Vintage AirMail Newsletter - The adventure lives on...
Geoff Says…Geoff Robison photoWelcome to this month’s edition of the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association’s AirMail E-Newsletter. The planning for this year’s edition of EAA Oshkosh has now reached a fevered pitch. We are all working very hard toward meeting the many goals we have set for ourselves in making this another successful and exceptional event for the EAA / VAA.The 2014 Air Show has injected a pretty big twist into the way we do business along the Flight line. Everyone needs to be aware that the Air Force Thunderbirds will be performing on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and their full size air-show requires a much larger air-show box than we are used to at Oshkosh.The size of the box will require us to shift the show line by 120 feet to the west, which will put the burn line at the speaker poles on all three of those days. Any violations that are detected by the FAA or the T-Birds Safety crew will potentially result in the show being delayed or cancelled.It is critically important that we have as many Volunteers as possible to work the burn line during each day. I know that a good deal of our Volunteers depart the grounds on Sunday morning to head home, so we are very hopeful that as many of our Volunteers as possible can stay around on Sunday to help us make this a safe show.As you can imagine, we anticipate a rather large general public attendance on Saturday & Sunday, and we are concerned that we will be sufficiently staffed for the Sunday T-Birds’ performance

So for all of you Volunteers out there reading this, please do your best to plan on being with us through the Sunday Show if at all possible!

Again, please be thinking about showing your monetary support of the Annual “Vintage Red Barn Fund” fundraiser. As a reminder, this fund exists solely for the purpose of financing the many programs and offerings that go on in the Vintage area during our annual EAA Convention.

Take a look at our “Friends of the Red Barn” page. Please consider signing up for one the many levels available.

Also, be sure to visit our Facebook page at facebook.com/EAAVintage. Facebook logoWe recently went over 10,800 likes on our page, and the feedback has been outstanding. Many thanks to all of you who have posted on this page, I think we are all having a lot of fun with this!

Some of you may remember that we had an old fashioned Ice Cream social on the front porch of the Red Barn at last years’ event. This year we are again promoting this event but with a new twist. We are calling it “Ice Cream with Jack Pelton on the front porch of the Red Barn”. Jack will be joining us on the front porch the first day of the Convention at 11:00 a.m. Come join us!

The Vintage Picnic is all planned out for this year, as well as the Shawano fly-out. Be sure to stop by the Red Barn and get the information on these really fun events.

Remember, It is never too early to begin your planning to attend the “World’s Greatest Aviation Event”. I hope to see you all there.

Thanks for being a Member, and we will “See you at Oshkosh 2014.”

The adventure lives on!


Geoff Robison
President, EAA Vintage Aircraft Association

EAA Life Member 268346
VAA 12606

In This Issue:

Become a Friend of the Red Barn TODAY

Red Barn imageOur Red Barn and Vintage Hangar complex is the center of Vintage activity each year at Oshkosh.

Friends of the Red Barn is our one fundraiser each year when we ask those members and friends who can to provide additional support for year-round VAA activities.

Learn more about FORB and how you can help Vintage by becoming an FORB member. (read more).

Airport Action: Vintage Chapter 29 and 2,900 Young Eagles

By Ron Alexander, VAA 27150

Chapter 29 Young Eagles imageWe all know that we need to do our part to bring youth into aviation. Chapter 29 states “Our primary goal at Chapter 29 is to inspire new pilots.”

This chapter hosts 11 Young Eagle events each year. In 2013 they flew over 350 young people. So far this year they have flown over 200 Young Eagles. Just a few weeks ago the Chapter broke another record by flying over 120 kids during an open house. This was accomplished by 7 dedicated pilots and a hardworking ground crew. (read more)

Vintage Oshkosh 2014

Oshkosh 2014 image

This year we will feature the Classic post war boom, September 1945 thru March 1947, which saw well over 30,000 civil aircraft produced within the United States.

As Geoff notes (see details on the left) additional flightline volunteers will be needed
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Just a reminder that flightline volunteers get the best view of the airshow.

Check the AirVenture Oshkosh
page
on the newly launched EAA website for more details (and check out the rest of the new site if you haven’t already).

June Mystery Airplane

This should be an easy one for our knowledgeable VAA members—a rather conventional 2-place biplane that made an appearance in the late 1920s.

Click here or below to view a full size image and submit your response, including your name city and state with descriptive copy identifying the Mystery Plane.

June Mystery Plane image

Why I Fly Vintage Airplanes

By T.S. “Max” Platts, VAA Lifetime 722088

Max Platts image
I started learning how to fly in 2006 during my junior year in high school. For me, this was a realization of a lifelong dream, having been completely obsessed with aviation since I was in the fifth grade. My parents were both pilots, and even though they didn’t fly while I was growing up, they still were very supportive of my decision to start flying lessons. There are very few options for places to learn to fly where I grew up in Wyoming. So I finally settled on joining a flying club in Laramie, which was 100 miles away from home. I didn’t go out for football my senior year (a serious faux pas in a small town with a successful football program) and worked every day after school at the local grocery store to finance this endeavor. Finally after getting everything in order, I took my first lesson and I was hooked. (read more)

April Mystery – Many Winners

Quite a number of correct answers were received for our April Mystery Airplane—the first being submitted by Evan Phillips who identified the twin engine aircraft as the Stout ST-1, a Navy torpedo plane.

Others who submitted correct answers included: Larry Cote, Hugh Metzler, Hank Dahl, Charlie Tilghman, Michael McCormick, Lynn Towns, Mike Brown, Robert Still, Larry Harmacinski, Don DeVoe, Scott Webster, Steve Chess, Tom Hammitt, Bill Bosma, Stuart Bain and Wayne Muxlow.

Click here or on the image below for more photos and the excellent in-depth article by Wesley Smith on the Stout ST-1.

Stout ST-1 image
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The Adventure Lives On…

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