April-May-June-July-August-September 2023, at last!

Alex Nelon

Oct 8, 2023 • 8 min read

Where can we start? OK, How about April, when the winter fitfully surrenders to spring, the rains come regularly and grass begins to green up a little, or at least that's the way it's supposed to be.

The Dogwoods (NC State Flower) pop out in early April

The mountains start looking their best in mid-April. Mark's RV-8 has the perfect backdrop

Treasurer Steve Murray adorned the new panel he installed in the Glastar with airplane symbology he deemed appropriate, given his RV-10 is so much faster than mine.

Our April EAA meeting topic was "Flying Alaska" by member David Hoffman. A terrific presentation of a subject most of us can only dream of doing. President George Heddy and his wife, Christine, and daughter whipped up a fantastic Italian meatball and salad dinner and desserts were just great.

Fast forward to May ...

George whipped up an interesting presentation at our monthly meeting about the GE Mojave test history . . . airplanes outfitted with all sorts of test engines. He was right in the thick of it and had a great number of personal observations concerning the program. Mike Cavanaugh briefed us on the new requirements for Young Eagles events and has taken on the job of Young Eagles Coordinator. We were originally scheduled for an event in May but it has been pushed back to meet the new requirements.

Several members are interested in having the local community college host a maintenance course for Light Sport Aircraft. Initial contacts have been made by member Angelo Zollo and member Chris Pair signed up for a course at Rainbow Aviation in Missouri. Member Bill Whitley took the course at Blue Ridge Community College in Virginia. More on that as information comes available.

Member Steve Jarrell flew his RV-14 to Florida for an artist named John Stahr to begin a diorama of patriotic images using the airplane as his palette. Steve intends to show it at fly-ins and expositions to give thanks to our veterans and those who have served throughout our history. Steve's brother has a similarly themed airplane that has been featured around the country for several years. More on this as we go along.

Finally! June!

The chapter meeting in June was about long distance glider flying by member Mike Cola. But first, nothing brings out pilots like FOOD and the Morristown TN chapter puts on a feed the first Saturday of the month that is a pilot's dream come true. The winds and weather cooperated and we launched 4 or 5 airplanes from Asheville and Hendersonville to fly over the mountains for breakfast on June 3rd.

Mark, Darwin and Tim look pretty happy here after a nice flight

Nothing lights up a pilot's eyes like a griddle full of pancakes, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, hashed browns, OJ and coffee.

...and the best part is we get to share our breakfast with a couple of hundred of our friends, new and old

Steve Jarrell's diorama project is making good progress as we gathered for Mike Cola's presentation on long distance glider flying. First, we enjoyed a tasty dinner of chicken and lamb gyro sandwiches (Prez George hits below the belt to get us to come to meetings) and then Mike did a great job showing how glider pilots achieve their award pins. There are great places for both thermal soaring and ridge soaring nearby and several members have their glider ratings.

Members Ricky Brown and Jon Smith launched from Hendersonville in Jon's RV-6 to Milwaukee for Ricky's bowling tournament, an annual event they both look forward to.

July!

We're moving right along through summer and part of the news from the chapter is the completion of Steve Jarrell's "Freedom Isn't Free" paint job on his RV-10A. Understandably, much of this month's post is about this wonderful tribute to our men and women who have served our country. The following is text and pictures from Steve's press release sent out on July 1:

With Independence Day approaching, I want to show you my airplane "Freedom". The airbrushing was just completed this past week. Its theme is "Freedom Isn't Free" and it is a salute to the sacrifices of the men and women of our Armed Forces. It would be wonderful if you could help spread this message!

Please forgive the quality of these images as many were shot during the airbrushing process and immediately thereafter, and we haven't had time to properly photograph it.

The left side of the plane features scenes from the colonial days and includes graphics of the original 13 star Betsy Ross flag with an embedded young eagle, Paul Revere's midnight ride, and George Washington crossing the Delaware.

The right side of the plane depicts more recent times and includes graphics of the modern 50 star flag with an embedded mature and aggressive eagle, the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima including the names of the six Marines that raised it and which of those Marines who were killed in action, and a depiction of a military funeral procession with a horse drawn caisson at Arlington National Cemetery.

The cowling is a graphic of the Vietnam Memorial Wall illuminated by a reflection of the Washington Monument at night.

Steve's airplane is hangared at Hendersonville NC and will be touring the country this summer and fall, including a planned trip to Oshkosh for Airventure 2023.

We said goodbye to an old friend and long time airplane builder and flyer, Irland Brown. Mark, Jeff and Alex flew over Forest Lawn at his interment in the Veteran's section in tribute.

Jeff caught Mark and Alex during Irland Brown's Fly By

Member **Sid Tolchin**'s pride and joy - his LongEZ that he flew across the North Atlantic in 1987 - dropped in for a visit. Sid reluctantly gave up his special airplane when insurance became an issue. He donated the EZ to a nonprofit group that promotes safe flying of the LongEZ by offering it to builders while they finish their projects.

July's chapter meeting started with a theme: Italian Night! Member Brett Sharenow spent part of his spring in Italy building and flying his experimental (in the USA) gyroplane and gave us a great presentation of not only his discovery of gyroplane flying but the development of his highly refined machine. Brett's experience is about to extend to representation of the company in the US and it looks like there are exciting times to come in our local chapter. President George got us in the spirit with a spaghetti dinner in the best Italian tradition, although without the Chianti. George!

The month ended with several of our own attending Airventure at Oshkosh. Jerry and Nancy Marstall served, as they have for many years, as volunteers - this year, thankfully, indoors manning and womaning the popcorn machine and the Lifetime Members' building. Old friends and new friends make Oshkosh a very special place and when it doesn't blow and rain, it's great!

Member Darwin Jones' RV-4 was at Oshkosh, still going strong

August!

As it happened, the month started off with FOOD! You'd think that's all we think about.

Members **Greg, Mark, Dennis, Dan, Bill, Dave and Alex** took advantage of a beautiful First Saturday to fly over the mountain to Morristown TN for breakfast.

**Kajur and Greig** arrived from Marion NC just as we were finishing up to join the group of regulars. People shuffle in and out and the chapter there feeds a couple hundred every month. The money collected goes to their aviation scholarship fund.

The August 9th chapter meeting featured Jim Kilpatrick, head man at the Bandit Flight Demonstration Team based near Raleigh. Jim is a former owner of the Hendersonville Airport, retired airline pilot and former F-100 Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War. Having survived all that, Jim spends his time coordinating fly-bys and patriotic, overhead aerial displays at events across the region. Member Mark Cigal was a member of the team until recently and recalls his tenure with the Bandits with great admiration for their discipline and safety culture.

Oh, and more FOOD:

The Hangar Grill fires up at the drop of a hint

Then, at Triple Tree for the South Carolina Breakfast Club:

Looking from the Triple Tree home hangar and food pavilion, there must have been 150 airplanes. Good weather and good food brings us out.

**Daryl, Mark, Leo, Bill, Sid, Greg and Dan**

Is there nothing that will stand between a pilot and his food? August was food month around here!!

September!

For a change, there was no gastronomical news to report first in September. Fog over the mountains scrubbed our flight to Morristown. However, we did have some really good barbecue to launch the chapter meeting on the 12th and we recognized 5 members who have been awarded the FAA's Orville and Wilbur Wright Master Pilot award.

**Mike Cavanaugh**, our FAA Safety Team representative and Master Pilot himself, presented the Master Pilot Award to **Alex Nelon**. Other Master Pilots in the chapter are **Mark Cigal**, **Jerry Groendyke** and **Sid Tolchin.** Absent from the photo is **Darwin Jones**.

Mike Cavanaugh was a busy man in September. He organized our first Young Eagles Day event in several years. The theme was "Girls Fly Too" and coincided with International Women in Aviation week. We had 14 young women scheduled. Weather delayed us a day, to a Sunday, and we ended up flying with 10, two of whom from a local high school JROTC unit are applicants for appointments to the military service academies. It was a great day.

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