As the Chapter Events Team, Chapter Officers and Board begin to think about our Fall and winter programs and with so many new members joining the Chapter in the last…
It was a hot but beautiful day to fly!
Five aircraft with ten chapter members departed New Garden for the scenic flight to Cherry Ridge. The high temperatures prevented us from enjoying the view on the restaurant’s outdoor deck, but we were definitely happy to be inside, enjoying our breakfast in an air-conditioned area. A lot of aviation topics were discussed while the various menu offerings were sampled.
The flight back presented us with a couple areas of moderate to heavy rain showers which made for some quick decision making as we selected the best path around them. Overall, they didn’t delay us too much and the flight was uneventful, with all aircraft returning to New Garden before the rain arrived.
Thank you to all the pilots and passengers that made this fly-out a success!
Hopefully our next fly-out, scheduled for August 10th (Groton, CT) will also be TFR-free and met with good flying weather.
Octavian, Flight Leader
Events Team 2024
Tuesday’s Air Show was always a gamble. It involved major commitments by the Airport (performers, airport prep, parking, safety services and much more). The Chapter also opted to gamble. At the previous Air Show we served 400 Hot Dogs, running out of food in the late afternoon. We gambled this time on selling 600 Hot Dogs, a BIG step up, but needed more prep, additional equipment and a bigger volunteer team to make it happen.
The Air Show was a major success for the airport and township, with an estimated 4,000 attendees enjoying an afternoon of great flying, foods and entertainment. It was great to see the airport so busy, with major crowds enjoying a traditional airport air show. Congratulations and thanks to Jon Martin and his team, who organized and executed the event so well.
EAA240 was there, and our Hot Dog team worked through the day and evening to prepare, set-up, cook and serve the 600 Hot Dogs (with a bottle of water and bag of chips). It was hot, demanding work, with lines forming to get our food. We exhausted our food supplies – all 600 hot dogs – by 7:15pm. Which was good timing as by that point we were exhausted too!
Our food sales plus generous donations from our guests cleared more income for the Chapter than the past three Pancake Breakfasts combined, as they did last time too. But we also got a chance to meet with the local community, and had fun interactions with people and enjoyed the team working the Chapter is so capable of. A great day all-round!
The income from the Hot Dog sales plus the donations will fund a major part of the Chapter Flight Training Scholarships the Board has initiated for 2024, getting more kids into flight training and GA, a goal of the Chapter.
Special call-out to the EAA240 Hot Doggers Team 2024: Chuck Shipman, Lee Blazejewski, Ralph & Helen Dooley, Ken Hess, Jay Jacobs, Reagan Jacobs, Lynne Parry and with Dave McKenzie, Lisa Murray and Vance in close support. These folks made it happen for the Chapter, for our membership and for the student pilots who will benefit from their volunteered efforts.
Is this great Chapter or what?!
We closed our spring/early summer season of Pancake Breakfasts and Young Eagle flights in style with a strong turnout, with a combination of loyal local breakfast fans returning for more, plus a good number of Fly-Ins from local airports and EAA Chapters, plus several Young Eagle families.
Chuck Shipman had correctly forecast our food consumables needs and purchases for the morning and we ended complete serving 140 breakfasts with just about zero carry-over, with no shortages during our very busy morning. Way to go Chuck!
Our loyal patron breakfasters continue to offer positive feedback on our food and our service, and we have come to recognize many of the returning families and kids. Through the morning Tony Zecca’s pancakes (his first time!) were getting accolades from our guests.
A display of Military Vehicles, orchestrated by Bruce Roberts, added a new dimension to the morning’s attractions and go the attention of many of the younger breakfasters. Thanks Bruce!
Favorable flying weather conditions and a TFR-less weekend also meant we could offer flights to our Young Eagles. Thirteen kids braved the heat as they waited for a flight on one of four of Chapter member aircraft, supported by our ground crew and Registration Team. In all, a Chapter team of 10 brought smiles to a bunch on new young fliers this weekend.
The Chapter Breakfast Team who planned, procured, prepared, cooked, served, cleaned and restored the hangar at the close worked in very hot conditions to ensure the success and value of the morning from both a community and fund-raising perspectives. The Chapter Breakfast Team comprises 12 members, with additional members helping during set-up and wrap-up.
So this weekend, a combined team of more than 22 Chapter members contributed to a highly successful Saturday morning for over 160 guests who came to our Chapter for a fun morning of community, aviation and good food! And EAA240 delivered.
On behalf of the entire membership and our guests, we thank all 22 members volunteers who, despite the heat, made this happen in style! Fun too!
Fourteen Chapter members flew to Kentmorr Saturday for a Crab Cake feast at the marina restaurant. Beautiful day, some challenging crosswinds into the grass airstrip but a very enjoyable lunch and walk around the marina, a key boating destination on the Chesapeake Bay.
More photographs here (and more will be added as they come in).
Despite a shortage of New Garden-based pilots for the Gettysburg fly out, seven members, which included three pilots, flew from three airports and met up in Gettysburg. First, they attended EAA1041’s pancake breakfast. Including today’s headcount in the Chapter’s 2-day event, fourteen volunteers worked and sold over 1,200 breakfasts….impressive! The event has a dedicated breakfast following. LOTS of fly-in attendees as well.
As the group prepared to head to the museum late-morning, the planned club car was found to be devoid of a current PA inspection. So, EAA1041’s club president loaned his 7-passenger “BioDiesel Choo-Choo Mobile” to the group for the day! The vehicle had a custom-painted train & railroad theme, and came with a LOUD realistic train horn! Was that fun!
Off to the Gettysburg museum where a 2-hour tour back in time to the Civil War unfolded. PLENTY of historical trivia was leaned that folks didn’t know about that war. A site, indoors and outdoors, worth visiting!
Lunch in the Dobbin House Tavern in town was most welcomed it was served in the basement eating area where it was nice and cool! There was some good discussion about the day’s lesson. The group wanted to walk the grounds of the cemetery after lunch, but the day was long and hot, so a decision was made that it was time to head home.
EAA1041’s president met the group back a W05 where more idle chit-chat and a final goodbye were made, and thanking the president for use of his vehicle and hosting the membership. Lots more to share with others that the day’s group will do over time! Really, a very good day, …a very special time.
Stay safe up there!
J Jacobs
Flight Leader
| Well, it rained, low ceilings forced the cancellation of our planned Young Eagles flights and we were competing with the Dover AFB Air Show and, as a result, our breakfasters numbers were down. We served just 80 breakfasts. Our volunteer numbers were down also, making it a challenging morning as we moved the project planes out of the hangar when it looked like we might be a dry-ish morning only to promptly move them back into the hangar as the heavy rain started just as we commenced serving. The team scrambled and worked to position the planes and tables as the breakfast early-birds line formed. Preparatory work that had been completed Friday afternoon by volunteers paid-off handsomely and we were soon in full flight, with pancakes, eggs, sausage and potatoes flying off the grills. Huddled on fewer tables, our guests enjoyed their breakfasts, offered positive feedback and bought several shirts and caps, while kids enjoyed the toys and gliders we supplied. A challenging morning for sure, but overall successful (fun levels and profitability) and we look forward to our Saturday June 22nd event, hoping for additional support from members both as volunteers and/or breakfasters, and for our Young Eagle flights! Volunteer here! Thanks to those volunteers who helped make it work, both on Friday and Saturday, and at the wrap-up team as we closed early Saturday morning. Teamwork! |
South Jersey Regional Airport & Museum – Chapter Visit – Sunday, April 28th 2024
What a beautiful day to go flying, after all!
Despite the low ceilings delaying our departure, four aircraft and seven chapter members arrived at South Jersey Regional Airport around noon. The staff was waiting for us and we were quickly seated, ready to enjoy our breakfast (err, lunch). With plenty of options to choose from, there were no duplicate orders. One of the menu options that stood out was the Jetlag Burger (pictured). It was delicious.
After our lunch we headed out to the Air Victory Museum. The staff there was very welcoming, and we got to take a look at their exhibits, some of which were quite unique. A new addition was the Aereon 26 lifting body prototype (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEREON_26), nicknamed “the pumpkin seed”. Its history is definitely worth reading.
Overall, a great visit, with nice and warm weather. See you at the next one!
Events Team 2024
Questions, suggestions: events@eaa240.org
Membership Discussion – IMC/VMC – Saturday, April 6th
Saturday’s IMC/VMC group discussion attracted 17 members who collectively reviewed EAA National-provided flight scenarios related to ‘what would you do in these circumstances?’, many of which – we concluded – warranted a declaration to ATC of an emergency in order to get help and guidance. This, in-turn, resulted in a good deal of discussion on that topic as we heard of actual occurrences of pilots, CFI’s and commercial pilots considering declaring emergencies (or not) amongst our morning group.
These informal discussions and experience exchanges continue to be a great help in sharing actual flight experiences and to generate thought-provoking discussion to aid us all in better decision making and safe aviating. We’ll continue to hold more sessions, particularly when we can’t fly due to TFR restrictions at weekends. Watch your email and the web site for announcements. All welcome!
Our thanks to Bob Huxster for leading these sessions on behalf of the membership.
Mike Parry
President EAA240
Astronaut Space Suits, currently in use on the International Space Station were designed and manufactured in Delaware!
The Next Generation Space Suits are currently being designed for future space missions that will return us to the Moon, and on to Mars as part of the upcoming Artemis Missions.
The Space Suit Designs that include fourteen layers of different materials, each providing unique levels of protection to the Astronauts from the harsh vacuum of space, were explained and demonstrated by our Guest Speaker Andrew Taylor of ILC Dover, who kept the membership engaged throughout. Using photographs and video, Andrew detailed the history of the ILC company and its 60 + year role in the space program and the success the company has had in meeting the challenges of putting a man in space, and supplying NASA with solutions and products in support of all space missions to date.
More information about ILC Dover here
Mike Parry
President, EAA Chapter 240
