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…

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.