You may recall at our April 27 Member Gathering we had a pancake breakfast in lieu of guest speaker. Young Chapter member Cliff Storey asked if he could bring some slides and present a few minutes of information about his sailplane experiences at Grant County Airport, WV. His topic was so riveting that the attendees kept him for 45 minutes with questions and discussion points. Now Cliff’s dad, John, has informed me that Cliff has been awarded a $2,000 scholarship from the Soaring Society of America (SSA). I believe that will help him finish his glider training at Front Royal. Congratulations Cliff!
Our May 25 speaker was our very own Chapter 186 member, Al Lawless, speaking about the Perlan 2 Project – the world record holding sailplane, the team who built it, and its adventures up to the middle stratosphere. Al Lawless was on the all-volunteer team to help with flight testing and envelope expansion and relayed first-hand accounts of these remarkable people in action.
In the classified section this month look for tools and an RV-10 empennage kit from Chapter member, Ryan Kensrud, relocating to Florida soon without space for a homebuilt project. It looks like a great selection of tools and parts.
We are planning a double event on June 29 both a Young Eagles Rally from 0900 to 1300 as well as our regular monthly member gathering at 1000 which will be a hamburger/hot dog cookout in lieu of a guest speaker. Please come out as we welcome the official start of summer with a cookout. If you haven’t seen a Young Eagles Rally in progress, this will be your chance. Many of our usual grilling and cookout experts are signed up to work the Young Eagles Rally so we are seeking volunteers to help with the cookout. We will have canopies near the builder hangar door to shade dining tables and the grilling station. So, at least come out and eat and if you feel like helping with the cookout, let me know at rsp10000@aol.com or Judy Sparks at jhsparks@comcast.net.
Blue Skies,
Bob Prange
