April Meeting, Gilbert International Airpark, 4/11/21, 12pm-4pm

John Pipkin, spoke on his involvement with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)

      We had a great lunch and presentation today. First, we enjoyed a feast of various soups, casseroles, salads, desserts, and beverages. Then, Randy convened the business/information meeting. He again thanked Ron Angerman and Angela Collins for hosting our meeting today, as they have so many times in the past. He also commended all those who brought food and those who donated funds for that cause. Randy stressed that while we all enjoy eating and socializing that let's all remember our primary purpose for meeting, which is aviation, and specifically EAA. He also stressed the importance of attending our "business/information" meeting. He stated that we have only about 10-15 minutes of business and the rest of the meeting is typically devoted to information about EAA and the chapter. He also commented that we have some great talent within our chapter and encouraged members to make presentations that might be of interest to other chapter members, to consider what they can do for their chapter, and to volunteer in any way possible.

     After the meal, we enjoyed a great presentation by John and Joyce Pipkin. John gave us an overview  of his considerable flying experience.  Some of his accomplishments include test flying the Atlanta Falcons jet recently, piloting the Lexington County Sheriff's helicopter, flying many different types of aircraft, and flying some notable celebrities. As John put it, "he's done about everything in aviation ... except make money" John's presentation mostly centered on his involvment with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF), a non-profit organization bringing relief to underprivileged and devastated people around the world. Of particular interest, John and Joyce were in Haiti when the devastating earthquake struck that country several years back. Fortunately, they survived, but in mere seconds hundreds of thousands of people were either killed or made homeless. He said he actually saw many homes sliding down the mountain sides. John even showed us a video taken when the earthquake struck and the aftermath, He flew a number of relief missions to Haiti afterwards. Joyce then spoke on her involvement in a teacher organization named "Education Equals Hope" which often works in conjunction with MAF. She mentioned that a local family, the Suttons, from the Batesburg-Leesville area were joining MAF, would be moving to a foreign land soon, and needed funding. Jim Matthews made a motion that we donate $100 to that family. It was seconded and approved by the membership.

     In other news, the chapter approved for the chapter board to spend up to $750 each calendar year without specific membership approval beforehand. In turn, the Board will acknowledge and justify any future purchases to the membership in subsequent meetings. For photos taken by Cindy Aulbach, click on the photo of John Pipkin above.

March Meeting, Gilbert International Airpark, 3/21/21, 12pm-3pm

A&P technician, Jessica Trimble, gave us a magneto presentation today.

      We had one of our best attended chapter meetings ever today. First, we enjoyed a smorgasbord of great Italian food. We again thanked Ron Angerman and Angela Collins for hosting our event at their very nice hangar/home. Also, a sincere thanks to all of you members who brought food items today. We had plenty of food. Nobody went away hungry. We don't yet have an actual count of the number of attendees, but Ron and Angela set up 90 chairs, and there were very few, if any, empty ones. Three new members joined at our meeting today: Corey Kroll, Tony Scribner, and Herb Low.

     After the meal, we enjoyed a great presentation on magnetos from A&P technician, Jessica Trimble. Jessica works at Koenig Aviation located at Woodward Field (KCDN) near Camden, SC. Thank you, Jessica, for you and your husband, Josh, and Mother, Polly, visiting with us today and giving us an informative presentation. Keep her and John Koenig in mind if you ever need work on your aircraft, including magnetos.

     We then took about a 15 minute break, while members crowded around Jessica asking questions and viewing magneto parts that Jessica and Cory Althouse brought for us ti see. It was the first time many, if not most, of us had seen the internals of an aircraft component vital to keeping us all in the air. Then, we held a business meeting in which members had the opportunity to give their input into what THEY want to do in 2021. Randy showed the 3.5 minute EAA March video magazine. We then talked about several issues, including meeting format, having presentations, Young Eagles, and Flying Start, among others.

     For photos from the meeting taken by chapter photographer, Eddie Price, click on the photo above.

February Meeting, Gilbert International Airpark, 2/21/21, 1-3pm

Albert Hibpschman (ATP, CFII) Speaks on His New Role as Our Chapter Flight Advisor

      Unfortunately, it was necessary to cancel the December 2020 and January 2021 meetings due to COVID-19 outbreaks. Therefore, this February meeting was our first meeting of 2021. We finally got a break today from COVID-19 and about 2 weeks of bad weather, so we enjoyed a great meeting at Ron Angerman's hangar at Gilbert International Airpark (SC45). We enjoyed a delicious lunch of various soups, supporting items, delicious desserts, and various beverages. Someone counted 55 members/guests and 7 planes flew in. Seven (7) new members joined our chapter today: Donna and George Flanagan, David and Sandy Amsdell, Steve and Kelly Hill, and one previous member, John Pipkin.

     After lunch, we held our business meeting beginning about 2:05pm. Randy thanked Ron Angerman for again allowing us to use his very nice hangar, everyone who brought food, and all those who made donations for today's meal. Randy then presented service awards to chapter leaders and staff members for the year 2020 (click the photo above to see those members). Secretary, Debbie Phibin, had written up the 11/15/2020 minutes, Randy posted them on our chapter website soon after, and we approved those minutes at today's meeting. Libby Berry gave us a Treasurer's report which indicated that our chapter is healthy and in great financial condition for the upcoming year. Randy also showed us the January EAA video magazine featuring EAA CEO, Jack Pelton, and Director of EAA Chapters, Charlie Becker. Essentially the same chapter leaders who had served in 2020 will again be serving in those same capacities in 2021.

     In addition to those leaders and staff, we have one, and possibly two, new chapter positions in 2021. Albert Hibpschman has graciously agreed to serve as our chapter Flight Advisor. Albert has ATP and CFII ratings, so he is well qualified to fill that role. We've also applied to be an EAA "Ray Scholarship" chapter. If EAA accepts our application, we'll be able to submit applications to EAA of young people wishing to earn a pilot license. The scholarship amounts and age ranges are: private pilot ($10.000, 16-19 years old), sport pilot ($7,500, 16-19 years old), and glider pilot ($5,000, 15-19 years old). There are stringent requirements associated with each one. If our chapter is selected, Albert has also agreed to serve as our Ray Scholarship Coordinator. Thank you, Albert, and all of our great officers and staff for your service to our chapter.

     In other business, Randy spoke about the 11 criteria for earning an award for the combined years 2020-2021. He expressed the hope that our chapter can earn another chapter recognition award as we did in 2019 with a BRONZE award. We'd even like to step that up to a SILVER or GOLD award this year, if possible. Roger Rucker commented on his aviation career and circulated a logbook from his previous days in the military.. Safety Advisor, Don Schmotzer, gave us a quick tip and easy to remember way of positioning our plane's control surfaces while taxiing in strong winds, which is essentially to "position the controls in a direction AWAY FROM the wind", which eliminates having to remember a lot of control surface rules.

     To view photos of the today's event taken by chapter photographer, Eddie Price, click on the photo of Albert Hibpschman above.