EAA Chapter 54 Beacon February 11, 2025

February 11, 2025

This is the semimonthly email newsletter from the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 54 of Lake Elmo, Minn.  If you have difficulty reading this information, view it on the chapter website. Unless otherwise noted, all events occur at the Chapter House, at the south entrance of Lake Elmo Airport off Manning Avenue. Find fly-in and drive-in information here.

Ostrem: Keeping 21D Safe and Looking Smart

Maintaining the grounds and facilities of a busy metropolitan airport is a challenging endeavor—one that falls to a dedicated team who keep the airport looking good, operating smoothly, and, above all, remaining safe for the pilots who rely on it.

While Lake Elmo Airport briefly served the Army Air Corps in the early 1940s, it officially opened to the public in 1951. Today, it is part of the seven-airport system operated by the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC). With 41,854 operations in 2024 alone, this bustling general aviation hub spans approximately 640 acres—about one square mile—where around 200 acres are leased for agricultural use, leaving 440 acres dedicated to aviation. These 440 acres house roughly 130 hangars, and each one needs careful attention when it comes to mowing and snow removal.

At the helm of Lake Elmo Airport’s day-to-day field operations is Senior Maintenance Worker, Matthew Schroer, supported by longtime Field Maintenance Worker Arthur Hemmingson. Schroer brings a wealth of experience from multiple MAC airports, including Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport, St. Paul Downtown Airport, Anoka County–Blaine Airport, and Crystal Airport. His background in maintaining runways for large commercial aircraft has given him a broad perspective on field operations, but he finds the reliever airport setting uniquely rewarding.

“At the reliever airports, our teams have to be cohesive,” Schroer explains. “Improvisation, quick action, and concise communication— within our field team, and with pilots—is essential to ensuring safe, smooth operations.” Read more >

Oshkosh group camping reservation sells out quickly

There apparently will be a large Chapter contingent at AirVenture in July, according to Bill Schanks, Chapter 54's director of events who is in charge of organizing group camping at the event announced at the February monthly meeting on February 10. He says the six sites that EAA Oshkosh has set aside for the chapter have all been spoken for and there are at least two members on the waiting list. Members who have reserved sites pay for all the days of AirVenture, even though that may not be staying for the entire event. It's possible that members who have reserved (and paid) for their site will sublet their unused days.

Also at Monday's meeting, members were given quite a treat with an hour of Al Kupferschmidt stories. He's been a member for more than 40 years. He's flown over 600 Young Eagles. He helped build the Chapter House, and then he was critical in construction of the addition. In his 80s, he still flies his beloved airplane. He never misses a meeting.  He never misses an event, particularly those that need volunteer help.

During the hour-long session, he discussed his aviation career, including more than 30 years flying his Citabria (he once was involved in a mid-air collision with a horse trailer), his work in the Navy and National Guard, his history with the chapter, his role in the rescue effort of Flight 232 in Sioux City in 1989, and his wife, Rae, who was brain dead for a week before waking up. It was a compelling evening from a chapter pioneer.

Prior to the program, President Marlon Gunderson made several announcements including his solicitation of potential members to the chapter's Board of Directors, which requires no heavy lifting but does need the occasional exercise of neurons.  Why not "attend" (the board meets virtually at 7pm on the first Monday of the month) and see if it's right for you. Contact Marlon for more information and to receive the Google Meet link. Gunderson also indicated he'd like to find a chapter coordinator for a potential in various scholarship efforts.

And Marlon announced that Elija Redmann is the potential recipient of the Ray Scholarship, which would pay for his flight training.  The chapter should hear soon whether it has been selected to receive the scholarship money. Meanwhile, Gunderson said,  Drew Lindquist of Bloomington, the other scholarship applicant, was able to receive one from Chapter 237,  which funds additional scholarship opportunities. Credit for that happy ending goes to the chapter Ray Scholarship coordinator Bruce Olson.

The next monthly meeting of the Chapter will be held on Monday March 10 with a 7 pm social hour. Jay Schrankler will discuss choosing your avionics. The Cinema 54 showing of "Up" begins at 5 p.m.

VMC Club Question of the Month: Using cellphones in flight

You’re on a VFR cross country flight in your VFR-equipped 1977 Cessna 172, flying by pilotage at about 3,000 AGL, on your way home with a friend. You’re returning later than planned, and your friend asks if he can use his cell phone to call his wife to say he’ll be late. Since you’re flying VFR and not even using any onboard electronic navigation, is it legally permissible to let your friend make the call?

For those Gone West

The Chapter 54 website this month unveiled a new section serving as a memorial to present and former members who have died. The list is by no means complete, but it is extensive. On that note, we didn't recognize the death of a prominent member last spring. Al Amsden died in April at 1998.  The chapter's archived newsletter section is named after both Al and Rosemary Frank, who are primarily responsible for keeping the chapter's history alive. Rosemary organized much of the history that's documented here, an Al saved all of the newsletters during his membership, allowing us to preserve them in a digital format. Like so many Chapter 54 pioneers, Al was a 3Mer. He built a Midget Mustang airplane, finished it in 1973 and flew it for 30 years. He then rebuilt a 1948 Cessna 140 in a hangar he built at the Lake Elmo Airport.   He spent his winters in Texas and he and his wife spent years traveling the country in their motor home. His wife died in 2007 and since then he had spent his summers in Roseville.

New YE program has some growing pains

Some of the chapters are reporting early problems with the new Young Eagles scheduling program. EAA took control of the process from software originally developed by Don White of Florida, whose software continues to power the EAA Builders log.  The new program offers a more pleasing structure but some of the bells and whistles aren't quite working right, according to chapter leaders on the (closed) EAA Chapter Leaders Facebook site.

"We had some unfavorable weather for our YE event today," said Greg Stopyra, the YE coordinator at Chapter 1702 in Moline, IL.  "If you reschedule an event like the webinar describes, we found out the hard way that despite saying email notifications of the change were sent to all parents, some may not receive the notice.  We had parents show up for a rescheduled event.  This was a bit embarrassing."

Other chapter leaders suggested the program should allow for the sending of text messages, given that texting is now the primary means of communication for many people.

It might well be that the issue isn't the software but Internet Service Providers who may be rejecting the bulk email, and not allowing it to even reach recipients spam folders, other leaders said.

EAA Chapter 54's first Young Eagles Day is scheduled for May 10.

When in doubt, go around

The NTSB report on the RV-12 incident at Lake Elmo Airport last April provides a lesson for all. The plane sustained significant damage to its fuselage when a student pilot bounced the landing multiple times. The nose gear collapsed, the propeller struck the ground, and the airplane came to rest upright on the runway in a nose-down attitude.  The pilot said everything was normal prior to landing and said he should've gone around after the first bounce, blaming his decision not to on his inexperience. The investigator concluded the cause was "the student pilot’s improper landing flare, which resulted in a bounced landing, and the nose gear collapsing. Contributing to the accident was the student pilot’s lack of experience," the NTSB said.

So you want to be a web editor?

Or maybe you don't, but that's only because you're not aware of the privileged life the chapter position affords.   The lakeside home that goes with the gig. The nice car.  The glitz. The glamour. The chance to hang out on a Zoom call on the first Monday of the month. It could all be yours. I'm inclined to dial back my chapter activities (and refocus on other efforts therein) and am looking for a trainee interested in exercising his/her communication chops.  The web editing position utilizes EAA's SiteCore platform and is relatively easy once you understand it (full training is provided and I've written a manual for all EAA web editors), and training is provided. The main task is keeping content up to date to project an active chapter. The newsletter component is simply a matter of cutting and pasting website content into an occasional email with links back to the website. It's also done in SiteCore. The election will be held in November so take the next month or so to explore the website and then we can begin training you in so you can hit the ground running. Contact Bob Collins. Keep trying because I might be out on the lake.

VMC Club Answer of the Month

Answer: No, it is not permissible. According to AC 91.21-1D, paragraph 9.1, Restricting Airborne Cellular Telephone Use, “The FCC prohibits cellular telephone operation while airborne, as noted in Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (47 CFR) part 22, § 22.925. This restriction is valid for all aircraft without technical provisions that enable control of onboard mobile devices to eliminate interference between ground-based cellular stations and airborne cellular devices. If technical provisions are installed, compliant with, or exempt from 47 CFR § 22.925, then usage of cellular-enabled PEDs is acceptable.”

The E-Beacon is a semimonthly newsletter highlighting news items from Chapter 54. If you no longer wish to receive the email, you can unsubscribe by sending an mail to facilities@eaa54.org.