EAA Chapter 563
The Beacon
September, 2025
Breakfast and the chapter meeting are this Saturday morning in the hangar.
The IMC Club meets at its usual day and time. However, the VMC Club will be delayed again this month and meets on the third Sunday.
The audit committee has finished its work, and their report can be found in the Members section of the chapter web site. The committee included Greg LePine, Mike Simmons, and Dave Springer plus the treasurer, Joe Troglio. The quick summary, taken from the report: "The Audit Committee concludes that the financial records of Chapter 563 are in excellent condition and accurately reflect the financial position of Chapter 563."
Greg also heads the committee seeking members for the board. Please contact him if you'd like to serve on the board.
There are two new items on the For Sale page of the chapter web site, an Evinrude outboard motor and a Hobart stick welder and generator.
There is also a request for donations from Greg, who manages the hangar:
If anyone would like to donate, we could use old combination wrenches, from 13/16 to 1-1/2 in steps of 1/16. The same holds with half-inch drive sockets. We don't use them every day but when we do, we need it now. So look through your toolbox and see what you have double of; we could use them here in the hangar tool box.
"August is shaping up to be our largest yet—could use more pilots!" That was the request in late July. In early August, seven pilots showed up to give over 20 Young Eagles and parents a demonstration ride. Six of the airplanes are shown, on the north ramp, as the first Young Eagle walks to her airplane.
The chapter's Ray scholar for 2025, Hope White, has passed her written exam. Her progress to date has released her final payout from the Ray program, and it has been received from HQ. She'd previously earned a Lightspeed Zulu 3 headset from the Lightspeed Aviation Foundation, and this was presented to her at the August chapter meeting. The program coordinator, Rob Meyer, made the presentation and reviewed the chapter's success in this program.
Hope receives her Lightspeed headset from Rob
August was another slow month. Installation of the flaperons has proven more vexing than expected, but the last obstacle looks to be past. Wiring again makes up the bulk of the work remaining. The airplane has been listed for sale, but there has been little interest.
Several web posts from the middle of the month, including one on Vans Air Force, indicate all the former staff at Kitplanes have ceased work. Over the past 41 years, it had come to surpass EAA's Sport Aviation as the magazine most useful to airplane builders, matching the Sport Aviation of the 1980s. The Kitplanes site indicates a new editor has been assigned, but Paul Dye has written the magazine intends to depend more on AI generated articles. Dye and others will try to start an on-line magazine at AvBrief.
Although he was not a chapter member, Ted Lambasio had worked with many chapter members over the years. He was both an aviation mechanic and flight instructor—your editor earned his tailwheel endorsement from him. He passed away in mid August at the age of 85. His obituary notes he served in the Air Force for 30 years, raised 4 children, and has 22 (!) grandchildren. "A Celebration of Life will be announced at a later date at the Ingersoll Airport in Canton."
On Tuesday September 9, the Marshall County airport and EAA chapter 1642 are hosting a presentation on unleaded avgas. It will be given by Chris D'Acosta, the CEO of Swift Fuels, and there will be refreshments as well. See the flier linked from the calendar on the chapter web site.
Biplanes galore
The annual Stearman fly-in runs through this Saturday. Thursday found dozens of Stearman WW-II trainers on the field along with several T-6 and a TBM. Around 11 o'clock, about 30 of them fired up for a flight to lunch at Geneseo.
Interesting details can be found on these, such as two styles of flying wire anchors on one surface.
A pair of taildraggers were at the field for the last chapter breakfast. The lovely 1948 Cessna 170 is owned by a lady in Bloomington. The 2017 Denali Scout beside it is the higher horsepower (O-390) version of the American Champion Scout (O-360). The owner also lives in the Bloomington area.
One of the few cool evenings in early August found a couple enjoying a picnic at the airport. They mentioned the vee tailed airplane they'd just seen take off—it was chapter member Todd Moore's Bonanza.
eaa563.org
Mt. Hawley Airport, Peoria, Illinois