Nice Turnout on a Cold Morning – The early morning setup crew had the propane heaters cranked up making for reasonable temperatures in the hanger. Breakfast service got underway on schedule. We ended up with about 58 in attendance for the meeting and 43 breakfasts sold.
Call to Order – President Dick Keyt called the meeting to order and asked to recognize guests in attendance. Bob Pastusek introduced his guests, the Kempf Family and James Hilber (pictured to the right in front of Bob’s Lancair). Steve Kempf is a retired USAF F-16 pilot. James and Marshon’s two daughters are pursuing aviation careers and well on their way. James Hilber was a USMC helo gunner and currently works for Bell Helicopter. Randall Funston had his daughter Faith with him and plans to join the glider club. Jason Heller who recently moved into a house in the Landings has a Cessna 172 and 182 (Previously owned an RV-10).
Dick recognized the breakfast and setup crew. Dick also reminded the chapter members that any requests for using the chapter hanger, table, or chairs needs to go through Tom Thibault.
Dick mentioned the chapter year in review that was presented during the Christmas party. He noted how there has been a significant increase in the number of gyros and noted there were 9 at our last Fly In. Ray Lewis commented how invigorating it is to experience this kind of flying. When Dick asked whether there was interest in having gyros discussed at a future meeting – there was a very positive reaction.
Safety Minute – Don McDonald lost a friend who was involved in a recent crash of an RV-10 attempting to return to the Fullerton airport after an emergency. Don said he would not speculate on the cause but wanted to reinforce preflight planning on what you would do in case of an emergency after takeoff (decision criteria for alternate landing sites or return to airport).
Dick had a different safety item. Sue Cole singed the back of her jacket getting too close to a propane heater. Fortunately, she was unharmed.
Project Reports
- Lawrence Ryan is continuing his build of a Zenith 750. He will be seeking some advice on wiring as he proclaimed himself to be more of a “mechanical guy.” He has sought out Gene Chiappe who built the same model.
- Greg Walker reported that he has begun fabric covering the fuselage of his Christavia MK 1 (Two seat tandem similar to Champ). He is using Polyfiber materials and getting assistance through his uncle who has covered a number of airplanes (Bob Moreau has also been extremely helpful). When asked about the powerplant, Greg said he is considering a Subaru with a belt reduction. He received negative feedback from the crowd based on the poor reliability history of auto conversions. Greg said he is open to a Continental O-200 if anyone knows of one.
- Larry Forrest asked that chapter members be open to new technology in non traditional aircraft engines. One in particular is called Corsair which is a V8 that has reliably powered a 172 used for training. (https://corsairpower.com/)
- Gen Chiappe asked if anyone was familiar with MGL Avionics.
Pot Luck Dinners – Dick Keyt mentioned how the chapter used to do pot luck dinners on a regular basis and they were enjoyed by all. He thought they stopped occurring due to the larger airpark community and how difficult it would be to clear out individual hangers to host them. The Board has recommended that the chapter begin having them roughly quarterly in the chapter hanger. March, June, and October has been proposed (Christmas party counts as 4th one).
Next Fly In – Bob Pastusek announced that the next Fly In will be September 27th. He pleaded to get more volunteers involved. Many members were working the Fly In all day in a particular capacity and were unable to enjoy all that was going on.
Other Reports – Greg Walker requested that chapter members please pay their dues for 2025. Payment can be made at the meeting or online through the website. He also asked that members please keep the information in their profiles current. People interested in joining a local chapter will sometimes look for a particular aircraft model. Greg or Kliff Black can be of assistance for any difficulty logging into website.
Youth Programs – John Bowen has rescheduled Young Eagles for January 18th and will be looking for pilot and ground crew volunteers. He had 29 kids signed up for the original date and expects similar numbers on the 18th. He mentioned that they are still looking for candidates to attend the Air Camp this summer. The deadline is January 31st and is open to ages 16-18. He mentioned that the chapter will be pursuing another Ray Aviation scholarship for youth flight training. The scholarship amount has been raised to $12,000 and will cover the ground and flight training toward a PPL.
Featured Speaker – Following a short break, Dick introduced Mark (Captain) Kirk from Granbury High School. Mark leads the Aviation Program at the school. He is a native of Granbury who originally planned to become a military pilot. After getting halfway through an ROTC program at UTA he switched to Texas A&M where he got a degree in Wildlife Management. After a time in ranch management and construction he got into teaching and has been a teacher for 25 years. He has private, instrument, advanced ground instructor, and Part 107 remote pilot certifications.
Mark described how students can complete an aviation specialization in their curriculum. At each grade level he teaches the following;
- 9th = Introduction to Aviation
- 10th – Drone License (minimum age 16 for certification)
- 11th – Ground School
- 12th – Aerospace Engineering (2 hour block available each day for flight training)
Seniors spend 3 days a week on curriculum and 2 days a week on the build project. The flight training used to be conducted on a school owned Cessna 172 (previously owned by Larry Hale). The school sold that plane and now flight training is being conducted by In The Pattern flight school at the Granbury FBO. The school helps subsidize a portion of the flight training cost.
Mark highlighted the history of aircraft builds that included three RV-12s and two S-21s (current one shown above). They are planning to start a third S-21 later this year. He was highly complimentary of the chapter members who act as advisors to the build project. Mark emphasized that the current S-21 project is for sale at $185K.
He noted that 3 of his students have been sponsored by our chapter to attend the EAA Air Academy.
A question was asked about why there was not an A&P program at the school. Mark stated there was not enough space – GHS is busting at the seams. He said most of the students go to TCCC or TSTI after high school.
Mark stated that there are a dozen or less schools in the country that have such a complete aviation program. Our aviation community should be proud to have such a program in the area and thank Mark Kirk for giving us a rundown!
VMC/IMC Club
Dick Keyt pitched in as the facilitator for this month. About a ten members participated with lots of great discussion.
Thanks to all who stayed to store the tables and chairs and help put the two airplanes back in the hanger.
