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The next Chapter meeting will be held February
10th, 2009 at Merrymeeting Airport in Bowdoinham.
General Membership meeting starts at 7:30
p.m.
What was once known as the
“Gathering of Eagles Forum’ held in past years at
the Owl’s Head Transportation Museum in Rockland, has
changed to “The
Maine Aviation Forum” to reflect it’s focus on
aviation in the state of Maine.
Last year’s event, even with attendance
affected by poor weather, was deemed enough of a success
that the organizers are willing to do it again. The idea
of the Forum is to bring the leadership of various Maine
based aviation organizations together to share ideas,
concerns, and information to co-ordinate activities for
the coming year.
This year, the conference room has once again
been scheduled at Owl’s Head Transportation Museum in
Rockland. The Forum will be held February 28th,
with a weather date of March 7th. Event times
are as follows;
0930-1000 Registrations with coffee
and snacks
1000-1015 Introduction
1015-1215 General
Session
1215-1230 Conclusion
1230-1330 Lunch
1330-1430 Special
Presentation / Breakout Sessions
1330-1430 Tour
of Aircraft Restoration Shop or Museum
Attendance
is free and lunch will be available from EAA Chapter 736
of Norridgewok for a $5 fee. This is not a money maker
for them, so it is important that you supply a head
count on attendance from your organization in order to
plan their meal supply.
Although this is not a Fly-in, for those who are
able, you can park at the FBO across the field and call
the Museum at 594-4418 for transportation. There appears
to be no access to the Museum from the runways.
Point of contact / coordinator for
this event is Duke Tomlin, Vise President of EAA Chapter
1434 from Belfast.
Tel. 207-525-7792
or duketomlin@verizon.net
During the October meeting
at Keith Oliver’s hanger, I brought up the idea of
having the Chapter invest in a set of weigh scales. I
asked all in attendance to consider the value to the
members of the Chapter that have projects in the works
and the possibility of the Chapter benefiting in any
way. Discussions followed in November and December.
After presenting the various types of scale systems
available, as well as the costs involved, a vote was
taken at the January meeting and the go ahead to buy the
scales, and was unanimously approved by the directors in
attendance. Charlie also requested opinions from the
non-board members in attendance before the vote was
taken. All were in favor and no one spoke up in
opposition.
Everett Perkins approached me at the end of the
last meeting and asked what prompted me to bring this
purchase idea to the Chapter Leadership. I was a little
caught off guard for an immediate response, but after
some thought, I thought it would be a good idea to
publish it here.
To begin with, it has been brought up a few times
about the Chapter having tools to loan members that have
projects in the works. The catch with this idea is what
are good tools to have on hand? Well, there are wood and
fabric airplanes, tube and fabric, sheet metal and
composite airplanes. As well as any combination of the
previous. With that in mind, a pneumatic squeezer is of
little use for the wood, tube, fabric, or composite
airplane builder. And if we did have one, who would use
it and how do you fairly determine the need.
Airplane projects are built over a period of
time. Most often, a very long time. And with the Chapter
demographics, one could find himself driving 75 miles in
each direction just to use a tool even for a short
while. The basic tools needed to build an airplane,
should be within the financial means of the builder to
purchase them himself. If not, he might want to
re-evaluate his decision to build in the first place. I
personally do not think that it is practical for the
Chapter to go out and buy basic tools. If we were to
come by some through donations, that’s all well and
good.
Now,
for the scales idea. The idea really came to mind after
I was told the pains that Tom Muller went through to
weigh his airplane. After wasting time with inadequate
lever type scales that just couldn’t do the job, he
gave in and paid Twin City $300.00 to do his weight and
balance. This is a large investment for simple process.
At least I thought it was, because I had the good
fortune to have a set of scales available through a
close friend. I also thought about how many projects are
in process in the Chapter and that ultimately, every
builder has to weigh his airplane to do the W&B. The
cost of the scales can be spread over the many chapter
members that will use them.
In the next couple of meetings, Chapter rules and
guide lines regarding the use of the scales will be
worked out and voted on by the membership. This is a
good thing. It will benefit many members and gives us an
opportunity to put or Chapter funds to good use.
ATTEND, SPEAK UP and get involved!!!!!!!!!!
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