From the Left Seat

I’m writing again from Delaware, and it’s been kind of a blur since we left Seattle on November 2nd. Lisa and I had a funeral for my brother John Lee in Frederick, Maryland on November 4. Since then we have been at his house in Delaware cleaning out a 2900 sq ft house and garage with a car and motorcycle. We have been able to clear everything out and sell the car and motorcycle in 7 days! Whew! We plan to be on the 5 o’clock flight home on the 15th (just in time for the BOD meeting on the 18th).

Just before we left, we got to enjoy the October Gathering and first breakfast bash! This was followed by the spellbinding presentation by Dan Hammer. We also had 6 first time visitors and 36 long time visitors which filled the room.

One new member is Robert Ball, who is our liaison with the American Modelers Academy (AMA) for the “Build and Fly” project. We already have volunteers ready to help with the Maker lab and then to build our first project. We expect the Maker lab to gear up before the end of the year. Rick Vaux, Eric Peterson, and Richard Howell continue to work and coordinate to get this project off the ground. (Pun intended).

And speaking of Eric Peterson, he has donated a 3D printer to the chapter which will be housed at the Sequim Museum. More importantly, he will teach us how to use it! Thanks, Erik, I’m looking forward to seeing what will be created with it.

It is with reluctance that I report that our own Mary “Skip” Brown has announced her resignation as newsletter editor. Skip has decided to hang up her word processor after four years of outstanding monthly newsletters. Thank you Skip for your dedicated service and great newsletters.

After the end of the year, we will be looking for someone new to help the chapter keep getting the word out about how much fun we have at EAA 430. I know there is someone out there who could do this, even for a short time. Please consider sharing your talents with us to ensure that we have continuity sharing our message.

I look forward to the November gathering at the conference room on the 26th. I’m not sure if we’re having breakfast again, or eating pizza afterwards. There will be a notice out later that will define that. There will also be 3 Viet Nam era aircraft models carved from Teak wood for sale to the benefit of the scholarship fund, thanks to some fancy footwork by Robert Hicks.

And get ready for the Christmas party on December 10! It will be at the Cedars at Dungeness Legends room starting at 5:00. We will be celebrating our 50th anniversary as a chapter!

I close this with the joy and excitement of a new birth. No, not the humankind, but the birth of two new painfully constructed experimental amateur built aircraft. Both Richard Howell and his Sling 2 and Dave Moffitt’s RV-12 are in the last pangs of aircraft birth. I wonder what their names will be.

A last thank you to Skip for all your hard work putting out excellent newsletters. But this isn’t goodbye, as I know you will continue to support the chapter in other ways.

Ray