Movie Night Tonight 5/1!
Friday May 17:00 PMMovie Night at the Chapter House Experimental Aircraft AssociationChapter 186National Capital Chapter10629 Aviator AvenueManassas, VA 20110
From the President from Bob Prange
A big thank you is in order for Michelle Gill. New members in the last year, Michelle and husband Josh Chambers offered that if we came up with the paint, she would refurbish the chapter house deck. She spent a couple days, with her parents helping, pressure-washing and scraping our very old deck. Then a day of replacing a handful of boards and painting along with the help of Jorge Botero, Rori Ross, Moheb Keddis, Josh and Michelle’s parents. This will help our old deck last longer while we wait to learn when and where we will move in the next 2 to 20 years. I have not talked flying inthis column for severalmonths. Instead, I have been using this
Young Eagles EAA Air Academy from Bob Prange
For the 2026 Air Academy we have spent our credits available to help with the tuition for two campers that are going in June and July. One is going to the Explore Camp Session 1 in late June and one is going to Session 2 in early July. The EAA Air Academy offers away-from-home aviation themed camps. For 2026 there were two separate camps: Explore Aviation Camp and Navigating Horizons Camp for either of two age groups, 14 to 15 and 16 to 18. The information (dates, course content, ages, tuition costs)for the 2026 camps is available at https://www.eaa.org/eaa/youth/eaa-aviation-and-flightsummer-camps and the info for the 2027 camps and on-line registration will be posted here in September 2026.m Once registered and accepted
Young Eagles from Bob Prange
We flew 47 kids with 8 aircraft at the April 11 rallyat Warrenton. Our May 9 Young Eagles rally is also planned for Warrenton Airport from 1100 to 1500. Pilots: In an effort to push the total of Young Eagles flown to 2.5 million kids, EAA has announced Mission 2.5 where Young Eagle Pilots have an incentive to fly 25 kids between 10/1/2025 to 7/31/2026. Any volunteer pilot that rises to the challenge and flies 25 Young Eagles or more from October 1, 2025, through July 31, 2026, will be issued a limited-edition commemorative hat courtesy of Sporty’s. Below are our current totals through Feb 2026 foreach Young Eagles pilot: Chris Berg 12Dan Botzer 26Matthew Friedman 8Joseph Fry 3Dave Huss
Tuesday Night IMC & VMC Club Meetings Tonight!
Tuesday April 28IMC Club Meeting at 7:00 PMVMC Club Meeting at 8:00 PM Join us Tuesday night for one or both of our monthly safety meetings. IMC Club and VMC Club meetings are usually on the fourth Tuesday of the month. Attendees receive one FAA WINGS credit for each session. Optional 5:30 PM dinner (Dutch treat) at Panera Bread on Bristow Center Drive. Near the fountains visible from Route 28. IMC Club meeting topic:The IMC Club’s purpose is to promote instrument flying, proficiency, and safety. The intent is to create a community of pilots willing to share information, provide recognition, foster communications, promote safety, and build proficiency in instrument flying. VMC Club meeting topic:EAA/VMC Club provides organized “hangar flying” focused
Member Gathering 4/25! from Bob Prange
Saturday April 25 Member Gathering1000 Guest SpeakerCoffee and Doughnuts at 0920 National Capital Chapter10629 Aviator Avenue (formerly Observation Road)Manassas, VA 20110 Please join us this Saturday. This month our speaker is Dick Genaille, President of the Virginia Aeronautical Historical Society (VAHS). The VAHS is committed to preserving aviation history and educating the general public of the many contributions Virginia has made and is making to the development of aviation and aerospace. Last year Dick presented “Aviation Firsts Along the Potomac” where we witnessed the findings of his thousands of hours of research into many historic aviation events along the Potomac River from Washington to Quantico. Dick has discovered some items in VAHS archives that will make for a very interesting
Member Gathering Saturday, 3/28!!! from Bob Prange
Saturday March 28 Member Gathering1000 Guest Speaker0920 Coffee and Doughnuts Please join us Saturday. Our own Paul Schafer will present on the development and operation of the A-10 Thunderbolt II “Warthog.” Paul Schafer has a degree in aeronautical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and earned his private pilot certificate after graduation. Commissioned through Air Force ROTC, he started his 32-year USAF career in 1980 and primarily flew A-10 Warthogs. An outstanding graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, Paul won the Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award for his combat command in Southwest Asia, and flew more than 40 combat missions over southern Iraq. He retired as a major general and is a defense and leadership consultant in Washington, D.C. He
From the President, Bob Prange
EAA has once again granted Chapter 186 a Ray Aviation Foundation Flight Training Scholarship for the eighth consecutive year. This pays up to $12,000 for a scholar working on the Private Pilot-Airplane certificate. The program is intensive, requiring the scholar to commit to completing flight training from beginning to checkride in one year. A couple of our past scholars had already soloed prior to applying for the scholarship. In that event EAA pays $7,200. If interested, see the Ray Aviation Scholarship article in this issue. We are fortunate to have a highly engaged chapter membership which keeps us eligible to earn the right to give another Ray Scholarship. EAA has informed us that we have earned the Gold status recognition