ATC at PIA has asked to speak at the November chapter meeting, and they would like to know what topics are of interest to you. Please make your requests via the chapter e-mail account.
Youth Programs
At the last board meeting, three members of the Dunlap High School Flight Club under Teri Brandt gave a presentation on their work. The club was formed this spring and has about 20 members. They competed in the GAMA Aviation Design Challenge. This year's challenge was to use software tools including X-Plane to try to improve the efficiency of a production plane, the C-172. They also learned about actual flying from discussions with local pilots. They are looking for mentors for the competition next year as well as people to give presentations at their club meetings.
Until then, they are looking at other aviation experiments, such as drones, and the relevant FAA rules. They are hoping to work on the UAS-4-STEM competition which seeks to optimize a drone kit for a particular operation. This is $2000 plus travel expenses. They are also considering high altitude balloon flights. Their finances for these projects, which aren't the best, were also discussed.
The board feels it unlikely these kids, already busy with their school club, would join an Explorer Post sponsored by the chapter. Further, the Scouts have been silent this year; Exploring appears to not be a priority with the local council. It was agreed to put our efforts towards supporting the DHS club instead. The board voted to sponsor the Flight Club with $1000, an amount within that budgeted for the year for youth programs.
The DHS Flight Club will attend the next chapter breakfast and meeting.
Two area flight mechanics are graduates of Lincoln Land Community College, so our donations of $1000 per year there have helped the local aviation community. We will have a fund raising drive for our youth programs this fall, perhaps through a letter sent with the renewals. It is hoped both programs can be funded in future years.
At the recent safety seminar, AOPA announced it is helping high schools set up aviation related classes, and we will put them in contact with DHS.
Treasury
There are 57 paid memberships plus one pending. Net worth is stable. Breakfasts have cleared expenses. The Vanguard accounts are up. Total donations are about $1000 but only $20 so far for youth programs, and the latter figure accounts for falling behind the budget.
Nominations
The slate of board candidates will be presented at the October meeting. Tentatively, they are:
President: Greg LePine
V.P.: Kent Lynch
Secretary: Karl Kleimenhagen
Treasurer: Rob Meyer
Directors: Andrew Barth, Ron Dorn, Dewey Fitch, Bob Pegg, Ron Wright
Nominations to the slate will be accepted from the floor at this meeting, on 10/7. The election will be held at the November chapter meeting.
IMC Club
The chapter's IMC club is now recognized by EAA and has access to all their resources. At the last meeting, scenarios from the IMC web site were tried and found to be quite useful. The chapter television along with ForeFlight was used to look at the airports related to the on-line scenarios being discussed.
The next meeting is scheduled for Sunday, 10/8 at 6 PM at the chapter hangar. Anyone interested in IFR discussion is welcome. We can also start a VMC club if there is interest, but to date we are concentrating on the IMC Club.
Donations
Terry Moushon donated two floor standing stereo speakers, in wood. These will work well with the jukebox previously donated by Ron Vice. All are available for inspection in the hangar.
Volunteers
We need kitchen help for the breakfasts through to the end of the year.
Members
Welcome Adam Funk, from Morton:
I started flight training with an introduction flight at Allmond Aviation on August 2, 2011. I was instantly hooked and started flight training the following September in the Cessna 152. It was tough to do college, a job, and try to squeeze in flight training when I had time. Plane availability and Illinois weather made it drag on longer then I would like, but I finally finished with the checkride in December 2015. Since then I have been renting when I can to stay sharp and share aviation with family and friends. I especially love taking trips to all the little airports scattered around Illinois. I joined EAA to meet new people and be more active with the airport and aviation in general. I am excited to join this community and to help out where I can.
Airport
AOPA is looking for hosts at airports for future safety seminars. Currently, in Peoria these are often held at the Embassy conference center across the river. The chapter has responded it might be able to host these in our hangar or in the FBO hangar here at 3MY. Byerly Aviation at PIA might, though, prove the better location for this.
3MY
Work on the apron and the runway which had been scheduled to begin 9/18 has been delayed to 10/5. The taxiway and apron west of the hangars will be milled and repaved over about 55 days. This may affect parking at various times for chapter events in October and November. Also, the runway will be closed for all or part of the week of 10/16 to mill the bump at the north end of the runway between the old and new surfaces.
Chapter member Dan Gilbert was second in the Poker Run on 9/17.
Havana
Tanya Leahy with the Bloomington EAA chapter has been organizing camping fly-outs, staying the night at Havana's rural airstrip. It's hoped other local EAA chapter members will want to participate at future camping fly-outs. Contact either 563, 129, or 1420 to express your interest. Future dates will be noted in the newsletters and on our chapter's web site.
The Recreational Aviation Foundation is helping with a STOL Clinic this month, two days starting Friday the 20th. The clinic is done by SimplyFly. It is not a free event and registration is required.
