EAA Chapter 430 Newsletter, February 2025

EAA 430 FLYER Serving Northern Olympic Peninsula FEBRUARY 2025 From the Left Seat With President Ray Ballantyne Greetings fellow aviation enthusiasts! I hope you are keeping warm during the past days and your airplane is dry from the recent snow. There will be no Gathering this month, as the NorthWest Aviation and Trade Show takes place February 22 and 23 in Puyallup, WA. There are several of our chapter members involved at the show. Keep an eye out for Ken Brown in the Unified Flying Octogenarians (UFO) booth, Dave Miller in the WA Pilots Assn booth, and yours truly at the Recreational Aviation Foundation (RAF) booth. I hope you get to attend. Even if you’ve seen it all, you get to see old friends. Scott Alair has offered to setup a carpool for members that want to share the event ( and not do the drive).You can reach him at 925-321-1723. The building committee has been very busy working on our building plan and determining all the permit requirements, of which there are many. None the less, we’re pressing on with great expectations! Also affecting the plan is how much money will be available. I’m excited to announce that two more anonymous donations were received for $30K! We will need more generous donations like these to reach our goal of paying for the building. A “Raise the Roof” Pledge dinner will be announced soon. That’s all I have for this month. Remember to keep your head down and your Avgas dry. Fly 4 Fun!

• Ray

Page 2 EAA 430 Flyer IN THIS ISSUE From the Left Seat (Ray Ballantyne) Calendar of Events EAA Bootcamp AG Weather Station Barry’s Excellent Adventure Minutes of January 2025 Gathering Who is Bud Davies ? Board and Directors PAGE 1 2 2 2 3-6 7 8 9 No Gathering this month NW Aviation Conference And Trade Show Feb 22-23 In Puyallup EAA BOOTCAMP March 4 & 5 VMC/IMC March 12 Mariners Cafe 1900 BOD Meeting March 21 Mariners Cafe 0900 Next Gathering March 28 PA Conference Room 0930 AG Weather I’ve heard a few inquiries about the AG Weather Station at W28. The station has served the local RC clubs since it went in. All our microclimates meant many wasted trips or lost opportunities to fly. It does give a different variety of information, but at least it’s current. You can access it at www.weather.wsu.edu. Zoom to the W28 station (#37). A quick tap will give you all the current information. You can also set it up on the “Weather Dashboard” for more comprehensive information. There are similar stations all over the state so you can have another source to plan ahead. Thanks, WSU! - Linda Any idiot can get an airplane off the ground, but an aviator earns his keep by bringing it back anytime, anywhere, under any circumstances that man and God can dream up. Walter Cunningham, The All-American Boys, 1977 EAA BOOTCAMP This year there is an online opportunity to attend the Leadership Bootcamp on March 4 & 5, from 1000-1400 PST. These are one-day interactive sessions focused on topics important to chapter leadership.They are open to all members, not just current leaders. We are always looking ahead - new leaders are always welcome. Register at https://www.eaa.org/eaa/ eaa-chapters/chapter-leadership-training/ chapter-leadership-boot-camp

Page 3 EAA 430 Flyer BARRY’S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE “Hey Halsted – …” is how this all started. The call was from Terry Smith, a friend I’ve known from the ‘60’s when we were Flight Test Engineers working for Boeing. When the 737 program was complete he moved on to Northwest Airlines and I, after a stint starting and running a Bellanca dealership, went to work directly for Bellanca and guess who was there? Terry! He was working as Chief Engineer at the Champion (Citabria) facility and I worked in Dealer Development. Anyway, our paths have crossed many times and we both ended up here in the Northwest. Terry lives on the southern part of Whidbey Island. “I want to get back to flying and I’m going to get a hangar at Whidbey Air Park!” How cool! Terry’s flown with me here and I was happy to see he’s finally getting active again. Terry has houses all over the place including one from our Bellanca days back in Minnesota, and he keeps a Mooney there, but: “What I really want is a PA-11.” He liked mine. “I found one in Southern California, what do you think?” That’s how this all started. We looked at the seller’s specs. PA-11’s aren’t easy to find and this one has less than 3000 TT with a relatively low time engine and, an electrical system, lights, radio, transponder and ADS-B out. The pictures looked good. Terry has spent his spare time skiing and supporting his Porsche collection and didn’t feel up to flying the little airplane from Van Nuys to Whidbey. “I’ll pick it up for you!” I said. Perhaps I should have asked Tracy first. “From Van Nuys?” she said. Well, yeah… “When? It’s January. Winter. Clouds and snow. Look outside! And you promised John Meyers you’d help him with a request on February 4 and 5.” There was no way I’d miss that. Today was January 24. “Maybe a couple of weeks from now” I said. But that was Friday and the next day guess what? The weather from Southern California to Canada was SUNSHINE! And it was forecast to last a week! How could I pass this up? So Saturday I went to the bank (no time to get a check from Terry) and Sunday I packed. Headphones, ADS-B In, IPad Mini, batteries. Quick trip, who needs more? MONDAY morning Tracy took me to SeaTac where I boarded Alaska Airlines and headed to Burbank. “I’ll be back in a couple of days…” Tracy is wonderful. I’m picked up at Burbank Airport and I get to see the PA-11 about 5:00 pm. Terry wanted me to look at it before handing over the check. There are some things about the airplane that weren’t really expected. For one thing this one looks like a back-country PA-18. No covering on the landing gear, 27 inch tires, big tailwheel. The fabric was old and had a bit of ringworm; we had been told about this.I looked and called Terry; we talked about these things. The ringworm really was minor. I said the airplane looked good at 50 ft, twenty ft, even at 10 ft it looked pretty good. It needed a bath. I had asked and he again confirmed he expected to keep it to the end of his flying. The available logbooks were complete from the 70’s and didn’t contain surprises other than no lengthy explanations. He decided to go ahead and I was taken to my night’s hotel.

Barry’s Excellent Adventure, Con’t Page 4 EAA 430 Flyer Van Nuys - I’m remembering why I’m so happy about living in Sequim. The AirTel Plaza Hotel adjacent to the airport must have over 350 rooms, but only a dozen cars in the parking lot. It used to have a restaurant, now not even the one soft drink machine worked. I walked past windows all barred up on my way to a hamburger joint two blocks away. Made sure both locks were in place on the door when I came back to the bed. TUESDAY, we’re off to the bank. Bye bye check. It’s about 40º outside and we pull the airplane out. The engine starts and I’m moving. Now most of you know my ears don’t work well anymore and this radio is difficult for me. When departing Van Nuys airport on Runway 16R the non-movement area goes right up to the hold short line so I don’t need to worry until takeoff. There were four airplanes waiting to go so I break in and announce Cub 4953M is ready for takeoff in sequence. Another airplane joins the group. Hmmm. Finally all have gone and I hear someone is cleared for takeoff. I don’t see anyone else so I announce a right downwind departure and off I go! Somewhere on downwind I hear numbers that include Mike so I announce radio problems and confirm I’m exiting to the north. No more radio for me on this trip… I should explain here that my first takeoff in this airplane was an experience. Remember what they taught us about propeller “P” factor and gyroscopic forces and engine torque when we learned to fly? Well, with the big tires this airplane sits at quite a high deck angle and when I quickly pushed the stick to raise the tail right after adding full power like I do in MY PA-11 . I immediately found myself headed off the runway to the left… Luckily Cubs require little takeoff distance so I doubt the tower noticed my little escapade. Onward. I’ll skip describing the first day’s flight other than to mention that my first three landings occurred at the end of my first leg. There I discovered there is no shock absorbing movement in this airplane’s landing gear and the previous owner pumped the tire pressure to allow for at least 10 years’ worth of flying.I had decided to wheel it on and found right away that there is a bunch of inertia required to get these big tires rotating. This causes instant deceleration and downward movement of the nose. I did not, however, LEARN this now because I was immediately several feet back in the air. The second bounce came in seconds; THIS is where I found out about the sudden deceleration and downward nose pitch because my feet had moved forward and were nudging the wonderful heel brakes. Quick application of aft stick pulled me back in the air after which, at what was now a very slow speed, I splat onto the ground and stopped. Practically no distance required. N4953M - Terry’s new Ride

Page 5 EAA 430 Flyer I had planned to overnight at Red Bluff but deciding to eliminate tower controlled airports and having ground speeds that ran 45-65 kts, that was out. The remainder of my Tuesday flying included two legs and I overnighted in Willows, CA. Here I met a helpful young crop-duster pilot who offered to take me into town where, not knowing how far I would get that day, I had no hotel reservation. Upon learning that I was headed to Sequim, Warner Michael offered me a spare bedroom at his home and I bought him a fine dinner. Turns out he knew Gerry Mahoney and Bill Shepard well. Gerry had crop dusted in Willows and had worked for Warner’s grandfather. Warner had spent time with Gerry in Sequim and Bill had been Warner’s instructor. We had a fun evening. WEDNESDAY started slowly. The temperature was 25º when we got to the airport. This Cub has no primer and it was 10:00 am by the time I got it running. Getting home tonight was now out. Airports were few and far between this day, so fuel management was a concern. I planned for two hour legs so that if I had winds or if airports didn’t have fuel I had alternatives. Maybe I could get to Centralia. I wanted to get to Siskiyou on my first leg, 160 miles away, a two hour flight leaving 45 more minutes of available fuel. There were only a couple of places ahead where fuel was a possibility but I felt good about Siskiyou because it was a county airport reporting attendance from 8:00 to 5:00. However,,, more headwinds. I passed Weed with 15 minutes plus the reserve to go, no sweat. I landed at Siskiyou (landings are easy now) where I found there was NOBODY there. The display on the self-service fuel stand was completely sun damaged and unreadable. And there were no restrooms. So with Ashland 15 minutes west and Weed 15 minutes east I left a memento of my appreciation on the ground and headed west. After refueling there it was on to overnight at Hobby Field (with a fine FBO, by the way) near Eugene. THURSDAY was also below 30º when I got up and the excellent weather promised for the trip was gone. Departure was about 10:00 am again with 300 scattered and at best 1000 broken but better weather ahead. After maneuvering around the scattered clouds a bit I climbed on top of the broken layer to see what it looked like. It appeared that above the broken layer I could work my way north, carefully making sure the broken layer below had holes I could reach at any point if there was an engine failure. Sure, better weather ahead… Nearing the Portland area, however, the better weather hadn’t materialized and I dropped down underneath where now the scattered clouds were more numerous and visibilities shorter. So much for Centralia. I landed at McMinnville to think. It was about 1:00 pm. Weather all around was dismal. About 3:00 pm I decided to call a friend in Portland to see about an overnight. But the 3:00 weather report came and showed improvement! Even getting north of the Columbia River weather would be helpful; the morning forecast south of the river led me to believe I’d never get home. So with weather west of Portland IFR, but 600 scattered and 1300 broken on the east side with 1900 broken at Centralia, off I went. The problems were that Portland had Class C airspace which meant the long way around without radio, the broken layer meant it would be dark before sunset, and ground speeds were still in the 60 kt range. Centralia would be a race. And 10 minutes north of the Columbia the race was over; the broken layer wasn’t rising and there are hills before I’d get there. It was already getting dark. So a turn to the west headed me to Kelso where I landed and spent the night. Barry’s Excellent Adventure, Con’t

Page 6 EAA 430 Flyer FRIDAY the weather was impossible. Not only were the clouds (400 ft) and visibilities (1-1/2 miles) around Kelso impossible, the forecasted winds were in the 20’s gusting into the upper 30’s. Not for me, not for this Cub. I called Tracy and said I could take a train to Tacoma but my little darling said she’d rather drive to Kelso and pick me up. And that she did! It was pouring down rain when she arrived. Weather forecasts ahead suggested possibilities in about a week. SATURDAY dawned and guess what? The weather from Kelso north to Port Angeles was forecast to be VFR with low winds! And at the moment the METARs agreed! A quick call to Ray Ballantyne and we were off in his new Sportsman! We started out low but climbed above a broken layer where we stayed until nearing Centralia. There we descended for fuel and flew the remaining 10 miles underneath. The clouds were low but the visibilities were good. After fueling we proceeded to Kelso, and the clouds got lower and the visibilities shorter. I retrieved the Cub (which had been hangered by the very accommodating Cascade Air) and enviously watched Ray blast out through a hole in the broken clouds. My departure placed me over Interstate 5 where despite less than desirable conditions I could make my way. Enroute to Kelso we had noticed that weather to the east was better and I soon found that Interstate 5 wasn’t going to do so I moved off a ways. By now it was raining. My ground speed ranged from the 40’s to the 60’s (knots). I passed Centralia but Olympia was a problem. The weather was again somewhat better to the east of the Olympia control zone but the weather conditions were such that I couldn’t be sure of being able to remain clear of the numerous restricted areas on that side. I stayed on the west side of their control zone enduring the rain/snow and increasing wind. North of Olympia I reached the water where terrain and obstacles don’t exist. Continuing north, cloud bases over Puget Sound slowly increased and even on the west side forays back and forth over land were possible when clearances and visibilities allowed. Coming into Discovery Bay the cloud base over the water was good and I watched Jefferson County Airport from a dozen miles away. The cloud base above Diamond Point was 400 ft and it ended as I passed by over the water. Then came Sequim’s blue hole and I landed at Rakes Glen in glorious sunshine and calm winds!at Rakes Glen in glorious sunshine and calm winds! AFTERWARDS, Terry has not yet flown his new Cub! He did drive over to meet it and is looking forward to sometime this coming week to taking it to its new home at Whidbey Airpark! It is a fun flyer and I’m sure he is going to enjoy it! For me, I’m enjoying a peaceful rest from flying!

• Barry Barry’s Excellent Adventure, Con’t Terry’s New Ride Beautiful Mt Shasta

Page 7 EAA 430 Flyer Date: Jan 25, 2025 ● Chapter President Ray Ballantyne called the Membership Gathering to order at 1000 in the Terminal Conference Room, Wm. R. Fairchild Intl. Airport (KCLM). ● Ray led The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag with 38 members and 4 guests attending. ● Ray led thank-you’s and applause to our hospitality directors - Charlene and Kevin Tracy and our other volunteers. Special thanks to Joan Miller for her outstanding Apple Cake - yum! ● Guest(s): Chris Greimes and son Sebastian, Kevin Corliss, Ed Hatloff(?). Chris and Sebastian are interested in Young Eagles and Build and Fly programs. Kevin has a JustAircraft Highlander. ● November Gathering Minutes were approved as written. (No December gathering, in lieu of holiday dinner party) ● Ray mentioned a bit about correspondence conducted with Sequim Valley Airport (building lease) and Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe (fundraiser auction items and possible dinner venue) Old Business: ● Treasury - Our financial picture reflects funds of approximately $4000 for scholarship, $150k for building and $6000 for operating. ● Membership now stands at 110 ● Fly-out Barry Halsted - Weather issues resulted in a late destination change from Bremerton (PWT) to Port Townsend (0S9), and then last minute cancellation. Nevertheless, 2 planes showed up and there were a few drive-ins as well. Look for a re-try to PWT for February. ● Building Committee (Barry Halsted, Ray Ballantyne, Ernie Hansen and Norm Nelson) - have been working to define lease property boundaries. Our SVA 50 year, no-cost lease is looking pretty much like a done deal. o Norm Nelson has prepared a detailed design drawing of the facility that could save the chapter as much as $7000 in outside design(er) costs. o Ray displayed the impressive 3D views of the building that were drawn by Norm. o We expect to be able to take Norm’s drawings to a building engineer to develop plans. o Among other features, the design anticipates a 40’ D x 50’ W structure with a 15’ x 20’ inside (class) room with sliding glass doors, an innovative full-sized folding stairway to a mezzanine and concrete floor. o There was quite a discussion about features and suggestions from membership. The threshold of members present, just over 30%, was sufficient to establish the quorum necessary to conduct chapter business. o A motion to approve spending (to the limit of existing funds) for design and engineering work, was proposed by Linda Priddle, with a second from John Cuny. After further membership discussion, a vote was taken by show of hands - all in favor, none opposed. Motion carried. o The need for another motion was advanced and then proposed by Ernie Hansen, with a second from Keith Kretschmer, that EAA Chapter 430 President Ray Ballantyne be authorized to sign the 50 year lease agreement with Sequim Valley Airport (once finalized) on behalf of the Chapter. After a brief membership discussion, a vote was taken by a show of hands - all in favor, non opposed. Motion carried. EAA Chapter 430 Membership Gathering Minutes

● Young Eagles Build and Fly - Richard Howell updated membership with news that we received a generous donation of flight simulator equipment from Mr Chuck Emig, member of Olympic Silent Flyers, Model Airplane Club. The simulator is in storage and we’re looking forward to a home for it in our new chapter hangar. Linda Priddle reminded us that EAA 430 has been fortunate to receive fantastic support from Olympic Silent Flyers (OSF), Maker Lab facilities from Sequim Museum & Arts, and access to an R/C model flying field with amenities from Northwest Security Services. We have seen a build-up of interest and we’ll be putting together some more Build and Fly events for kids and parents in the very near future. ● VMC/IMC Club - Harry Cook reminds us that we have regular meetings on the second Wednesday of each month. Turnout has been great. We share and learn about real world flying for VFR and IFR. Next meeting is Feb 12th. New Business: ● Ray shared that friend and neighbor Richard Humphreys is liquidating an amazing collection of tools, memorabilia and other items from his workshop/hangar, including an extensive collection of R/C models and gear. Please touch base with Ray or Barry if you might be interested. ● Ray shared plans for an upcoming fundraising dinner (in April) ● Ray Foundation Scholarship - we’re waiting for our Chapter application to be approved ● Merchandise - EAA 430 Chapter logo items are immediately available for sale today - hats $20, shirts $25. ● No 430 Chapter Gathering in February. Many folks will be attending the WAA - NW Aviation Conference & Trade Show in Puyallup, WA. Feb 22-23. ● Projects o James Russell - Work on an RV-4 firewall o Harry Cook - Sonex Waiex B, gear on, windscreen fitted ● Business portion of the gathering was adjourned at 1104. ● Program - Richard Howell was our speaker today, delivering a talk “23 Years of Flying Adventures

• Take the Airplane and Go Somewhere” ● Westside Pizza was enjoyed after the talk Respectfully submitted, Richard Howell EAA Chapter 430 Membership Gathering Minutes Old Business, Con’t Page 8 EAA 430 Flyer Our sincere thanks to Bud Davies for the use of his hangar for our summer gatherings and storage of many EAA Chapter possessions. Hint - His Bio is on the next page

When I was in grade school, I was interested in things that were self-propelled and in things that fly. When I was about 10 years old, I got a bicycle and one of my favorite things was riding to the airport to look at the airplanes.My first airplane ride was in a Boeing Stratocruiser. We were on our way to Ohio and I remember eating French toast and going up to the 2nd level on the spiral staircase. My first small plane ride at about 15 years old, was in a Piper Super Cub piloted by Haven Buob. He had a wheat farm in Coulee City and would fly from his farm to town with his take-off and landings from a rather steep slope. On June 22, 2017, at 66 years old, I got my private pilot license. My first and current plane is a 1979 Cessna 152. I’m presently working on an instrument rating. When I was looking for an instructor, I was advised by a Sequim pilot, who was moving to Florida, the first thing to do before even starting training, was to join AOPA and EAA, which I did. I have enjoyed being around pilots who I can learn from and who are interested in what I am doing. It is a good resource for me because just about all of our EAA 430 members know more about flying and airplanes than I do. I had one harrowing experience while flying a friend over Whidbey Island, where I came very close to a perfect head-on collision with a low-wing single-engine airplane. Why? The only thing I can think of, I was flying south 176° at 3500ft and the other plane was probably traveling at 0° at 3500 ft. Less harrowing was when my alternator went out on my solo cross-country trip for my private rating. John Meyers was the EAA Young Eagles coordinator in our chapter. Roger Runion was chosen by John to be his successor and was set to assume leadership of EAA Young Eagles for the next year, but he died from a heart attack on November 28, 2018. I had both of these fine pilots as my instructors. With Roger gone, John turned to me, so I got the opportunity to take over the position. I held the YE coordinator position for a year and was then joined by Tracy Halsted as co-coordinator for the past four years. I grew up in Ephrata, Washington (KEPH). My life in a nutshell is Ephrata 18 years, Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota 9 months, University of Washington (7 years in Seattle), San Antonio 2 years, Sequim 4 years, Kennewick 9 years, and Sequim 1991 to present. Growing up, I had no clue what I would be. I was in the Air Force for 2 years at Lackland AFB as a dentist. My education was a BS in Zoology and a DDS from the University of Washington.Besides airplanes, and being a retired dentist, I do Ventriloquism, a little Magic, play Guitar, sing in a Barbershop Harmony chorus and a quartet, act in occasional plays, watch old movies, work as a volunteer announcer at KSQM, and enjoy traveling and seeing my kids in Alaska and Florida. Page 8 EAA 430 Flyer GETTING TO KNOW RICHARD (BUD) DAVIES The last goal on my bucket list is to get an instrument rating, which I am fairly close to accomplishing. I think I am ready for another bucket. That may come as new opportunities present themselves. For me, EAA Chapter 430 is a source of real friends and people to respect and admire. As expressed by my wife, Laurie, after a lunch fly-out, she was impressed by how we carried on talking with each other at lunch without the aid of a cell phone to hold our attention.

Page 9 EAA 430 Flyer 2025 BOARD AND DIRECTORS Name Position Phone Ext. Email Address Ray Ballantyne Rick Vaux Richard Howell Tracy Halsted No Candidate Tracy Halsted Linda Priddle David Miller Bud Davies Harry Cook Rick Stoffel Andy Sallee Richard Howell Eric Peterson Barry Halsted Harry Cook Barry Halsted Ernie Hansen Rick Vaux Mike Niewiarowwicz 1 2 3 4 president@eaa430.org vicepresidenttt@eaa430.org secretary@eaa.org treasurer@eaa430.org programs@eaa430.org membership@eaa430.org newsletter@eaa430.org scholarship@eaa430.org youngeagles@eaa430.org vmc@eaa430.org toolcrib@eaa430.org webeditor@eaa430.org build-n-fly@eaa430.org communications@eaa430.org flyout@eaa430.org techhc@eaa430.org techbh@eaa430.org techeh@eaa430.org techrv@eaa430.org techmn@eaa430.org President Vice-President Secretary Treasurer Class II Directors Programs Membership Newsletter Scholarship Young Eagles VMC/IMC Tool Crib Web Editor Build-n-Fly Communications Fly-Out Tech Advisor Tech Advisor Tech Advisor Tech Advisor Tech Advisor