Airplanes R Us

It is soon-to-be “Happy New Year 2019.” I have been asked to contribute some deft writing which would per-tain to our Chapter 430. This would presumably mean anything related to aviation, the region, our people, our professions, our hobbies. That’s a pretty big spectrum. All I need is some focused inspiration. Possible subjects for expansion are:

1. Young Eagles. Our Chapter 430 has a history of good participation and outcomes for our Y/E events. It is hard to accurately measure our success, but we have some good numbers for “kids-carried” and occasional spectacular inspirational feedback like the case of Y/E Rene’ Brilhante / Alan Barnard. At this point, a little infusion of new-blood and new energy within the ranks of volunteers is to be considered. (to be continued)

2. Could I Pass the Private Pilot Test Today? Really? From 2010 onward, I have been retired from air transport operations & training. At first, I thought it would be fun to spice up my languishing CFI by taking on some Part 61 local students. Within that context, I got a few surprises. (to be continued)

3. Hot items in 2019. Things that are obviously “hot” for discussion in the new year are, a) the ADS-B mandate/deadline, and b) BASIC MED. More ? (to be continued)

4. Feedback from VMC Club. Rumor has it that some pretty good discussions are flowing from those meetings. Perhaps some expansion of those threads is appropriate. (to be continued)

5. EAA. What is it ? Flying, building, maintaining… any or all of these things are part and parcel of EAA.

Can our local chapter serve all the segments? (to be continued)

6. Historical EAA. I’ve been a member since 1972 but had 1st contacts as a youth from 1964. It is interesting to reflect on attending ROCKFORD… which was the annual fly-in venue pre-Oshkosh. (to be continued)

There you are. I am looking forward to Ernie Gann-style aviation prose flowing from my MS Word app.

Alas… coming up short.

(If you don’t know me, here is my bio of acronymic qualifications: ATP, ASMEL, SES, CFI-I, OSU, UAL, KAL)

<ATP = Airline Transport Pilot with ratings in most Boeings short of 787> <ASMEL = Airplane Single-engine, Multi-engine Landplane> <SES = Single engine Sea, little-used since the 1970’s> < CFI-I = Certified Flight Instructor since 1965. The “-I” part was added in 2012, just for fun> < OSU = Ohio State University. 3 years, did not graduate. > < UAL = United Airlines. They interrupted my university effort… which continued for 36.5 years> < KAL = Korean Airlines. This was a 7-year career add-on… but was a nasty commute>