EAA Chapter 430 Newsletter, January 2026

EAA Chapter 430 Serving Northern Olympic Peninsula January 2026 - Newsletter From the Left Seat with President Ray Ballantyne It won’t be long before it will be ti me to start the fl ying season! We can whet our appe ti te for summer adventures at the Northwest Avia ti on Conference and Trade Show on February 21, then join the monthly fl yout lunches that Barry puts on. We sponsor “Flying Start” on May 16 as an introduc ti on to avia ti on for the person who always wanted to learn to fl y but either had no ti me or money (or both). If you have a friend that always says they wanted to learn to fl y, here’s your answer. Let me know if you would like to be a part of this e ff ort. And we always need Pilots to provide the Eagle fl ights to each par ti cipant. Which brings up our Young Eagles plan to provide a fl ight in a light aircra ft to local youth. We are planning to have three rallies this year on June 6, July 11, and August 15. I just learned that EAA HQ will credit our chapter $25 for each new YE Pilot. If you’re interested in knowing more about being a YE pilot, get ahold of Bud Davies or any board member. I’m looking forward to the fl y ins, and overnight camping trips this summer. I hope to a tt end AirVenture 2026, and several group camping events. There will also be day events at local airports and maybe some special EAA430 fl yout events! Un ti l then, check the purity of the fuel, warm the engine if it needs it, and keep fl ying to avoid rust (and I’m not talking about the engine). Happy New Year 2026! Lisa and I got to ring in the New Year on the high seas in the Florida Keys on our son’s 40 ft sailboat. It was my fi rst experience with open ocean sailing, and I see the similari ti es between sailing and fl ying. It takes a lot of training, prepara ti on, and execu ti on to travel cross-country in either air or water. Our arrival at night to the mooring ball in Marathon was similar to an ILS to minimums. You have to navigate accurately and know how to handle your vehicle. Our Captain Dan nailed it!

January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter In This Issue From the Left Seat (Ray Ballantyne) Upcoming Events New Board of Directors for 2026 - 2027 Highlights - 2025 Chapter Activities Text Message Airport Weather Service - Who Knew? Richard Humphreys Upcoming Events Board of Directors Meeting Jan 23 - 9:00am Mariner Cafe Membership Gathering Jan 31 - 10:00 am Wm. R. Fairchild Intl. Airport Terminal Conference Room (Lunch) VMC/IMC Club Jan 14 - 7:00pm Mariner Cafe Feet Wet It’s nice to be starting off the new year feeling grateful and fortunate to be your newest newsletter editor. Following in the footsteps of Linda Priddle, Elisa Petersen and Skip Brown, it’s humbling to be faced with the challenge of coming anywhere close the level of wonderfulness that’s been delivered to our inboxes every month, for the last bunch of years. I’ll do my best. Thanks for the chance to give it a go.

• Richard Chapter Member Dava McNutt making flying look effortless, somewhere over Sequim on January 1, 2025

New Board of Directors for 2026 - 2027 Our chapter bylaws require us to hold elections every two years to choose leaders for four important positions – President, Vice President, Treasurer and Secretary. These positions are considered to be the Class I directors - officers. There are several other board positions – also important – but these Class II directors are appointed by the chapter president, typically with the consideration of any guidance offered by the general membership. The makeup of our board did see several changes that were confirmed during our November membership gathering. As it happens, each of our Class I officer positions had only one nominee/candidate. That’s a special case that allows a simplified confirmation to a showing of hands from the members in attendance, rather than more formal balloting and vote counting. Our Class I officers and the slate of nominees for Class II positions were all confirmed for the 2026 – 2027 term. Even though we have our board of directors in place for the coming term, there are always opportunities for volunteers. If you’d like to be involved – please let any board member know. Chapter members are always welcome at monthly board meetings. We have a great time working together and you’d enjoy it too. January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter • President – Ray Ballantyne (continuing) • Vice President – Ernie Hansen (taking over from Rick Vaux) • Treasurer – Tracy Halsted (continuing) • Secretary – Rob Stephens (taking over from Richard Howell) • Young Eagles – Bud Davies (continuing, with assistance from Tracy Halsted) • Scholarship – Linda Priddle (taking over from Dave Miller) • Hospitality – Kevin and Charlene Tracy (continuing) • VMC/IMC Club – Harry Cook (continuing) • Fly-Outs – Barry Halsted (continuing) • Programs - (open position) • Newsletter – Richard Howell (taking over from Linda Priddle) • Communications – Erik Petersen (continuing) • Web Editor – Richard Howell (taking over from Andy Sallee)

Highlights - 2025 Chapter Activities As a newly minted newsletter editor, it seems like it would be a missed opportunity to not take advantage of the low-hanging editorial fruit offered by reflecting on the past year, at the beginning of this new year. So how about a look at some of the fun our chapter had with airplanes in 2025? January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter Boy did we do some flyouts to fun places in 2025!

January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter Fundraisers for scholarships • Chili Bingo Night • Poker Run • Swap Meet 2025 had gatherings with fellowship and good eats…

January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter We flew Young Eagles and held a Build and Fly event

January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter We helped one another

January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter In 2025 EAA Chapter 430 members shared the wonder of aviation

Text Message Airport Weather Service - Who Knew? Our government sponsored FlightService (Leidos) has a product that provides weather conditions via SMS text message for just about any airport that reports weather. There’s nothing to sign up for. Just send a text and get the weather – simple as that. You can for example text – METAR KCLM to 358-782 (FLTSVC) to quickly receive a reply with the current weather. You can also get a terminal forecast with TAF KCLM or get both reports with MT KCLM. You can even get plain text reply with METAR KCLM PT. More info: https://www.1800wxbrief.com/Website/#!/sms-text-message-service January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter 2025 Christmas Holiday Party and Member Recognition Take a moment to have a peek at the EAA 430 website for a few pictures of the festivities. While you’re there please look around to see what else is new. We’ll be working to bring fresh, interesting content to the pages. Visit: https://eaa430.org/

Richard Humphreys Although not technically a chapter member, Richard Humphreys was a dear friend to a number of our members. We take a moment here to reflect on Richard’s passing and remember him. He will be missed. Richard was truly a fascinating man and notably the driving force of the wind tetrahedron rebuilding project that EAA Chapter 430 undertook recently at Sequim Valley Airport. It’s pleasing to know that for his friends in the chapter, we’ll surely have a fine thought about him whenever we check the wind at W28. January 2026 EAA Chapter 430 - Newsletter Richard Humphreys at his Rakes Glen home with his Taperwing Waco (2025)