Airfield Letter - April 2026

April 1, 2026

The old saying was true .. March came in like a lion and now April comes in .. Like a lamb? We sure hope so. The winds of March were pretty stiL when it came to flying. That doesn’t mean there was no flying – we just had to pick our day and time.

Coming up, the Morristown TN EAA Chapter will hold their regular First Saturday breakfast at KMOR this coming Saturday, April 4th.

Our local EAA Chapter 1016 meeting on April 14 will host Mike Moran, the FAAST team program manager from the Charlotte FSDO. The subject will be recent Loss of Control accidents in our district. We wonder if the March winds had anything to do with the subject?

Jerry Moore and Glenn Gordon have been mowing and rolling the runway and Airfield grounds during March. The lack of rain has had a beneficial eLect, drying the soil. An additional boost was the removal of beaver dams in the conservation area north of New Hope Rd. The removal lowered the water level in the drainage ditches – something we’ve looked forward to since before Helene.

Let’s take a few minutes to remember Al Denn. Borrowing from one of the many tributes to him, Al was a man of many talents, a long time Board Member, Curator of the Museum, Docent and Friend. Last fall, the Board unanimously elected Al Chairman, a post he held faithfully until his health could no longer sustain him. His intelligence, artistry and skill are reflected in each exhibit he designed, highlighting the stories and history he loved to preserve for all of us.

Al flew west on March 6. Mark Cigal, Jacob Coby, Leo Dringoli and others pooled their talents to design a system to disperse Al’s ashes over the Museum Airfield. On March 28, following a remembrance inside the Museum, Al boarded his final flight.

With Whittaker Warrington at the controls of his Maule and Al’s grandson, Wyatt, in charge of the release mechanism, we bade “Onward and Upward” and “Happy Landings” to our friend.

Our hangar waitlist has included some maybes until now. Going forward it will show only those who are ready to take advantage of an opening.

Hangar Waitlist:

1. Norm Earle (Private Hangar by request)

2. Roger Benton (Museum Hangar due to size)

3. James Spurgeon (Museum Hangar due to size)

As always: Contact us with any questions: Alex Nelon 828-595-5950, Mark Cigal 860-930-5453