Executive Flyers September 2005 Newsletter

Congratulations to:

Michael Graves,

Chris O’Connell

and Tamara Russel

for soloing; Michael Poteet for passing his multiengine checkride; Chris Andres, Page Baldwin, Mike Deese and Mannie Garmy for passing their instrument rating checkrides: Eric Martin, Stephanie Raper, Brandon Rugg and David Sherlock for passing their private pilot checkrides and Phillip Hess and John Markley for winning the monthly drawing of an hour of instruction or a month’s dues.

And the winners are…

We had a great open house with pilots coming in during the day to say hi and look at the new 182 and a glass panel 172 brought in by Erin Hay of Tradewinds Aviation, our sales partner. The winners of the drawing for a hat of their choice were Bill Holden, Curtis Stout and Tom Sullivan. Polo shirts go to Dennis Arena, Al Epstein and Earlene Lockhart. The grand prize winner of a free ground school for the new 182 is Bonnie Neely. Congratulations to all.

Gas prices hit aviation too

Gas prices have increased almost 45 cents a gallon since our last price change. I increased the rates on the planes to compensate for the fuel cost increase as of September 1. Try flying with a friend to share the cost. I hope that the prices decrease in the future, but all indications are that the new higher rates are here to stay.

The end of our 25th year

Every time I write a paragraph like this I’m asked by several people if I’m retiring. I am not at this time, just writing about the club. It seems amazing that we’ve been flying for 25 years. Some of the current flight instructors weren’t born when we opened in 1980. Several of you have been with Executive Flyers since then and I want to tell you, you don’t look a day older than when you joined the club! My special thanks to Deena Alire, who has been with Executive Flyers for almost 22 years and who has kept up on the inventory, paid the bills, kept the instructors in line and very truly run the club while I’ve been out flying (and even when I’ve been in the office!) I couldn’t have made it through all this time without her. We have had so many of our instructors go on to the airlines, that I always look into the cockpit to see if I know any of the pilots whenever I take a commercial flight. I’ve written this newsletter almost every month for 25 years and I don’t even want to know how many that makes. Deena always tells me to grab an old one and copy stuff out of it when I complain about not knowing what to use in the last paragraph. There is only so much that you can say about flying. Finally, many thanks to all of you for flying with us.

Instrument rating

Fall is a great time of year to start working on your instrument rating. With winter and fog and rain only a few months away, you’ll be preparing yourself to cope with the change in the weather and make your pilot’s license useful all year ‘round. Even if you never intend to fly “hard IFR”, there are plenty of opportunities to take off, climb through a shallow layer of clouds or fog and proceed on your way in clear conditions. You’ll be a better smoother pilot, more weather savvy and safer. How can you lose? Call the office to schedule an introductory IFR flight to see what it’s like to fly on the instruments.

Potpourri

Welcome to Dan Kenber, our newest instructor. Dan can teach private, commercial and instrument students and will soon be able to teach in the twin. He is a welcome addition to our teaching staff.

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