Meetings & Events

Please read our COVID-19 precautions below

     Our chapter was forced to cancel a number of meetings in 2020, and again in 2021, due to conditions and restrictions forced upon us by the COVID-19 pandemic. There are even variants of Covid-19 up until now which could potentially affect even those of us who have been vaccinated. Governor McMaster and SCDHEC have provided COVID-19 guidance to all South Carolinians regarding restrictions during the pandemic. EAA has also provided guidance to EAA chapters. Click here to view that EAA guidance. Fortunately, the governor's orders have NOT been overly restrictive thus far. Most SC businesses and organizations can now open/operate as long as certain PRECAUTIONS are taken. Consequently, we will do our best to abide by those precautions. SCDHEC has published a simplified list of recommended precautions on their website. Click here to view those SCDHEC guidelines. Those guidelines are constantly changing, so please keep abreast of them. As you know, COVID-19 is still with us and a very serious disease, so your attendance at this meeting is ENTIRELY VOLUNTARY. If you are fearful of catching the virus, then we'll understand if you decide not to come. If you are sick in any way, we request that you please DO NOT COME. If you have have had any variant of Covid-19 recently, or if you have any type of underlying health condition(s), we suggest that you consider whether or not you really should come. With the possible exception of the new Omicron variant, vulnerablity of those of us vaccinated has lessened substantially. So, if you are tired of being stuck at home, this is an excellent opportunity to get out and socialize with your like-minded aviation friends. Also, it's very important to practice SOCIAL DISTANCING and to WASH YOUR HANDS often. Those safety measures are intended as much, if not moreso, for the protection of others as for yourself. At least 6 feet is the recommended social distance between individuals. Thank you all for for your cooperation and understanding of our predicament during these challenging times. It's the only way we can reasonably and safely resume our chapter activities. State and local regulations are constantly changing, so if there are further restrictions, we may have to curtail our chapter meetings.
Next Meeting - Saturday, March 18th, 2023, Celebrate Freedom Foundation (CAE)

     Please note that the chapter voted at our November, 2022 meeting to change our monthly meeting day to Saturday rather than Sunday. So, if you know of aviators or others who could not come previously due to church and related activities, please let them know about this change for 2023. This will also avoid conflicts with holidays which occur on Sundays in 2023.

     Our next meeting is scheduled for Saturday, March 18th, 2023 at Celebrate Freedom Foundation (CFF) at 2533 B Airport Blvd, West Columbia, SC (CAE) starting at 2:00pm EDT. It's located just off Columbia Airport Expressway next to South Carolina Aeronautics Commission (SCAC). You can easily locate it on Google maps (click on the arrow at bottom) or your GPS for directions. The alternate "rain" date for the meeting is the following Saturday, March 25th in case of bad weather, although we don't expect it to be delayed since it will be held mostly inside the hangar.

     Jack Lovelady, COO of CFF, will give us a presentation on the history and mission of CFF and then take us on a tour of the facility. CFF's basic mission is to visit various schools, colleges, and aviation events in support of freedom and STEM educational initiatives. They have several Vietnam era UH-1 (Huey) helicopters as well as a beautiful, completely renovated Cobra helicopter. They also have a military drone housed there worth over $4 million, as well as several military vehicles. I believe you'll find it very interesting.

     Unfortunately, CFF does not have facilities for serving lunch, so lunch will be on your own this month. In order to give you time to eat lunch, we'll meet there at 2:00pm EDT. You may drive in or fly-in. Parking will be in the parking lot between CFF and SCAC on Airport Blvd outside the airport fence. If you plan to fly in, Jack said there are 3-4 tiedowns at CFF, so you should be able to taxi down and tie down there. Please bring your own ropes or straps and do plan to tie your aircraft down.

     If we have time, we may walk over next door to SC Aeronatics Commission to see the huge hangar where the Ford Tri-motor will be hangared during it's tour at CAE from March 8th until March 15th. Also, for those of you interested, we'll stop by Eagle Aviation after the CFF meeting to see their facilities, as well as to see where the Ford Tri-motor will be set up on May 11th-14th.

     See you on March 18th!

+--------------------------------------------------+
Lunch Menu
+--------------------------------------------------+
Lunch will be on your own this month. Meet at CFF at 2:00pm.

Legend
Green - Volunteered to provide
Gray - Unconfirmed, but probably
Red - Comments
----------------------

Upcoming Aviation Events All chapter meeting dates are on Sunday, unless otherwise noted. All chapter activities, dates, times and locations are tentative and subject to change.
Date(s)	Description	Time(s)	Location	Click for More
Click Red Arrow at Right	See "Breakfast Club" Schedule	9am - Noon	Click Red Arrow at Right for Dates & Locations
Saturday, March 18 (rain date: Saturday, March 25)	March Chapter Meeting	2:00pm - 4:00pm EDT	Celebrate Freedom Foundation, 2533 B Airport Blvd, West Columbia, SC
March 24 - March 26	Uncle John's Fly-in	Each Day	Triple Tree Aerodrome (SC00)
March 28 - April 2	Sun-N-Fun Fly-in	Each Day	Lakeland, FL (KLAL)
May 11 - May 14	Ford Tri-motor Tour	8am- 5:30pm	Eagle Aviation (CAE)
July 24 - July 30	AirVenture	Each Day	Wittman Field (KLAL) Oshkosh, WI
See the Triple Tree Website for more events in 2022	Triple Tree Aerodrome Events	Click the red arrow for further details.	Triple Tree Aerodrome (SC00)