News

We had a successful Young Eagles Rally at Warrenton-Fauquier Airport in April. We flew over 50 kids with 12 aircraft and pilots and 18 ground and admin crew. This rally targeted kids in the area of Warrenton Airport so a great majority of the kids were first-time Young Eagles and in fact many were first time air travelers. We hope to conduct more rallies at Warrenton. Their nice new terminal and ramp are perfect for our operation. It was refreshing for the pilots to give airplane rides in simpler airspace. Thank you to Airport Manager Dave Huss and his staff for making us feel welcome. Our next Young Eagles Rallies are: 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Manassas Airport June

    Due to the forecasted low cloud ceiling and visibility for Saturday we must cancel the May 18 Young Eagles Rally.  The next Young Eagles Rally at Manassas Airport is June 15 (Note that is the 3rd Saturday of the month). Young Eagles and Parent: Registration for June’s Young Eagles Rally will be available at the beginning for June. Volunteers: We will build the June rally in the yeday.org system next week and send out the requests for volunteers. Thank you for your patience as we deal with Spring weather. Thanks, Bob Prange

  The Chapter 186 selection as our 2024 Scholar for the Ray Aviation Foundation Scholarship is Kobe Kerns. Kobe has been on numerous Young Eagles flights and soloed on his 16th birthday in January. By coincidence, Kobe wrote an article which is featured in the recent May issue of EAA Sport Aviation and is also available here. Last month in this column I highlighted our current 2023 Ray Scholar, Grant Peterson, with his story about his first solo and his passion for flying. This month we have below a letter from our 2021 Ray Scholar, Tony Crupi, to Chapter 186 updating us on his whirlwind journey through his pilot ratings and experiences of the last couple years. Many entire flying

We have a need to cancel our May 11 Young Eagles Rally and operate instead on May 18. On May 11 a mass flyover will fly over the DC Mall and proceed through the same airspace where we operate. Air Traffic Control can not handle both events. You must register again to participate on May 18. On May 18 we will operate from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM with time slots at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM. Registration for parents will be available on youngeaglesday.org at 8:00 AM on Tuesday May 7.

In lieu of a guest speaker this Saturday we are planning a pancake and sausage breakfast.  We’ll have breakfast ready for you at 10:00 and keep serving until all are satisfied.  So come by for viddles and to share your flying stories.  Young member John Storey has a quick presentation to show about his glider instruction he has been doing at Petersburg, WV.  We would like to stream a Powerpoint of pics and vids while we eat so if you have any pics or quick videos of your project, aircraft, flying antics, etc. please send them to rsp10000@aol.com for inclusion.  If you can help with mixing batter, cooking on the griddle, etc., please email rsp10000@aol.com to let us know.  We need volunteers to show

Our March 9 Young Eagles Rally was cancelled for low visibility and ceilings. We had several aircraft and over 60 kids registered. Our next rallies are: April 20, 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM at Warrenton Airport* May 11, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Manassas Airport June 15, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM at Manassas Airport (Note: Third Saturday) *We have been invited by the Warrenton/Fauquier Airport to conduct a Young Eagles Rally on April 20. This event will be open to kids from the Fauquier area local schools. Young Eagles flights are available to kids between ages 8 and 17. We normally hold our rallies on the second Saturday each month. Registration for kids begins at 8:00 AM on

Wednesday April 3 IMC Club Meeting at 7:00 PM VMC Club Meeting at 8:00 PM Join us Wednesday night for one or both of our monthly safety meetings.  Attendees receive one FAA WINGS credit for each session.  IMC Club meeting topic: You are flying an instrument approach to a runway where the crosswind component is stronger than the demonstrated crosswind capability of your aircraft. Is it legal to use this runway?  Are you operating outside the limitations for the aircraft?  We will discuss these questions and scenario to ensure your understanding. VMC Club meeting topic: EAA/VMC Club provides organized “hangar flying” focused on building flying knowledge and skills.  This meeting offers an opportunity to share in-flight experiences and valuable safety

  Chapter 186 has been approved by EAA to grant an $11,000 Ray Aviation Foundation Scholarship for 2024. This is the 6th consecutive year we have been approved. We are searching for an aviation- motivated 161⁄2 to 19 year-old with an interest in learning to fly. We look at a candidate’s motivation, participation level in Chapter activities, level of completion in the Sporty’s Learn-to-Fly video series, participation in Young Eagles flights and Oshkosh Air Academy and any accomplishments toward flight training preparation. Possession of an FAA medical certificate is required for scholarship consideration. The Ray Scholarship pays $11,000 toward the flight training costs of obtaining a Private Pilot Certificate. It is paid in three installments: $4,400 initially, $4,400 after first

  Warrenton-Fauquier Airport has invited us to conduct another Young Eagles Rally at their facility. Manager Dave Huss has graciously offered use of the terminal and ramp which are a natural fit for our operation. The terminal provides plenty of room for our registration area. The patio and gated fence make for a perfectly safe observation and staging area. We are planning to conduct our April Young Eagles rally on April 20 at HWY from 12:00 Noon to 4:00 PM. We are providing literature to the local schools explaining our Young Eagles program. Parents of Fauquier School kids aged 8 to 17 will access the usual yeday.org system for registration. This will allow us to introduce these kids to our slice of

    Thank you to all the ground and pilot volunteers that made the Feb 10 Rally a big success. We flew 57 kids! We figure that may be a record for us at Manassas. Thank you to our latest additions to our pilot list, Tino de la Cruz and Peter Castine. Also we were privileged to have Young Eagles Annika Kensrud , Jan Reymundi and Dag Guessford help on ground crew. In fact, for his volunteerism Jan Reymundi was presented Feb 10 with a plaque for being our 2023 Chapter 186 Junior Volunteer of the Year. Our next rallies are: March 9 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM (Manassas Airport) April 20 12:00 Noon to 3:00 PM (Warrenton Airport)* May