April 2005
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President's Message Sam Evans
Spring is a time of renewal. As we see the abundant growth of the season, let us not forget the life that has come before…let us not forget those like Bob Couch. I could say that I didn't know Bob very well; maybe an occasional meeting over at the hangars. But, as I've come to learn in the past few years, fellow aviators are really never strangers. Keep Bob Couch in your thoughts. *****
Well, the Hicks trip was finally pulled-off. A right impressive group from 471 headed out on the morning of March 19th to make the trip. There are a couple of related articles by Charlotte Rhodes and Gray Bridwell in this newsletter where you can read-up on the details. Let me add that you will see a couple of pages of high quality pictures that were taken on the trip. In addition, there is information regarding the May fly-out to Colorado Springs. Thanks to Gray Bridwell for printing up the pages on his super-dooper hyperflex laser-matic printin' machine.
Okay, so if you didn't get to make the Hicks trip, it's not too late to get on board for the Fredericksburg trip on April 16th. By the looks of things, the bluebonnets should be at their peak. Make your reservation at the Hangar Hotel located at the Gillespie County airport. (T82) (830-997-9990).
To tell you the truth, I'm already getting pumped-up for Oshkosh. I went for the first time two years ago and it is nothing short of amazing. I'm especially excited this year because of my RV7-A project and the need to start looking at instruments and all the other whiz-bang stuff I want to put on my plane. You need to start thinking about and planning for Oshkosh now. 471 had an impressive group to go up in '03. Let's see if we can do it again this year. ~ Sam ~
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EAA Family
Submitted by Gray Bridwell
Our family was reduced by another member this past month with the passing of Bob Couch. It becomes all to clear that our time as aviators must be lived to the fullest, fly everywhere you can, as often as you can, and enjoy all that you can. Bob's funeral was well attended by a dozen EAA family members. Hobby Stevens and Wes Hays were invited speakers who spoke fondly of Bob's generosity toward any aviator. What is nice, our EAA chapter is truly a family that will be there for you.
In Loving Memory Bobby Lee "Bob" Couch April 5, 1933 -- March 22, 2005
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Monthly Breakfast Slated for the 9th
Our monthly breakfast will be at 9:00am on Saturday, April 9th at the Pride Hangar. As a reminder, the Pride gate code was changed a couple of months ago and it will be necessary for someone to tend the gate to let members in. You can help this process by being at the gate before 9:00am.
Breakfast setup will be Friday the April 8th at 5:15pm. Volunteers always Welcome. *****
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Flying S Air Ranch Fly-in
(If you just can't make the Fredericksburg trip on the 16th, here's something a little closer to home.)
It's that time of year again.
Harold is planning his first Fly-In of the season on the weekend of
April 16 - 17. As usual, there will be lots of flying time, RC
flying, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs for lunch and Dinner and
drinks with live music Saturday night. This is really a good time
for all, so come and spend the night Saturday. Hope to see you there. ******* EAA Young Eagle Pilots Honored I was looking over my latest copy of Sport Aviation and saw some familiar names in an article about the Young Eagles program. Each year, the EAA does a tally of YE pilots and makes the entries in the "World's Largest Logbook". A big salute to Dave Marten, Tim McMurray, Gary Potter, Chris Ulibarri and Greg Wilhite. Thanks guys! ~ Sam ~ ******* My Hicks Adventure By Charlotte Rhodes I have to tell my version of the Hicks trip since it was one I will not forget. We all gathered on the northwest side and prior to departure we had to do a test run on the magic carpet. I tell you what; if ten people can fly on a carpet, imagine what one can do in a flying machine. Runway 4 was the runway of choice with the wind out of the northeast. I departed first with Burl Cox and Jack Duncan right behind me. Thank goodness because they had a GPS and I didn't. I am not sure how the rest of the departure line up went but not too far down the road here goes Gray and Teresa screaming by off my left and tucking right in front of me. I am not going to say what I was thinking so “showoff” will work for now. Low and behold, here goes David Bradshaw screaming off my left and tucking right in front of me to. Must be nice! One day, just one day, I will show them. Burl and Jack made sure I stayed on course and as we started descending for Hicks, they took the lead. I had planned on following them right in but once in front of me, they kept pulling away. When they turned downwind I lost them in the ground clutter and I thought, damn! So, since I did not have the airport in sight I turned south on a supposed downwind, stayed a little high and kept looking. I knew the airport was north of the silos and about that time Burl called turning final for 32. There he is, I remember saying to myself and there is the runway, so here I go! I knew there was a bit of a right crosswind to contend with but since I had practiced them on the previous Monday, I felt fairly competent. Boy was I in for a surprise. I am sure someone along the way told me about the hangers close to the runway and the effect they had on the approach, but I forgot. I remembered the train story and knew I was not going to land if a train was going by. Anyway, between the crosswind and the hangers I had the most exciting and unexpected ride down. I remember taking a deep breath and telling myself to stay focused straight down the runway. I knew I was going to land faster and longer than I would have liked and was just hoping I would not run out of runway because I did not want to go around and do it again today. How I landed straight I am still not quite sure but I did. After I got parked, the whole gang met me, since I was the last one in, and gave me a hearty welcome to Hicks. What a ride! We all went down to the RV hanger to check out some beautiful machines. About 15-20 minutes into this I remembered I had not closed out my flight plan. I walked outside to call and do just that, thank goodness for cell phones. Afterwards, I went with Loren and his wife to see their hanger and apartment. As we were coming out of the hanger Gary Potter drove up and told me I needed to call and close my flight plan because they were looking for me. I told him I had already called. Mind you it was a little late, but I did do it. About the time Gary turned around to leave, my cell was ringing and Gray was calling to tell me the same thing. It is sure good to have friends who look after you. I know I am long winded here so I will try to be brief with the rest but I have to tell the end. The burgers were great and the departure was quick and no where near the excitement of the approach. I can now truly say, “Been there, done that, got the t-shirt”. It was a little after three when I got back and after putting the PA12 up, I talked to Jim Exom and Dan Ferrantelli for a bit. While talking with Dan, my cell rang and this time it was James Cox calling from the tower, I asked if I could call him back. I thought he was just curious how the trip went on my end since his dad had already made it back. Well, when I did call back, they wanted to tell me that Flight Service was looking for me since I had not closed out my flight plan. I asked him to do it for me and he already had, they just wanted to rub it in. Not thinking, I said I can't believe I did it again and the response was something like, "you mean you did it over there too"? After the laughter subsided I had to tell my story and that was the end of that, or so I thought. When I went in to work the following Monday evening I had a big button and a note hanging above my mailbox. I laughed my head off. The button is supposed to be used as a reminder to close out your flight plan and the note ended with "from your friendly local ATC facility". As I said before, it is sure good to have friends who look after you and yes I will use the button, apparently I need all the help I can get. ~ Charlotte ~
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EAA Chapter 471Officers
President ~ Sam Evans Vice-President~Charlotte Rhodes Secretary ~ Arlis Wright Treasurer ~ Gray Bridwell Director ~ Seymour Beitscher Director ~ Harold Cannon Director ~ Bobby Nichols Director ~ Steve Krazer Past President ~ Chris Ulibarri
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Calendar of Events
Upcoming EAA 471 Chapter Breakfasts April 9 May 14 June 11 July 9 ****************
471 Fredericksburg Fly-out April 16 SWRFI "Texas Flyin" May 12 - 15 471 Colorado Springs Fly-out May 20 - 22 Oshkosh AirVenture July 25 - 31 AIRFEST September 23 - 25
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Chris Ulibarri became a grandfather again. Wyatt Allderage was just born 8 lbs 11oz 21 inches long. Congratulations Chris!
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By Sam Evans
Chapter member, Dave Arrighi is a proud new RV builder. In the past few months, Dave had been seriously contemplating building an RV. Well, as fate would have it, Dave learned of an in-process RV6-A kit that a builder had for sale here in Abilene. Dave checked out the completed workmanship of the kit, conferred with a couple of Chapter RV builders, made a couple of calls to Van's and then "bit the bullet". During the past few days, Dave has been diligently checking parts and getting them organized. There hadn't been a great deal of work completed by the previous builder since the kit was obtained in 1997.
That's just fine with Dave since he's an AP mechanic and "a little picky" about workman-ship and how things are done.
Dave is currently the owner of a Piper Tomahawk which he keeps in one of the Chapter t-hangars. He has contemplated selling it since acquiring the RV kit, but on the other hand, he says he would like to keep it around to have something to fly. The way I see it, someday we'll have a small RV squadron here in Abilene. Stick with it Dave... it's a challenge, but it's fun! ~ Sam ~ |
Radar Blips
Cessna: "Abilene tower, Cessna 12345, student pilot, I am out of fuel." Tower: "Roger Cessna 12345, reduce airspeed to best glide!! Do you have the airfield in sight?!?!!" Cessna: "Uh...tower, I am on the northwest ramp; I just want to know where the fuel truck is." J
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