From the Left Seat

Hello Peninsula flyers. Spring has finally sprung!

I’ve recently received a surprise visit from my son Dan, who lives in Woodland Park, Colorado. He flew out in his Glastar Sportsman and we have been having fun flying to Friday Harbor and camping for the first time this season at Stehekin. Now some of EAA430’s finest are going to help him with a condition inspection. It’s nice to have helping friends.

In the next week we’re going to put on our second annual Flying Start program at Port Angeles. We’ve been getting some interest from people who would like to attend and David Woodcock and Cecilia Aragon are prepared for the presentation. The one thing we don’t have enough of: is pilots to provide a one-on-one flight for these prospective pilots. The flights will take place on Saturday, May 20 at about 3 PM after the presentation. Pilots don’t need to attend the presentation although it’s helpful to get to know the people that are there.

The very next day on Sunday, May 21 will be our first Young Eagles rally. Bud Davies and Tracy Halsted are getting prepared and could use some ground support in addition to Young Eagle pilots. Pilots and some ground crew do need to have completed the EAA youth protection program. Pilots and ground crew can sign up on the Young Eagle website. Pilots for Flying Start can also sign up on the Flying Start website.

Later on this month, the Gathering will be on Saturday, May 27. There will be a special surprise award presentation, and a program from Shenji Maeda, who will talk about flying around the world in a single engine Bonanza to inspire more people to pursue their dreams. There will be coffee and bakery goods, followed by a burger bash on our new grill.

Our build and fly program is going great guns thanks to Rick Vaux, Richard Howell, Mike Niewiarowicz and Kevin Tracy. Also, read about our first Light Aircraft breakfast in this newsletter which happened last month.

I would like to send a note of appreciation to Gerry Barkley, the president of the Washington Pilots Association (WPA), and Richard, Beckert, vice president of the West for their visit to our last gathering. It was great that they could fly in and give us a short presentation. The results of the annual EAA survey for Chapter 430 were very positive with a few suggestions. One of the suggestions was to reduce the average age of the membership ;-). Well, I can’t mess with anyone’s birthday, but we can look for new younger members.

Let’s go fly! Ray