Straight and Level

by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President, VAA 5721, EAA 55229 It’s the time of year when so many of realize that the once distant dream of Oshkosh and all things aviation is about to materialize. All of us here at Vintage (officers, directors and volunteers) have actually been working on this since we left AirVenture last year. We just really up our game three to four months before AirVenture. This year is certainly shaping up to be truly exceptional. And how
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by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President, VAA 5721, EAA 55229 At the writing of this letter I imagine that many of you are making preparations for your annual sabbatical to Oshkosh for the convention. All of us here at Vintage headquarters are doing the same only more so. We are basically “going in all directions” to get everything organized and in place. Of interest to all of you, of course, are the events that will be taking place in the Vintage
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by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President, VAA 5721, EAA 55229 On February 8,th your board of directors and advisors along with a host of our volunteers met at Flabob Airport in Riverside/Rubidoux, California for our annual midwinter board meeting. The midwinter board meeting is designed to cover and complete some of the business of the organization before as I say, “All heck breaks loose in preparation for AirVenture”. I am sure that all of you are aware of the Flabob Airport
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by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President, VAA 5721, EAA 55229 Dear Friends, On December 9, 2017, VAA Director Emeritus Charlie Harris flew his final flight West. With Charlie’s passing aviation has lost one of its strongest supporters and an icon in the vintage aircraft movement. Charlie was a person of impeccable character that so many including myself were fortunate to call their friend. Charlie gracefully and successfully managed to juggle his time between his business, Transportation Leasing Corporation of Tulsa, Oklahoma,
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by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President, VAA 5721, EAA 55229 Fall is here or as I call it the “last hurrah” before old man winter curtails our fun flying. I’ve always thought that some of the best events are the Saturday gatherings in the fall at someone’s private airport. It’s a time to fly (in deliciously smooth cool air!), meet with some of your best friends, and of course have a hot dog. It does not get much better than that.
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VAA 5721, EAA 55229 AirVenture 2017 is now a thing of the past. For those of us who made the annual sabbatical it was a magical time spent with family, friends and all things aviation. AirVenture 2017 was also one for the record books. It was a monumental statistical success with approximately 590,000 attending, an increase of five percent over 2016. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 aircraft flew into Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh where ATC adroitly handled 17,223
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by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President VAA 5721, EAA 55229 The buzz has started. The excitement is building. It’s all about the annual sabbatical that over 10,000 planes and pilots make to Oshkosh every year in July. And, of course, there’s the other 450,000 or so who make the trek by other means—commercial airliner, camper, cars and just about any other mode of transportation that you can think of. You are probably thinking “boats”. My guess is that a few of
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by Susan Dusenbury, VAA President VAA 5721, EAA 55229 Friends, Last week I, along with VAA Directors Bob Lumley and Steve Neese, VAA Advisors Earl Nicholas and Ray Johnson and VAA Volunteer Wayne Wendorf, attended Ron Alexander’s Celebration of Life service. It was a fitting tribute to a great human being and friend. Jim Busha, EAA Director of Publications, was also there. If you have not read Jim’s tribute to Ron entitled “Saying Goodbye One Last Time”, you should consider
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by Geoff Robison, President EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, EAA Life Member 268346 VAA Life Member 12606 Welcome back to the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association's Vintage AirMail e-Newsletter. We recently lost another amazing friend of the VAA. Gene Chase was an amazing friend to all in aviation. He served as a Naval Aviator on a carrier during World War II, and later joined the EAA as an Editor of various publications in EAA and VAA, including his long-time role as editor
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by Geoff Robison, VAA President VAA Life Member 12606, EAA Life Member 268346 The EAA, the VAA Board of Directors & Staff and Volunteers of Vintage, and a huge number of our friends in Aviation in the Atlanta area are mourning the tragic loss of Ron Alexander who recently lost his life during a flight in his beloved Jenny. Let me first say that our hearts and prayers go out to the family of Ron. This man was the epitome
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by Geoff Robison, VAA President VAA Life Member 12606, EAA Life Member 268346 Welcome back and thanks again for reading the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association's Vintage Air Mail e-Newsletter. Here we go again! I feel like I just got home from AirVenture and the planning for the 2017 event is already in full forward motion. This is not me complaining at all. What it is mostly about is the full on interaction with the membership during Convention where we consistently
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by Geoff Robison, VAA President VAA Life Member 12606, EAA Life Member 268346 Welcome back and thanks for reading the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association's Vintage Air Mail e-Newsletter. HOLY COW! Oshkosh AirVenture 2016 was nothing short of amazing. I was particularly pleased to see so many Antiques parked in the Vintage area this year. It has been at least a decade since we last saw so many Antiques come to Oshkosh. To me this phenomenon drives home the idea that
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by Geoff Robison, VAA President VAA Life Member 12606, EAA Life Member 268346 Welcome back and thanks for reading the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association's Vintage Air Mail e-Newsletter. Here we go again! The excitement is once again building in Oshkosh. The EAA Staff and Volunteers who participate in the “Features and Attractions” initiative have been investing massive amounts of time and energy into the planning of the multitude of opportunities that get presented to us that we believe will greatly
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by Geoff Robison, VAA President VAA Life Member 12606, EAA Life Member 268346 Welcome back to our new updated format for EAA Vintage Aircraft Association’s Vintage AirMail e-Newsletter. Our newsletter team has worked hard for several months to update and modernize our AirMail format to make it easier for you to read and enjoy. I hope you enjoy reading it. The 2016 planning for the Vintage portion of AirVenture is coming together quite nicely again this year, and we are
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by Geoff Robison, VAA President VAA Life Member 12606, EAA Life Member 268346 Welcome back to our new updated format for EAA Vintage Aircraft Association's Vintage AirMail e-Newsletter. Our newseltter team has worked for several months to update and modernize our AirMail format to make it easier for you to read and enjoy. 2016 is certainly shaping up to be yet another banner year for the VAA. Your Board of Directors met in Oshkosh on Thursday November 5th. This was
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