Airfield Letter March 2025

March 1, 2025

A couple of glimpses of spring as we move into March … Mardi Gras is on the 4th and surely that means we have a foot in the door to the flying season. The freezing temperatures in mid-February cause some heaving of our waterlogged airfield – still not completely settled 5 months after the Great Flood of ’24 (from a 50-year to a 100-year to a 1,000-year event, depending on the weathercaster). Hangar doors became a bit hard to manage and the March wind we saw today didn’t help. Bill Kemper was not to be deterred; he had to get back in the air and found an Aerolite 103 which was delivered Friday 2/28 and is now ready for assembly in Hanger 5.

Congratulations Bill!

Jacob Coby’s 182 is parked temporarily in Hangar 5, until delivery of Whittaker Warrington’s Maule from the restoration shop in California where it has been completely rebuilt. The 182 will go back to its spot in the Museum Hangar when our new doors are installed, if not just before.

Mark Huneycutt was at the airfield this past week, doing a little parasail kiting with a friend and testing the wind. He’s all set for good parasailing when the weather permits.

Mark Cigal and Alex started the engine on their Kolb XTRA today . It’s a 3-cylinder, 1.2-liter Mitsubishi auto engine with a Viking gearbox. Even with (at least) 5-month-old auto fuel it started right away.

An FAA inspector from Charlotte will be on the field on the 10th to look over the Kolb and issue a new Airworthiness Certificate so Mark and Alex can begin testing.

Make a note to attend the EAA Chapter 1016 meeting on the 11th at the Museum … Jerry Marstall, a 1016 charter member, will receive his FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. It’s a big deal and Jerry is a worthy recipient. After his service in the Air Force flying over 200 low-level combat missions at night in Vietnam, Jerry built a Quickie that evolved into a Q200 – a challenging little beast that required extensive reengineering to accommodate Jerry’s tall frame. He flew that airplane over 20 years and 1,000 hours before parting it out last year. He also donated a considerable inventory of parts and good stuff to the EAA chapter for their use in advancing experimental aviation. His wife, Nancy, is an active pilot and a “99”.

There has been talk among several Museum and EAA members of forming a flying club but as far as we know there hasn’t been a real sit-down meeting to talk it over. That might be a good idea if you’re interested in sharing the cost of ownership with someone and we can make a meeting room available in the museum or at the airfield for you to do just that. Ideally, in our view, that might take the form of 2 airplanes; one for going up and looking down locally and one for traveling. Anything we can do to help, we will do. The goal is to keep you in the air.

Our volunteers have been hard at work, as always, and now we’re about to start with the prep for the new hangar doors on the Museum Hangar. Mark Cigal has engineered the project from the beginning and our fabricators are to begin welding the brackets that will be used to hang the door tracks this first week of March.. More from Mark when he’s ready to put us to work and your help will be much appreciated!

A Victory! Steve Murray’s RV-10 was completely under water on September 28, 2024; five months later, February 28, 2025, It’s back in the air! Congratulations, Steve!

September 28, 2024

February 17, 2025

February 28, 2025

Our hangar waitlist: If you’ve been on the waitlist but aren’t quite ready to rent a hangar your name has had an asterisk beside it for several months. We’re putting you in a queue, in order of date, but you’ll be on a standby list to go on a waitlist when you’re ready to make a commitment. It’ll be up to you to let us know when you’re ready.