A Message From Our Chapter President, Ron Fritz (Oct '05)

Here we are, fall is here and I bet most of you don’t have the chores done that you had hoped to finish before snow flies. That’s the case around my house and I doubt if they will get done before that time.

Our EAA year is winding down and elections are just around the corner. We have a good number of members in the chapter now and one of those lucky people will be your leader next year. I’ll keep this reminder in front of you in the newsletters and during the last three meetings.

Our chicken barbecue was not quite the success we had hoped for. Attendance was not what we would like to have seen. At least, we didn’t lose any money on the event and by selling leftover food, we were able to come a couple bucks to the good. I suppose there were several factors behind the small turnout, one being, that our expectations were a little too optimistic. In years past, we had some fantastic turnouts, one with over 300 people enjoying the food and flying camaraderie. Whatever, we should take a closer look at the circumstances and, perhaps, only plan a day for our chapter alone. That will be up to the 2006 officers.

For those who missed the last meeting, we brought up the possibility of the chapter building its own hangar/meeting place. That would be a tremendous undertaking and would require a huge obligation on the part of the chapter membership. It is something worth looking into. More on this at the October meeting.

See you all at the meeting.

October (2005) Meeting Minutes

EAA Chapter 704 held its regular monthly meeting on Monday September 12th 2005 at the Sparta Paul C. Miller Airport

The minutes and treasurers report from the previous meeting were approved as printed in the newsletter. The current check book balance is $2109.51, with $53.00 in cash on hand.

President Ron Fritz held a short business meeting primarily to discuss the very recent Chicken BBQ held for the club members and a number of friends. It had been hoped that the Club would at least break even financially and the final report indicates that we did just that with $17.14 left over. The total income was $633.00 and expenses came to $615.86. The real profit came in the fun we had getting together with family and friends over a very nice chicken dinner.

As usual there was work involved in getting everything set up and taken down but that all seems to "fall together". Once again a big thank you goes to Paramount Aviation for the use of their facilities. It is indeed the perfect location for such an event.

The program for the evening was put on by Bob Rector telling about the Powered Parachute. He should a factory video and also some slides taken at a group event up in Northern Michigan where they gather annually for a PP Fly-in at a farm offered for just this occasion.

Respectfully submitted
Jay Dean, Secretary/Treasurer

Top 25 Greatest Lies in Aviation

1. I'm from the FAA and I'm here to help you.
2. Me? I've never busted minimums.
3. We will be on time, maybe even early.
4. I've got the field in sight.
5. I have no interest in flying for the airlines.
6. I fixed it right the first time, it must have failed for other reasons.
7. I'm always glad to see the FAA.
8. I've got the traffic in sight.
9. I only need glasses for reading.
10. I broke out right at minimums.
11. The weather is gonna be alright; it's clearing to VFR.
12. Don't worry about the weight and balance -- it'll fly.
13. If we get a little lower I think we'll see the lights.
14. I'm 22, got 6000 hours, a four year degree & 3000 hours in a Lear.
15. We shipped the part yesterday.
16. Your plane will be ready by 2 o'clock.
17. All you have to do is follow the book.
18. Oh sure, no problem, I've got over 2000 hours in that aircraft.
19. It just came out of annual -- how could anything be wrong?
20. We'll be home by lunchtime.
21. I have 5000 hours total time, 3200 are actual instrument.
22. No need to look that up, I've got it all memorized.
23. Sure I can fly it -- it has wings, doesn't it?
24. Of course I know where we are.
25. I'm SURE the gear was down.