EAA Chapter 54

St. Paul, MN. (Lake Elmo)

Welcome to EAA Chapter 54. We speak aviation!

Compass Hill at EAA national headquarters in Oshkosh.

From its beginnings in the late '50s, Chapter 54 of the Experimental Aircraft Association has served aviation enthusiasts, dreamers, aircraft builders, pilots, would-be pilots, and individuals interested in helping young people become aviators in the East Metro of Minnesota's Twin Cities. 

We hold a gathering on the second Monday of each month at the Chapter House at Lake Elmo Airport (21D) to talk aviation and socialize.  We provide Young Eagles rides and aviation scholarships. We help people who are building airplanes.  But you don't need to be a pilot to participate in our activities.

Please come to our next gathering as our guest. Let us know you're coming so you can be properly greeted and introduced to the chapter.

 

JANUARY GATHERING
 The next regular meeting of Chapter 54 will be held on Monday January 12, 2026. Our guest speaker will be Bob Laughery, the director of maintenance at Lake Elmo Aero, a busy and growing flight school and maintenance facility on the field at 21D. He has had a storied career in aviation with a career spanning 30+ years. Bob will talk about his career, experiences and offer insights and comments on maintenance of aircraft.  The social "half hour" begins at 6:30 p.m. More information and directions.             
 

  

December newsletter posted
The December 2026 Chapter 54 newsletter "The Beacon" was posted on Tuesday December 16 as well as emailed to all active members. If you did not receive a copy in your inbox, please check your junk folder and be sure newsletter@eaa54.org is on your safe senders list.  If you'd like to view the newsletter online, you can find it here.


Events
Holiday Party Caps 2025

The Chapter House was at capacity with nine folks seated at each of the five large round tables.  Numbers turned out as expected with roughly equal (small) numbers of extra attendees and no-shows. It seemed like we had record amounts of really great potluck desserts, salads, and sides this year.  With little room to navigate in the room, the tables were set ahead of time with place settings, cups and a liter of soda and three 14" pizzas (Dominos Pepperoni, Sausage, & Veggie) at each table so that folks could go straight to their seats on arrival and start dinner and then hit the potluck table a few at a time to avoid a traffic jam.
 
Intros were made for our newer members and for our members' guests including new student member and first-time attendee Thor Robinson, a high schooler from Woodbury with his father Daniel and younger brother Zane. 
 
Service awards from EAA headquarters were handed out for our officers and coordinators, at least for those in attendance plus a shout out in his absence to convalescing Bob Collins for another year of yeoman work on the Chapter House, the pancake breakfast, the website, and the newsletter. Dan Theis received a round of applause for his work prepping the Chapter House for holiday cheer and volunteering to take the ropes as facilities manager. Jay had a tough set of trivia questions with the table teams posting between 7 and 11 correct answers for the 20 questions. Few, if any, could identify the real first name (Skip) of our chapter namesake "Speed" Holman. 
 
Paul Rankin's table again won gold for its 11 correct answers, rewarded with chocolate Santa Clauses for the effort.  All left in good cheer, fortified for the approaching solstice.  - Marlon Gunderson

 

All chapter news and stories >>

 

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