Chapter President Greg LePine provides a write-up of this year's Banquet:
We had a great turn-out for this year’s Holiday Party—50 members and guests who gathered at Bernardi’s north on Saturday December 14.
Andrew Barth who interned at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum this past summer, told me that he is being interviewed in January at Scaled Composites in California. Is there any doubt—what a dream opportunity, Good Luck, Andrew!
Also, I awarded the annual MVP pin to Ann Lynch. The MVP pin is awarded to someone in the chapter who is doing something outstanding to improve the chapter. Ann has provided the Christmas cake and poinsettia table decorations for the Christmas dinners and has been providing the cheese, mushroom, onion, and pepper toppings for eggs at our breakfasts (she also warms them up and sets them out). These toppings greatly enhance the breakfasts. Thank you, Ann!
Rob Meyer gave an overview of the EAA Ray Foundation $10,000 scholarship which our Chapter awarded to Jason Presley. Rob introduced Jason who gave a progress report saying he has passed his ground school test (with coaching by Morrie Caudill), got a free Zulu head set, has a new instructor (Dean Lake), and is flying out PIA..
Karl Kleimenhagen gave a brief overview of the B-17 which was at the big airport in June. Karl headed up the volunteer effort to support the B-17 flights which raised for our Chapter $4,000. Way to go, Karl! Karl then gave a shout out to Bob Pegg who secured a multi-passenger van to bring back all the volunteers who went on a "free" B-17 flight to Iowa City. Bob's dad, a WWII vet, had a courtesy seat on that flight and provided good stories to all.
The evening ended with several drawings. Names of all of those who cooked breakfasts in the past year were put in a drawing for $100, compliments of the Chapter. The lucky draw was to Andrew Barth. Sign-up sheets for 2020 breakfasts are waiting for you. Please volunteer. Drawings of 15 tickets for the poinsettia decorations on the tables concluded the evening.
A few goals for 2020:
Volunteer opportunities!
The VMC Club meets this Sunday in the FBO lobby (or the hangar if access is not available). The Pilot Workshop presentation is "Crippled Climb Out of Charleston":
In this month’s scenario, your brain is performing as sluggishly as your airplane. You accelerate down the runway, rotate, and struggle to climb. In his Expert Response, Tom Turner mentioned a study by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). The resulting report, Managing Partial Power Loss After Takeoff in Single-engine Aircraft (AR-2010-055), provides valuable information about these types of tough situations.
Morrie Caudill helped our 2019 Ray Scholar successfully prepare for his FAA written exam, and he's offered to provide a Question of the Month to help keep us on our toes. Here's the first one:
In what type of airspace are VFR flights prohibited?
The answer will be found near the end of this newsletter.
The IMC Club meets Sunday the 12th this month, in the hangar.
At the first December breakfast, Brady Neuhalfen and Eliza Fletcher were introduced to the chapter. Both are interested in a career in aviation and both are candidates for a Ray Scholarship, should our chapter receive one in 2020.
The $500 sent to the Charlie Allen Memorial fund was awarded to Brady, and excerpts from the handwritten letter he sent us follow:
I have completed 25.9 hours of my training so far. I started taking lessons in June after receiving $750 as a part of the first annual Charlie Allen Memorial Young Pilot Scholarship that the Marshall County Flyers created this year. Shortly after that money was used up, I received another scholarship of $500 from a former navy pilot who lives in Henry, my hometown.My family has been very supportive of my flying, paying for as many lessons as possible, and I have been very fortunate that my lessons only cost $100 per hour, because my flight instructor doesn't charge me for his time and I was given a lower rate to pay for the airplane.
My goal is to get my private pilot's license before the end of my junior year, and I plan on applying for the U.S. Air Force Academy and the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as some other great aviation academies such as SIU-Edwardsville and Embry-Riddle. My long term goal is to become an airline pilot. I can't imagine any better way to earn a living.
I cannot thank you, the Peoria EAA Chapter 5463, enough for your generosity.
In November Lincoln Land Community College in Springfield awarded to Aaron Meiners the $1000 we sent them this year as a scholarship, and excerpts from his handwritten note are:
I truly want to say thank you so much for the opportunity of a lifetime. Growing up in a small town community has not only offered financial and academic challenges but has also helped me realize the value of a college education. Every penny counts, and $1,000 is a lot of money when it comes for paying for school and an education. I will keep on track with my grades, which are at 3.9. I plan to continue to go to school and also get my private pilot license and my commercial also, but money is a big factor in life, so we will see how it ends up.Thank you so much for this opportunity!
Our 2020 budget repeats last year's donations to both scholarships.
National has begun the process of moving chapter web sites previously hosted at Webs.com over to Sitecore, the service they use for their own operations. Our site may move yet this month, and the deadline for all moves is the end of March. The new sites look roughly similar to the old ones. The previous hosting service has mangled the stored copies of past newsletters, and back-up copies will be loaded to the new site.
More than 55 members have renewed for 2020. If you haven't done so, now's the time.
Steve Jones received the Airworthiness Certificate for his RV this year and has offered some notes on the process:
Ross Carbiener, DAR performed the inspection and completed all required FAA documentation. EAA's Amateur Built Certification Kit including the Step-by-Step Certification Guide was valuable to lead me through all the forms from first application for Registration to this Certification. Their kit includes all the FAA forms required, an Experimental sticker (in black), a dataplate, and a convenient placard decal sheet, as well as the 15-page Certification Guide that walks you through the entire process and provides samples of how to complete each required form. It's a bargain and worth every penny ($12.99 for members). I was pleased Ross found no issues with all my documents, build log, and the plane itself. It was a great experience: Thanks Ross!
Greg passed along a link to a video of the Utah Air Guard refueling a Stealth bomber with nice views of the bomber approaching the fueling boom.
The airport authority's holiday meet at the FBO December 12 could have been better attended. They offered a nice spread of food and drinks, set up by Cheryl, who is the new marketing agent at PIA, and Mark, who has replaced Henry at the FBO. Gene Olson, director of the Peoria Airports, also stopped by.
Late December brought an unusual visitor to 3MY, snapped by Greg LePine:
It's owned by a construction company and so is likely used as an aerial crane.
The Havana EAA chapter has nearly finished the new shower facility for pilots wanting to camp overnight at their rural field. The chapter president will give us a presentation at next month's chapter meeting. The main topic will be their airport's original use in radar astronomy, and he'll also describe their work on the camping arrangements and other chapter activities.
Answer A is correct. Class A airspace (from 18,000 MSL up to and including FL 600) requires operation under IFR at specific flight levels assigned by ATC. Accordingly, VFR flights are prohibited. Answer B and C are incorrect; VFR flights are prohibited in Class A only.