HANGAR FLYIN'

Last Saturday after landing his RV at Abilene Regional Airport and taxiing to the hangars on the northwest side, Carroll Bird suffered a heart attack while sitting in his still-idling airplane and died. At least that's the story he told me from his hospital bed, and since he has plenty of witnesses to the incident – I guess he will stick to the story.

The account of what took place and how Carroll was revived is amazing. Of course, you must understand that this is Carroll's account. Remember that he quit breathing and his heart quit beating. So this is a dead man's tale.

At the time of the incident, EAA 471, the Abilene, TX chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association was involved in a Freedom Flight to commemorate September 11^th. Several or our pilots were making flights to area airports to celebrate our American way of life and our freedom. The event was planned to honor those whose lives were lost in the terrorist attacks and those who worked so heroically to rescue and to restore order. The flights symbolized the soaring spirit of America, even in adversity.

Carroll Bird was alone in his airplane, a two place RV 4 which he built himself. The flight of three airplanes also included Tiny Malm in his BT-13, and on Carroll's wing flew Gray Bridwell in his own RV 6A with his co-pilot Charlotte Rhodes. This flight was bound for Sweetwater, TX. Carroll said, "After takeoff, we were informed that there was a fellow on the ground who wanted to fly if anyone had an extra seat. I was flying by myself, so I radioed to Gray that I would turn back and pick up the passenger." Gray told Carroll that he would turn back with him so they could stay together.

The flight of two landed and taxied back to the hangars. It was then, engine still idling, that Carroll lost consciousness.

Gray and Charlotte landed just behind Carroll. When they taxied up to hangars, they thought something was wrong. Carroll had slumped down, but his head was turned up like he was looking at something in the air. From the other plane, Charlotte looked up to see what he was looking at, but could see nothing. Looking back at Carroll and seeing that he had not changed positions, she quickly unhooked her seatbelt while Gray opened the canopy of his airplane. She climbed out and ran over to Carroll's airplane and opened his canopy. She has flown with Carroll on several club trips, so she was familiar with his plane. Something was definitely wrong. Carroll was unconscious and the airplane was still running.

Carroll Bird told me this with tears in his eyes. He said, "Charlotte reached into that airplane, unbuckled me and lifted me out by herself." Aaron Ulibarri was quickly on hand and shut down the engine. Don Bledsoe also raced up from his hangar to offer assistance. "By the time the engine was shut down," Carroll said, Charlotte already had me on the ground and had started CPR."

Carroll's voice grew unsteady here, and the tears were more evident as he said, "That girl saved my life !"

It turns out that the passenger that Carroll turned back to pick up was Jeff White, a trained EMT. Jeff teamed up with Charlotte doing chest compressions while she did the mouth-to-mouth. Gray got on his cell phone and called for emergency assistance. Charlotte and Jeff continued CPR .

Carroll was not breathing. His heart was not beating. When the Abilene Fire Dept. arrived, they had the equipment necessary to shock Carroll's heart back to life. It took three attempts before they could detect a heartbeat.

Carroll Bird considers himself a very blessed man today as he rests in an Abilene hospital. He is scheduled for by-pass surgery. You might think that this awful experience would make him bitter. After all, flying and heart conditions do not mix. But Carroll said with a big smile on his face that he is glad to be alive. "Just look at this story," he said. "Had we not been informed that there was a fellow on the ground that wanted to fly, we would have been in the air somewhere between Abilene and Sweetwater when I had the heart attack. I had absolutely no pain. I felt fine. I would have died in the air and no telling who might have been hurt when the plane hit the ground."

But the story is still more amazing in the detail of what turned out to be life-saving decisions. What if Gray and Charlotte had not turned back with Carroll? By the time she reached his plane, he had already quit breathing. Her quick actions to get him out of the plane and to begin CPR with Jeff's help did save his life. And Gray's quick thinking in getting help on the way got the necessary equipment there to restart Carroll's heart.

Carroll Bird died last Saturday doing what he loves to do. But he credits guidance by an unseen hand for leading his good friends to be by his side. Because of their quick actions, he will live to fly another day. In Carroll's own words, "This was a miracle. If any one decision had been made differently, I would not be here today to tell you this story. God was not finished with me yet."

Amen to that!

Carroll, we are praying for you. Get well friend, and we will go flying !

- Gray Bridwell

With Vice President Billy Tucker filling in the gap last month I hope to be refreshed with some new ideas and good thoughts. This is something that needs to be done more often. Reports from the various positions should happen through out the year. We will work to bring you the member the happenings from other perspectives. Young Eagles, Membership, Treasury, etc will all have the periodic chance to voice their area status. Thanks to a bunch of great folks, we have a very active chapter. Remember it takes all to make it great…

All great ideas start out with a couple of people talking about what would be fun in their eyes. Then the word spreads and either blooms into a great event or dies.

One event that will be a big one needs to be mentioned now to our chapter. Many chapter members are making plans NOW to fly to Airventure 2003 in Oshkosh July 29^th – August 4^th 2003. This will be the 100^th anniversary of powered flight and 471 will be going! I realize that things come up with family, work, and activities, but personally I am requesting vacation now with family, work, and telling the activities I am involved with "I am going and don’t call me because I will be in OSHKOSH!"

I encourage ALL OF YOU who have a plane to get it ready. I encourage all of you who have a heartbeat to go, as we will find a seat for you on a plane bound for OSHKOSH.

What a memorable experience this will be for our chapter to have this trip together. I will publish a list of participants and planes in the months to come. CALL ME if you want to go and need a seat. CALL ME if you need help with your plane. CALL MY office 676-8294!

By Charlotte Rhodes

Editor's Disclaimer – I am running this just as Charlotte sent it to me. I never called her a witch.

Oh, did I spell that title right? I may not be an aircraft pilot yet, but I certainly have my name stamped on the side of a broom and can maneuver it effectively, as most of you know by now. I tend to come across a little harsh at times because I am a pretty direct individual and I believe right is right, wrong is wrong and fair is fair. So if I made anyone feel uncomfortable with my comments about the help after the breakfasts, I apologize. I just think when we gather as a group, we should work or play as a group. Isn’t this what it is all about? Anyway, I sincerely want to thank everyone, and I mean everyone, for helping clean up after the last breakfast and for all the light, not so light, charming jibes at me. I absolutely love being around this group of folks because you are fun and you make me laugh. Thank you!

I know our chapter is parking aircraft for the fly-in and a bunch of you will be busy, but if there is anyone who wants to help out in another area, say the EAA booth with a membership drive, let me know. Bob Mackey from National asked me to do the membership portion of the booth and asked if I would be able to enlist the help of a couple more individuals, especially with the setup and tear down. I told him I might be able to find help. Any volunteers? Bob is planning on being here for the fly-in and working the merchandise portion of the booth.

I understand Black Sheep are planning a wing-dinger of a party this year and I can’t wait to hear Stan shout.

I hope to see everyone at the breakfast this month and if you have any suggestions for future ones, tell Don or myself. Speaking of Don, I want to thank him again here for bringing over a big bowl of meat sauce, noodles and bread to tide my family over while I was running back and forth from the hospital recently. I’ll say it again, you are the kind of people I love being around.

The EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In will be held September 27-28 in Abilene, Texas at the Abilene Regional Airport (ABI).

For detailed information on this great fly-in go to:

http://www.swrfi.org

The EAA SWRFI is looking for volunteers to help with AIRCRAFT JUDGING. Awards will be given for:

Best of Show

Best of Class

Plans Homebuilt

Kit

Antique

Classic

Contemporary

Warbird

Official EAA Judging Standards can be found at: http://www.eaa.org/judging/index.html

**VOLUNTEERS NEEDED**

If you are interested in helping with the aircraft judging at the EAA Southwest Regional Fly-In in Abilene, Texas on September 27-28 please contact Lorne Sharp at 806-793-3202 or send an e-mail to LorneSharp@msn.com.

Flight planning your destination just got easier thanks to a new member benefit on the EAA website. Announcing the EAA Airport and Destination Guide, a new service in the Pilot Services Section. Developed by EAA and partner AeroPlanner.com, the Airport and Destination Guide provides information on of over 25,000 public and private airports. Locate airports by numerous search criteria, including airport code, city and state, Navaid ID, latitude & longitude, and zip code.

The "Guide" provides useful information about each airport, such as airport diagrams, facility operating times, frequencies, runway specifications, departure and approach procedures, and current NOTAMs. What's more, destination information is also available, including EAA Chapters in the vicinity, EAA events and local attractions. The Airport and Destination Guide is integrated into the heavily used EAA Flight Planner.

EAA proudly presents The Complete Collection of Sport Aviation Magazine

on CD-ROM-1953 to 2001. That's 48 years, roughly 600 issues, or 50,000 pages of every article, photograph, drawing, letter, and advertisement ever placed in EAA's flagship publication. For homebuilders and restorers, this is an indispensable resource filled with almost five decades of advice-literally thousands of in-depth technical and how-to articles from a variety of contributors, including notable homebuilder Tony Bingelis and airfoil designer John Roncz. Plus there are numerous aircraft plans, designs, helpful homebuilder and restoration tips, demonstrations, product information, tools, services, and oh, so many historic and stunning photos.

For more information, go to:

The Flight Across America is a grassroots

effort to inspire the nation by reinvigorating the spirit of aviation and re-igniting the belief in possibility that flows throughout aviation’s

courageous history.

Beginning on August 11, 2002 and continuing

through September 11, 2002, pilots across the

United States will fly flights to demonstrate to a jaded public that aviation can indeed be a force for good. The goal is to develop a virtual web of flights across the country, with an aircraft taking off and landing from each public airport in the continental United States.

Chapter 471 participated on Labor Day weekend. The following Pilots get a big round of thanks for doing their part as aviators in the United States of America!

Chris Ulibarri N95032

Don Bledsoe N1899G

Harold Cannon N5609T

Carroll Bird N311CB

Tim McMurray N6176D

Lon Beasley & Steve West N502FL

Larry Chapman N74151

Aaron Ulibarri N7037M

Gray Bridwell N96LE

Tiny Malm N826BT

Airports visited:

Robert Lee, Ballinger, Winters, Stamford, Haskell, San Angelo, Coleman, Brownwood, Ranger, Cisco, Eastland, Albany, Breckenridge. We have logged each of these cities in the national logbook with the pilot's name and our chapter. Thanks!!!!

- September 13^th Breakfast set up 5pm at Pride Hangar.

- September 14^th Second Saturday Breakfast – Pride Hangar 8:00am. Special guest will be the new airport manager.

- September 27^th – 28^th SWRFI – 471 Helping in parking planes this year – No tents!

- September 27^th FRIDAY NIGHT BLACK SHEEP FOOD FEST, "T" Hangars

- October

Flight to Cavanaugh Flight Museum – Over night trip – Details by Tim McMurray

- November Flight to Galveston fly-in, tour the Lonestar flight museum – Details by Carroll Bird

An airline pilot wrote that on this particular flight he had hammered

his ship into the runway really hard. The airline had a policy which required the first officer to stand at the door while the passengers exited, smile,

and give them a "Thanks for flying XYZ airline." He said that, in light of his

bad landing, he had a hard time looking the passengers in the eye,

thinking that someone would have a smart comment. Finally everyone had gotten off except for a little old lady walking with a cane. She said, "Sonny, mind if I ask you a question?" "Why no Ma'am", said the pilot. "What is it?"

The little old lady said, "Did we land or were we shot down?"

President Gray Bridwell

Vice-President Billy Tucker

Here are the latest numbers I recently received from Bobby Nichols on our Snyder Young Eagles Day on June 22, 2002. Bobby has been busier than any farm boy should be. I’m glad all is well with him and some personal trials he and his family have been going through have not dampened his spirits. It was too late to publish these for the August newsletter so here goes:

Congratulations to Aaron Ulibarri for being the High Time Young Eagles Flyer with 16 Young Eagles. Great Job Aaron! Judy is Chapter 19 in Lubbock and we thank her for showing up to help out also. Thanks to all who participated in the Snyder Young Eagles Day.

On July 4^th, 2002 Aaron and Jennifer Ulibarri flew to Colorado City and represented our Chapter 471 proudly. Jennifer was selected as the Youngest Pilot attending the Fly-In in her Piper Tomahawk N113AT. Congratulations to her for a job well done! She will soon be a new Private Pilots as soon as all her requirements are complete then she will also be flying Young Eagles. Keep up the good work Jennifer!