EAA Chapter 25

by John Koser

from On Final March 2005

On Feb 19th, we flew 12 students from Peter Denny’s “Sonex Technicians” class at Washburn HS. Pilots were Don Eide, Gary Rosch, Pat Halligan, Dan Carroll, and Norm Tesmar. Jeff Coffey, Bill Brown, Mike Dolan and myself served as ground crew. Bill Brown demonstrated his Sonex by doing takeoffs, low passes, and by flying alongside Don Eide so the kids could see a Sonex in flight.

I took about a half dozen of the students to our hangar so they could see the finished Sonex airplanes built and owned by Jeff and myself. Several parents also went along. The students were most appreciative, as were their parents.

On Mar 5th, Pat Halligan flew 5 more young eagles in conjunction with the annual chili feed.

Our next young eagle events are planned for Mar 19th and Apr 16th, when a scout group is planned. If you would like to volunteer, please contact myself or Jeff Coffey.

by John Koser

from On Final November 2004Again, Chapter 25 shines in keeping the Young Eagles events going! On October 16th, we had a small but determined turnout. Pilots Mark Kolesar, Don Eide, and Pete Gavin flew 14 Young Eagles, assisted by a ground crew of Bill Brown, Jeff Coffey, Ron Oehler, and Jon Cumpton.

Winds were 15+ knots @ 290, but fairly steady. Temps were below 40°F, so we kept the hangar door closed and enjoyed the heat. Parents and Cub Scout leaders brought their charges, and were verbally appreciative of the chance for their kids to get airplane rides. As usual, Mark, Don, and Pete did an outstanding job of educating their young passengers and answering their questions.

Chapter 25 has at least nine pilots with ten or more Young Eagle rides to their credit so far in 2004. At least thirteen members have been involved in ground support of Young Eagle flights. As a chapter, we are fortunate to have these members so dedicated to the cause of making this opportunity available to young people. Let’s hope we can increase our participation in the future, and maintain our third Saturday Eagle Flights if November and December weather allow it. We will try to schedule those dates at the FBO if we can.

If you know of, or have children or grandchildren in organizations that might contact us for Young Eagle rides, especially in November and December; please pass on the information to Jon Cumpton, Jeff Coffey, or John Koser. And to all volunteers, congratulations on reaching 250 in 2004!

by Jon Cumpton

from On Final October 2004

The last few weeks have been busy with Young Eagles activity. First, at our regular TSOM (third Saturday of the month) on September 18th, we flew 72 Young Eagles from the chapter hangar at Airlake. This group of kids consisted of Boy Scouts from Apple Valley and Cub Scouts from Packs 8 and 371. Our pilots for this event included Pat Halligan, Harvey Havir, Pete Gavin, Frank Hanish and Mark Kolesar. These guys were really truckin! They each flew from 12 to 18 kids in the space of a few hours! With this big a crowd, the ground crew was also extremely important. Thanks to Bill Brown, Jeff Coffey, Lee Hurry, Ron Oehler, John Perry, and Dick Reinke. Ron¹s computer printer was really smoking on that day!

On October 2nd, we conducted the second annual Young Eagles rally at New Richmond Regional Airport. Once again Pat, Frank and Mark flew again, joined this time by Don Eide, who claimed that Pat only found the airport by following him over from Airlake. We were joined by two local pilots ­ Dave Nelson and Al Kupferschmidt ­ and flew 48 kids in about two and a half hours. It was another beautiful flying day, despite frost on the pumpkin in the morning and some wind. Response from the New Richmond community has been very positive in the past two years. We have flown 125 children in two events, and the parents and kids really appreciate our efforts. Next up is our TSOM event on October 16th at the chapter hangar. We hope to see you there.