E-Beacon February 7, 2024
This is the semimonthly email newsletter from the Experimental Aircraft Association of Lake Elmo, MN. If you have difficulty reading this information, view it on the chapter website.
Chapter board holds monthly meeting
The EAA Chapter 54 Board of Directors held its monthly meeting on February 5, making comparatively quick work of a packed agenda as the new administration settles in. Among the efforts of board members is the creation and distribution of a chapter survey, under the direction of Vice President Jay Schrankler. It's vitally important that members take a few minutes to respond to the survey to ensure that the effort of the chapter are matching your interests. The Board, under the direction of Ed Trudeau and Scott Hanson, are also trying to update the membership roster and contact members who are in arrears on dues to determine their future with the chapter.
Past President Leif Erickson announced he's been working with the Sodbusters RC Club to set up activities in the Chapter House during and after Young Eagle flights to help interested young people learn more about aviation and the next steps they could take after their flights.
In other board updates:
* Benches from the observation area have been restained and returned to their location. Their departure from the chapter house allowed the initial creation of an "office area" in the house addition. The small desk, formerly located in the meeting area, has been moved to that area. An effort will shortly begin to organize and inventory items currently stored on the "shelf".
* Emma Gaustad, chapter treasurer, is going to research the feasibility of adjusting the PayPal options on the website so the chapter isn't footing the fee for the convenience when members renew or join via the online site. She reported a positive cash flow ($28.74!) in January although the chapter is generally not covering fixed expenses without dipping into reserves.
* There was discussion about whether the chapter will provide scholarship help for Air Academy attendance and, if so, when? To the Board's knowledge there are no candidates who've appeared this year.
* Some discussion took place about Flying Start Week, May 13-18 but with the lack of pilots, a Friday afternoon national Flying Start Day, and a Young Eagles rally on Saturday, support did not materialize.
See Ed Trudeau's minutes and director reports>>
Getting started in ultralights
Join us on Tuesday, February 20, through Thursday, February 22, for an educational online event, EAA Virtual Ultralight Days. Subject matter experts of the ultralight community will present webinars on the lighter side of recreational aviation including how to get started in ultralights. All live webinars are free of charge to everyone interested in ultralight aviation, with the live sessions featuring a Q&A segment. On-demand recordings of the presentations will be available to EAA members. Some of the webinars have already been added to the Events Calendar. More information is available here.
Chart the Future of New Richmond Regional Airport
Back when I had the RV-7A, one of my favorite summer activities was hopping over to New Richmond Airport for some cheap(er) fuel, and sitting on the bench by the fuel pumps to watch the sun go down (see picture above). So I was happy that Robyn Stoller has kindly sent along the New Richmond Airport newsletter, which is really well written and very informative. This edition looks briefly at its history.
New Richmond Municipal Airport, as it was known back in 1964, was originally designed as a recreational facility complete with a three thousand foot primary runway 13-31 and a secondary turf runway 4-22 measuring slightly less than twenty four hundred feet. Sure the occasional biz aircraft stopped in, but it was a rarity. The facility was maintained by the New Richmond Street Department and managed by the City Clerk. At the airport opening in July of 1964, New Richmond Mayor John Van Meter who also served as the publisher of the local newspaper, convinced the facility was a waste of scarce city funds, made his feelings known in his weekly newspaper column by labeling the facility “Idle Field Airport”. Ouch. The local pilot group took offense to this and fabricated and planted a sign that read “Van Meter Field” out of defiance. Looking back, he wasn’t exactly wrong. The airport was underutilized and unsupported locally for a couple of decades.Funny how things turn out. Anyway, the FAA mandated airport master plan is underway. Authorities hope to finish it by next year but they're asking users of the airport to provide input on future priorities. You can take the survey here.
I grew up on the north side of New Richmond and made many, many trips to the airport on my prized Huffy, and seldom saw any signs of humans around.
The newsletter also has a rundown of projects scheduled to commence this year.
Getting to Know the New President
In December of 2023 the Chapter welcomed our new president, Marlon Gunderson. Many of you probably know Marlon but do you really know Marlon? Let’s find out.
We will have a fireside side chat with Marlon at our next meeting. How perfect for a cold winter night! Our chat will center around Marlon’s background: personal, professional and aviation as well as his vision for the chapter for the next two years.
While we have a set of prepared questions, we will open it up to other members too. After our chat Marlon will briefly share some slides of his aircraft projects and flying.
Please join us at 7pm for social time, 7:30pm for the program, on Monday, February 12th at the chapter clubhouse.
February Chapter Video
In the latest episode from the EAA's Charlie Becker: 1.) Virtual Ultralight Days 2.) EAA Aviation Foundation Sweepstakes 3.) EAA Learn To Fly Week 4.) EAA Tribute Opportunities 5.) Chapter Leadership Training. Watch video >>
Aging pilots
A medical situation (Meniere's) forced me to sell my RV-7A in 2016. At the time, I thought all my RV friends would be offering rides to keep me entertained, but it didn't happen. Stick time evaporated (although an RVer in Plymouth, Mass took me on a Cape Cod tour in his RV8 -- pictured -- last fall when I was in Boston taking care of my sister) and I immersed myself in building an RV-12iS. It's almost done but 7 years is a long time to go without flying. I turn 70 in May and, while the medical situation has resolved, I'm trying to decide whether to fly the 12 or sell it. So, I was interested to read a blog post from Mike Davenport posted this week on the subject of aging pilots and aging out.
I find that as time goes on, I am using the airplane less. Until my wife passed away, she had been a frequent flyer. My other best friend and hangar mate also recently passed on and I had flown with him often as well. So there seems to be less and less reason to use the airplane. Logic continually points out that the costs remain the same though it is used less. Things like insurance, hangar lease, and property taxes, to say nothing about the absurd fuel prices when the airplane is used.
Twenty Years Ago
"Soon, I went to a chapter meeting, a terrible experience. Everyone there knew everyone else and weren't interested in talking to the 'newbie' at all. They all spoke aviation, a language with which I wasn't familiar. I went home that night, wondering if I had what it took to do all the work it was going to take to get involved in this. Now, dear reader, there are many things in this life that I don't do well, more than could be listed on this page. However, one thing I can do well is: DON'T GIVE UP. I went back, made friends, listened, and the next thing you know, I'm writing a chapter newsletter. I came upon the job like many other EAA chapter newsletter editors; because no one else wanted to do it. I was terrible at it, and I even knew it then. Having no flying experience other than the odd ride I could bum every 6 months or so, I would read articles about aviation in the local library, trying to catch up on the subject about which I was to write. I would blatantly copy articles from other sources, and, even though I'd credit those sources, and told my self I hadn't broken copyright because I was using it for educational purpose without making income from it, I knew it still wasn't right. I didn't think I was doing a great job. I saw shortcomings."
-John Schmidt
February 2004 newsletter
(Every available chapter newsletter back to 1968 have now been archived and are available online)
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.
