Gateway Pilots

From the June Picnic

The universe blessed us with gorgeous weather at Kilroy’s at Smartt Field, perfect for drifting between Laurie’s delicious food inside and Rick and Gen Albrecht’s crooning outside.

July Meeting

The Wednesday, July 9, 2008 meeting will be at The Columns. LaVonne from Operation Lift-Off will visit us, bringing TWA and Ozark Airlines memorabilia. Operationg Lift-Off is a 501(c)3 organization that sells Ozark and TWA merchandise. Proceeds from the sales are used to fund airline tickets for children needed to travel from their home city for medical care.

The following merchandise will be available for sale at the meeting:
Clothing: Men and Ladies Polo Shirts, TWA Hats, Ladies Nightshirts, TWA sweaters.
Airplane stuff: Airplane models, large and small, Assorted pictures and artwork of airplanes; Tote bags with embroidery of TWA emblem, TWA cloth placemats with different designs.
Other Misc.: Stuffed bears dressed in pilot gear ( if any left) , Airplane clock, Decals, TWA golf balls and tees,Coffee mugs with different airplanes, Etched glassware showing different airplanes, Flight Attendant pins, TWA China and TWA silverware; also TWA Connie notecards.
She will also be bringing a few large lithographs and framed pictures.
Credit cards will be accepted for purchases. LeVonne will bring Operation Liftoff brochures and a surprise gift for everyone in attendance.

Phone your dinner reservations to Jean Murry at (314)469-3541.

Upcoming Events

George Andre will talk to us in August. George flew the SR-71, flew for TWA, flew for Wings of Hope, flew Zipper at Reno, and recently received an FAA safety award for 50 years of flying without an accident.

Bob Linenweber will explain the new WINGS program in September.

St. Charles County Smartt airport is having an open house August 30-31.

You can always find the latest list of upcoming MPA events on our web site at http://gatewaypilots.org/upcoming-events/.

This year, all meetings on are the third Wednesday of the month except in December. See the upcoming events page for weather minimums and times.

[TABLE=2]

Gateway Pilots Web Site

Did you know that there are good things on the web site that did not make it into the newsletter? Drop by www.GatewayPilots.org.

From the May Meeting

Clyde Ehrhardt, Ehrhardt Aviation Agency, Sullivan, MO, eaa@fidnet.com, (800)394-2062, explained aviation insurance in a completely entertaining and informative manner. I cannot possibly reproduce Clyde’s humor and engaging style but here are a few of the factual tidbits from his presentation:

• Clyde only deals with aviation insurance, nothing else, and has done so for more than 30 years.
• You can change insurance brokers if you want to. Just ask the new broker to send a “broker of record letter” to the insurance company.
• Be sure to insure your own airplane. Do not depend on the FBO’s insurance to cover damage to your plane. For instance, if your plane is in the maintenance hangar and is damaged, the FBO’s insurance may only cover you if the FBO was negligent.
• The single rating which will have the most positive impact on the cost of your insurance is IFR. That will save you about 10%.
• Be sure that your agent actually requotes your policy every year and that you get the benefit of any rate decreases. Some agents will simply keep invoicing you the same amount of money, year after year, even if their cost goes down.
• Fun trivia: you can insure a 16 year old boy as a student pilot in a $26,000 Cessna 150 for about $900 per year. Not only is that less than you will probably pay for automobile insurance but he won’t get a speeding ticket in the Cessna.

Election Results

The entire ballot was approved as proposed.

Contest Winners

Our “Help the FAA” contest winners were:

1. Bob Kraemer with 13 correct guesses
2. Libby Yunger with 12 correct guesses
3. Steve Pierce with 11 correct guesses

The correct answers are:

• Ears: Dorothy Martin, Liz Dunn, Rosemary Petruso
• Eyes: Lee Herne, Lana Maggart, Libby Yunger
• Hair: Bob Kraemer, Jean Murry, Rick Albrecht
• Mouthes: Chuck Maggart, Jan Pocock, Matt Martin
• Mustaches: Art Zemon, Bob Vasquez, Pat Devine

Thanks to everyone for playing!

June Picnic

June 11 is the picnic at Kilroy’s. Festivities begin at 5:30pm. Cost is $7.50 per person. The menu includes: Baked Chicken, Pulled Pork, Mashed Potatoes, Corn, Green Beans, Glazed Carrots, Salad, Blackberry Cobbler, Soft drinks and Ice Tea. Rick and Gen Albrecht will provide entertainment. Phone your dinner reservations to Jean Murry at (314)469-3541.

Upcoming Events

Bob Kraemer highlighted some of the upcoming meetings. Operation Lift-Off will visit us in July, bringing TWA and Ozark Airlines memorabilia.

George Andre will talk to us in August. George flew the SR-71, flew for TWA, flew for Wings of Hope, flew Zipper at Reno, and recently received an FAA safety award for 50 years of flying without an accident.

Bob Linenweber will explain the new WINGS program in September.

St. Charles County Smartt airport is having an open house August 30-31.

You can always find the latest list of upcoming MPA events on our web site at http://gatewaypilots.org/upcoming-events/.

This year, all meetings on are the third Wednesday of the month except in December. See the upcoming events page for weather minimums and times.

[TABLE=2]

Gateway Pilots Web Site

Did you know that there are good things on the web site that did not make it into the newsletter? Drop by www.GatewayPilots.org.

From the March Meeting

Mal Yorke and new member Don Dunn talked about the glory days of TWA and reminded us of the magnitude of the disaster “airline deregulation” has been. Since deregulation, over 200 airlines have vanished, taking countless jobs and “extended families” with them.

Carl Schaffner introduced is fiancée, Donna Sytsma. Yes, they really did look that happy in person, too. Unanimous opinion of those surveyed is that Carl and Donna have a long and happy marriage ahead of them.

New Members

Welcome to several new members.

Tom Sparr

Pat Devine

Liz and Don Dunn

From the April Meeting

A motion was proposed by Libby Yunger, and seconded by Rick Albrecht to have the Gateway Chapter pay ½ of the cost per person at our picnic in June. Last year the per person charge was $10 so if that remains the same this year, the Chapter will pay for $5 and the individuals who attend need only pay $5. The motion carried unanimously.

Rick Albrecht is in charge of the nominating committee and at the meeting the following individuals agreed to serve on the Board for two years, from 2008 to 2010. Tony Petruso, Don Kramme, Steve Pierce, Bill Darnell, Bob Vasquez. Tracy Smith was asked and will provide an answer by the election in May. Donna Crandell is not going to be Vice President after June 2008 due to business commitments.

Any one interested in serving in any capacity, please let Rick know by the May meeting election.

Joe Pestka, MoDOT Administrator of Aviation, provided information on legislation pending in the Missouri state legislature. Bills proposed covering items such as, Jet fuel and the Aviation Trust Fund; exempting purchases of aviation materials, parts, and equipment from state and local sales tax; lowering the maximum certified gross take-off weight on “commercial aircraft” from 7,000 pounds to 3,000 pounds.

May Meeting

The Wednesday, May 14, 2008 meeting will be at The Columns. Clyde Earhart will discuss aircraft insurance. Phone your reservations to Jean Murry.

We will be voting for new officers. See the 2008 Ballot. The slate consists of:

President: Bob Kraemer
Vice President: Don Kramme
Secretary: Art Zemon
Treasurer: Libby Yunger

Board of Directors: Jean Murry, Tracy Smith, Bob Vasquez, Bill Darnell, Tony Petruso, Steve Pierce

Safety Tip

Coming into spring, it’s time to brush up on the flying skills that might have gotten a little rusty through the winter. Or just a little review with your favorite instructor.

FLY SAFE Rick adv.av.training@sbcglobal.net

Upcoming Events

You can always find the latest list of upcoming MPA events on our web site at http://gatewaypilots.org/upcoming-events/.

This year, all meetings on are the third Wednesday of the month except in December. See the upcoming events page for weather minimums and times.

[TABLE=2]

Gateway Pilots Web Site

Did you know that there are good things on the web site that did not make it into the newsletter? Drop by www.GatewayPilots.org.