EAA 280 Newsletter 2025 " FLY BY 280 "
February 2025 issue of Fly By 280
The Presidents Corner Office : Robert Hattensty
February is here and we are off to a great start to the new year. Our membership continues to grow every month, how exciting is that. After talking with Joachim , our membership coordinator, we added over 35 members in 2024 and I expect that number to be surpassed in 2025. We have added 4 pancake breakfasts to the agenda for 2025. We will be letting you know when the first one will be happening. These breakfasts have been beneficial to Chapter 280 in so many ways, I am excited to get the first one scheduled. We had our first ever Ray Aviation Scholar recipient in 2024 , Raul Roldan and we hope to have another in 2025. The building had a major face lift in 2024 and all new signage. We will be posting pictures of our progress at 280 on the site for everyone to see. We also have some fantastic speakers scheduled for our monthly gatherings. Listed below are the presenters we have scheduled, you will not want to miss any of these. Our February gathering is this Saturday February 8 at noon Spinks Airport (KFWS) East side.
Aspire to Inspire before you Expire
Presenters
February 8, 2025 Marshall Tyson : Survival, the how to's when you least expect it
March 8, 2925 Airline Captain Brian Schiff always brings a fantastic presentation, what ever the subject
April 12, 2025 Juanita & Walter Boyd Owners of I-Fly P F D Platforms
May 10, 2025 Mike Montefusco Presentation on the Gyrocopter
SCROLL DOWN FOR Past Issues of 280 Fly By
EAA 280 Issue 1, 2024
We had our first meeting of 2024. What a fantastic meeting to kick off 2024. The weather was good , and we had 2 attendee's fly in. Mike Montefusco flew in his AutoGyro Calidus Model Gyrocopter, and Andrew Silver flew in his Robinson R-22 Helicopter . The attendance was great for the first meeting of the year. There were30 people in attendance, 24 members and 6 guests that made it out to listen to presentation from Mike Montefusco on " Airworthiness and Aircraft Records" What Every Pilot Should Know. Mike's presentation was well received by the group. We are planning a hands on Workshop with Mike, to go over actual records for those pilots who own their own airplane.
President Robert Hattensty covered the 2024 EAA Chapter 280 business plan for the year. These areas included updating the Chapter website to keep the information current , Group Project or Projects the members will be working on, the 2024 Newsletter Editor, Fundraising for 2024, executing the ideas that were discussed in 2023 such as a fly in pancake breakfast, Ice cream social, BBQ and Band fly in, Logo EAA cups and tea shirt's. The Implementation of the Ray Aviation Scholarship was discussed. Presentation's to include both Chapter Members and Outside Guests ,and the possibilities in starting a VMC and IMC Club.
Gayla Maas, officer and Marshall Tyson vice president, conducted the first raffle of 2024, as a number of the members left with some cool prizes.
To top of the meeting Chef Marc, our chapters Secretary & Treasurer, prepared smoked pulled pork, chicken leg quarters, his famous beans, and Gala added her touch with her fabulous coleslaw. We didn't have anyone that left hungry, as a matter of fact , there wasn't much left by the time the meeting was concluded. All in All everyone had a great time and we are all looking forward to what the February meeting will bring. See you then!!
EAA News Letter Issue 2 February 21,2924
Our second meeting began with low ceilings, so it hampered the plans of our fly in visitors. But by the time we dismissed the meeting in the afternoon, the clouds had lifted and the sun began to peak thru, and we experienced what we know as Texas weather. We began the day with Chef Marc preparing his famous burgers on the flat top grill and Gala Maas serving her to die for 3 bean salad. Member Matt Duty also brought his great recipe on brownies to top the meal off.
The meeting began with Officer Gayla Maas reading the minutes from the January meeting , a motion was made to accept and was was seconded. We had in attendance , 25 members with 6 visitors coming from nearby airports to attend the meeting for the first time. President Robert Hattensty began the meeting welcoming the guests in attendance and scheduling a work party for March 2, at 9am to begin the power washing project on Hanger 28. He mentioned while we have a lot of work to do that day , we will began the day with a pancake breakfast that will be prepared by Chef Marc. This will serve two purposes , get everyone fueled up for the project, and it will give Chef Marc a chance to test out the breakfast menu on our members, so he will be prepared for the pancake fly in we are going to have in the spring.
Nick Akin, the Control Tower manager for Spinks airport was introduced for an exciting presentation. President Robert was looking for a way to get new signage for the hanger and he found out that Nick was quiet a creator on a CAD program. After communicating back and forth for a month Nick came up with the final design and the new signage was completed. Nick presented this at the meeting and it was a piece of art work. We can wait to get our building power washed and painted so the new sign , which will be back lit with LED lighting, can be hung on the west side of the hanger so all passing cars will be able to see. President Robert Hattensty said "this was a donation I wanted to make because this will be something we can all enjoy for many years to come." After completing our business our guest speaker Captain Brian Schiff was introduced.
Captain Schiff's presentation was Listening to the voices in your head "set "and how to communicate with air traffic control. This was a fabulous meeting with the depth of Captain Schiff's presentation of communicating with ATC, along with Control Tower Nick Akin , as the two of them talked about live situations that each had experienced on both sides. This proved to be very powerful, as the information presented was well received by the chapter. We appreciate Captain Schiff's preparation for this program , as the delivery was awesome along with the prizes he gave away when he asked questions about the presentation. We thank Brian and hope to have him back in the future.
Secretary and Treasurer Marc Moon talked about the various face book sites he is using to get the Chapter 280 name out in the social media world. A couple were North Texas Aviators and North Texas Grass Strips.
Gayla Maas conducted a successful raffle for the chapter and a number of members left with cool prizes. The meeting was dismissed.
The next Chapter meeting will be April 13 which will feature guest speaker Mike Montefusco. Mike is a former captain, instructor with American Airlines. Mike is also a 50 year veteran as a senior flight instructor. Mike has a passion for aviation and safety and we hope to see you at the gathering to take in the wealth of knowledge that Mike will be sharing.
Remember mention aviation to someone you are talking to . Many people are interested in aviation but don't know how to get involved. Bring a Guest if you can :)
May 11.2024
Chef Marc will be firing up the smoker again. He will be smoking several pork butts and making his absolutely to die for beans along with the home made Pico de Gallo. We will be covering chapter business
Our own Stuart Davis will be presenting at our May Gathering. Stuart is a degreed
engineer and the owner of Auto PSRU. Here is Stuarts Bio and it is a great one !!
Bio for Stuart Davis
Stuart’s experience with aircraft design and building Experimental aircraft started in 1976
while in college when a class project became the completion of a Fly-Baby. His
experience in the aerospace/defense industries as an engineer started in 1979 after
graduating with a double major in Automotive and in Aerospace technologies. He has
been a member of EAA since 1981. With his many jobs and related moves Stuart and
belonged to 9 EAA Chapters, #88 in Wichita KS, #74 in Orlando FL, #134 in Essex
MD,.#1288 in Valkaria FL, #162 in Nashville TN, #261 in New Orleans LA, 1541#
Savannah GA, #670 Fort Worth TX, and #280 in Burleson TX.
Born in Fort Leonard Wood, MO in 1956 and then growing up in Gladstone MO Stuart
started his mechanic skills with lawnmower engines then moved up to automotive
maintenance in high school. A love for everything in aircraft and aerospace started at 6
years old with building static models and then fly-by-wire models. While in college Stuart
earned a private pilot’s license and graduated in 1979.
After graduating, Stuart’s career led him to working on aircraft, missile systems, electro-
optic weapon systems, satellite systems, and space shuttle components. In addition to
working on his career full time, Stuart continued to pursue his hobbies which included
working on hot rods, swapping V8 engines into Chevy Vegas, MGB GT’s, and boats. As
an active member in many EAA Chapters he also helped friends complete their homebuilt
aircraft. While living in Orlando FL he was also a part-time volunteer at Tom Riley
Aviation and Flying Tigers Museum in Kissimmee FL helping to restore various warbird
projects. Currently, Stuart has a Wheeler Express under construction and plans to install
the BW350 and LS engine combination in it too. Look for it at future aviation events.
One of Stuart’s major interests in experimental aircraft has always been the use of
automotive engines. He has followed the development of both automotive engines,
modifications, and PSRU designs for over 35 years. Bud Warren’s design was the most
successful design fixing all the major problems that have plagued other designs by
solving them with creative yet simple ways, plus holding the promise of a long service life
as well. Under Auto PSRU’s Stuart has taken Bud’s design and features to the next level
with a series of refinements and improvements while continuing to support previous
customers of Geared Drives. Stuart shares many of Bud’s philosophies/beliefs in
providing the same high level of quality parts, services, and support to all customers.
In 2012 Auto PSRU’s took the time needed to get everything transferred from Conroe TX
to our first location on Hicks Airport, then our current location on the Hillsboro Airport
(KINJ). In a new larger hangar he set up, and pick up where the previous company left off
in 2010. A lot has been accomplished since 2012 and we look forward to more future
growth and development.
This is gonna be a great presentation, you will not want to miss this months gathering. Come hungry and bring
a guest!!
Robert
June 8, 2024
The next gathering will be Saturday June 8, 2024 at good old hanger 28. Marc will be at the grill, cooking those mouth watering hamburger we all love. If you haven't been there in a while come on out, you will like the changes that are happening at EAA 280. We have been power washing the building, cleaning up the hangers, airplanes are leaving and new ones are coming in next month. Models have been cleaned up and another a/c has been installed in the meeting room. Oh, and we are selling books, gloves, EAA 280 logo T-Shirts & Coffee Mugs that we proudly have displayed in our new display cases. We have a lot of things happening and that wouldn't be possible with out the individuals that have been at the hanger working tirelessly on their Saturdays to pull all this together.
We will be honored to have Juanita and Walter Boyd , the founders of the impressive I-FLY platform, speaking at our gathering so we can all learn about their innovative EFB platform. Come hungry and ready to learn about their really cool products.
Thanks,
Robert
June 15, 2024
EAA CHAPTER 280 PANCAKE BREAKFAST
HANGER 28 EAST SIDE
JUNE 15,2024
8AM TO 11:30AM
BENEFITTING EAA CHAPTER
😊SERVING PANCAKES, SAUSAGE, COFFEE, & ORANGE JUICE
Thanks,
Robert
PANCAKE BREAKFAST RESULTS JUNE 15,2024
Good Sunday evening and I hope all you fathers out there had a great Fathers Day. I have to tell you the first ever trial run for the pancake breakfast was a great success. We had over 40 people attend and everyone had a great time visiting. We had about 15 members that were there and the rest were guests from the airport. A special thanks to the Civil Air Patrol Texas 154 Squadron for attending yesterday.
Lois and Darrin Towers flew over in their Zenith. We also had Andrew Silver fly his Robinson R 22, to our event yesterday. Mike Montefusco also flew in his Caldius Gyro Copter and as always Mike's arrival peaks a lot of interest amongst the guests.
A special thanks to Kathleen and Aaron Blaydes for washing the Pitts and Marinda aircraft yesterday. We also had Raul Roldan and Sebastian Hernandez help with moving models out of the hanger so we could clean and reposition aircraft in the hanger. Thanks John Taylor for being in charge of aircraft take off and landing videos.
We had 3 new applications come in for new membership yesterday. How cool is that !!
Okay last but not least I have to give a shout out to Marc Moon and Marshall Tyson for cooking the pancakes, eggs, sausage, and potatoes, and doing a fabulous job. Next I want to thank Dale Masters, Phil Mancha, and Stuart Davis for helping in brewing the coffee, mixing the orange juice, and setting up the beverage bar.
Thanks again to all who attended and those who volunteered their time yesterday. It is so cool to see that many people take time out of their Saturday and support EAA Chapter 280. For those who couldn't make it out , you will want to make sure you are at the Fly in Pancake Breakfast that we are planning in the near future.
Thanks, Robert
UPCOMING EVENTS
JULY 13, 2024 GATHERING
President : Robert Hattensty eaa280president@gmail.com
Vice-President & Secretary : Marshall Tyson
Treasurer: Marcus Moon marcusdmoon@yahoo.com
Board Member: Stuart Davis
Board Member : Joachim Saupe
KFWS Tower Frequencies
ATIS:120.025
Ground: 119.475
Tower: 124.625
www.liveatc.net
