EAA Chapter 430 Newsletter, May 2023

CHAPTER 430 MAY 2023 In This Issue  From the Left Seat  Aviation from My Rocking Chair  Reflections In History: 1971 Air Show Brochure  Getting to Know You Colette Miller  Light Aircraft Breakfast  May Flyout (add pictures)  Minutes  Board Member Contact Info Upcoming Events May: 20 – Flying Start for new pilots (CLM 1pm) 21 – Young Eagles (CLM 11am – 3pm) 26 – General Meeting (W28 #15 10am) June: 14 – IMC/VMC (Mariner Café – 7pm 16 – Board of Directors (Mariner Café 9am) 17 – Young Eagles (W28 11am) 24 – General Meeting (W28 #15 10am)

FROM THE LEFT SEAT – RAY BALLANTYNE 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

AVIATION FROM MY ROCKING CHAIR - RICK VAUX Life Happens My dear friends, It is with sadness that I announce the ending of my column in this newsletter. Life and family changes seem to have caught up with me, and lately I feel like a rock in the information stream that water flows over and around before it disappears. In closing these thoughts, please consider writing a column, experience, or opinion in this space. Elisa, and Skip before her have worked very hard to inform us. Let’s make it easier for our Editor. I will not be going away. I plan to remain as an officer in our chapter, and if anyone needs a slightly(?) mobility challenged Tech Counselor, I’m your guy! I have been in aviation all my life, and you, Dear Friends, are part of my family. Regards always, Rick Vaux TC4130

REFLECTIONS IN HISTORY: 1971 AIR SHOW BROCHURE

GETTING TO KNOW YOU: COLETTE MILLER (REPRINT) From co-newsletter Editor (2023 Erik), I had a wonderful phone conversation with Colette a few months back and was in awe of some of Colette’s stories and I wanted to learn more. Colette mentioned that Skip had done an extensive interview with her; this is that article From the Editor (2019 Skip Brown): Before interviewing a chapter member for the newsletter, I send them a questionnaire, with questions about their life in aviation. The following are the questions and answers from Colette: How old were you when you became interested in airplanes? Very Young. As a child, I used to dream I would escape the T-Rex or other monster by flapping my arms and fly- ing above them. My father was a pilot and I always felt safe in the sky. When did you get your private pilot’s license? Late 60’s What was your first airplane? What airplane (s) are you currently flying? I learned to fly in a 7ECA, Citabria. I presently have a 7KCAB Citabria and a Sonex. I am also building a Sonex with the Jabiru engine and the aerobatic wing. Airplane partnerships I have had include a Luscombe 8A and a 7AC Champ, which 5 of us rebuilt. What ratings do you have? Instrument, commercial Your experience in EAA 430 or other chapters where you were a member: Starting my build in Tor- rance with help from the Compton chapter, rebuilding the Sonex project I have in Michi- gan with incredible help from the chapter at Sawyer in Marquette, fun and great learning experiences in IAC chapters in southern California, including being part of reinstating a practice aerobatic box at Redlands, and getting to help a little in establishing a practice box at Fairchild in Port Angeles. EAA events you have attended or participated in: Oshkosh, Sun ’n Fun, YE or others. I have been to Sun ‘n Fun once. I have attended Oshkosh every year since 1993, except for the year my husband, Dick, died and the year after that, when I was still building my house in Diamond Point. I have flown Young Eagles out of Compton, California, where our EAA chapter was located. Your background: Where did you grow up? Different places you have lived, education/training: I grew up in the Los Angeles basin, in Downey, California. I attended Downey High School, got my bachelors (History, with minors in Economics, Music, and Anthropology) and masters (applied socio- linguistics) degrees from Long Beach State. I studied opera at the International Opera Studio in Zurich,

Switzerland. To pay for college, I worked as a portrait artist at Disneyland, thus getting invaluable training in portraiture.

Obviously, I lived and studied in Switzerland. My husband and I built a house in the north woods of the upper peninsula of Michigan in 1993 and spent our summers there for 22 years. We lived at the most northern point of Lake Michigan, which put us 250 miles from Oshkosh, thus the visits to the big fly-in. Since we were both teachers, we could spend our summers traveling with the kids and working at drawing portraits at art shows or in tourist communities. That gave us oppor- tunity to spend summers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Breckenridge, Colorado, and Sau- gatuck, Michigan, as well as traveling through most of the United States. How long have you lived in this area? We bought property in Diamond Point in 2016. My hus- band died as we were packing to move to a condo we had rented in Port Angeles. That was in June. We had sold our home in Anaheim, so I had no choice but to continue the move to Washington. My son, who had found us the condo, helped me move my stuff, and I moved my plane north to a hangar at Fairchild in July of 2016. My house was completed and signed off on March 3 of 2018. What is or was your occupation? I taught high school and community college for 43 years. The schools I have taught in are Garden Grove High School, Millikan and Cabrillo High Schools in the Long Beach School District, and Santa Ana Community College, and Colora- do Mountain College. Like my husband, I held a General Secondary Credential, which is no longer issued by the state of California. Under this credential, one can teach anything taught in the public schools from grade 7 through 14. Yes, that includes community col- lege. I usually taught English, History, or Art. For the last 14 years I taught English as a Second Language. The scariest thing I ever taught was Driver’s Ed., but I also have taught French, German, Music, Drama, Home Economics, Knitting and Crocheting, Calligraphy, Pastel Portraiture, and Choir. I am still a working artist, doing portraits and wildlife paintings in pastel or oils. I also do quick sketch portraits and have taught workshops on how to draw them. I would like to teach such classes again. Besides airplanes & flying, what are your favorite things to do? I enjoy hiking, bird watching, car- pentry, music, art, reading, building aircraft, singing, playing the piano, and trying new things like building a non- mortared stone retaining wall. (my latest project) Do you have any unusual, humorous, harrowing or exciting experiences you can share? When one is in one’s 70’s, there are many tales to tell. It’s hard to know where to start or when to stop. I guess I’ll tell you a story from my student pilot days.

On my first solo cross-country, I was flying an old Citabria out of Orange County Airport (now John Wayne). Like many planes in flight schools, it had seen better days. When I landed at my destination at Palomar, I may have landed hard. In any case, my tailwheel was acting funny and the local mechanic said a spring had come loose on the tailwheel steering assembly, and baled it on with safety wire. He told me to land straight and then make wide turns when taxiing. I took off toward Orange County Airport, only to discover my radio wasn’t working. As I approached home base, I noticed the winds were buffeting me, but I saw a small Cessna in the pattern, so I assumed it was safe for small planes to land. As I approached the air- port, I rocked my wings and got a green light from the tower, so I proceeded to enter the pattern, but had trouble turning downwind. I assumed it was because my tail had baling wire on it, but by the time I turned the plane onto final, I had figured out the wind was extremely strong and blustery. For the first time, I thought I might actually crash the plane. I remembered what my father had told me about landing in bad winds: “Keep some power on, keep her straight, and don’t put the tail down until you have her under control.“ I fol- lowed those steps and got on the ground, but didn’t feel I had control, so I just kept her straight down the runway. It was probably 2 miles long and I was more than half way down it when I realized I had to put the tail down eventually, so I did. When I got the plane stopped, the wind was shifting to a right crosswind and I couldn’t turn my tail into the wind and get off the runway, possibly because of the tailwheel, or the wind strength or both. Fortunately, when I took so long to stop, they had sent out the rescue trucks. Those guys helped me turn the airplane and get it tied down along the run- way. I didn’t even know there were tie-downs way down there. Then they said the tower wanted to talk to me. Oops, I figured I was in some kind of trouble for taking up the whole runway. Instead, they congratulated me for making the landing and told me that I was the first person in a light plane who had the guts to land there in the last two hours. “But I saw a small plane practicing in the pattern.” I said. They answered that he wasn’t practicing, he was trying to land and had given up and gone to Fullerton. The wind was in the high 30s and reached 40 knots while we were talking. They said that if it got much stronger, they would close the airport to all traffic. When I told them that it was my first cross country and told of my misadventures with the tailwheel and the radio, they congratulated me again. I didn’t tell them that I, too, would have given up if I had checked the windsock and known how to read it properly. It was stupidity rather than bravery, and I almost committed a fatal error. It was one of those God helps fools and children moments, but I learned to have a healthy respect for winds on landing.

What is in your bucket list? I don’t really think in terms of bucket lists. I find that I like pur- suing interesting hobbies which I discover as I go through life. I once had a goal of seeing every great lake in the world. I have seen Lakes Michigan, Huron, Erie, Ontario, Superior and Victoria. I would like to see Great Slave, Great Bear, Lake Nicaragua, and perhaps Lake Baikal. But other things seem to grab my attention, so I may never finish that quest. I guess the only item I really have on my bucket list is to finish the Sonex project I am presently engaged in and do first flight. Any philosophical thoughts, goals, objectives or instruction for EAA members? Be a good listener and a good observer. Take advice, you can never learn too much. There is always something you don’t know and probably need to. Knowledge is a treasure that can’t be stolen or destroyed by fire or flood. It is also a free gift you can pass on to others. What is something most of your friends/family don’t know about you? I talk way too much. Fami- ly and friends probably know more about me than they want to. AND NOW THE REST OF THE STORY: Colette is a member of IAC (International Aerobatic Club). “My father encouraged me to do aerobatics. The first time I did them with Mac, my instructor, I was hooked. He taught me how to spin and I think I made him sick because I kept saying, let’s do that again.” “I refused to teach Driver’s Ed for a second year after I got a third ticket. When a student had an in- fraction while driving, the instructor got the ticket! It was not one of my prouder moments!” “I was considered a protégé when I was two years old and started drawing. I had my first “job” as an artist when I was 12.” “My mother was a concert pianist and my father was an aeronautical engineer, so my short-lived career as an opera singer and my life-long career as an aviator came naturally.” “My husband, Dick, and I bought property in Diamond Point so I could continue flying and be his care- giver at the same time.” Colette has a son who lives in Kirkland and a daughter in California. She has a grandson, a grand- daughter and a great-granddaughter. http://www.pastelsbycolette.com Continued on next page GETTING TO KNOW YOU

Colette Miller

LIGHT AIRCRAFT BREAKFAST: RAY BALLENTYNE The morning of April 22nd dawned a little damp, but still nice enough to gather and talk about light aviation. About 25 brave souls showed up early in the morning for breakfast casseroles that were delicious. Thanks to Tracy Halsted and Charlie Tracy for their fine cooking expertise. After an introduction by President Ray Ballantyne, there were short presentations by four people. Bruce Burris described the history of ultralights and the regulations involved. Bruce was a former air traffic controller and then sold and instructed ultralights in the Seattle area. It appears he left his roots in light aircraft because he retired as a captain in a Boeing 777. Doug Brundage gave a bit of his history learning and flying a paramotor which invoves a three wheeled cart with pusher prop and a fabric paraglider wing. He described some of the joys and trials of flying around the Sequim area. One of the cool attachments he showed allows a camera to film him from behind by trailing along. Sam Cyphers showed off his new Zenith 601. He describes several of the operating systems, the rules of Light Sport, and talked about his long distance cross country from Tennessee after his recent purchase. Andy Sallee closed out the meeting with a discussion of flying around the Sequim area in general and specifically flying the Sequim Valley pattern. Even with a touch of rain, a fine time was had by all. There were several new guests that came out to see what’s going on with Light Aviation. And a thanks to Rick Stoffel for bringing out his Challenger ultralight. Ray

MAY FLYOUT: BARRY HALSTED The May flyout to Skagit Landing at the Skagit Regional Airport drew 8 aircraft and 11 hungry flyers. It is important to make reservations at this restaurant and we did so, paving the way for our reception. Early morning weather produced some low clouds and fog, but nothing was left but a few scattered clouds by the time of our flights. The lunchtime temperature was 65º and skies were clear. Participants on this flyout included Ray Ballantyne, Richard Howell, Ernie & Jeanne Hansen, Dave Gardner, Bud Davies, Jeff Smith, Marlo Jones, Tim Alentiev & Friend Tom Thurber, and Barry Halsted. Tim, by the way, often flies his RV-10 from Norman Grier Airport to our lunches. Marlo flew his PA-11 from Auburn. It’s nice to see guests on these outings.

Skagit Regional Airport is the home of the Heritage Flight Museum. On our last visit to this airport the flyout invitation mentioned those interested could stop by the museum after lunch, but unfortunately it was closed that day. Today’s flyout made no mention of the museum, but Dave Gardner noticed a flyer that noted the museum was open this day until 4:00. He, Ray Ballantyne and Richard Howell took the opportunity to head over following lunch. Ray reported that they had a great time. All in all our group had a nice flight and lunch, and plenty of socializing took place. What could be a better way to enjoy flying our own aircraft?

GATHERING MINUTES: Date: April 29, 2023 ● Meeting social and sign-in 0930. ● Chapter President Ray Ballantyne called the Membership Gathering to order at 1009 at Sequim Valley Airport, Hangar 15 ● Ray led The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag with 31 members and 15 guests attending ● Guest(s): Peter Craig and daughter Jessica, who earned her PPL in 2017, attended UWA and now works on rocket engines at Blue Origin! Also, David Fargre, Al Mundy, Dale Hannaly, James Noble, Kollette Beckert, Tamara Burns, Sid Vandiver, Steve Priest, Norm Nelson, Nathen Nelson and Bill Collier o Washington Pilots Association, President Jerry Barkley, and Western Region Vice President Rick Beckert gave briefings on the association’s work, including the successful activities and membership outreach to defeat short-sighted legislation to hastily ban aviation fuel at key Washington airports and quite soon thereafter, the entire state. ● March Gathering minutes were approved as written. ● Correspondence: EAA HQ (Ray) o Flying Start, Build N Fly o Arranged for related PSA’s in Peninsula Daily News. o Another LT-40 R/C model kit was ordered for Build N Fly. ● Old Business

o Tracy reported the chapter financial condition - the Scholarship fund has $10,400, General fund has $4,400, and the Building fund has $459. There are 98 current [dues paid] members and 19 members who have lapsed in 2023. o Richard Howell gave an update on Build N Fly. Kids and parents are attending, participating and having fun, as are the program volunteers - Rick Vaux, Mike Niewiarowicz and Kevin Tracy. The kids are good builders and the wings, tail and fuselage are taking shape! o Barry Halsted reported that the April fly-out to Bremerton (originally, Skagit) was attended by 21 people, 10 aircraft. Skagit is now expected to be the destination for May. o Another 3D printer workshop is tentatively expected for mid-May. Contact is Erik Petersen. o The Lite Flyers Breakfast attracted more than 20 guests who were treated to presentations by Bruce Burris, Doug Brundage and Andy Sallee. Sam Siphers showed off his Zenith 601. ● New Business: o Ray shared about our EAA chapter survey results and they were quite favorable. Ray went on to report many of the specific responses to the question about The One Thing to Improve… among the most popular - attracting and engaging younger folks and having a permanent chapter facility. o Dave Miller found a new propane grill/griddle for the chapter, to replace the charcoal fired one. The old grill found a new home right away. o A coffee transport container has been acquired to make it easier to get freshly brewed coffee to the meeting and have it available when folks begin to arrive. o Our first Young Eagles mission of the year will be Sunday May 21 at Wm. R. Fairchild Intl. Airport Terminal, in Port Angeles - 11am - 3pm. o Our Flying Start event will be Saturday May 20, also at the airport terminal in Port Angeles, beginning at 1pm. Come for informative presentations about learning to fly and to get (or schedule) a free introductory flight! ▪ Speakers include Dave Woodcock and Cecilia Aragon. ▪ Pilots and planes are needed, so please contact Ray Ballantyne to volunteer. o A memorial service for George Lewellyn is scheduled for this afternoon at 2pm. o A new home for the tool crib is needed as Rick Stoffel has sold his hangar. Please contact Rick, or any of the chapter directors, if you could and would be our new Tool Crib director. ● Project Reports o Ray - GlaStar, adding auxiliary fuel tanks o Richard Howell - Sling 2, ready for weight and balance o Harry Cook - Sonex Waiex B, wing structure and covering left wing o Dave Moffitt - RV-12 Classic, looking for DAR for “Light Sport”. o James Russell - Cozy Mk. IV, metal parts o Bill Shepard - Yak-3, new canopy, ready to fly o Norm Coote - Quickie Q2, ready for engine start o John Johnson, Swift engine IO-360, motor mount for SNJ-5 o Collette Miller - Sonex, ailerons ● Quick Announcements - don’t forget o Norm Coote has a couple of R/C model kits he’d like to find a good home for - a P-51 kit and a J3 Cub, please let him know if you or someone you know is interested ● Ray adjourned the business portion of the gathering at 1052. ● Bill Collier presented his unique experiences in Vietnam - Air America ● Thanks to Ray Ballantyne for hosting our Burger Bash, with special thanks to Tracy Halsted, Joan Miller, Charlene “Charlie” Tracy, Dave Miller and others.

Respectfully submitted, Richard Howell, EAA 430 Secretary BOARD AND DIRECTORS 2023 Chapter Phone Toll free 877-EAA-0430 (877-322-0430) Position Name Phone Ext Email Address President Ray Ballantyne 1 president@eaa430.org Vice-President Rick Vaux 2 vicepresident@eaa430.org Secretary Richard Howell 3 secretary@eaa430.org Treasurer Tracy Halsted 4 treasurer@eaa430.org Class II Directors Programs No Candidate 5 programs@eaa430.org Membership Erik Petersen 6 membership@eaa430.org Newsletter Elisa Petersen 7 newsletter@eaa430.org Scholarship David Miller 8 s cholarship@eaa430.org Young Eagles Bud Davies 9 youngeagles@eaa430.org VMC/IMC Harry Cook vmc@eaa430.org Tool Crib Rick Stoffel toolcrib@eaa430.org Web Editor Andy Sallee webeditor@eaa430.org Build-n-Fly Need Project leader build-n-fly@eaa430.org Communications Scott Fitzgerald communications@eaa430.org Fly-Out Barry Halsted Tech Advisor Harry Cook techhc@eaa430.org Tech Advisor Barry Halstead techbh@eaa430.org Tech Advisor Ernie Hansen techeh@eaa430.org Tech Advisor Rick Vaux techrv@eaa430.org