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
Young Eagles from Bob Prange
We flew 38 kids in November and 35 in December at Manassas. Our 2023 Ray Scholar Grant Peterson paid it back and flew his first Young Eagle in his own CH2000! Pilots: In an effort to push the total of Young Eagles flown to 2.5 million kids, EAA hasannounced 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 12-13-2025 for each Young Eagles pilot:Chris Berg 9Dan Botzer 26Matthew Friedman 4Joseph Fry 3Michael Iachini
From a Former Ray Scholar from Tony Crupi
Hello again, EAA 186! Last I wrote to you, I was alternating cooking in the Pawnee cockpit and backflipping gliders over the Arizona desert. This was in my effort to collect a daunting 1,500 hours of total time in order to qualify for an Airline Transport Pilot certificate. During this chase, I had applied to every “cadet program” associated with any airline that had a place to slide an application through the mailbox attached to or not. Through my tour of each application process, I learned that some airlines in 2023 were serious about handing out interviews, some were interested but overwhelmed by industry changes, and the rest either did not care or were outright rude. Frontier only accepted applications
Member Gatherings, November Meeting with Elections this Saturday!!!
Our monthly member gatherings are normally held on the fourth Saturday of the month at 10:00 AM with coffee and doughnuts at 9:20 AM. Exceptions are the October Chili Cook-Off and the December Holiday Party. November 22 Member Gathering – 10:00 AMOur guest speaker will be Richard Allabaugh, Manassas Airport Operations Supervisor. Likely topics will be the upcoming changes with expected airline service, hangars and FBO infrastructure on the west side, etc. December 7 Sunday Holiday Party – 12:00 NoonThis is our big holiday pot luck dinner. Please bring your favorite side dish or dessert. We will provide a ham and roast turkey and sodas/water. See the announcement elsewhere on this website. January 24 Member Gathering – 10:00 AMOur guest
From the President, Bob Prange
I have a few miscellaneous but important items this month. Elections: The annual Chapter 186 officer election process will end with a membership vote at the November 22 Member Gathering. The current President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary are Bob Prange, Jim Stone, Michael Iachini and Dan Botzer, respectively. They have each indicated they wish to continue in their positions for next 2026. Terms are for one year. In the interest of fairness and transparency Chapter 186 accepts nominations for any member hat wishes to run. No other nominations have been received at this point. Survey: EAA is conducting a survey of its membership to respond to questions about their local chapter. We encourage you to participate in this survey.
Juliette Burton, 2022 Ray Scholarship News
Our 2022 Ray Scholarship recipient is newly commissioned in the U.S. Air ForceJuliette Burton, begins her first T-6 Texan II flight at Laughlin AFB! Congratulations Juliette!
Membership
ONLINE APPLICATIONS https://eaa186.org/events/eaa-chapter-186-membership-online-application-2025/ 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$12 – hard copy of Directory (printing & mailing)$2 surcharge if paying by PayPal Contact Meredith Martin-Richards for Membership info: Meredithm.m7@gmail.com DID YOU CHANGE YOUR E-MAIL?Please advise Meredith Martin-Richards, 703-594-1281 (call or text) or Meredithm.m7@gmail.com if any of your membership directory information changes. Thanks.