Mark Your Calendars!

For our Saturday, April 22, BBQ Lunch meeting, we are happy to welcome noted aviation author Nicholas A. Veronico to present a program on Wreckchasing.

Wreckchasing is researching, locating, and documenting aircraft crashes and crash sites that occurred before 1970. As the nation’s population expands, we are often encroaching upon historic aircraft crash sites. It is the job of the wreckchaser to respectfully locate and document these sites before they are scavenged by recyclers or built upon by developers. Wreckchasing is an avocation that combines meticulous research, detective work, and outdoor adventure.

Nick will present on a number of aircraft crash sites, both civilian and military, that he has documented over the years. Nick will also have a few of his many books available for purchase including Wreckchasing 101,  PB4Y-2 Privateer, and Boeing 377 Stratocruiser.

BBQ Lunch starts at 11:00 at our hangar at the Lincoln Regional Airport. If you are not familiar with our hangar’s location, come to the airport and just follow the “EAA” signs.

The grill is hot from 11:00 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. when it shuts down, so come early. BBQ Lunch is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 12 or under, and $25 for families.

Our chapter will be having our Fourth Saturday BBQ Lunch on Saturday, March 25, beginning at 11:00 at our hangar. This month, something special. We’ll have Pulled Pork sandwiches and all the other fixings available for a good lunch. The grill is hot from 11:00 a.m. until 11:45 a.m. when the grill shuts down, so come early. BBQ Lunch is $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for kids 12 or under, and $25 for families.

Our Program for March

This month we have invited ex-ATC controller Gary Veer for a presentation. Gary will talk from a controller’s perspective about both airspace and critical language.

Gary has a philosophy about airspace that is not widely circulated, but probably prevails among other controllers–In spite of the many classifications of airspace, there are really only two kinds of airspace:

• Pilot’s Airspace
• Controller’s Airspace

Gary will then discuss critical language. He’s gone to great lengths to find the wisdom that encapsulates critical language.  The point is clear – our words, although perfectly clear, have different meanings in different contexts. In aviation, for the well-being of both pilots and controllers, it is vital that both share the same understanding of the language.

Gary’s official aviation career began nearly fifty years ago when he became a pilot in February 1977. He joined the FAA in 1982 and went to work at an enroute center as a controller. He went to FAA flight check for a decade in the 1990s doing procedural and navaid checks, and then went back to controlling. He then returned to FAA flight check in 2012 when he ‘aged-out’ as a controller. He retired from the FAA in March 2019 and moved on to fly for Kenmore Airlines in Puget Sound and Axis Jet at Mather. He returned to the FAA in December 2020 again as a flight check pilot based at Sacramento. Also in his long career, he has done TERPS procedural design for the FAA and U.S. Army, and taught aviation and ATC courses at Green River College at Auburn, Washington. He also worked at the FAA Command Center, then at Herndon, Virginia. Gary brings his extensive background and aviation knowledge to us for what should be an entertaining and informative program. As a note…Gary is not speaking as an FAA representative for our program…he speaks as an ex-ATC controller with lots of real-world experience.

Come out Saturday morning to the EAA Hangar for some good food and good information. Remember…we’re only cooking until 11:45…

Aerospace Museum at McClellan Airport: 2023 Summer Camps
June 12th – August 4th
9am – 3pm

Aerospace Museum of California’s Summer Camp is back! Discover and explore the world of STEM this summer with weekly programs in Engineering, Space, and Aviation. Registration opens this Friday, March 10th at noon. Spots will fill quickly so don’t wait to grab your boarding pass.

For more information about this year’s camp program contact camp@aerospaceca.org

Member Pricing: $355
Non-Member Pricing: $385

BBQ Lunch Program: Clyde, Walter, Lloyd, Clarence and William – The Creators  of the Cessna, Beechcraft, Stearman, Taylorcraft and Piper Aircraft Companies

Presented by chapter member Marty Maisel

In the two decades following World War I, numerous aeronautical entrepreneurs produced aircraft to meet the growing demand of civil aviation. A few of these industrialists made significant advancements to aviation technology and established businesses whose names are recognized today, nearly 100 years later. This is the story of some of those captains of the infant general aviation industry in the United States.

Our presenter, Marty Maisel attended the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (now NY State University) and the Hartford Graduate Center of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute for studies in aeronautical engineering and space sciences. His ten-year Industry experience included propeller aerodynamic analysis and test for conventional and VTOL aircraft at the Hamilton Standard Division of the United Aircraft Corporation and the Helicopter Division of the Boeing Company.

In 1970 he joined the Army Aeroflight-dynamics Directorate at the NASA Ames Research Center, as a member of joint Army/NASA XV-15 Tilt Rotor Research Aircraft Project Office, and was responsible for aerodynamics and the development of aircraft subsystems. In that activity he worked as principal investigator for several flight and wind tunnel tests.  Following completion of the XV-15 project, Marty served as the Airworthiness Officer for Army flight test operations in support of joint Army/NASA rotorcraft technology research programs at Ames conducted on Army UH-60 Blackhawk, AH-1 Cobra and OH-58 Kiowa helicopters. He retired in 2002. Marty earned his pilot license in 1966 and has completed a homebuilt aircraft (but no longer has a current medical).

Our BBQ Lunch will start at 11:00 a.m. at the EAA Hangar S-12 at Lincoln Regional Airport (KLHM). We’ll have a short business meeting at about 11:45, and then Marty will present at 12:00. If you are going to attend the BBQ Lunch, please arrive at 11:00 as we will only be cooking and serving food until 11:45, with the program to start promptly at noon. Cost for our full BBQ Lunch is $10.00 for adults, $5 for kids and $20 for a family.

A reminder, we will be having our Second Saturday Pancake Breakfast from 8:00 to 10:00 a.m. in the EAA hangar, S-12 at the Lincoln Regional Airport.  Weather forecast looks good for Saturday.

Our January Saturday BBQ Lunch Program on January 28 will dive into the ups and downs of flying in Europe, particularly Italy and Switzerland. Our presenter is chapter member Dave Magaw, an experienced pilot and builder based right here at Lincoln. He will talk about his experiences flying in Europe for the last nine years, and particularly in the last 4-5 years. Dave will cover some of the differences between flying in Europe compared to the USA, the airspace differences and some of the differences in the rules and regulations for flying. His experiences are only those of flying small private planes for fun and educational purposes (but mostly for fun and food), but he has pictures!

As a bit of background, Dave is 70 years old and received a U.S. pilot certificate in 1999. He received a European PPL in 2021 and an Italian Advanced Ultralight License in early 2022. He has logged in excess of 2,100 hours of flight time, about ¾ of which is in taildraggers. He towed gliders, mostly from the Byron Airport, though he retired from doing that in 2021. He flies Experimental and Light Sport aircraft, which are called Ultralights in Europe. His hangar at Lincoln holds his Pitts S1C and modified tailwheel Cessna 172, both of which he flies often.

Dave Magaw at a big European airshow at Friedrichshafen, Germany.
This is not Dave’s airplane.

Dave gets to Europe for a good part of every year and is part of a Swiss group doing a full rebuild of a Pitts S1C in Switzerland. He owns and files at Groppo Trail (advanced ultralight) based in Italy. His past U.S. projects include rebuilding a Thorpe T-18, building a Wittman Tailwind, and completing a half-built RV-4 project. He is a tool guy and, with his experience and background, has helped many in the Lincoln airport community with advice, knowledge, and hardware.

The BBQ Lunch will start at 11:00 a.m. with good food and hangar flying. We’ll have a short business meeting at about 11:45, and then Dave will present at 12:00. If you are going to attend the BBQ Lunch, please arrive at 11:00 as we will only be cooking and serving food until 11:45, with the program to start promptly at noon. Cost for our full BBQ Lunch is $8.00 for adults, $5 for kids and $20 for a family.

So You Want To Build An Airplane?