PRESIDENT’S LETTER – – October, 2020

EAA92 Members and Friends,

As we continue with our COVID-19 “distancing and face mask measures”, there is no definitive improvement on the near horizon that would allow us and other EAA chapters to resume our normal activities and events.  The local chapters are generally hibernating, and even Chapter 1 at Flabob, which planned a fly-out and campout at Oceano Airport last month, had to cancel due to local health restrictions.

We hope you are all still avoiding the COVID virus and managing to continue your flying activities as much as possible.  Air traffic continues to be light, and controllers are very accommodating within the constraints of their reduced staffing levels.  Flying at Orange County Airport is easier and departures are quicker with fewer airliners to share the field and airspace with, but pattern work is restricted at times due to reduced staffing in the tower.

Speaking of Orange County Airport, the county Board of Supervisors has selected the winning bidders in the General Aviation Improvement Plan that has been in the works for some time.  ACI Jet and Clay Lacy Aviation have been selected as the two full-service FBO’s, and Jay’s Aviation has been selected as the limited-service FBO.  If you go to the Board of Supervisors website and look at the minutes of their recent meeting, you can view all of the many documents showing construction plans for each of the bidders.  It’s a lot of data, so select a comfy chair to sit in while you read.  When work begins, demolition and construction will start on the west side of the field where ACI West is now, and work its way around the field.  The current project stage is final negotiation of the leases and finalizing construction plans and permits.  It looks like 5-6 years total for the whole project to complete.  Our chapter secretary, Steve Livingston, has been serving on some of the pilot community committees and can provide more inside details on the process if you contact him.

We have had several on-line Zoom sessions and webinars to replace the normal monthly meetings, and will continue to do so as long as group gatherings remain inadvisable.  We have a session on Tuesday, Oct. 6 at 7 PM with Hugh Cook who will tell us all about his RV-8 project that he now has flying following completion of his Phase 1 flight testing.  And in November, Rick Woods will describe his typical process for doing a Condition Inspection on his RV-7.  Check the Events page on our website periodically for log-in details for the Oct and Nov events and details of future events.  Again, we offer an open invitation to all of you to let us know of additional ideas for webinar content, or to volunteer to make a presentation via Zoom on a subject of your choosing.

A few interesting tidbits for you to take a look at this month:

  1. Rick Woods recently took a flight in his RV-7 (which longs to be a fighter jet) through Star Wars Canyon (aka Rainbow Canyon) in the Panamint MOA near Death Valley.  It is used for (extreme) low-level training by the military. He has posted a video at: https://youtu.be/DbIR2E5Y5V4
  2. If you have attended our Young Eagle events in recent years, you have probably seen Mike Clearman flying kids in his black and white Marquart Charger, a two-seat, open cockpit biplane. Mike was the president of EAA chapter 448 at Cable Airport in Upland, and tragically died in a motorcycle accident in mid-2019.  His 1973 Marquart Charger is now for sale at Foothill Aircraft at Cable, and if anyone is interested, the airplane is listed on Controller.com at:  https://www.controller.com/listing/for-sale/196278999/1973-marquart-ma-5-charger-experimental-slash-homebuilt-aircraft

The listing includes many pictures and downloadable log books and flight log.

Maybe one of you would like to buy his plane and pick up the torch from Mike for flying Young Eagles.

  1. EAA Chapter 465 in Paso Robles is hosting a Southern & Central California Fly-In at the Estrella Warbirds & Race Car Museum on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2020. See all the details below.  MASKS REQUIRED.

SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL CALIFORNIA EAA CHAPTERS FLY-IN

SUNDAY OCT 11, 2020 – HOSTED BY PASO ROBLES EAA CHAPTER 465

Join us in Paso Robles for a one-day event centered at the Estrella Warbirds & Race Car Museum www.ewarbirds.org  which has the highest tourism visit rate on the central coast after Hearst Castle!!!

The one-day event will include (all participants must to wear masks – do not arrive without one)

  • Full day access to the Estrella Museum which opens at 10:00 AM
  • A catered lunch
  • Presentation and “Fast Credit” by a retired NTSB official
  • Fuel Discount anticipated, usually 0.25 off self-serve price and delivered to your plane by truck.
  • Pre-registered cost per person for the day is $32 up to Oct. 4, later or on-arrival registration $42.

To register please send EAA 465:

  • An Electronic Mail message to EAA465@sbcglobal.net including the: (i) your name(s), (ii) type of plane, (iii) N number, and (iii) your EM and Phone number
  • A check for the number of people in your plane times $32 to: Treasurer EAA465, 7460 Pinal Ave, Atascadero, CA 93422, or send payment to our EAA 465 Pay Pal Account at EAA465@sbcglobal.net

Hope to see you there. To find out more about EAA465 go to https://chapters.eaa.org/eaa465

Dave Fretwell, President EAA 465 – EAA465@sbcglobal.net  

PS: if you want to come a day earlier or stay later, to enjoy Paso Robles, the wine country, etc. be sure to book a motel ahead of time, camping is allowed on field, Uber, & the airport Café is open 6AM-2PM.

*******************************************************************************************

As mentioned in our previous newsletters, both Planes of Fame and Yanks Air Museum closed their doors in April during the lockdown.  Planes of Fame has now re-opened on a limited basis for an “Outdoor Experience”, but Yanks remains closed.

So now go out and FLY.  Hang in there; stay safe; thank you for all your support and we look forward to seeing you at future events.

Until next time – – – – Jim Randall, President, EAA92