Airfield Letter July 2025

July 1, 2025

There has been a lot of good stu? happening at our Airfield, but before we start there is a change for you if you rent one of our hangars. Please change the address on your automatic (or monthly) payment from the Airfield’s P.O. Box to the Air Museum’s P.O. Box (2343). Our Airfield P.O. Box will close when the rental period ends. Same zip code as before, only the box number changes. If your bank sends an email to let us know your check or transfer is on the way, please change the email address from the current one to wncamadm8nc9@gmail.com … (stands for Western North Carolina Air Museum admin 8nc9). The Museum has centralized all our administrative functions and we no longer have a separate Airfield bank account.

The most exciting news is the purchase of a new Kubota tractor for mowing the runway and much of the surrounding area. This was made possible through the generosity of Jerry and Robert Moore, Moore Farm Equipment and the support of people like you who have committed time and, in some cases, money to bring our Airfield and Museum back from Hurricane Helene. The Moores are Kubota dealers and made the tractor available at dealer cost - no profit to their company or to them. Our old tractor was sold for the same money as the EAA chapter donated to buy it and the mower. The mower is still serviceable, so we essentially got the mower for free; a very good deal all around …

A reminder that the Museum Members’ meeting in July will be an important one. As a Member, you received a notice of a revised set of bylaws that will be voted on at the July meeting. Please plan to be there on the 4th Thursday to exercise your vote for a new phase in the development of the life of the Museum. A copy of the new proposed bylaws was sent out with the Museum newsletter before the June meeting. If you weren’t there, the membership seemed to agree with the revision. There is still time for discussion and Mark and Alex are available to clarify anything you may want to talk over. Additionally, Debbie Schafer, who co-wrote and proofed the revised bylaws, can help.

June was a birthday month for several of us, so naturally you have to have a party! The regular Fairweather Flyers hangar lunch was moved to the pavilion at Flat Rock Park complete with balloons, kazoos, balsa and foam flying airplanes and plenty of birthday cake. Oh, there was food too. The day turned out to be perfect for the occasion.

Community Foundation of Henderson County happened to be at the Museum that day, reviewing the restoration of our buildings that their grant made possible and they joined us for the festivities!

Sid Tolchin wrote a song which was performed to the delight of all, accompanied by catcalls and kazoos. It was not too hard to convince Tim Higgins that he needed a break from the last 90% of completion tasks on his RV-12is (90% done, 90% to go) to provide the actual music.

There are more mundane matters to report … We had some representatives from the soil and water conservation district on the property to assess our drainage issues. Word is, their findings will go up the food chain to Washington and back down again. We’re hoping for some serious work to provide better drainage from our property to Mud Creek and the French Broad River.

There’s not much change in elevation so the courses for the water to follow have to be made - and kept - clear.

Our Hangar Tenants:

Museum Hangar:

West Side: Museum (half space) // Walker/Wade // Walker/Wade // Field // Museum (half space).

East Side: Coby // Tuck Anderson // Tim Anderson // Cosner

Johnson Field Hangars:

1. Davis

2. Oreck/Phillips-Jacobus

3. Smith/R. Brown/Woodall

4. Moore

5. Osteen/Kemper

6. Nelon/Cigal

7. Goutell/Stamey

8. Charbonneau

9. Huneycutt/

Upgrade/Wait List:

1. Norman Earle (for private hangar)

2. Travis Brown (private hangar)

Wait List (ready)

1. Roger Benton (Lance)

2. Seay Stephens (Ultralight)

Standby List: * denotes wish to remain on a waitlist but not ready

1. *Dennis Carlson (Highlander)

2. *Ben Flaspoehler (J3 in SC)

3. *Mike Lynch (J3/172 in Fla)

4. *Barry Duncan (RV-7 project)

As always, please contact either Mark or Alex if you have any questions, concerns, suggestions, etc or you want to volunteer to help. There are plenty of projects available.

To volunteer in the Museum Building, contact Bill Kelder at: wncamadm8nc9@gmail.com

The Airfield email address is: airfield8nc9@gmail.com

The Airfield website is: https://airfield8nc9.org

Alex Nelon 828-595-5950 Mark Cigal 860-930-5453