtaining a tractor. Richard Fender would be responsible for getting some ice. Marilyn Odom would work with Gina Brock on the chicken & rice Gumbo to be served that morning.  Members said that they would bring chairs and tables as usual. For side dishes Keith suggested desserts only.  Members would not have to donate for the meal but there will be a donation pot for non-members. Keith’s phone number
is: 478-982-5783.

Gerald Ballard reminded everyone about his Christmas Party at his hangar at Twin Lakes, South Carolina. Come around 6:00 - 6:30 PM on Saturday, December 8. Bring some new, unwrapped toy for the Toys for Tots, otherwise just bring yourselves, no side dishes.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Many members seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 7:55 PM.
 

Old Business: The EAA 172 T-shirts were in. Pam Collins volunteered to collect the money after the meal. The Aerospouses would hand out the shirts at that time. Pam said that they were charged tax. O.B. said that the club would pay for the tax since the members had been promised the shirts at a set amount.

O.B. said that sign-in lists for the people movers and also other Boshears activities were on the table.

New Business: Vice-President Brown said that the EAA SouthEastern Fly-in at Evergreen would be held October 6. Bob Warner would hold a forum on the Sport Pilot. It would be in the big red hangar on the field.

Gerald Ballard proposed that the Christmas Party be held in his hangar. Ballard said “Pilots are like cows, they get scattered.” He wants to bring them together for one event. There would be a Toys for Tots collection – people should bring a new, unwrapped toy. No one should bring any food! Gerald said he would give out door prizes including “a $600 Rolex.” Since he has new chairs and tables he wants to use them. This would be December 8 at around 7:00 PM in his hangar at Twin Lakes, South Carolina. This was put in the form of a motion by Charlie Connell. Ken Rayburn seconded it and John Magnan called the question. The motion passed with one opposing vote.

Keith Brock discussed the Millen Fly-in November 10. All aircraft and ultralights are invited. There would be a bonfire Saturday night. People could fly-in and stay over Friday to Saturday and also Saturday to Sunday. Members said that they would bring chairs and tables as usual. Keith’s phone number is: 478-982-5783.

A group of EAA 172 members who had been at the Boshears Committee meeting came in. Tom Collins announced that the Boshears Fly-in and Airshow had been canceled for the weekend of September 21-23. It would be postponed until later this year or sometimes in March.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. John Magnan seconded the motion and the vote was unanimous. The meeting adjourned at 7:33 PM.

The following are those who said they would take responsibility for certain aspects of the
Boshears/Skyfest Fly-in & Airshow.

• Aircraft ground controllers - flight line  — EAA 172 members.
• Young Eagles: Larry Garner.
• Tents: “Omar” Ken Rayburn.
• History Tent: Al Patton, Joe Miles and Phil Colman.
• Display trailer: John Magnan (who will borrow the trailer from Keith Brock)
• Set up people movers: John Magnan.
• Run the people movers and take money on them: EAA 172 members.
• Set up “touch and feel aircraft parts” display: John Magnan – contact him if you have parts to display.
• Aircraft and ultralights on display — EAA 172 members.
• Food trailer: Maureen Rhodes and the Aerospouses.
 

Old Business: Larry Garner said that the Hot Rod Lincoln for Boshears had been in a crash so it will either be repaired and be at Boshears or there will be a substitute.  The B-1 bomber is still on schedule; the helicopters will be out of South Carolina. A C-54 and other planes will be there as will Patty Wagstaff and Gary Ward. Larry said that the Young Eagles flying will be Saturday and Sunday at Boshears.

New Business: Rich Gabor had the list to be signed on for EAA 172 shirts. He said that members should get in touch with him directly about getting a shirt. The colors chosen were Bimini and white.

Keith Brock asked for people to call him (478-982-5783) if they had anything to contribute about setting up for the November Millen Low Country Boil Fly-in. Keith said that if anyone had suggestions “Holler at him.”

Rich said about the same people as usual will do the Boshears fly-in duties:

• Aircraft ground controllers - flight line  — EAA 172 members.
• Young Eagles: Larry Garner.
• Tents: “Omar” Ken Rayburn.
• History Tent: Al Patton, Joe Miles and Phil Colman.
• Display trailer: John Magnan (who will borrow the trailer from Keith Brock)
• Set up people movers: John Magnan.
• Run the people movers and take money on them: EAA 172 members.
• Set up “touch and feel aircraft parts” display: John Magnan – contact him if you have parts to display.
• Aircraft and ultralights on display — EAA 172 members.
• Food trailer: Maureen Rhodes and the Aerospouses.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Everyone seconded the motion and the meeting adjourned at 7:43 PM.

Program: Tech Counselor Al Patton said that he remembers telling Orville that if he’d put spruce where Orville had bamboo the Wright Flyer would be lighter – then Al talked about the many early aircraft he had dealt with throughout his aviation life. He had slides to show a photo of each one as he spoke. These included the American Eagle, Aeronca C-3, Aerosport Monoplane, Star Cavalier, J-2 Cub, Waco, Pietenpol, Stearman, Rose Parrakeet, Staggerwing Beach and a couple dozen more aircraft. Al had an interesting comment about each one.

EAA 442 (Kingsport, Tennessee) members Bob and Cordell Cording with their friend Steve Preston flew to the Wrens Airport in their Cessna 172 to look at and test fly John Sligar’s CGS Hawk which John had for sale.  Steve Preston was interested in purchasing it. A week later, on August 26, they drove down to get the Hawk and fly it back to Tennessee. Steve Preston was the new owner and he and Bob Cording would alternate piloting it on several legs to their home field over the mountains. Bob wrote: “We drove down Sunday and Steve soloed it and made several landings for practice.  Then I took it to 5,000' to be sure the jetting would work going over the mountains on the way home.” Then, at 7:30 AM Monday morning, Steve took off and Bob and Cordell followed in their car using U.S. Highway 221 (which goes past the Wrens Airport and heads straight for the mountains).
 

The Aerospouses were busy setting out the cold cuts and sorting the various side dishes the club members had brought in. Maureen Rhodes along with Bettye Berning, Pam Collins, Katherine Douglas, Kim Evans, Jennie Lawrence, Joyce Newman, Polly Powell and Sue Rayburn helped out in all aspects of the table and meat preparations and the cleanup afterwards.

There was no business meeting during the fly-in meal.  At 1:00 PM President Gabor welcomed everyone and thanked the Aerospouses for the food preparation.  He said that Maureen Rhodes had set up a display of “old” photos without names and asked those present to look at the display and try to identify the people and aircraft in the photos. Sondy Lawrence gave the blessing and the meal began. There was plenty for all. There were about 70 members and spouses as well as more than 30 guests in attendance. Many stayed until mid-afternoon just talking, looking at the planes there (especially the Stearman and the AMD CH2000 ) and
stopping in hangars to look at the ongoing projects.
 SEE THE PHOTOS BY CLICKING HERE!

Regarding aircraft tires, Al said that they don’t do a whole lot of work – just landing, taking off, taxiing and sitting. At times they do need servicing and replacing. Certain work on them can be done by the certificated aircraft owner as described in FAR 43.12 and 43.3. Don’t break the bead by stomping on the tire – pour kerosene around the bead, wait fifteen minutes then the bead should separate easily. When putting in a tube remember to inflate and then deflate the tube so it takes the correct position in the tire. Also use a new cotter pin after replacing the wheel nut.

As for the aircraft compass it should be checked when one of the following has happened:
     •    The shock of a hard landing.
     •    Severe turbulence.
     •    Severe electrical storm.
     •    New metal pieces in the aircraft.
     •    A change in the electrical system.
     •    Over time after being always parked in the same place.

Al said that the compass is refillable since if it is partially drained it will lose accuracy. This can be done with high-price compass fluid or perhaps a cheaper substitute, maybe even mineral spirits! The procedure of “swinging the compass” should be done using a Compass Rose (such as at the Wrens airport) This will compensate for the electrical system and steel items in or part of the aircraft.

Additional Program: Al Newman talked about the problems working with Oklahoma City in getting a preferred “N” number. He made a number of interesting observations about working with the FAA folks there.

At 7:43 PM Vice-President Brown started the business portion of the meeting. Treasurer David Parrish reported that there was $5,341.89 in the checking account and $74.00 in the kitty. The expenditures and income from the Wrens Fly-in had not yet been included in the account balance.  Secretary John Magnan had no new information for the secretary’s report.

Old Business: President Gabor said that Herrington’s, in Fairway Square,  had our logo and emblem in its computer. A shirt with an emblem would cost $24. Rich said that everyone should identify what they want. Perhaps a tally will be taken at the August meeting.

New Business: Rich thanked everyone for their help and concern and well wishes regarding his operations. He said that the original heart valve work lasted 31 years. He hopes the current one lasts as long!

Rich reminded everyone about the next meeting being the “Cold Cuts Fly In” on July 14th .  There will be a spot landing contest at 11:00 and the food is at 1:00 PM. Club members with last names beginning with A-G should bring salads; H-Q should bring desserts; R-Z should bring vegetables. Fly in, if you can.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Everyone seconded the motion and the meeting adjourned at 7:49 PM.

Young Eagles Coordinator Larry Garner wrote: “Many thanks to everyone that helped out with
International Young Eagles Day 2001.  The weather kept us on the ground until after 9:00 AM, but everyone seemed to understand.  The pre-promotion was good, the turnout was less than expected.  I didn't get around to say thanks to everyone, but you know your help is greatly
appreciated.  We can't do it without each of you.  The Chronicle had a good story on the front page of the Metro section and I've had several calls to say how much they enjoyed it.”

No regular May EAA 172 meeting was scheduled. On and off rainstorms cut down the number of aircraft attending -- about 52. The first pilot to fly-in was Richard Fender with his SeaRey which came in at noon on Thursday, the “early bird day.” The Trike/Powered Parachute BFI, Pat Thaxton, set up his trailer on the field but the wind was gusty on Friday morning so he cancelled the powered parachute flying for the fly-in. There were intermittent showers all day Friday so few aircraft came in.We did have a fine meal that evening, though, prepared by the Aerospouses.

The weather was also rainy and blustery on Saturday. The only opening in the weather was between 9:00 AM and 3:00 PM. However during that short period  there were many impromptu demonstration flights by pilots in Giles, Pitts, Air Tractor, Europa and even a Glasair aircraft. At the awards ceremony that afternoon Mayor J.J. Rabun of Wrens thanked everyone for coming. He told the visitors that the city of Wrens was going to have a Centennial celebration the last Saturday of September and asked everyone to fly back and fly over the town to help celebrate the event.  EAA 172 President Rich Gabor then said some words about all the people who helped.
 

AIRCRAFT AWARDS
BEST ULTRALIGHT	Rans S-14		Terry Stout,  Martinez, GA
BEST HOMEBUILT	Vans RV-6A	N112RS	Ray Sheffield, Trenton, SC
BEST ANTIQUE/CLASSIC	Ercoupe	N93543	Jim Austin,  Easley, SC
BEST GENERAL AVIATION	Pitts S-2B	N149TM	Greg Samples, Elberton, GA
BEST OF SHOW
	Giles G-202	N202GP	Gary Ward, Lincolnton, GA

Rainstorms started again around 3:00 PM. By then most of the aircraft had left the field. Some of the ultralights that were unable to leave on time got drenched because there was no more room for them in the hangar. The raffle for the motor scooter was early since the weather prevented having an evening meal as planned. The scooter was won by Terry Brown.

Many EAA 172 members contributed their skills and assistance  to the 2001 Wrens Fly-in. O.B. Brown and John Magnan prepared the field. Mark Slone helped out with the office cleaning and also replacing the windsock lights. Rich Gabor purchased the awards and Tom Collins obtained the motor scooter which was raffled off. O.B. Brown took care of the radio and newspaper advertising as well as helping John Magnan set up the signs on the field and in the parking area. Judy Fender, along with the “spirit” of her husband, Richard, laminated, stapled, sorted and packed the pilot packets which had been prepared by John Magnan and copied by Rich Gabor. Wyman Fox worked at the EAA information table signing in new Young Eagles. Wyman also provided a golf cart. Larry Garner spent much of Saturday (when the weather was good) flying the Young Eagles. Charlie Connell and Randy Powell directed the aircraft traffic and manned the radio. Sheila Connell took charge of the pilot greeting with the able assistance of Lydia Walden and Nikki House. Maureen Rhodes, Fay Allen, Sue Rayburn and Polly Powell, assisted by David Parrish and Dennis Allen, handled the food trailer. Lester Taylor set up the sound system. Ray Trenter, assisted by Bobby Pennington, directed the automobile parking. The city of Wrens did a fine job with the mowing around the asphalt runway and mowing those parts of the field not mowed by EAA 172 members. They also provided police and fire protection units. There was an EMT unit on the field. Also, Beth Sipper, RN, was available all day Saturday to handle any medical emergencies. Terry Stout, John Sligar and John Magnan took care of the “tearing down” duties after the fly-in was over.

Of the 52 registered aircraft this was the breakdown:

• Conventional aircraft: 31 (last year there were 46)
•    Of these  8 were Cessnas and 11 were experimentals.
• Ultralight/light planes: 20
• Gyros: 0 (though one was in the hangar)
• Powered Parachutes: 1;    Trikes: 0 (though one was in an enclosed trailer)

Note that this was fewer aircraft than at any prior Wrens Fly-in. Most of those who did fly in were
local -- weather radar depictions showing imbedded rainstorms kept the usual distant flyers from coming. Also we had fewer EAA 172 members who brought their aircraft. However, the number of ultralight planes increased from previous years even with the poor weather.

One of the visiting pilots, Jim Austin (who came in a fine silver Ercoupe) put a number of photos on the Web. Click HERE to see them.
 

Old Business: Ken Rayburn had another heart attack a couple days earlier, it seems one of his stents clogged, but it was taken care of by the medical personnel and he will still be going to Sun’n Fun. Mike Wasden will be going with Ken and Sue and probably do much of the driving. The scooter to be raffled at the Wrens Fly-in was brought up. It was on display at the Fish Fry Fly-in. Tickets are $5.00 each. Sondy Lawrence is in charge of the raffle. See or call him for more tickets or information. His phone number is: 706-855-5831.

New Business: The Vidalia Onionfest (April 28-29) was discussed. Rich asked everyone to fly in as many planes as possible. The food trailer would be there also.

The principal topic was the upcoming Wrens Fly-in, May 11-12. Since Tom Collins, Pam Collins and Tom Garcia would not be at the fly-in there is a need for someone to cook the pig. At the meeting there were no “pig cooker” volunteers. Rich said that as an alternative we could get barbecue from Castleberrys.

O.B. Brown and David Rawlins would find any vendors since Terry and Kim Evans told Rich they could not do that again this year.

Ray Trenter and Ralph Powell would be in charge of the auto parking. Charlie Connell would take care of the radio and the aircraft parking. Sheila Connell is free to take charge of greeting the pilots. Lester Taylor, though not a  member (he presented the evening’s program) volunteered to handle the sound. Al Patton said he would take charge of the airplane judging and the spot landing contest. John Magnan said there were two bags of lime already at the Wrens airport. Rich Gabor said that he would take charge of the tents. Young Eagles Coordinator Larry Garner said that we will be doing the Young Eagles in the morning (on Saturday).  Rich Gabor said he would ask Freeman Newman to get the awards again. Secretary Magnan said he had about sixty more items on his Wrens Fly-in “to do” list and anyone who wanted to could volunteer to help. O.B. Brown said he would help with the mowing. Mark Slone and John Magnan would set up the electrical cables.

Al Newman moved that the meeting adjourn. Everyone seconded the motion and the meeting adjourned at 7:59 PM.

Program: Vice-President O.B. Brown introduced Lester Taylor who gave a very interesting program about "ham" -- amateur radio. Lester discussed the history of amateur radio and its value in disasters, such as in hurricane Hugo. He said that the national organization, the ARRL (American Radio Relay League) makes it easier to become a  ham by providing much information and assistance through local hams and amateur radio clubs. Hams are able to talk not just locally, as cell phone and citizen banders do, but around the world. They also have the technical expertise to “rig up” radio communications quickly and in sometimes adverse circumstances, especially when storms or earthquakes have shut down the cell phone towers and the regular telephone lines have been destroyed. Lester said that there are mainly two types of frequencies used – HF -- high frequency -- which is in the same range of frequencies just above the AM radio up through where the CBers talk (but sometimes with much more power than the CB operators) and VHF/UHF -- Very High and Ultra High Frequency– the range from just below Channel 2 on the TV to above where the TV channels from 14 on up and the Cell phone operators use (UHF). He said that hams are tinkerers just like the airplane people in EAA 172. There is very little intervention from the government. Hams are mostly self-
regulating.  No longer is it necessary to know the Morse code, but radio law and electronic theory is still required. Lester said, in response to a question, that a hand-held ham radio transceiver, about the same size as an Icom A22, only costs about $175. Lester then proceeded to have a QSO (conversation) with Bob Abbey, another ham, who was getting into his tractor trailer to start a run to Atlanta. The members throughly enjoyed the presentation.
 

The delicious meal was prepared and set out by the Aerospouses and the fish was cooked by Pam & Tom Collins, Terry EVANS, Tom Garcia, Fay & Dennis Allen and Maureen & Bob Rhodes (and caught by Bob Rhodes and his family). An invocation by Sondy Lawrence preceded the meal. Also before the meal Rich Gabor reminded everyone that our next meeting would be early, on Thursday, April 5. Also everyone who is going to Lakeland, Florida, for Sun’n Fun should contact either Ken Rayburn or Maureen Rhodes. Rich thanked everyone who brought the side dishes and desserts. John Magnan and Rich reminded everyone about the Wrens Fly-in coming up May 11-12 as well as the Vidalia Onion Festival April 27-28. Also John Magnan reminded the members about the Wrens Gourd Festival on March 31 – that the City of Wrens has requested that a few pilots fly in to the Wrens airport between 12:00 and 3:00 PM to talk with Gourd Festival visitors.   President Gabor also welcomed the more than seventy guests who attended.  There were large contingents of visitors from both the Twin Lakes airpark and from the Aiken EAA 1079. A group was there from the Barnwell EAA 1313 and some flew in from the Columbia, South Carolina, EAA Chapter 242. About 150 guests and members signed the attendance roster. This was sixty more than last year! Treasurer, David Parrish, reported that $537.00 was put in the donation pot at the meal.

The scooter to be raffled at the Wrens Fly-in was on display at the fly-in. Tickets are $5.00 each. Sondy Lawrence is in charge of the raffle. See or call him for more tickets or information. His phone number is: 706-855-5831.

The weather was excellent all afternoon and the last attendees did not leave until dusk.
 

Old Business: President Gabor said that he did have the corrected schedule for 2001 printed and passed out the schedule to the members present.  Rich said that he, Everett Parks and Jason Jarrard had finished the back wall of the clubhouse. Secretary Magnan gave the scooter funds donation request letter to Tom Collins to give to Polaris America of Augusta. Tom said that he would not be able to be at the Wrens Fly-in. Rich said he will need someone to handle the raffle tickets for the scooter.  Sondy Lawrence agreed to handle the tickets.

Rich asked Ken Rayburn about the club shirts. Ken said that he had not been able to do anything about that and suggested giving the “search for the shirts” job to Freeman Newman. Rich agreed.  John Magnan was asked about the missing 2000 trailer tag for the food trailer. He said that the tags were sent to the Pea Patch and did not know who got the mailed tags.  He would be sending for the 2001 tags in a week or so.  Rich again asked club members to let  Secretary Magnan know the month and date of aircraft completions. Rich said that completions did include ultralights and gyros. Magnan also asked for information about any aircraft under construction.

New Business: For the EAA 172 Poker Run and Fish Fry (March 10) Rich said it would be the
same route for the poker run -- Wrens, Louisville, Millen, Waynesboro and the Pea Patch -- as
in the past. George Odom would take care of the Waynesboro (Burke County) airport and Keith
Brock would handle the Millen airport. Mike Wasden and his Jefferson County Flyers Club
would take care of the Louisville airport. Several club members would be at the Wrens airport.
There would be a spot landing contest at noon at the Pea Patch. Food would be served around
1:00 PM. Bob Rhodes said he would catch the fish but the usual fishing spot was not there any
more because of the low water on Lake Thurmond. Charlie Connell said he knows someone that he can get fish from in the event Bob is not able to catch enough. Tom Collins said he would be one of the cooks.  Side dishes would follow the same routine as at the Christmas meal: Last names beginning with A-G would bring vegetables; H-Q would bring salads; R-Z would bring desserts. The Pea Patch cleanup would be the morning of Friday, March 9. Rich asked Secretary Magnan to make sure that he invited the Naples, Florida, EAA Chapter 1067 group who visited us in October.

More items about the Wrens Fly-in (May 11-12, 2001) came up. Rich discussed who would take
care of the vendors. Tom Garcia said he could work with that if no one else did. Then John Magnan mentioned that Kim and Terry Evans had handled the vendors last year. The club
members agreed that Kim and Terry could do it again this year.

Maureen Rhodes and Ken Rayburn asked for a count of how many members would be going to Lakeland (Sun and Fun) in April. Eighteen members raised their hands. Maureen asked that if anyone else was going they should let her or Ken know.

Al Newman moved and many other members seconded that the meeting adjourn. The motion
passed and the meeting adjourned at 7:48 PM.

Program: Club member Dr. J. R. Jowers, AME presented the second half of the program on the
Airman Medical examination. He had presented the first part at a previous meeting. In this
second part Dr. Jowers focused on the FAA Form 8500-8 which the applicant for the airman
medical has to fill out completely and accurately. He passed out a copy of the form. Some highlights of the discussion were that applicants must be very careful about how they fill out the section on currently used medications. Also, for those with missing limbs, diabetes, previous heart problems etc. a special issuance of a medical can be obtained after examinations that the FAA might require.
 

Old Business: President Gabor said that he did have the schedule for 2001 prepared but because of a couple of changes he would be passing out copies at the February meeting. Rich asked about the roster plaque in the Clubhouse front room. It has a listing of aircraft that have been built or restored by Club members. Several years have passed since it has been updated. Secretary Magnan said he would handle the updating and asked members to let him know about the aircraft they have built and flown since the latest date on the plaque. Rich also talked about the vents for the roof. They are already authorized. Al is still looking for good, accurate inexpensive aircraft scales.

New Business: Young Eagles Coordinator Larry Garner brought up the upcoming Young Eagles rallies. For the one on February 3rd, which is called the Winter Young Eagles Rally, Larry said that it would run from about 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM. He said that there would be at least one hot air balloon, possibly a Medivac helicopter and asked if Dennis Allen would bring his SE-5 biplane as a static display. There would also be a rally on February 17th but this was just for local Boy Scouts. Larry said that EAA 172 has flown 1824 Young Eagles since the program began. Perhaps some chapters in California fly more -- but they have forty airplanes flying their Young Eagles at their rallies. EAA 172's top Young Eagle Flight Leaders are Tom Jackson, Ron Netzer and Larry Garner. Larry also mentioned that the Boshears board appointed two EAA 172 members as new directors: Rich Gabor and himself.

John Magnan brought up the new information about the Sports Pilot certificate plans by the
FAA. Much of the information is in the newest Sports Aviation magazine. Rich reminded everyone about the Vidalia Airshow on April 28, 2001. People will be needed to help out and planes will be needed there.

Rich said that Mark Thomson’s ashes would be spread over the Pea Patch on Saturday, January 13, at 11:00 AM. Mark’s brother Steve and Earl Hildebrant will fly in Mark’s Cessna and drop the ashes.

Program: Club member and F-18 pilot Rich McGahee presented a very lively program about his
flying activities and his own career in flying which started at the Pea Patch and Daniel Field. Titus Baxter was his flight instructor. Rich started his flying career at Daniel Field when he was 15 where he worked in the hangar doing odd jobs. Buster Boshears gave him a regular job there when Rich was 17. Rich then went on the Augusta College then the Marine Corps. He was able to get into flight school then went on to train as a pilot, finally piloting the F-18. Rich showed videos taken from the F-18 cockpit, landings on the carrier Hornet, a Marine Corps promotional video with Rich as one of the pilots and also recently unclassified videos of his air work (bombing etc.) over Kosovo. Rich said that his secret goal  is to take the F-18 to Mach 2! He won’t be in our area much longer since he has been chosen to become an instructor at the Top Gun school in San Diego. EAA 172 members asked Rich many questions about his activities and thoroughly enjoyed his presentation.

Al Newman moved and Charlie Connell seconded that the meeting adjourn. The motion passed
and the meeting adjourned at 8:27 PM.
 

Old Business: Ken Rayburn is still checking on the Polo shirts. Rich Gabor was still checking on the vents in the clubhouse roof. He said they should be the turbine type and would cost about $30 each. Al Patton said that possibly three or four were needed. Al also said that he checked on the scales that were approved at the July 10th Board meeting. The ones at Twin Lakes were not that accurate.

Rich Gabor said he has not gotten back to the Bush Field people about the breakfast fly-in. Members did not seem in favor of doing that fly-in, at least with the current information they had, since we would be doing all the work. Al said perhaps in an “off” weekend we could have a breakfast fly-in at Bush Field. Larry Garner said that Bush Field wants us to have the breakfast.

New Business: Treasurer David Parrish was not present so the 2000 finances for EAA 172 were not discussed.

John Magnan discussed the Wrens airport – financial is OK; Wrens group has purchased several items. At a question by Chairman Gabor O.B. Brown said that the items were purchased by the airport fund not by individuals. Secretary Magnan said he keeps track of airport operations which results in a good total. This leads to more airport funding as well as the three or four inspections made by Georgia DOT over the past two years. Magnan also mentioned that activities and events at Wrens are covered by EAA insurance purchased by the Wrens Airport Group.

Rich Gabor said that perhaps we would hope to make money at the Wrens Fly-in. Magnan said that we spent a lot of money on the electrical service which we won’t have to do in the future. Vice-Chairman O.B. Brown said more advertising would help. He said perhaps we could advertise in local papers and even buy some ads. Ken Rayburn asked if the advertisements had been sent out. Magnan said that they had but there is a 2-3 month lag time for the publishers. He said that perhaps a better ad would be in the Southern Aviator since the EAA magazines and KitPlanes just give one line. Some members were not in favor of the Southern Aviator ads but Al
Patton said that he reads it regularly. The Board authorized a purchase of a scooter for a raffle at the Wrens Fly-in since we did take in money on that event.

Young Eagles Coordinator Larry Garner reported on the Young Eagles activities. June 9th would be the National Young Eagles Day. February 3rd is the Winter Young Eagles Day. The Aerospouse Coordinator Maureen Rhodes said that she would be able to handle food trailer activities on both dates. Larry also said that February 17th would be the Boy Scouts National Merit Day. The Boy Scouts would be bussed in from the Boy Scouts HQ to Daniel Field for Young Eagles activities. When asked he said that the Food Trailer would not be needed. Larry said that last year’s goal for the Young Eagles was 500. They did fly 501 so they met the goal. He was also talking with Steve Gay at Daniel Field about having adult rides for $5.00 again.

Rich mentioned that the EAA Chapter Leadership Conference would be in Columbia on Saturday, March 24th. He mentioned that he, John Magnan, Dennis Allen and Ken Rayburn had been at the last one.

Flying Start Coordinator Dennis Allen said he had not done much about the program – he had not received any more information from EAA Headquarters. Ken Rayburn said that he and Dennis would try to put together a Flying Start event.

Rich asked about having some fly-outs. John Magnan said that the trips to Don Gay’s field in Garfield were fly- outs. Rich asked what about going to the Baby Ace factory? The members were noncommittal about that but said that it might be a good idea.

Chairman Gabor asked about officers’ dues. In the past the officers did not pay them. After some discussion it was agreed that the officers should pay dues again. Rich reminded everyone about the Vidalia Airshow on April 28, 2001. People will be needed to help out and planes will be needed there. Blair Kendall had asked us to support the airshow activities.

Rich said that he was working on the Calendar and moved the April meeting to the fifth. He asked about other changes and additions that should be made to the calendar. Rich said that there was nothing official yet on the date of the Boshears Air Show.

Rich discussed the condition of the Clubhouse – it’s falling down. Rich is going to build a template removable wall for in front of the hangar door. The Board authorized his requested $40 for this. Rich said the exterior walls needed repairs and the upgrade to the outside walls may cost 65 cents a square foot. Perhaps this should be one of the long-term goals of the club. Also Rich asked about what our Chapter’s goals should be. There was just a small amount of discussion on that.

Al Patton brought up the Scamp – perhaps Mark Slone would want to buy it. About twenty people own it but most are now dead. Several members said that EAA 172 owned half of it. There is about $3500 in parts that were put into it. It does not come with the engine. The Board voted to sell it.

Maureen Rhodes said she would like her group to put up photos around the walls. The Board approved that. She also asked about the name tag maker. Al Patton said the Pea Patch Corporation owns it but Maureen could use it. She wants to make and sell name tags. Maureen also said that she had not received much cooperation from the Boy Scouts local headquarters when they were contacted about having us help them out with aviation activities.

Ken Rayburn moved and John Magnan second that the meeting adjourn. After a unanimous affirmative vote the Board meeting adjourned at 12:20 PM.

---

This page Created and Edited with FrontPage Editor 090697

This page last updated:041103@0554EDT