Well, Spring finally seems to be here and all seems to be going well. We’re in our new hangar – and actually had our first (March) General Membership meeting there. The BBQ was being to good use again and the 30 +/- attendees were well fed.

64 of the 104 members on our roster have paid their dues for 2016. Time to re-up, folks, and you can pay any one of three ways: at a General Membership meeting, by check to our P.O. Box, or via PayPal through our website. We have 14 Gold Members (EAA’ers paying an extra $300 to help with the hangar expenses) and five more have pledged to join this august group. Thanks, guys!

Richard Bristow had us walk down to his hangar for a presentation on his “side-job” of securing air samples for environmental assessment for NOAA in the Mightly Beech. Richard’s flights have taken him south the LA basin and north to the upper coast of California, and from FL250 down to 200 feet. Not for the weak of heart, or kidneys, as the flights can last 4+ hours. And talk about equipment! The monitoring gear strapped in the rear compartment costs north of $25,000.

Richard says that he has, and can, take a passenger along for the ride, as long as he/she understands the “ground rules”. This is important work that affects all of us, so a big Thank You, Richard.

The chapter held a special seminar Tuesday April 12th at the EAA hangar on “Who is the NTSB and what do they Do”. Allison’s talk about accidents: what happened and what we can learn from them was extremely informative. Allison is a past recipient of Auburn’s AAA club’s pilot scholarship program, and after college she ended up in the NTSB as an accident investigator. It’s nice to see the impact we aviators can have on someone’s life and career.
 
We’re back on our regular schedule for the monthly General Membership meeting…Wednesday April 20th…6:00pm for the BBQ, then the meeting.
 
Bruce E’s Poker Run is May 14th. See information later in this Newsletter.
 
The Lincoln AirFest 2016 is now two months away and the planning continues. It’s a great opportunity to showcase the Airport, the city of Lincoln, and flying. This will be a very complex undertaking and will take many volunteers. The AirFest Coordinating Committee is looking for volunteers from the EAA and the LRAA, primarily to help in crowd control on the tarmac and flight areas. There will be 70 +/- aircraft in the display area, plus all the aircraft flying in for the event. Lots of activity! Contact Jim Hughes (jim.hughes1@att.net to get involved.