Hello Chapter Members,

Our late-September Chapter Fly-Out is for food and for aviation history!

Join us Saturday 28th flying the South Jersey Regional airport KVAY, Lumberton NJ, for lunch at the Runway Cafe, plus a visit to the Air Victory Museum on the airfield.

More information on the excellent museum is here

Meet-up at the Chapter Hangar at 10:00am, with wheels-up at 10:30am.

The weather forecast is good, but Sunday remains our ‘rain-date’.

Please register for this fly out with the usual information (seats available, weight, Sunday availability etc etc). Register here.

As always, we greatly appreciate our Chapter pilots who donate seats/rides to the fellow-members in their aircraft and who make these events possible. Thank YOU!

Thanks,

Your Flight Leader, Dave

We are saddened to report the passing of long time Chapter member, celebrated aviator, author and really nice guy, Bill Fili. Bill passed away last evening, at the age of 95, a loss to all who knew or encountered him.

Around the Chapter Bill will be known for his friendly disposition, his handshakes, his regular attendance at Chapter events and his willingness to share his aviation experiences with all.

Bill’s is a remarkable story, of a life well-lived. At eighteen years old Bill enlisted in the Army Air Corps and began his training as an airplane mechanic-gunner that destined him to be a flight engineer on a B-24 Liberator Bomber. He flew 34 combat missions in those fiery skies over Europe before being shot down over the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania. Suddenly he found himself in a prisoner of war camp. Bill survived and after the war Bill stayed in the Air Force Reserves, and was recalled during the Korean War as a flight engineer on a Boeing C-97 Stratocruiser and aerial tanker. On discharge he became a commercial pilot and flight instructor. He founded a manufacturing business, Filcon Corporation, and after twenty-five years he sold it and went into semi-retirement. Bored with idleness, he kept busy for the next sixteen years driving a school bus.

Arriving at his eightieth birthday, he decided it was time to do things for himself. He soloed in a brand new Skyhawk 172 and became an instant UFO, an acronym for “United Flying Octogenarian”. His life’s final chapter is in his book and video titled “Passage to Valhalla II”, as well as in the public speaking he undertook.

Bill authored several books, the most famous being “Passage to Valhalla: The Human Side of Aerial Combat”. Bill presented many Chapter members with copies of his book, which can also be found in the Chapter library. His model of the B-29 he crewed was donated and is on display at the New Garden FBO, along with other artifacts, and is included in the photograph above.

At this sad time, our thoughts are with Bill’s family and his extensive group of friends.

As we learn of the final arrangements for Bill we’ll pass those along. Read more about Bill ‘in his own words’ here.

We learned this morning, with great sadness, of the passing of Kate Macario.

Kate and her family have been long time members and active supporters of the Chapter, of EAA and of aviation. Until her health deteriorated, Kate was a regular attendee of Chapter events, breakfasts, monthly meetings and more. She, with her family, were ‘regulars’ at Oshkosh and Sun ‘n Fun, flying their 195 across the country to the many aviation interests they had and enjoyed.

Kate earned her pilots license in 1946. She joined the 99’s, International Organization of Women Pilots in 1955 where she served many functions including the Eastern PA Chapter Chairman, Membership Chairman and Newsletter Editor. She organized the annual “Pennies a Pound” fundraiser where the general public was invited to enjoy airplane rides with women pilots. Kate was frequently seen at aviation events in her Cessna 195 where she would sit in the shade under the wing and visit with people as they passed by. She was also a member of the Airplane Owners and Pilots Association and The Silver Wings Fraternity.

She will be missed by her family and also by the community of aviators that she interacted with so positively through the years.

Thank you Kate – we enjoyed your company!

Services details may be found here, or at Logan Funeral Home.

More photographs of there Deck Party have been provided by John Davis.

They can be viewed by clicking here. Thanks John!

Our Fly Out this Saturday with EAA240 is to Tangier Island, VA (KTGI). The island is located in the Chesapeake Bay just below the MD/VA border. It is known for its historic value, unique way of life AND dialect. The experience is like, “Leaving your country without your passport.”

The island can be explored quite easily on foot or by rented golf cart (with an optional guide) for little cost. (The latter is ideal.) Meet at the EAA240 hangar at 9:30am; Wheels-Up 10:00am. The 1-hour flight should provide enough time to explore the island before our 12:00pm lunch reservation at Fisherman’s Corner Restaurant. The soft shell crab sandwich is excellent!

There is a $10 aircraft landing fee. Depending on the pilot’s route, the Delmarva Wetlands or a route near to OC, MD will provide scenic views. (Restricted airspace is noted on the Sectional for this area)

Please register for this fly out by Friday morning, by clicking here.

Sunday is our rain-date.

Thanks,

Your Flight Leader : events@eaa240.org

This evening, September 3rd @ 6:00 pm – the day after Labor Day, at the Chapter Hangar

You and your family (members and their families only please, not a public event) are invited to the EAA240 Annual Deck Party. Come enjoy a summer evening of camaraderie and fun.
The deck party replaces our normal monthly meeting for September. There will be no September meeting on Monday.

As it is Labor Day weekend we’ll gather:

TONIGHT – TUESDAY, September 3rd at 6:00 pm

The chapter will supply chicken (main dish), side dishes, soda and water

Please bring: a $5 donation for the event, a dish (side dishes, salads, deserts, etc), or make a further $5 donation in lieu of a dish, your choice of beer and wine – BYOB, a seat/chair/stool/crate/hay bale.

We’ll see you then, for one of our most popular and best attended event of the season!

Questions? (really??) email us at president@eaa240.org