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2008 APRIL In Jim Miller's hangar for hot dogs, an Oshkosh DVD on the screen, and welcoming a mini-fly-in from Easton of Chapter 70 members. MARCH At Allen Poulsen's West Caldwell home to see the details on Allen's Sonex project. Rapid progress. Wings and horizontal stabilizer are in the garage. Fuselage is in the basement. Basement door has been widened. Allen is looking for a hangar somewhere to do final assembly. FEBRUARY Lynn O'Donnell, retired United Airlines 747 driver, described a few experiences from earlier in her aviation career. For several years she was a trans-Atlantic ferry pilot. Twelve hour over-water legs, solo, in a variety of singles and twins made for some really interesting flying, and lots of stories. 2007 NOVEMBER Jon Sokolof presented a slideshow of the construction of his new all-composite Lancair Legacy. OCTOBER Harry Barker recapped this year's Air Venture with his annual slideshow and extremely well-informed narrative. SEPTEMBER Jon Weisswasser gave a great Powerpoint presentation on the construction and flying of his RV-8. AUGUST Our fourth visit to Jonathan Macy's Kinnelon home where his GlaStar is nearing completion. Jon has hung a Mattituck/Lycoming engine on the ship and the glass panel is assembled and ready for final installation. Summer of 2008 will probably be the first flight, possibly up at Orange County. JULY We combined our July meeting with the annual picnic at Warwick Airport. Ten members and 15 guests enjoyed the food and great weather. A lucky few went aviating with Dave MacMillan in his Stearman. JUNE Again, we feasted on burgers and dogs at Jim Miller's N07 hangar. At this meeting Jon Socolof had his new Lancair Legacy on display. Jon had just flown the ship in from Oregon. APRIL We feasted on burgers and dogs at Jim Miller's N07 hangar, and then Ron Reinartz demo'd (on his Bonanza) the art of doing an eco-friendly and safe oil change. MARCH 501 member Allen Poulsen showed a videotape of the last two surviving Martin Mars flying boats and how they are still in service putting out forest fires in British Columbia. FEBRUARY Damian DelGaizo of Andover Flight Academy gave us some timely tips, given the rotten winter weather this last week, on flying and the ground maneuvering of ski-equipped aircraft. 2006 DECEMBER In a joint meeting with Lincoln Park Pilots' Association members in LPA'a Pilots' Room, we celebrated the season with food and drink. President Ron Reinartz handed out Chapter Service Awards and specially thanked the Macys and the Poulsens for letting us meet at their homes this year for a look at projects-in-progress. NOVEMBER At Lincoln Park Aviation's Pilots' Room: 2007 Election results: Ron Reinartz; president; Allen Dunn, vice president; George Brewer, Secretary; Don Provost, treasurer; Harry Barker and Jim Miller to 2 year terms as class II directors. The balance of the meeting was spent on a few 2007 pre-plans, hangar talk or watching an EAA tape on the skills required for homebuilding. OCTOBER Back at Lincoln Park Aviation's Pilots' Room: The annual "Oshkosh recap" slide show... Harrison "Woody" Wood expertly narrated slides taken at Air Venture by Harry Barker. Harry was out of town for this showing, but returned and did an encore presentation at EAA Chapter 891 in Sussex and also for the Greenwood Lake Pilots' Association in early November. SEPTEMBER At Allen Poulsen's West Caldwell home to see the details on Allen's Murphy Rebel project. The kit was delivered on Allen's doorstep in August, 2005 and he has put in over 600 hours on the all-aluminum fabrication, with wings just about done and fuselage in progress. AUGUST At Jon Macy's Kinnelon home on the third visit in three years: Jon's GlaStar is closer to completion, awaiting only avionics and the Mattituck engine on order. JULY We found our usual meeting place, the Clubhouse Cafe, locked up and out of business! After a brief business meeting on the outdoor patio, we went in all directions... many westbound to Oshkosh. JUNE Holding our meeting at the New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum, we saw a great video about the history of Teterboro Airport and then had the run of the museum. MAY After a rundown on preparations for the upcoming Warwick Fly-In and Young Eagles, we saw an A.O.P.A. video on preparations for an instrument flight in convective activity. APRIL Peter Vajsabel, from Caldwell Air Service, led the discussion of "Owner Maintenance: What you can do and what must be left for the mechanics." MARCH "Oshkosh 2003" was the DVD being shown during an animated day-before-St. Patrick's Day celebration at the Clubhouse Cafe. FEBRUARY Ron Reinartz presented an AOPA video Seminar-in-a-Box - "Lost and Crossed", showing how it's not too hard even for experienced pilots to lose track of where they are, run low on fuel, and face a 25 knot crosswind at the last remaining choice of airports. JANUARY We watched a videotape recap of the past year's aviating by 501 members. 2005 DECEMBER Icy roads limited attendance at the meeting. The showing of a 2005 Oshkosh video was complemented by President Reinartz' special holiday refreshments. NOVEMBER Jim Bordino and FAA Safety Counselor Stanley Sanders presented the interactive AOPA Seminar-in-a-Box - "Never Again", recounting the misfortunes of 3 pilots who did not adequately prepare for the weather ahead. OCTOBER In our meeting place in the Pilots' Room of Lincoln Park Aviation, Harry Barker presented his annual recap of the most interesting aircraft and events at Air Venture - Oshkosh 2005. SEPTEMBER We were back at Jon Macy's in Kinnelon, where Jon showed off the now completed riveting of all flying surfaces of the Glastar. Jon thanked Harry Barker and Allen Dunn for their riveting assistance. Main gear and nose gear assemblies are finished. Flight controls, cabin interior, panel and engine are still ahead. AUGUST 501's George Brewer hosted our August meeting at his Wayne home where we took the tour of his Sonex project in progress. The all-aluminum Sonex will be a 2 place, low wing, tricycle gear, lightweight ship that fits into the new Light Sport Aircraft category. (This is quite a contrast to when Captain Brewer commanded C-5's in the USAF about 30 years ago.) JULY At 501 member Tom Ware's house in Wayne we got a look at his Wheeler Express CT project in progress. Tom showed us how one wing is complete and hanging up. The other is on jigs for the addition of speed brakes and landing gear bracket. Interior work is in the planning stages. Instrument panel is on the bench taking shape. The fuselage has an IO-540 installed and waiting. Construction is somewhat complicated by Wheeler's bankruptcy and the need to do a lot of networking to get parts and advice. JUNE Field trip to Teterboro's New Jersey Aviation Hall of Fame and Museum where we got to operate 2 new flight simulators and saw, among many other exhibits, rocket plane Gloria (restored by EAA 501 about 25 years ago) and a display photo of Ray Johnson flying his Volksplane VP-1. NJAHOF said they will put Ray's donated Volksplane on display when the museum gets enlarged! MAY We saw CD slide show of the 5/15 Warwick Fly-In and also, a professionally done 1985 video of Sky Manor pilot George Bunnell and the maiden flight of his RV-3. APRIL Curtis Brewington, Tower Manager at Essex County Airport gave us an idea, from his perch, of what it's like handling GA traffic in this area. MARCH Video of Van's RV history and production facilities. FEBRUARY After we mapped out plans for 2005's Warwick Fly-In and Young Eagles events, Ron Reinartz ran a DVD highlighting the flying and ground activities at last year's Oshkosh air show. JANUARY We enjoyed the annual videotape recap of activities of EAA 501 members throughout the past year, airborne and on the ground. 2004 NOVEMBER Mid-Atlantic Aviation Coalition President Bob Checchio explained his group's main mission: preservation of New Jersey’s public use airports and improvement of their safety and capacity. MAAC also is a forum to express concern about threats against our freedom to fly, and it monitors political actions and decisions that may affect General Aviation. OCTOBER Our Chapter President and Sonex builder George Brewer showed a video featuring the flight characteristics and technical features of the Sonex. SEPTEMBER The unique aircraft at Air Venture 2004 ("Oshkosh") were recapped by Harry Barker with a slide presentation he put together with the help of Harrison Wood. JULY Hosted by Susan and Jon Macy at their Kinnelon home, we toured Jon's Glastar project in progress. Wings are the latest milestone. Subaru engine to be delivered this fall followed by the electronics. First flight targeted for late next year. APRIL Bill King, veteran air show pilot at the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome, showed some amazing video clips of memorable Rhinebeck performances. Another video highlighted his visit to Australia and air show performance there two years ago with a Rhinebeck crew of planes and pilots. MARCH Paolo Grassi and Jim Bordino narrated Dick Wedemeyer's video about the trio's trip to Winter Haven in January to pick up seaplane ratings. FEBRUARY Dave MacMillan brought members up-to-date on the FAA rules for determining and getting approval for airworthiness of a new aircraft or changes to an old one. JANUARY We watched the annual video featuring the activities of EAA 501 members throughout the past year. 2003 OCTOBER We met at the Oakland home-workshop of 501 member Dolf Battifarano. Dolf schooled us on "Fabric Covering Basics" with live demos and video, citing lessons learned from his recent re-covering of his Citabria. SEPTEMBER Harry Barker and Harrison Wood brought back from July's Oshkosh Air Venture and shared with us, in the form of slides and anecdotes, a wealth of aviation information. AUGUST 501 member Johnathan Macy gave a Powerpoint presentation on the step-by-step process he went through leading to the selection of a 210 hp NSI-manufactured Subaru engine for his under-construction Glastar. Before the decision was made, he carefully ranked the criteria of safety, cost, performance and long term implications against the alternative choices of buying a new engine, a certified rebuilt, an EXP XP 360, or an alternative Subaru. JULY 501 member Harrison "Woody" Wood presented slides and gave us a run-down on activities at EAA's annual Florida (April 2-8, this year) Sun 'n Fun Fly-in in Lakewood. JUNE This was our first meeting on the new monthly meeting date of the "third Monday". The informal session allowed us to enjoy the surroundings of our new meeting place: Lincoln Park Airport's Clubhouse Cafe. MAY Meeting was at 501 president Bart Cocchiola's in Nutley where in his workshop Bart demonstrated basic applications of oxy-acetylene gas welding equipment for aircraft construction and how his Skybolt is taking shape using these techniques. APRIL 501 member Mike Maniatus brought everyone up to date with a talk and slideshow on construction progress of his scratch-built DH Moth Major. Many original parts are being procured from sources around the world. There are only three Moth Majors in existence. MARCH Alex Pucciarello, an EAA Technical Counselor, presented "The ABC's of Technical Counseling" and the importance of this guidance as it relates to the stages of construction of a homebuilt aircraft. FEBRUARY Continuation of January topics. JANUARY Incoming President Bart Cocchiola led the discussion of planning ahead for 2003 events. Topics included expanding the membership, fundraising, Young Eagles flight rallies, the Warwick Fly-In, organizing possible weekend fly-outs under our sponsorship, and tentative schedules for holding monthly meetings on-site at Chapter members' projects under construction. 2002 DECEMBER Members were taken on a VHS video tour of the countryside as seen from the cockpit of a Cessna 172 and Dave MacMillan's Stearman. NOVEMBER The U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, and particularly the duties of and opportunities for membership in Flotilla 10-20, Air Station Caldwell, were explained by Air Station Commander Darryl Laxon and Personnel Services Officer Dennis Gagnon. OCTOBER Teterboro tower air traffic controller and 501 member Tom Matthews shared experiences and provided tips for helping to keep controlled-field operations flowing smoothly and safely. SEPTEMBER Harry Barker and Harrison Wood demonstrated their fabled encyclopedic knowledge of aircraft and aviation topics with a presentation of highlights of the awards competition at July's Oshkosh Air Venture 2002. AUGUST Slides were shown of the July air race of homebuilts from Kittyhawk to Oshkosh. EAA 501 Vice President Bill Shannon flew his recently completed RV-5A in the race and brought back first hand experience of the event. JULY EAA 501 member Dolf Battifarano described the 1,500 hours step-by-step process of the refurbishment of his Citabria. JUNE EAA 501 member Don Provost told, with slides, how in 1980 he flew his Cherokee to Alaska and above the Arctic Circle and back on a two week, 8,800 statute mile, 770 gallons round trip. APRIL Master Flight Instructor Steve Riethof (Lt.Col, USAF, Ret.) presented "A Case Study of Pilot and ATC Human Factors", an account of a real ATC rescue of a pilot in trouble, and how the interaction between participants, for better or worse, affected the outcome. MARCH Members of the Walter J. Schirra. Jr. Composite Squadron of the Civil Air Patrol briefed us on the duties and responsibilities of "CAP." Guest speakers were... Jack Soldano, Captain CAP, Squadron Commander; Mike Castania, Major CAP, Aerospace Education; Tom Donohue, 1Lt. CAP, Director of Operations; John Donohue, 2Lt. CAP, Director of Emergency Services; Mike Marrinan, Cadet Captain--Cadet Commander; and Carly Gibson, Cadet First Sergeant. FEBRUARY Helping us to get ready for next year's 100th anniversary of powered flight, aviation history expert Steve Ivester delivered a slide presentation, "Wright Brothers-Context, Competition and Invention." JANUARY United Airlines B-777 pilot Lynn O'Donnell recalled for us her early years of flying Piper singles on trans-Atlantic ferry trips. She described the 12 plus hours ferry flights as a great way to build night and instrument time! 2001 DECEMBER Video highlights were shown of our 2001 activities including 501's Warwick Fly-in in May and the Young Eagles Rally at Lincoln Park in June. NOVEMBER Member Mike Maniatus gave a report with slides of his summer trip to England which included the Woburn Abbey Annual Tiger Moth Rally, and the Shuttleworth collection at Old Warden. OCTOBER Guest speaker Bill Weiss, WWII Hellcat pilot and veteran of 150 missions in the Pacific theater, recounted some of his experiences flying from the aircraft carrier Lexington. SEPTEMBER Harry Barker, assisted by Harrison Wood, recapped their week at Air Venture 2001 ( OSHKOSH !) with a series of extraordinary slides of the participating aircraft. Harry Barker was also presented with the Chapter's first Lifetime Membership for outstanding service to the organization. AUGUST 501 President Bill Shannon held the meeting at his home in Cedar Grove and rolled out (from his garage, literally) his under-construction RV-5A. JULY Guest speaker at the July meeting was Donald Sweet, USN retired, who spoke about his World War II experiences aboard a PBM Mariner Flying Boat in the Western Pacific. He has authored several books on the subject. |