Words From The
President
Bhrent Waddell
Changes: the one thing in life that is constant is that things change.
After September 11, 2001 this seems even more true. While we have
been hoping see the creation of the Sport pilot rating and aircraft
classification approved in the near future to make flying available
to more people, many people are trying to restrict general aviation
more than we have experienced in the last fifty years. While some
restrictions are understandable, it will be as important as ever that
general aviation have a voice with policy makers. The national EAA
organization is one of those voices. Our membership in national EAA
makes their voice even stronger. If you want to protect the flight
privileges that we have enjoyed, now is the time to become a member
of EAA! Not only does the national organization communicate with policy
makers, its provides a quick and dependable source of information
to pilots. Important changes in flight restrictions are available
on the website and office members are available to answer questions.
Although there has been no published information about the Sport
pilot rating, unofficially it is still very alive and progressing
through the approval process. As life in the US returns to the "new
normal", more progress on this rating will be made.
At the Chapter 10 building, one-air conditioner units has been received
and will be mounted in one of the east windows. If a second unit is
not found by next spring, the Chapter will look for a "spring
special" to provide the other unit.
A neglected BD5 project has been made available to mount near the
Gundy's drive and 76th Street. The project is rough and needs assembly
and paint before mounting. If you would like to help with this project,
get the details from a Chapter Officer or be at the next meeting.
Chapter 10 would like to help make this project an attractive addition
to Gundy's.
This month's meeting will be on Monday, October 15. The annual Gundy's
WingDing is on Sunday October the 21st at 1:00pm. The WingDing is
at the Chapter 10 hanger, but is hosted by the Gundy's owners and
residents. All Chapter 10 members are invited to attend and enjoy
the grilled chicken wings and hot-dogs. Bring a covered dish, salad
or dessert enjoy the lunch with us.
WE ARE SO LUCKY
by the editor
I know that sounds like the wrong thing to say
after the devastating attack on us. Most of our flying privileges
have already been restored. Yes there are still a lot of airplanes
under class B that are not freed up as of this date but they probably
will be soon. We all like to complain about our inconveniences and
none of us like to comply with rules and regulations that are imparted
to us. When people make rules and regulations to change things, there
are always things that don't make sense (obvious lunacies to us).
Just remember the freedoms we have enjoyed so far and believe that
we will continue at some point to enjoy most of those with maybe a
few changes.
In 1979 I was flying air borne magnetic surveys in Japan. Two of
the rules over there that jumped out at me were that we always had
to file a flight plan and that we could not just fly to an airport
and land. We had to telephone the airport in advance and let them
know who we were and when we expected to arrive at their airport.
One day when the ceilings were too low to survey I decided the Japanese
pilot flying right seat with me would probably like to do some touch
and goes at the airport. He replied "sure, I will go file the
flight plan now". I was astounded - " do you mean to tell
we must file a flight plan to do touch and goes?? --- yup!"
The only other foreign country I know anything about is Canada and
they are somewhat more restricted than we are. I suspect that most
foreign countries are a lot more restrictive than the US is.
Let's protect our freedom by complying with the new restrictions
put on us to the best of our abilities. Go look at the new notams
at faa.gov/ntap and see what is
expected of us as pilots. Be aware that the public is in a heightened
state of fear of all airplanes and will be acutely aware of any flying
activity they don't think is normal. Resist the urge to fly low over
any area. Someone may take this as unusual and report the activity
to some authority. Some of the flying activities we don't think anything
about may seem unusual to some people on the ground. The following
is a snippet from one of the new notams and could have saved some
of our members a lot of embarrassment if they had heeded it. "IN
THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY, AND TO THE EXTENT PRACTICABLE,
PILOTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID THE AIRSPACE ABOVE, OR IN PROXIMITY TO,
SITES SUCH AS NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS, POWER PLANTS, DAMS, REFINERIES,
INDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES, AND OTHER SIMILAR FACILITIES. PILOT SHOULD NOT
CIRCLE AS TO LOITER IN THE VICINITY OF SUCH FACILITIES." After
all the news we had locally about the plane over lake Yahola we should
also add lakes as areas to be avoided. It seems to me a pretty good
bet that pilot did not throw something into the water but we may never
convince the people on the ground. Now the feds may add lakes to their
list. They may be included by implication already; most lakes do have
a dam.
Back to top
WING DING
The annual WING DING at Gundy's is scheduled this year for October
21. This event always proves to be a fun event to kind of wind down
the flying activities for the season.
It was started by Phil Hart and Malley Norton the past owners of
Gundy's. When we built the EAA hangar at Gundy's we began using our
facilities and manpower to put on the Wing Ding each year. Phil and
Malley always provided the wings for the cookout.
This will be the first year to have the WING DING under new owners,
Roger and Meri Wiedon and they have graciously offered to continue
the tradition of providing wings for the WING DING. Roger says he
would like to see the WING DING grow and he is buying extra wings
this year so let's promote more people to attend and especially more
airplanes.
So bring a dish to share and join in on those scrumptious barbecue
chicken wings. The chapter will provide tea and lemonade to drink.
REKLAW FLYING -M
FLY-IN AND CAMPOUT
Many of you have gotten a flyer about the annual campout/fly-in at
Reklaw, Texas by now. It is scheduled for Oct. 26,27 and 28 this year.
Several of our members have been attending this fly-in for quite a
few years now. It is situated in the piney woods of east Texas. It
is really a pretty and tranquil setting on a private airport with
a park like appearance.
There are usually five to ten airplanes from our chapter there and
sometimes several motor homes from our chapter show up too. We all
have a great time visiting and looking at airplanes. One of the more
fun things is watching the arrivals drop in over the trees. Of course
first, one must find the airport before they can land. It is swath
cut out of the pine trees and is difficult to see until right on top
looking down at it. Even with our modern day GPS navigation one can
fly right over the airport and not see it even though the GPs says
"here". Ask John Forrister about that. There is an ever-popular
tale going around about a Bonanza that gave up, after wandering around
an hour talking to the folks on the ground at Reklaw, because he was
running low on fuel. True story!!
Back to top
CHAPTER OFFICERS
The board is recommending the current slate of officers as the officers
for next year and they have all agreed to continue their service for
the chapter. Nominations from the floor will also be accepted so if
you would like to serve in any of these positions let it be known.
NEWSLETTER EDITOR
Along with the officers the newsletter editor job is up for all takers
each year.
I have been doing the newsletter for quite a few years now and my
enthusiasm and ideas have waned through the years. I need a reprieve
and it is time for some new blood as newsletter editor. We will need
someone to take over the Newsletter Editor for 2002.
At the last meeting I was asked how much time it takes to get the
newsletter out each month. My immediate reply was that sometimes it
only takes an hour or two. That is when I do one of those half fast
efforts at the newsletter. It varies quite a bit depending on how
much information is contributed by the membership and how much I have
to compose myself. It really depends on how much effort one puts into
gathering information and composing the newsletter. Some of the things
I feel the newsletter editor should do are: Attend 1st Monday board
meeting, attend 2nd Monday Newsletter folding, attend 3rd Monday meeting
and most of the chapter activities.
The newsletter is done with WORD on a PC and forwarded to Mark Laboyteaux
to be reformatted for the web page. There are other ways to do the
newsletter that is just the way I have been doing it.
The newsletter is an important part of the Chapter and can enhance
the chapter when done right.
Thanks - Lynn Coltharp - editor
Back to top
53 AIRLINERS AT GANDER
I received this from EAA Chapter 455 newsletter editor Diann Nelson.
It's worth reading...
Mark.
{EAA Chapter 455 member Dwayne Lee sent me this article from his
Sonex list. Please read. It is a very good true story,
A very touching account:
Nazim is a Delta airline employee - one of the cockpit crew. It is
so uplifting! How lucky we are to have the Canadians
for neighbors!!! Here is the story
From Nazim-Amin:) We were about 5 hours out of Frankfurt flying over
the North Atlantic and I was in my crew rest seat taking my scheduled
rest break. All of a sudden the curtains parted violently and I was
told to go to the cockpit, right now, to see the captain. As soon
as I got there I noticed that the crew had one of those "All
Business" looks on their faces. The captain handed me a printed
message. I quickly read the message and realized the importance of
it. The message was from Atlanta, addressed to our flight, and simply
said, "All airways over the Continental US are closed. Land ASAP
at the nearest airport, advise your destination." Now, when a
dispatcher tells you to land immediately without suggesting which
airport, one can assume that the dispatcher has reluctantly given
up control of the flight to the captain. We knew it was a serious
situation and we needed to find terra firma quickly. It was quickly
decided that the nearest airport was 400 miles away, behind our right
shoulder, in Gander, on the island of New Foundland. A quick request
was made to the Canadian traffic controller and a right turn, directly
to Gander, was approved immediately. We found out later why there
was no hesitation by the Canadian controller approving our request.
We, the in-flight crew, were told to get the airplane ready for an
immediate landing. While this was going on another message arrived
from Atlanta telling us about some terrorist activity in the New York
area. We briefed the in-flight crew about going to Gander and we went
about our business 'closing down' the airplane for a landing.
A few minutes later I went back to the cockpit to find out that
some airplanes had been hijacked and were being flown into buildings
all over the US. We decided to make an announcement and LIE to the
passengers for the time being. We told them that an instrument problem
had arisen on the airplane and that we needed to land at Gander, to
have it checked. We promised to give more information after landing
in Gander. There were many unhappy passengers but that is par for
the course. We landed in Gander about 40 minutes after the start of
this episode. There were already about 20 other airplanes on the ground
from all over the world. After we parked on the ramp the captain made
the following announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, you must be
wondering if all these airplanes around us have the same instrument
problem as we have. But the reality is that we are here for a good
reason." Then he went on to explain the little bit we knew about
the situation in the US. There were loud gasps and stares of disbelief.
Local time at Gander was 12:30 PM. (11:00 AM EST) Gander control told
us to stay put. No one was allowed to get off the aircraft. No one
on the ground was allowed to come near the aircraft. Only a car from
the airport police would come around once in awhile, look us over
and go on to the next airplane. In the next hour or so all the airways
over the North Atlantic were vacated and Gander alone ended up with
53 airplanes from all over the world, out of which 27 were flying
US flags. We were told that each and every plane was to be offloaded,
one at a time, with the foreign carriers given the priority. We were
No.14 in the US category. We were further told that we would be given
a tentative time to deplane at 6 PM. Meanwhile bits of news started
to come in over the aircraft radio and for the first time we learned
that airplanes were flown into the World Trade Center in New York
and into the Pentagon in DC. People were trying to use their cell
phones but were unable to connect due to a different cell system in
Canada. Some did get through but were only able to get to the Canadian
operator who would tell them that the lines to the US were either
blocked or jammed and to try again. Some time late in the evening
the news filtered to us that the World Trade Center buildings had
collapsed and that a fourth hijacking had resulted in a crash.
Now the passengers were totally bewildered and emotionally exhausted
but stayed calm as we kept reminding them to look around to see that
we were not the only ones in this predicament. There were 52 other
planes with people on them in the same situation. We also told them
that the Canadian Government was in charge and we were at their mercy.
True to their word, at 6 PM, Gander airport told us that our turn
to deplane would come at 11 AM, the next morning. That took the last
wind out of the passengers and they simply resigned and accepted this
news without
much noise and really started to get into a mode of spending the night
on the airplane. Gander had promised us any and all medical attention
if needed; medicine, water, and lavatory servicing. And they were
true to their word. Fortunately we had no medical situation during
the night. We did have a young lady who was 33 weeks into her pregnancy.
We took REALLY good care of her. The night passed without any further
complications on our airplane despite the uncomfortable sleeping arrangements.
About 10:30 on the morning of the 12th we were told to get ready to
leave the aircraft. A convoy of school buses showed up at the side
of the airplane, the stairway was hooked up and the passengers were
taken to the terminal for "processing" We, the crew, were
taken to the same terminal but were told to go to a different section,
where we were processed through Immigration and customs and then had
to register with the Red Cross. After that we were isolated from our
passengers and were taken in a caravan of vans to a very small hotel
in the town of Gander. We had no idea where our passengers were going.
The town of Gander has a population of 10,400 people. Red Cross told
us that they were going to process about 10,500 passengers from all
the airplanes that were forced into Gander. We were told to just relax
at the
hotel and wait for a call to go back to the airport, but not to expect
that call for a while. We found out the total scope of the terror
back home only after getting to our hotel and turning on the TV, 24
hours after it all started. Meanwhile we enjoyed ourselves going around
town discovering things and enjoying the hospitality. The people were
so friendly and they just knew that we were the "Plane people".
We all had a great time until we got that call, 2 days later, on the
14th at 7:00 AM. We made it to the airport by 8:30AM and left for
Atlanta at 12:30 PM arriving in Atlanta at about 4:30PM. (Gander is
1 hour and 30 minutes ahead of EST, yes!, 1 hour and 30 minutes.)
But that's not what I wanted to tell you. What passengers told us
was so uplifting and incredible and the timing couldn't have been
better. We found out that Gander and the surrounding small communities,
within a 75 Kilometer radius, had closed all the high schools, meeting
halls, lodges, and any other large gathering places. They converted
all these facilities to a mass lodging area. Some had cots set up,
some had mats with sleeping bags and pillows set up. ALL the high
school students HAD to volunteer taking care of the "GUESTS".
Our 218 passengers ended up in a town called Lewisporte, about 45
Kilometers from Gander. There they were put in a high school. If any
women wanted to be in a women only facility, that was arranged. Families
were kept together. All the elderly passengers were given no choice
and were taken to private homes. Remember that young pregnant lady,
she was put up in a private home right across the street from a 24
hour Urgent Care type facility. There were DDS on call and they had
both male and female nurses available and stayed with the crowd for
the duration. Phone calls and emails to US and Europe were available
for every one once a day. During the days the passengers were given
a choice of "Excursion" trips. Some people went on boat
cruises of the lakes and harbors. Some went to see the local forests.
Local bakeries stayed open to make fresh bread for the guests. Food
was prepared by all the residents and brought to the school for those
who elected to stay put. Others were driven to the eatery of their
choice and fed. They were given tokens to go to the local Laundromat
to wash their clothes, since their luggage was still on the aircraft.
In other words every single need was met for those unfortunate travelers.
Passengers were crying while telling us these stories. After all that,
they were delivered to the airport right on time and without a single
one missing or late. All because the local Red Cross had all the information
about the goings on back at Gander and knew which group needed to
leave for the airport at what time. Absolutely incredible.
When passengers came on board, it was like they had been on a cruise.
Everybody knew everybody else by their name. They were swapping stories
of their stay, impressing each other with who had the better time.
It was mind boggling. Our flight back to Atlanta looked like a party
flight. We simply stayed out of their way. The passengers had totally
bonded and they were calling each other by their first names, exchanging
phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses. And then a strange
thing happened. One of our business class passengers approached me
and asked if he could speak over the PA to his fellow passengers.
We never, never, allow that. But something told me to get out of his
way. I said "of course". The gentleman picked up the PA
and reminded everyone about what they had just gone through in the
last few days. He reminded them of the hospitality they had received
at the hands of total strangers. He further stated that he would like
to do something in return for the good folks of the town of Lewisporte.
He said he was going to set up a Trust Fund under the name of DELTA
15 (our flight number). The purpose of the trust fund is to provide
a scholarship for high school student(s) of Lewisporte to help them
go to college. He asked for donations of any amount from his fellow
travelers. When the paper with donations got back to us with the amounts,
names, phone numbers and addresses, it totaled to $14.5K or about
$20K Canadian. The gentleman who started all this turned out to be
an MD from Virginia. He promised to match the donations and to start
the administrative work on the scholarship. He also said that he would
forward this proposal to Delta Corporate and ask them to donate as
well. Why, all of this? Just because some people in far away places
were kind to some strangers, who happened to literally drop in among
them? WHY NOT?
Nazim
Back to top
WHO BRINGS SNACKS????
Below is a list of who brings snacks for each meeting. I am sure
the T-V's will bring excellent goodies in October.
January A-C
February D-F
March G-H
APRIL I-L
June M
July N-P
September Q-S
October T-V
November W
CALENDAR
1st Monday Each month Board Meeting at the chapter hangar at Gundy's
7:00pm
2nd Monday each month Newsletter Folding at the hangar - Gundy's
Airport 6:30pm
3rd Monday each month Chapter 10 EAA meeting at the hangar - Gundy's
Airport
1st Saturday each month Ponca City Aviation Booster club Breakfast
Fly-In.
1st Saturday after 3rd Monday - each month Pancake Breakfast -
Gundy's Airport
Oct 21 1:00pm WING DING at Gundy's
EAA Hangar. Bring a dish to share
Chicken wings provided by Roger Wiedon
Oct 26-28 Reklaw Texas - Flying M
Fly-In/Campout
Nov. 19 Pie Auction at our regular meeting
at Gundy's
Dec 08 EAA Chap10 Christmas Party.
Back to top
FOR SALE
Pazmany Pl-1(Laminar) project. Wings done many parts & aluminum.
Carolyn Borucki 369-5158
Building lot at Gundy's. 1 ¼ acre lot $60,000
call Sallie Coltharp REMAX 274-1600 272-7255
WEB PAGE NEWSLETTER
Our web page address is:
http://www.geocities.com/eaa_chap10
Mark will email a notice to each member who chooses to use the WEB
version of the newsletter a note stating that the newsletter is ready
and on line. Of course those who do not opt for the WEB version will
continue to get a hard copy.
The chapter encourages everyone to opt for the WEB version rather
than the hard copy.
Please send me an email to scoltharp@aol.com
stating that you want to use the WEB version of the newsletter if
you opt for it.
One advantage of the web page based newsletter is that we can finally
have good quality color pictures of airplanes and activities.
Contact our chapter officers by e-mail
President: Bhrent Waddell bwaddell@tulsa.oklahoma.com
Vice President: Bart Dalton Planenutts@Worldnet.att.net
Treasurer: Craig Loomiller ccaloom@dellepro.com
Secretary: Jerry Vaughn GVAUGHAN48@AOL.COM
Back to top
