News & Pictures
Membership Meeting - 24 May 2018
Minutes courtesy of the club Secretary, Mr. Dennis Harwell:
Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 1732 by Dennis Mathis.
Introductions: Special guests were introduced by Mr Mathis, including:
• John Riley, the Director of Public Works.
• Harry Andonian
• Bob Sudderith, our Guest Speaker for the evening.
Treasurer's Report:
• B.J. Finney provided a brief summary of the Club’s current financial status.
Secretary's Report:
• Dennis Harwell announced that those club membership cards which had not been picked up since the January General Membership meeting were available to be picked up at this evening’s meeting.
Aircraft Status:
• Dennis Guinn noted that the Archer’s wheel fairing has been repaired and returned to us, so it is ready to be re-attached.
• Mr. Guinn also noted that two of the Cessna’s engine cylinders failed to reach proper compression and had to be removed for service. They will hopefully be re-attached on Friday, 25 May (tomorrow).
Club Events:
• Denis Rottler noted that while there were currently no events scheduled on the club events calendar, new events are in-work, based on the input the membership provided from the survey he conducted in January.
• Mr. Rottler provided a brief summary of the results of the survey, listing the types of events that are interesting to the membership.
Safety Officer / Chief Pilot's Safety Briefing:
• Mark Armstrong was unable to arrive at the meeting until late, so he was unable to provide a safety briefing.
Recognition:
• Dennis Mathis announced that Tyler Sanders recently successfully completed his checkride and received his FAA Private Pilot certificate. He was presented with a special Club certificate for his achievement.
• Mr. Mathis also announced that Zach Miller also recently successfully completed his checkride and obtained his FAA Private Pilot certificate. He was also presented with a special Club certificate.
• Mr. Mathis also announced that Nathaniel Bennett and Josh Stone recently passed their checkrides and received their FAA Private Pilot certificates, but neither were present at the meeting to be recognized.
Guest Speaker:
• Our Guest Speaker for the evening was Bob Sudderith, an aerospace engineer with an interesting career, including a number of years at Edwards Air Force Base during the time of critical historic supersonic research. He presented an interesting program about the history of supersonic flight.
• Mr. Suddertih was presented with a personalized “Thank-You� coffee mug after his talk.
The meeting was adjourned by Dennis Mathis at 1712.
View a slideshow of ALL of the pictures taken at the May 2018 Membership Meeting: Membership Meeting - May 2018
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Wash & Wax Party - 19 May 2018
The club held its annual Wash & Wax Party on Saturday, May 19th. Dennis Guinn, our Maintenance Officer, organized another very successful event. We had a total of eleven folks show up to help wash, wax, vacuum, clean windows, eat sandwiches, and tell stories!
The Bennett family washed the Archer the previous weekend so the Archer didn't need to come out of the hangar. Nice job Bennett family! The Archer was dusted off and then waxed in the shade of the hangar by a dedicated foursome comprised of Dennis Guinn, Ian Horbaczewski, Tom Hubert, and Theo Hughes. Apparently you have to be in a special section of the alphabet to get that plum job!
The Cessna got the full treatment even though it was missing two cylinders. The engine was covered with plastic to protect it from water overspray and Alysia Hall, Zach Miller, Christine Rottler, and Bill Schatz got after it. Mineral spirits made quick work of the belly degreasing effort while Alysia cleaned the inside of the windows. Buckets were filled with soapy water, washing pads were passed out, and the mighty Cessna got its bath. After drying it off, it was pushed back into the hanger for the wax job.
Even though the engine cowling pieces were removed, they got some love from Clarke Erwin. They are all cleaned up and waxed and ready to be reinstalled when the cylinders come back from the repair shop.
We were finished by 11 a.m. and the Subway sandwiches, chips, and cookies were delivered around 11:15 a.m. There was a nice breeze and some cloud cover which made sitting in the shade of Bay 1 very pleasant. Mr. Guinn, with the help of Lisa Reeder, conducted a raffle to give away three mini-LED flashlights, two aviation related koozies, and several scratch off tickets. No millionaires this time but if the winners work together they can use their flashlights to find their ice cold beers in their new koozies if the lights ever go out!
As usual, we sat around and talked and told lies for a while which is always way more fun than working. Since we spent more time eating and telling lies than working, it has to be called a success.
Thanks to all of you who volunteered your Saturday morning to Wash & Wax the club airplane. They look really nice and very shiny!
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Aircraft Annual Workparty Celebration - 10May2018
The process of getting the club airplanes through their annual inspection and back in the air requires quite a bit of effort. There is a lot of coordination required between our A&P mechanic, Mike Zimmerman and the club Maintenance Officer, Dennis Guinn. Replacement parts have to be identified and ordered which generally falls to our president, Dennis Mathis. This year for example, the Archer received a re-manufactured engine which added to the work load and the schedule! Sufficed to say, there is a lot of behind the scenes effort required in an attempt to minimize the down time of the airplanes during the annual.
This year the club had a good number of members volunteer their time and labor to help expedite the process. There are always tasks we can accomplish as members which don't require Mike's expertise and which allows him to concentrate on the important stuff. Interior removals, vacuuming the exposed areas, lubing the control cables, and patching wheel fairings for example were all accomplished by members.
Of course, none of it would happen if we didn't have Mike Zimmerman working on his days off and on Saturdays trying his best to get our planes back in service.
So, in order to properly acknowledge the efforts related to this year's annual process, the Board of Directors decided have a small celebration at a local Greenville restaurant and treat some of the folks and their spouses to a nice dinner. Some wine was consumed, some prizes were raffled off, and looking at the pictures, it looks like a good time was had.
Thanks to all for the extra help you provided this year. Only seven months before the Cessna annual!
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2018 Ground School Graduation - 03 May 2018
The students of the 2018 Majors Flying Club (MFC) Private Pilot Ground School class have successfully completed the course and proclaimed in unison, "...let them eat cake!" As is the tradition the conclusion of the ground school is celebrated with a guest speaker (this year it was Dr. Sparks and two of his nurses), the grading of the End Of Course exam, the handing out their completion certificates, and the cutting of the special cake.
The class this started year started on February 3rd with seventeen (17) registered students. The class went for the scheduled fourteen (14) weeks and was completed on May 3rd with twelve (12) students completing the course. The attrition is not unusual as work, family, and other life events typically impacts a small percentage of the students. Quite often however those affected students are able to complete the class the following year.
This class was similar to other classes in that there was a wide variety of reasons for taking the class, a wide range of aviation experience, and that they were all subjected to a wide range of bad jokes. Some students take the course to learn a bit about airplanes to help them in their job, some take the course for the knowledge, some take the course with the intention of learning to fly, some are already working on their private pilot certificate, some of them already have an airplane, but none of them took the class for the jokes.
In addition to being taught by several very experienced instructors over the course of the fourteen weeks, the MFC offers a short orientation flight to all interested members of the class as part of the package price. The flights typically fly a twenty minute leg for each of the students and typically land at either McKinney, Mesquite, or both depending on the number of students on the flight. The students get to drive for a while, experience at least one takeoff and hopefully at least one landing, listen to Air Traffic Control, listen to the control tower communications, and visit a couple of local FBO's. It is a really nice perk to attending the class.
The classes for 2019 will start in February. Stay tuned to the website for details regarding the Majors Flying Club 2019 Private Pilot Ground School class.
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Harry's 94th Birthday Celebration - 17 February 2018
On Saturday, February 17, 2018, quite a few folks met at Soulman's BBQ in Greenville, TX around 11:30 a.m. to celebrate Harry Andonian's 94th birthday. Thanks to Karen Smith, the room was nicely decorated with patriotic table cloths, plates, and napkins. The room really looked good. Thanks to the organizer of the event, Dennis Mathis, a personalized, second iteration birthday cake with two candles was on display. The second iteration of the cake is another story all by itself. And as become tradition for all Majors Flying Club related events, and much to the chagrin of Gordon Hay, he provided yet another batch of his epic Ghiradelli brownies. Shortage of food and dessert was NOT an issue.
Folks started gathering around around 11:30 a.m. for the perfunctory howdy's before answering the siren call of the Soulman's BBQ food line. Good conversation ensued as folks enjoyed their BBQ lunches on the nicely decorated tables in the backroom of Soulman's. With the majority of the mastication being complete, Dennis Mathis stood to welcome everyone and to provide a brief introduction. Mr. Mathis mentioned, among other things, Harry's induction into the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor. The Walk of Honor is dedicated to recognizing one hundred distinguished test pilots who conducted test flights at Edwards Air Force base and other notable locations around the country. Check out the history of the Walk of Honor, the names of the other ninety-nine honoree and their pictures and profiles at the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor website.
Harry was kind enough to stand up and share several of the stories related to the pictures on his birthday cake. Included in those pictures is the notable picture of Bozo the Clown before his ride on the Vomit Comet, Harry in a pressurized suit, and his Debonair. The Bozo the Clown story is a classic. Of note, there is NO post flight Bozo the Clown picture. Harry talked a bit more about flying the Vomit Comet, flying the L-450 in a pressurized suit, the recognition the crew and passengers of a commercial airliner gave him on his way to his induction at the Lancaster Aerospace Walk of Honor, and flying his Debonair. Always entertaining and good the hear any of Harry's stories.
The #9 candle and the #4 candle were lit and the crowd burst out in a heartfelt, if off key, rendition of the Happy Birthday song. The cake was cut and distributed, the brownies were devoured, and a good time was had by all.
Thank you for letting us be part of your 94th Birthday celebration Harry!
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