News & Pictures

Commerce Kids - 23June2016

Submitted by DROT on Thu, 06/23/2016 - 15:42

On Thursday, June 23, 2016, the Majors Flying Club (MFC) participated in the Second Annual Commerce Kids day at the Commerce Municipal Airport (2F7). This time last year Mr. Tom Bailey contacted the MFC President Dennis Mathis and asked if the club would be interested in bringing a plane to the Commerce airport to support a program about airplanes and flying for the Boys and Girls Club of Commerce. The club agreed and a good time was had by the five kids who attended.

Mr. Bailey contacted Dennis Mathis again this year about supporting a similar program. This year the kids would be from the Commerce Independent School District "A Step Ahead" summer reading program. The summer program is coordinated by Tina Bronson and the 3rd and 4th grade kids would be from the classes of Latisha Britton and Jessica Duckworth. Mr. Bailey is apparently a pretty fair salesman as the headcount grew from five kids last year to eighteen kids this year! Mr. Bailey provided in-class instruction to the kids focusing on the four forces (thrust, drag, lift, weight) and the control surfaces. Mrs. Bronson prepared a very nice workbook for the kids which included all the material presented by Mr. Bailey. It was a very well done workbook and seemed to be very effective. The kids were well prepared to talk about the four forces and the control surfaces.

With a 1.5 hour window to talk with eighteen kids and show them an airplane, it was quickly decided that two planes would be a really good idea this year. Thankfully MFC member Don Reeder was more than happy to bring his Super Cub to the event. Don flew his Super Cub to Majors (KGVT) and joined up with Denis Rottler in the club Cessna 150. The flight of two departed KGVT around 0815 in order to ensure they would be in the area when the kids arrived by bus at 0845. A low pass was executed by each plane followed by full stop landings to give the kids a chance to witness airplanes in flight.

The City of Commerce and Airport Manager Mike Whitler did a nice job supporting the effort with a nice place to talk with the kids and plenty of bottled water on hand. Don and Denis talked with the kids for a bit about the forces, the control surfaces, the differences between the Cessna and the Super Cub, and some other delightful banter. But really, the trip was all about touching and feeling airplanes so enough talking and off they went to the flight line. Both group of kids got to spend time at both the Cessna and the Super Cub and each kid got to sit in at least one of the airplanes to manipulate the controls. The gentlemen who gassed up his Cirrus at the self service pump had about as much fun as the rest of us. The kids gave him a big cheer when he started up his engine and taxied away. FUN STUFF. The kids were able to stay long enough to see both Don and Denis takeoff.

Thanks to Mr. Bailey, the "A Step Ahead" program, and the Commerce Municipal airport for inviting the Majors Flying Club to participate in this event again this year. We are looking forward to our invitation to next year's event!

Burgers and Brats with Alex - 21June2016

Submitted by DROT on Thu, 06/23/2016 - 15:42

The club hosted a cookout and chat session on Tuesday, June 21, 2016 for two former friends of the club. Several years ago, young Alex Curle was the chef at several of our events. He even sported chef garb at one of the occasions. He is quite a knowledgeable young man especially when it come to airplanes. Alex and his dad Ron participated in annuals and other events as well back in the day. They were in town and wanted to stop by and say hello.

President Dennis Mathis organized the event and enlisted the grilling skills of Joe Rector and the stellar brownie baking skills of Gordon Hay. I suspect Alex may just have been a ploy to get Gordon to cook up a batch of those killer Ghiridelli brownies.

Judging from the way the brats and hot dogs were gone in 20 minutes, I'd say the meeting yesterday was a great success! Many thanks to Joe Rector for a marvelous example of cooking expertise! Gordon Hay's brownies were a big hit as well. Alex Curle and his dad, Ron, were very appreciative of the many club members who came by to say hello. It helped a bit by Harry Andonian reciting some of his aviation experiences. He even took Alex to his aircraft to show his airplane.

A good time was had by all. Thanks to all club members who showed up to meet and greet Alex and his dad. It was a good experience.

Membership General Meeting - 26May2016

Submitted by DROT on Thu, 06/23/2016 - 15:40

The Majors Flying Club held a General Membership meeting on May 26, 2016 in Bay 1 of the flying club hangar. Chef Joe Rector was once again called on to grill up some burgers and brats to feed the masses. The grill was going strong by 4:30 p.m. and the masses were not disappointed. Thanks Joe for another round of tasty groceries.

President Dennis Mathis called the meeting to order shortly after 5 p.m. and made some opening remarks. Tom Hubert was recognized for his Solo flight in the Cherokee 140 on May 4, 2016. Tom is getting course correction data from Don Reeder as they work toward Tom's Private Pilot Certificate. Mr. Mathis spoke for a few minutes on the subject of the FAA Wings program and pointed out the benefits and potential savings especially when preparing for a biannual flight review.

Vice President Denis Rottler was introduced and spoke for several minutes on the status of the ADS-B Out project for the Archer. The existing configuration and two proposed solutions were presented. The goal is for a Fall 2016 installation of an ADS-B Out system for the Archer.

Treasurer B.J. Finney was introduced and presented the state of the finances for the club. The club's finances are in pretty fair shape. The funds are available for the ADS-B Out system for the Archer, we have about 73% of the money saved for the Archer engine, and about 76% of the cost for the 2016 Annual insurance saved.

With the business side of the meeting concluded the guest speaker, Harry Andonian was introduced. As most of you know Harry has quite a storied and famous aviation history both in the military and in civilian life. He always has something interesting to talk about and the information on his slides always amazes folks: he has flown 200+ airplanes and has over 27,000 hours in his logbook! Wow. As you can see from the pictures Harry started his aviation career as an Aviation Cadet in 1943 and served in a wide variety of military locations and assignments until 1971. Harry followed up his military career as an Engineering Test pilot for E-Systems from 1971 to 1988. Harry still flies his Debonair almost daily.

Harry provided some background on his military career before talking about his X-15 exploits. Harry flew the B-52's that carried and launched the X-15's from its wing. Specifically he flew the B-52 called Ball 8 (0008) as part of the X-15 program. It just so happened that Don Reeder was at Edwards Air Force base a few weeks before Harry was going to speak and saw the static display of the Ball 8 airplane. One thing lead to another, and Don came up with the idea to present Harry with a framed set of pictures which included the Ball 8. You can see the presentation and a close up of the picture below. The only thing left was to get Harry to talk about the X-15 program and the B-52's which Dennis Mathis pulled off without a hitch.

If was another very entertaining presentation by Harry and enjoyed by the 20+ folks in attendance. Thank you Harry!

Graduation - Private Pilot Ground School - 10May2016

Submitted by DROT on Wed, 05/11/2016 - 23:52

The final class of the 2016 Private Pilot Ground School was held on Tuesday, May 10th. After fifteen weeks of bad jokes, the dissemination of tons of information, the consumption of countless sacks of chips and cookies, and some good times, a hardy eleven souls received their Certificates of Completion. Congratulations to the class, they outlasted the instructors. The Majors Flying Club (MFC) President, Dennis Mathis, once again conducted and organized a well orchestrated Private Pilot Ground School. The MFC offers the class every year from February to May. This year Mr. Mathis was once again able to recruit some very experienced pilots and instructors to assist in teaching the classes. Many thanks to Mark Armstrong, Clarke Erwin, Clint Logwood, and Joe Rector for their help this year in the teaching effort.

Mr. Mathis invited Dr. Robert D. Sparks of Sparks Clinic in Rockwall to speak on the last day of class. In addition to being an entertaining speaker, Dr. Sparks is an FAA certified Medical Examiner and a good local resource for those looking to get the physical required to obtain a medical certificate. As has become a tradition, Mr. Mark Armstrong was on hand to demonstrate his prowess with his impressive sword from his days at The Citadel. Mark busted a few moves with his sword before deftly slicing the graduation cake into twenty scrumptious morsels. It is an entertaining way to cut a cake.

The evening ended with Mr. Mathis handing out of the Certificates of Completion and the requisite photo op with each of the students. As you can see from the photos below, there were ten very happy students and one student who was too cool for words.

Congratulations to the Private Pilot Ground School students of 2016!

First Row of Pictures (left to right) : Dr. Sparks and Dennis Mathis, Mark Armstrong, "The Class", Mark with Joe Rector in the background
Second Row of Pictures (left to right): Abbie, Daniel, Jackson, Jason
Third Row of Pictures (left to right) : Manning, Michael, Ned, Shon,
Fourth Row of Pictures (left to right) : Theo, Tyler, Zach

11 February 2016 - Harry Andonian's 92nd Birthday

Submitted by DROT on Sun, 02/14/2016 - 13:48

Majors Flying Club (MFC) President Dennis Mathis, organized and coordinated a lunch celebration of the 92nd birthday for our friend and local hero, Harry Andonian on Thursday, February 11, 2016 at the Chili's restaurant in Greenville, TX.

The event was attended by twenty-six people. The pictures show an engaged and a somewhat vociferous and opinionated bunch of folks sitting around celebrating with Harry.

As Mr. Mathis said, "A BIG thank you for all of you who were able to attend the informal gathering at Chili's today (Thursday, 11 Feb ) to help celebrate Harry Andonian's 92nd birthday. It was quite an event. I think Harry was honored by the 26 of us who showed up for this. Of course, the honor is really ours to be able to say we sat and dined with a legend.

My thanks to Dave Claud, the Chili's manager, and Sara Lopez, the waitperson, who attended to our little function and made it the success it was."

Happy 92nd Birthday Harry!