The Fly-in committee led by Frank Smith with assistance from last years committee chair Bill Johnson , is finalizing details to ensure this years fly-in will be safe and successful. Carl Hayes will bring a PA system and will ask his friends in the HAM club if they could help with car and airplane parking.  This might be one of the clubs best fly-ins yet.  For more information click here. 

Remember there will probably be much more traffic than usual.  You may want to brush up on your Non-Towered field procedures. Please help make this Fly-in SAFE.

Speaking of safety, there is a timely seminar being let by the Big Bend Safety Counsel on April 27th at Quincy  09:30 AM until  11:30 AM AVIATION SAFETY PROGRAM ***QUINCY AIRPORT*** AIRPORT FBO -TOPICS: ATC PROCEDURES -OPERATIONS AT UNCONTROLLED AIRPORTS - AVIATION SAFETY-WHATS NEW

Information call: Ron Fisher 942-9642 or Dennis Mathews W-574-3506 or H-627-2329

Tom enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and in 1941, was selected to flight training in thefirst class of enlisted pilots.  He graduated 29 April 1942 as a S/Sgt Pilot.  He was assigned to Midland AAF, TX to fly bombardier cadets in AT-11, B-18, B-34, and B-24 aircraft.  Tom received his current Commercial Pilot license for multi-engine on the basis of his military flying experience.

In 1947 Hewas sent to Hobbs AFB NM to remove 700 P-51 and 1500 B-26 (formerly the A-26) aircraft from storage.Each aircraft was given a 100 hour inspection, test flown for one hour, and then flown to the overhaul depot.This was my first (very pleasant) experience in a fighter.

He has over 5000 hours of flight time in various military aircraft including P-51's, B24, B26, B29, RB-47, T-6, T-28's and over 50 hours in civialian aircraft including Cessna 150,172,175,.Dehaviland L20, and a Beach T-34. 

Tom retired from the Air Force in May 1964 after faithfully serving our country for 24 years. He is currently the Owner of Baldwin’s Book Conservation Service, a home based business involving the repair of antique books and the conservation of valuable documents . 

Tom  joined  EAA 445  last July after Gar Braun invited him to a meeting.  James Dodson spoke about CAP at the next meeting, so he joined them in October. He had been wanting to get back into flying for the last several years. 9/11 gave him an additional push. Right now he is learning the ropes at CAP, and is assigned as their Current Ops and A/C Maintenance officer. 

When asked about one his most memorable  flying experiences, Tom gave the following account.  "While I was teaching B-26 transition Perrin AFB. TX during the Korean "Conflict," I had a late night call to pick up a fellow 
pilot at Valdosta, whose wife was in emergency. I picked up a B-26 and set out for Moody on a pleasant summer night with the usual forecast of possible scattered thunderstorms enroute.  These turned out to be a line across the Florida panhandle up into the Carolinas. I dropped down below them, still VFR relying on DR and my "birddog" until I realized that Moody's was a Loop range and totally unreliable because of the continuous lightning.  So I flew out my DR plus about ten minutes of rising confusion in and out of the lower scud until I saw a Green rotating beacon through a small clear spot. I said to myself, "It's bound to happen to every body sometime, swallow your pride and land NOW." As I recall it was a well-lighted EW strip and I lined up and as I flared I noticed that the runway was farther down that I judged as I kept reaching and reaching for it.  When I finally touched down I realized that the runway lights were set back from the edges of the runway by at least 75 yds instead of the immediate border. As I taxied up to a small shack at the apron, my landing lights picked up the lettering on its roof, CROSS CITY." I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for Cross City Airport

Can you name this plane?  If so click here, type in the name and hit send..  The first person with the correct name will be listed in next months newsletter. 

Jim Cammons was the winner of last months quiz with the correct answer of  d) 3mins. 

If you have a question for the SAFETY QUIZ  click here to submit it. Please include the answer!  

We now have 8 volunteer pilots who are willing to fly Young Eagles at the Quincy Fly-in (Al Fitzgerald and Gar Braun in a 172,  Dave Schamber in a Kit Fox, Jeff Owens in a 182, Scott O'Brien in a Citabria , Bill Johnson in a Colt , John Sivyer in a 172. and possibly Bob Hargrave in a RV-8 ) 

We also have a couple of ground volunteers, Rhet White and Frank Smith , to help fill out the forms and give some ground instruction. 

Now all we need is a bunch of kids to show up.  If you know of any responsible kids from 8-17 years old who would like to experience flight for the first time , please pass the word about the fly-in. They will need to have a parent or guardian sign a permission form. Parents MUST accompany their kids while waiting for an airplane ride at the fly-in.  Many of the children and some of the Adults may have never been around airplanes before. Please let them know  that many people have been  killed , walking into spinning props and to be very careful were they walk. Please keep your eyes out for any kids that might be wandering around . Kill your engines as soon as practical.  It is up to each of us to make sure there are no accidents, on the ground or in the air! 

 For more information about Young Eagles click here. 

Would you like to be a Safety Pilot for instrument rated pilots who need hood time to remain current or for pilots working on their instrument rating?  If so click here, type Name e-mail address, phone number and hit send.  You will be added to the SAFETY PILOT  list.

4-16-02 At the general meeting  there were 18 people present  12 members and 6 guests.  Members were Marc Matthews, Jim Pierce, Frank Smith, Gar Braun,  Duane Mitchell, Dave Schamber,Carl Hayes, Rhet White, Bill Johnson, Tom Baldwin,  Donald Rogers  and John Sivyer   The guests were  Bob O'Dell, Buck Marshall, Jeff Owens,  Barry Scherill, Scott O'Brien, and former member Louise Austin all the way from France.

Marc Matthews suggested that the club video library be left at the new Flightline hanger lounge for non-members to use.  A motion was made and seconded and was approved by a vote of the members.

Next  EAA 445 Meeting 05/14/2002

The next meeting of the Flying Club will be on Wednesday, May 8th, at 7:00pm, at the Golden Corral, located at 1630 N.Monroe Street.  They have reserved the meeting room area in the back corner of the restaurant. 
 
 

By RICK ROUSOS
The Ledger 

LAKELAND -- Pilots who regularly fly to Sun 'n Fun say they can't explain why both pilots involved in a fatal mid-air crash Friday afternoon didn't respond to air traffic control commands to separate. "At least 100 things could have happened," Larry Wade, 65, of Niceville, said Tuesday. The veteran pilots interviewed for this story said air traffic control at busy Lakeland Linder Regional Airport is second to none. Jerry Morrison of Austin, Texas, was killed and Stephan Pierce of Graham, Texas, was in good condition Tuesday at Lakeland Regional Medical Center. Morrison was flying a home-built RV-6A and Pierce a 1949 Piper PA-16. A crash investigator with the National Transportation Safety Board said Morrison did not respond to a controller's command to head to an alternate runway and Pierce didn't respond to an order to climb. For more on this story go to http://www.theledger.com/top_stories/10cras.htm

PRESIDENT             Marc Matthews          342-3587              matthews.marc@worldnet.att.net 
VICE PRESIDENT    Bill Johnson              893-6418              Bill@FloridaAirports.org 
SECRETARY            Frank Smith              576-3312                   
TREASURER            Dave Schamber        962-2768              dbschamb@netscape.net 
YOUNG EAGLES      John Sivyer              668-0480              Sivyer@Tallahassee.net