Site Last Updated: 3/31/08

President's Hot Seat:

Pete Haggland

The very first thing I want to comment on is the banquet. The numbers are in and we did very well it seems. It was very well attended and the food and company were excellent, along with the Mr Jim Rearden, the
speaker. Another successful effort by those who did the work and planning and the support from the industry in the area. Thank You!

I don't know whether this will be in time but the local FISDO is having their annual IA renewal seminar on the 28th of March at the Princess Hotel. Our April Schedule is as follows;
April 3rd general meeting, April 15th, Museum meeting; and the 19th of April the EAA BOD meeting. A new item just came up at the ACMAC meeting on the 24th of March which I attended.

Not official yet but there is a move afoot to put a TFR in place over the Delta Ballistic Missile Defense site. When this went in we were all promised that this wouldn't happen. It was mentioned that this would take effect possibly during times of increased tensions that could last for some time. Just another nail in the access in the Delta area. The area in Delta just gets more convoluted all the time. Comments on the Delta MOA'S will be due by the end of April it looks like. The activation of
the Delta MOA's will eliminate the V444 AIrway, J501/J502 and the approach facilities at Big Delta and the airway down to Gulkana. Study it and see how it affects you!

At the Board meeting in March the board approved the purchase of a DVD player for the museum so that more info
can be used for meeting and such.

May looks like a busy month with lots of things happening. It starts out with the State Aviation Trade Show in Anchorage on the 3rd and 4th,
then the Valdez Fly in and Airshow on the 9th thru the 11th, Along with the IAAAF museum clean up day on the 10th here locally and then
the EAA Pancake/Young Eagles Day on the 17th along with the Airport/Aviation Appreciation
Day at the Alaska Aerofuel Facility at the Sadler Business Plaza across from Pike's at the airport. We need Young Eagle pilots and planes, folks
to help out with details and with static displays. Give me a call or Roger Weggel to help out.
479-6450 for me or 590-0927 for Roger. There is lots happening so stay tuned!

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Chapter has Tech Advisor

More news from the March Board meeting. Rick Crisenbery has agreed to take on the roll
of Tech Advisor for the chapter. He has filled out the paperwork required by EAA national,
and should be available soon if any of you want to discuss your airplane building project!

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Congratulations Ruby Shorey
Jack Schnurr

We had one first flight this year. Ruby Shorey had her first flight in her CGS Hawk classic II on
the 12th of Sept 2007. I was lucky enough to be present for the big event. Her husband Tim built the airplane for her and helped with each flight as she flew off the required test hours.

It was a lot of fun to watch them work together as a team
while they made small improvements to the airplane.
They are both eager to continue the flying as soon as the snow goes away. Tim mentioned
to me that he is thinking of building another cub type airplane in the future.

We have not seen the last of this dynamic couple. Congratulations to both of them.

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Kalamazoo Air Zoo
Pat Crisenbery

This past Christmas break, Rick and I had the opportunity to visit the Kalamazoo Air Zoo, an
aviation museum located on the Kalamazoo/ Battle Creek Airport in southwest Michigan. It had been 20+ years since our last visit, and we were astounded at the changes. It is now a top notch museum housed in two large buildings, and well worth the visit if you are ever in the area.

We happened to stop by on a gray weekday in early January, and found ourselves among only
a smattering of visitors, so we had plenty of time and room to enjoy all the exhibits. Aircraft exhibits range from several antiques, to a fine collection
of WWII navy aircraft, to an impressively huge SR-71 Blackbird. The WWII airplanes include four Grumman
Cats: a Hellcat, a Bearcat, a Wildcat and a Tigercat. Also on display is a restored Douglas
SBD Dauntlass which was retrieved from Lake Michigan almost half a century after it was lost in a training run.

Ed Gelvin Memorial Scholarship
Jack Schnurr

The scholarship committee was happy to announce and award this year’s scholarship to a
very deserving young man. Wyatt Tormey, a very nice and determined man from the local
area was selected as this years recipient of the $500 award.

Wyatt attended the Galena aviation school last year. He completed the private pilot written exam but time ran out and he was unable to work on the flying portion. He transferred to the A&P program and says that he has loved every minute of it.

He has spent the last seven months working with hand-me-down tools, loaned by his dad, and wants to buy some new tools to work with. He would like to be a helicopter mechanic for Air Logistics sometime in the future. Wyatt, we wish you a wonderful
career in aviation.

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Annual Banquet Wrap-Up
Pat Crisenbery

We had a great banquet this year with more than 90 folks in attendance. The paper airplane
contest was enthusiastic (but how come Dan Domke won?!), the silent auction well frequented, and Jim Rearden’s talk was great!

Thank you all for coming and continuing to make the banquet a successful event.In the main building, besides the displayed aircraft,
there are great activities for kids of all
ages. Several arcade type rides featuring aircraft
are sure to delight the younger ones, and a
4D theater featuring a 15 minute film on the last
run over Germany of a B-17, the Kalamazoo
Gal, left me breathless and not a little teary. I
chuckled, though, to see that the theatre staff
strategically places a box of tissues at the exit,
next to the bin where you deposit your 3D
specs! Finally there are 4 great flight simulators
where you can try your hand at a bombing run
while flying upside down (if you so wish)!
The price of admission felt a little steep at $20,
but once inside, all the rides and activities are
free. Allow at least 3 hours if you decide to visit.
For more information, check out www.airzoo.
com.

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Termination of 121.5 MHz Beacons for Satellite Alerting is Coming Soon

Reprinted from faasafety.com (September 5, 2007)
Notice Number: NOTC0981
On 1 February 2009, the International Cospas-
Sarsat [1] Organization (U.S. included) will terminate
processing of distress signals emitted by 121.5 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitters
(ELTs).

This means that pilots flying aircraft equipped with 121.5 MHz ELTs after that
date will have to depend on pilots of over flying aircraft and or ground stations monitoring 121.5 to hear and report distress alert signals, transmitted from a possible crash site.

Why is this happening?

Although lives have been saved by 121.5 MHz ELTs, the downside has been their propensity to generate false alerts (approximately 98 percent of all 121.5 MHz alerts are false), and their failure
to provide rescue forces with timely and accurate crash location data. Both of which actually delay rescue efforts and have a direct effect on an individual's chance for survival. Rescue forces have to respond to all 121.5 MHz alerts to determine if they are real distress alerts or if they are being generated by an interferer, an inadvertent
activation (by the owner) or equipment failure.

Is there an alternative?

Yes, the Cospas-Sarsat System (U.S. included) has been and will continue processing emergency signals transmitted by 406 MHz ELTs.
These 5 Watt digital beacons transmit a much stronger signal, are more accurate, verifiable and traceable to the registered beacon owner
(406 MHz ELTs must be registered by the owner in accordance with Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulation). Registration
allows the search and rescue authorities to contact the beacon owner, or his or her designated alternate by telephone to determine if a
real emergency exists. Therefore, a simple telephone
call often solves a 406 MHz alerts without launching costly and limited search and rescue
resources, which would have to be done for a 121.5 MHz alert. For these reasons, the
search and rescue community is encouraging aircraft owners to consider retrofit of 406 MHz
ELTs or at a minimum, consider the purchase of a handheld 406 MHz Personal Locator Beacon
(PLB) which can be carried in the cockpit while continuing to maintain a fixed 121.5 MHz ELT mounted in the aircraft's tail. Remember, after February 1, 2009, the worldwide
Cospas-Sarsat satellite system will no longer process 121.5 MHz alert signals. Pilots
involved in aircraft accidents in remote areas will have to depend on pilots of over flying aircraft and or ground stations to hear emergency ELT distress signals. For further information concerning the termination of 121.5 MHz data
processing visit www.sarsat.noaa.gov

[1] The Cospas-Sarsat Organization provides a satellite based world-wide monitoring system that detects and locates distress signals transmitted by Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs), Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRBs) and Personal Locator Beacons
(PLBs). The system includes space and ground segments
which process the signals received from the beacon source and forwards the distress alert data to the appropriate RescueCoordinationCenter for action.
Address SARSAT inquiries to:
NOAA SARSAT
NSOF. E/SP3
4231 SuitlandRoad
Suitland, MD 20746
Phone: 301.817.4515
Toll free: 888.212.7283

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Chapter By-Laws

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Chapter History Lesson

Vickie Domke

EAA Chapter 1129 was founded in 1996 as a result, as I recall, of an offhand comment, “How come we don't have an EAA Chapter in Fairbanks ?”

Actually there was a chapter, but due in large part to the devastating economy in the 1980's the chapter had basically disbanded and disappeared.

The treasurer of that chapter gave the new EAA Chapter over $2000, the sum total of the previous chapter's bank account. That seed money allowed us the ability to incorporate, start a newsletter, pay our national dues, pay the mandatory insurance, pay postage and primitive advertising costs and basically get the ball rolling.

Each of the Chapter 1129 presidents has left an impression. Sterling Muth introduced us to ultralights long before the neighbors in North Pole ever began complaining about the noise. I remember him as an optimistic character, with a conservative don't-change-anything policy contrasted with his wild off the wall purchase of one of the first modern ultralights in Fairbanks.

Clay Cranor had the unglamorous task of wrangling the paperwork and incorporation paperwork to ground. His trademark laid-back style of leadership peaked with his presentation of how he preheated his Cub in the Early Days. “I just ran a hose from the car exhaust and up into the cowling…” We were a very low-budget group.

Dave Gardner probably wrote the second more modern edition of Robert's Rules of Order. His incredibly stable personality, sport coat and tie and look-you-right-in-eye honesty secured our honorary status with the IAAAF museum.

My presidency was built on the foundation of the previous presidents and supported by the solid Board of Directors. I learned that is ok to cry and show emotion when bad things happen to good people.

Pete Haggland has spearheaded our first really big project, building the Jenny wings. His booming voice is a great attribute at the Annual Banquet and he has reached out to other aviation organizations and helped our EAA chapter reputation as one to be considered when making aviation policy in the North Land .

Most of the original early 1996 members still regularly attend meetings, participate in Young Eagle events, eat pancakes at the Annual Breakfast and go to the Board Meetings even when they are not on the Board. Our Chapter has grown to almost 90 members with a reliable newsletter, bills to pay, wings to build, T-shirts to sell, kids to fly and a much anticipated Annual Banquet.

So, fellow EAA members, what's the Next Big Project?

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