Membership

ONLINE APPLICATIONS
https://eaa186.org/events/eaa-chapter-186-
membership-online-application-2024/
To order a nametag, go to https://eaa186.org/

events/eaa-chapter-186-name-tag-order-form-
paypal-only/.

CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP FEES
$30 Jan–Dec Single Member Dues
$35 Jan-Dec Family Member Dues
$12 for Name Tag and postage
$10 – hard copy of Directory (printing & mailing)
$1 surcharge if paying by PayPal
Contact Judy Sparks for Membership info:
jhsparks@comcast.net

DID YOU CHANGE YOUR E-MAIL?
Please advise Judy Sparks, 703-581-7667 or jhsparks@comcast.net if any of your membership
directory information changes. Thanks.

Ray Aviation Scholarship

In January 2025 Chapter 186 will apply to EAA to administer a 2025 Ray Scholarship for a $12,000 flight training scholarship. If we are selected to give another Ray Scholarship, we will begin a search in March for a motivated youth aged 16 1⁄2 to 19 who would like to participate in a concentrated one-year effort to acquire his/her Private Pilot License. The scholarship gives $4,800 to start flight training, then requires soloing within 4 months to receive the next $4,800 and then requires completion of the FAA Knowledge Exam within 4 more months to receive the last $2,400. The Ray
Aviation Foundation has partnered with EAA’s chapter structure to find and mentor the scholars with the goal of an 80% completion rate. Chapter 186 is 5 for 5 with our Ray Scholars beginning in 2019 when the program began. Our 2023 scholar, Grant Peterson earned his Private Pilot Certificate a few months ago and our 2024 Scholar Kobe Kerns is on his way to completing the program. Thanks to all of our Chapter 186 volunteers that keep our Chapter active and visible. That helps us earn the privilege of administering this scholarship.

Bob Prange

Young Eagles EAA Air Academy

EAA Air Academy is a series of camps designed to introduce young people ages 14-18 to the aviation world. Kids stay at the EAA Air Academy Lodge in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Experienced aviation instructors help them delve into flight through
studies, hands-on demonstrations, flight simulation, and other exciting activities. Campers will receive a ride in a Cessna Skycatcher or Skyhawk or a helicopter, weather permitting. Most of the sessions are already full and only accepting waitlist registrations however EAA Chapter 186 has three spots reserved for kids that would like to attend. We can pay $500 of your child’s tuition. The child’s family will be responsible for transportation to and from the lodge. Find additional information on course content, lodge accommodations and registration here.

Explore Aviation Camp

All sessions offered are the same camp.
*Session 1 (ages 14-15) – June 20 – 25, 2025 –
$1,300
Session 2 (ages 14-15) – June 28 – July 3, 2025 –
$1,300
**Session 3 (ages 16-18) – July 15 – 23, 2025 –
$1,650
Session 4 (ages 16-18) – July 25 – August 2, 2025 –
$1,650

Discover Camp

All sessions offered are the same camp.
Session 1 (ages 14-15) – June 12 – 17, 2025 -$1,300
Session 2 (ages 16-18) – July 7 – 12, 2025 – $1,300

*Chapter 186 has reserved spots for two campers in
Session 1 of Explore Aviation Camp (Age 14-15).
If interested in sending your child to this camp,
contact president@eaa186.org.

**Chapter 186 has reserved a spot for one camper
in Session 3 of Explore Aviation Camp (Age 16-
18). If interested in sending your child to this
camp, contact president@eaa186.org

Young Eagles

We flew 43 kids at the Nov 9 rally at Manassas and plan to fly over 40 at the Dec 14 rally. Our next Young Eagles Rallies are:

Jan 11 – 12:00 Noon at Manassas
Feb 8 – 12:00 Noon at Manassas
March – 12:00 Noon at Manassas

We are now using the EAA’s new website for event management for our Young Eagles Rallies. To
become a Young Eagles volunteer, ground or pilot, proceed to events.eaachapters.org and use the “sign -up” feature. That just gets you on the list of possible volunteers. Let Bob know you have signed up so we can send you an invitation to
volunteer for a specific event. If you volunteer without being signed up, you will not get important changes/updates about the YE rally.

Ground and Pilot Volunteers: About two/three weeks prior to a Young Eagles Rally, we prompt the events.eaachapter.org system to send an email to everyone in our Young Eagles volunteer database, inviting you to click on “confirm” or “will not attend.” This helps us determine the staffing level so we can set the number of kids that can register for a ride. Expect an automatic reminder email on Wednesday three days prior to the Young Eagles Rally asking you to confirmagain that you are still planning to volunteer. This gives us updated staffing level info.

Young Eagles flights are available to kids between ages 8 and 17. We normally hold our rallies on the second Saturday each month. We use two time slots 12:00 Noon and 2:00 PM in the colder months. Parents can register at events.eaachapters.org beginning at 8:00 AM on the 1st of each month.

Chapter 186 Young Eagles Coordinators
David Richards
Bob Prange

IMC & VMC Meetings

We meet on the 4th Tuesday each month. IMC Club at 7 PM. VMC Club at 8 PM. Come for one or both sessions; we usually meet beforehand at 5:30 PM for informal dinner at the Panera Bread at Bristow Center. The IMC Club’s purpose is to promote instrument flying proficiency, safety and education through a community of pilots sharing information and fostering communications. You don’t have to be instrument rated to come to the IMC Club.

The VMC Club, for pilots wishing to improve their VFR flying proficiency, is modeled after the popular IMC Club providing organized “hangar flying” with a focus on VFR procedures, regulations and publications. TR Proven and Chuck Kyle are our facilitators for these meetings but the attendees are encouraged to participate with their knowledge and experience. Each one-hour meeting earns you one credit toward the FAA Wings Pilot Proficiency program.

From the President

The Chapter 186 Holiday party was a great success. As always, the food was great and the fellowship and conversation were even better. Thank you to Danny Miller and DiDi Crowder for bringing the ham and Ralph and Laura
Hoover for bringing the turkey. Members provided a wide variety of delicious side dishes and desserts. Each year a highlight of the party is the opportunity to award the George Lutz Award to a deserving Chapter 186 member. This award
is the highest accolade we bestow upon a member for their dedication and endless support to the Chapter. Colonel Lutz was a founding member (1963) and six-term president of National Capital Chapter 186 of the Experimental Aircraft
Association.

George W. Lutz’s love of aviation inspired him to dedicate his time and efforts to improving safety, education and the enjoyment of general aviation through his work with the FAA, Experiment Aircraft Association and the Quantico Marine Corps Flying Club. Chapter 186 organized, developed and managed the long-running and very successful Winchester EAA Fly-in during his tenure. In the early 1960s he also helped found a flying club at Rose Valley Airport (Potomac Airfield) which then moved to Quantico Marine Base. He served as Chief Flight Instructor and Supervisor for Standardization of the Quantico Marine Corps Flying Club, which maintained 17 airplanes, carried 26 instructors on staff and had a membership of over 550 pilots. George Lutz served as an FAA safety counselor for 20 years, beginning in 1980. He was instrumental in the planning and presentation of safe pilot programs for the Dulles FSDO for 22 years. He initiated the planning, research and development of Advisory Circular 90-89A – Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook. The Advisory Circular is recognized throughout the world and has provided a recognized safety program for the flight testing of amateur built aircraft. He served as official EAA liaison with FAA headquarters on sport aviation issues, National Aviation Weather user forums, traffic at non-towered airports. GPS and other FAA programs.

George Lutz was born in Buffalo Prairie, Illinois. Lutz joined the Army Air Corps in 1942 after graduating from the University of Iowa. In 1946 he mleft the service and moved to Seattle where he went to work for Boeing as a staff engineer. He re-entered the service when the Air Force was created and went to Air Force flight school in San Antonio.While serving in the Air Force he received a master’s degree in engineering administration at George Washington University. While in the Air Force, Lutz served as a B-47 test pilot, held a number of staff assignments at the Pentagon and Andrews AFB, and was base commander at Nakon Phanom Airbase in Thailand in 1970/1971. He retired from the Air Force with the rank of Colonel in 1972. While in the service he received two awards each of the Legion of Merit medal and the Air Medal. Since his military retirement he provided flight instruction to about 600 students inthe Washington area. Colonel Lutz, a resident of Springfield, had lived in the Washington area since 1956.

As a civilian flight instructor, he was chosen twice by the FAA as East Coast flight instructor of the year. He received two Sport Aviation Major Achievement Awards from the EAA. He was a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, the National Association of Flight Instructors, the Order of Daedalians and Quiet Birdmen.

In the past you may have heard me say that the members on the Chapter 186 Board each step forward to do more than their title suggest. This cannot be truer than with our Treasurer, Brian Lester. In addition to his duties as Treasurer, Brian
has worked hard to keep our website secure and migrated it over to a new host. He has taken on many of the tasks of the open webmaster position to include coordinating importing from member website contributors and keeping event news and the calendar current. He has done this while paying our bills, keeping our accounts secure and reconciled, reporting to the board and coordinating with the CPA for our annual tax filings. Of course, all this is while he builds an RV-10, works and raises a family. Congratulations Brian and thank you for your display of volunteerism.

There is a board on the wall in the Chapter House showing the names of each Lutz Award recipient since 2002. With Brian Lester added this year, the plaque is left with one remaining blank plate. One more name will complete that board. To me that blank space would be a glaring empty space for a year waiting for the next Lutz Award. There is no rule stating that we cannot give two awards in one year. Twenty years ago in 2004, the Lutz Award was given to Al and Judy Sparks. Judy has been our Chapter Membership Chairperson for many years but that does not begin to describe what she
does for Chapter 186. Behind the scenes or in plain view, Judy is involved with every event at the Chapter. Over the years she has worked on our holiday parties, anniversary parties, Young Eagles rallies, cook-trailer events, fly-ins and airport open houses and bomber and Tri-Motor tour stops.  This, of course, is in addition to managing the membership registration and renewal process and creating the directory. She takes the time to welcome every new member as well as each renewing member. Judy has been working on reviewing and cleaning up our historical records and documents and in the process, we are learning more of our history. But she keeps looking ahead to the future and is full of ideas and new things to try. This last October we held a four-chapter mini– Young Eagles workshop and rally which she was instrumental in developing. Her energy knows no bounds. I enjoy our talks about what we should change or not change, what we should try and what we don’t need to try. Volunteerism does not begin to describe Judy’s level of Chapter activity.
Congratulations Judy and thank you for your efforts to keep Chapter 186 moving ahead.

Bob Prange

Movie Night at the Chapter House

Friday, December 16, 7 pm.

Come enjoy a classic movie and bring a snack to share. Popcorn and beverages will be provided.

Speaker and Election

Over a year ago we heard member Joe Bechtold (ATP, CFII, KitFox Amphib) talk about the build of his meticulous Kitfox and flying all around the US in all types of terrain and conditions only to be blown over by an errant corporate jet at Orlando International. This month, Joe will provide lessons learned from his experience and his adventures following the repair. He has been criss-crossing the US again, including flying the 113-airport program in Washington State.

ONLINE APPLICATIONS

Membership Renewal Link
Name Tag/Badge online application

CHAPTER MEMBERSHIP FEES

$30 Jan–Dec Single Member Dues

$35 Jan-Dec Family Member Dues
$12 for Name Tag and postage
$12 – hard copy of Newsletter (printing & mailing)
$12 – hard copy of Directory (printing & mailing)
$2 surcharge if paying by PayPal
Contact Judy Sparks for Membership info:
jhsparks@comcast.net

DID YOU CHANGE YOUR E-MAIL?
Please advise Judy Sparks, 703-581-7667 or
jhsparks@comcast.net if any of your membership
directory information changes. Thanks.