Author Archives: Scott Thompson

September 23: Saturday BBQ Lunch and Program

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This coming Saturday, September 23, EAA Chapter 1541 will be having its 4th Saturday BBQ Lunch and Program at the EAA Hangar.

This month, our program will celebrate the successes of our youth scholarship and sponsorship programs for this year. Specifically, our 2022-2023 Ray Scholar, Anthony Moreno, has completed his private pilot training. Our current Ray Scholar, Danielle Hanes, is well into her training for her private pilot certification. We also sponsored two of our chapter’s young people, Sam Mach and Prahlad  Iyengar, to attend the EAA Air Academy summer camp this past summer. We have asked all four to come and present their experiences through these programs.

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And, we also want to provide a few of our chapter members with an opportunity to share some of their own experiences from AirVenture at Oshkosh this past July. We had a good group of guys and gals make the trip east, either by the easy pain-in-the-neck way or the hard, fun way (your experience may have varied). So, if you were one of those and would like to share a few minutes of your experiences, come prepared.

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So, for both our young presenters and our Oshkosh travelers…we will have our chapter computer hooked up to our screen and audio system…bring your thumb drive to project a Powerpoint or images, or bring your own HDMI-connection-capable computer and plug it on in. We’ll ask the presenters to come to the front and use a microphone so all can hear.

We’ll have a brief business meeting at 11:45 with the presentations and programs to begin at 12:00.

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.

And, for your convenience, we are now accepting credit and debit cards, plus other methods of electronic payment, for our meals, t-shirts, dues, and donations.

Please join us on Saturday.

This Coming Saturday: Breakfast at the Hangar

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A reminder to all that we will be holding our Second Saturday Pancake Breakfast this coming Saturday (September 9) from 8:00 am until 10:00 am. Except there won’t be any pancakes this time around. Instead: Breakfast Burritos…yes, you read right. Breakfast burritos! Plus sausage and the other good fixings that go along with breakfast. Why breakfast burritos, you might ask? Well, we are using up some of our egg stock from the very successful Open House Pancake Breakfast. Waste not, want not, etc.
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We’ll be cooking from 8:00 am to 9:30 am when the grill shuts down, so come early. Breakfast will be $10.00 per person, $5.00 per young person 12 and under, or $25.00 per family.
Something new: our chapter is now accepting payment via credit or debit cards, and also Venmo and PayPal.

Saturday, August 26: City of Lincoln’s Airport Open House and Family Festival

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This coming Saturday is the City of Lincoln’s Airport Open House and Family Festival  from 7 am to 2 pm. Come on out to the airport for a full day of activity. EAA Chapter 1541 will be participating with a Pancake Breakfast from 7 am until 10 am. We’ll also have our flight simulators our for folks to enjoy a short flight, and we’ll have an informational booth to answer any questions. Also on the airport: many dozens of display aircraft including military and CalFire, plus hot air balloons, classic cars, vendor booths, food trucks, and youth activities. It will be a great day to see our local airport and have some family fun.

Coming this Saturday (August 12): Pancake Breakfast

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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. If you are not familiar with the airport, navigate to Flight Line Drive and follow the “EAA” signs. All are welcome.

We’ll be cooking pancakes, eggs, and other good stuff from 8:00 am to 9:30 am when the grill shuts down, so come early. Breakfast is  $10.00 per person, $5.00 per child under 12, or $20.00 per family.

Something new: our chapter is now accepting payment via credit or debit cards, and also Venmo and PayPal. We will be trying out our new systems in preparation for the August 26 Airport Open House.

Our chapter Board of Directors will be having its monthly meeting directly after the pancake breakfast, so you are welcome to stick around for that also.

Come on out and enjoy some

good food and hangar flying too.

 

BBQ Lunch and Program on Saturday, July 22: Scrapping Our World War II Air Force

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For our Saturday, July 22, BBQ Lunch meeting, Scott Thompson will present on a widely-known but less-understood topic: Scrapping Our World War II Air Force.

Rows of aircraft engines removed from surplus bombers at the Kingman boneyard

Almost everyone has seen pictures of the endless rows of surplus warplanes gathered at remote desert fields after the end of World War II. Why were these bombers and fighters seemingly abandoned? What happened to them? Did we just scrap them and turn them into pots and pans? This presentation provides the details of what we did with a massive air force no longer needed.

War weary B-17's at Kingman AZ, waiting to be destroyed : r/WWIIplanes

Scott Thompson is the author of several books and numerous articles on different aspects of American aviation history. He has specialized in the post-war civilian use of World War II aircraft and thus has extensively researched the process of how the U.S. disposed of surplus warplanes. He maintains an historical aviation website at aerovintage.com.
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.

And, for your convenience, we are now accepting credit and debit cards, plus other methods of electronic payment, for our meals, t-shirts, dues, and donations. Please join us on Saturday.

Curtiss P-40 Warhawks stacked on their noses to save space at Walnut Ridge, Arkansas after World War II

 

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Pancake Breakfast This Saturday (July 8)

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. If you are not familiar with the airport, navigate to Flight Line Drive and follow the “EAA” signs. All are welcome.
We’ll be cooking pancakes, eggs, and other good stuff from 8:00 am to 9:30 am when the grill shuts down, so come early. Breakfast is  $10.00 per person, $5.00 per child under 12, or $25.00 per family.
Our chapter Board of Directors will be having its monthly meeting directly after the pancake breakfast, so you are welcome to stick around for that also.

Come on out and enjoy some good food and hangar flying too.

Pancake Breakfast This Saturday (June 10)

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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. If you are not familiar with the airport, navigate to Flight Line Drive and follow the “EAA” signs. All are welcome.
We’ll be cooking pancakes, eggs, and other good stuff from 8:00 am to 9:30 am when the grill shuts down, so come early. Breakfast is  $10.00 per person, $5.00 per child under 12, or $20.00 per family.
Our chapter Board of Directors will be having its monthly meeting directly after the pancake breakfast, so you are welcome to stick around for that also.
Come on out and enjoy some
good food and hangar flying too.

Pancake Breakfast Saturday, May 13, from 8:00 am to 10:00 am

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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. If you are not familiar with the airport, navigate to Flight Line Drive and follow the “EAA” signs. All are welcome.
We’ll be cooking pancakes, eggs, and other good stuff from 8:00 am to 9:30 am when the grill shuts down, so come early. Breakfast is  $10.00 per person, $5.00 per child under 12, or $20.00 per family.
Our chapter Board of Directors will be having its monthly meeting directly after the pancake breakfast, so you are welcome to stick around for that also.
Come on out and enjoy some
good food and hangar flying too.

Learn To Fly Week: May 15-20

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The national Experimental Aircraft Association is hosting the Learn To Fly Week during the week of May 15. The intent is to provide some good information to anyone in the community who is looking to learn to fly.
 
Expert flight instructors and representatives from aviation organizations will present free and interactive webinars to help jumpstart your flight training journey. Topics covered include how to get started in flight training, tips for saving time and money in flight training, preparing for the FAA written exam, examiner tips for passing the check ride, and much more!
 
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This six-day event concludes with chapter hosted Flying Start events on May 20, 2023. These events welcome, encourage, and educate aspiring pilots to a flight training pathway at their local airport. Flying Start events are capped with the FREE introductory Eagle Flight!

In our area, there are three chapters hosting a Flying Start Event on May 20: Reno-Stead, Watsonville, and Camarillo. More information on scheduling the Flying Start Event can be found here.

So, if you or someone you know has always wanted to learn to fly but did not know how to start, please go to the Learn To Fly Week page at the EAA website and review the free online webinars that are available during the week of May 15 and register for those that will help answer your questions.

Any questions, please email our chapter at eaa1541@gmail.com and we’ll try to get you an answer.

Saturday, April 22 BBQ Lunch Meeting: Aviation Author Nicholas A. Veronico Presenting

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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.

Nicholas A. Veronico is the author of a number of aviation, military, and transportation books. He began looking for and documenting aircraft crash sites in the late 1980s, and in 1995 started the website Wreckchasing.com. His website’s message board has become an on-line community for those interested in researching and finding aircraft crash sites. Most recently, his research led to the City of San Carlos, California, commemorating the March 1945 crash of a Navy R4D that impacted less than a mile and a half of his home. Sixteen servicemen survived the incident while seven perished.

 

On May 28, 1944, his grand uncle was lost in the 390th Bomb Group’s B-17G “Decatur Deb.” Nothing was known by his family of the loss until Nick began to further research the air war, which led to his book Bloody Skies: U.S. Eighth Air Force Battle Damage in World War II.

 

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.