EAA Chapter 430From the Left Seat
Open the PDF at page 2 See the whole June 2024 issue
Well, the summer flying season is finally upon us. I recently returned from a trip to Alaska, with Lisa, son Dan, and John Riser. We spent almost two weeks flying our three GlaStars from the Brooks Range north of the Arctic Circle all the way down to the south end of the Kenai peninsula. We also got a chance to overnight at McCarthy, then fly through the Wrangell- Saint Elias mountains to Burwash Landing, and on down to Whitehorse, YT on our way home. And I will leave shortly to fly the Idaho backcountry and Montana for a couple of weeks. As a result, I will miss the June Gathering on the 29th. Vice President Rick Vaux is more than capable of leading the meeting in my absence. I hope others are taking advantage of the good flying weather too.
I’m excited to report that our young pilot candidates are moving swiftly toward their private certification. Gunner Rogers recently passed his written exam, and Aiden Lara is getting ready to take his check ride. Way to go!
David Miller has been working to secure grant funding for additional scholarships.
We recently received a request for more information and we’re hopeful that we may be able to secure up to $4000.
The Sequim Valley Airport has given us a proposed ground lease for no cost. It is not at the location we were hoping for, so the building committee will be looking into what we want to do to move forward. There will be more information in the near future.
EAA Airventure 2024 in Oshkosh, WI is coming right up at the end of the month.
There are several from the chapter attending, including Lisa and me. It is always an amazing event! If you haven’t been, I hope you get a chance to attend sometime.
We had a very successful Flying Start program on June 2 when seven prospective pilots received a great presentation from Dave Woodcock, Dava McNutt, and Gunner Rogers. We are still needing to provide two Eagle flights before everyone has experienced their flight.
I’ll miss being at the gathering, but we’re all about having fun with airplanes, and I’m making the most of it!
Blue Skies and Trailing Winds,
- Ray Ballantyne, EAA430 President