From the Left Seat

It’s easy to lament the long wintry nights and skies devoid of blue bird days, yet I’m getting excited about the start of our Chapter activities for 2024. It’s primed to be quite a year!

Richard Howell has already gathered his seasoned volunteers and mapped out the course for this year ‘s Build and Fly. He’s also receiving assistance from the Olympic Silent Flyers RC group - both financial and volunteer-wise.

David Woodcock will again be presenting Flying Start on May 18th at the KCLM conference room at 1:00 p.m. We may have a newly licensed student pilot helping, along with Cecilia Aragon and Richard Howell.

Bud Davies has announced the Young Eagles rally schedule starting on June 1st at W28, July 13 at KCLM, August 24th at 0S9. I hope you take this opportunity to see and participate as people learn the magic of flight.

Several chapter members will be attending the EAA Leadership Bootcamp at Harvey Field in Everett, WA on March 9th . It’s an immersive familiarization of the breadth of EAA programs. As the name implies, it is designed for chapter leaders, but if you have the least bit of interest, and want to hang out with some really cool people for a day, you should go for it. Time is of the essence. You can register online or you can let me know as soon as possible.

The Northwest Conference and Trade Show is happening at the end of February in Puyallup, so we will defer our Gathering in support of it. I know the Port of Port Angeles will have a booth, as will the United Flying Octogenarians (UFO). You can also stop by the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) booth to say hi as I will be there supporting them.

Air Affair will be one week earlier this year – August 24th at W28 to avoid conflicting with the Labor Day holiday weekend. That means we will be able to have another chapter gathering at Bud’s hanger on August 31.

The other thing that has me so excited about this year is - in addition to the $100,000 from Francis Lyon, we’ve recently received another $30,000 for the building fund from an anonymous donor. The board will continue to discuss how best to use this money, and the building committee has been very active investigating possibilities.

Add to all of this, flying around the Pacific Northwest and maybe up to the north country, and you can see why I’m so bullish on 2024!

Ray