To view the news from years past, click on the Past Articles link at the bottom of this page.
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NOTICE:
September's meeting will be held on the 2nd Saturday of the month - NOT THE FIRST. The meeting/dinner will be on SEPTEMBER 9th.
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Newsletters: The newsletter editor does not have many of this Summer's new member's addresses. If you are a new member and have not yet received a newsletter, please email gretchen.watson@wvfunflyers.com with your information.
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September 5th
Parkersburg or Vinton County? That will be one topic of conversation at this month's meeting on September 9th. Several WVFF typically fly to one or the other on September 16th staying the night for the following day's air show. Vinton usually puts us up in their lounge for the night. Parkersburg may provide rooms at a local hotel. Hales Landing, nearby to Parkersburg, is having a get together on Saturday the 16th and may welcome some overnighters who will then fly on to Parkersburg on Sunday. It may be that the WVFF split up and go in separate directions or go as a group to one or the other. Either way, please come to the September 9th meeting/dinner and voice your opinions.
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September 4th
On Monday, Mason County Airport held their Annual Labor Day Pancake Breakfast Fly-in. Several WVFF showed up at Leon early that morning and prepared to fly over to Mason. Those that attended from the WVFF were Glen(701), Captain (Hurricane), Russell (C150), Rick (Captain's Tiger Cub), Mickey (Trike), Steve (Trike), Gretchen (TBird). Ed drove over.
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August 25, 26 & 27
Dave Purdin held his 5th Annual Powered Parachute Fly-In in Peebles, Ohio. Mickey (Trike) and Gretchen (TBird) flew over Friday afternoon with a stop over at Portsmouth to refuel. They arrived to find that there were several parachutes and paragliders already flying around the area. Doran Mitchell trailered his parachute and also arrived on Friday. Darian Fields was also there with his powered parachute as well as his paraglider. Close to 50 pilots had registered for the event.
Steve Doll flew his trike over on Saturday. However, he was dodging storms the entire way and had to make an unplanned stop in a field to wait one out.
The fly-in was located in a field next to an oval dirt racetrack. Races were held late into the night all weekend. All registered pilots received a chance to win a used car provide by Dave Purdin. Four tickets were drawn. Those four people then went to the race track where they drove the car as fast as they could for one lap. The person with the fastest lap time won the car.
It began raining Sunday morning and it lasted about three hours. At that time, Steve, Mickey and Gretchen departed for Leon which is normally a two hour plus trip for the trikes. However, they enjoyed a 30 plus mile per hour tailwind and they arrived back at Leon in one hour and twenty minutes. Click here for Pictures.
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August 19th & 20th
Congratulations to Ron Rife who recently passed his Light Sport Written Examination. He will now be preparing for the Practical and hopefully won't have a difficult time in finding an examiner.
On Saturday, Raine picked up the gravel for the road behind the hangars. Mickey used the tractor with a blade to smooth it out the best he could.
Ken, Chuck, Mickey and Gretchen all took short flights on Sunday evening. The weather was somewhat bumpy. Gretchen attached a new antenna she purchased at Oshkosh to her TBird in the hopes of fixing her communications woes. After taking it up and trying it out everyone said that they could hear her better. Ed has continued to ground taxi his newly acquired fisher (tail dragger).
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August 12, 13th
Several WVFF attended a radio controlled meet at Bob Evan Farms. Mickey (Trike) and Gary Price in his Mini Max flew there on Saturday. Apparently the field was only about 400 feet long but they landed safely and stayed for a few hours. Kevin also attended.
Captain flew his Hurricane for about an hour on Saturday. Brian King and family camped overnight while working on his Hi-Max. Doran brought down his new powered parachute Sunday. Gretchen and Mickey both had a chance to fly it. Mickey also flew Captain's Tiger Cub. Ed attached the wings to his Fisher and started it up. Kevin flew it around the patch a few times. Ed has begun taxiing it to get used to the tail dragger ground handling.
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August 5th & 6th
We had a very good turn out for our August dinner/meeting. Several visitors dropped by to spend the day with us, one of which was Tim Wimer who writes articles for a couple magazines - WV Tourism and Ultraflight. He interviewed several people on Saturday and will put together a few stories to submit for consideration by the magazine staff. Donald Reynolds, President of the Braxton Flying Club, and his wife Sophia were also there for several hours. Brian King, High Max, and his family camped Friday night. They are new WVFF members. Ed also brought his camper for the weekend.
That evening we held our annual "Ace of the Base" competition. Kevin Pauley won the competition by taking a 1st in the Touch-n-Go and a 2nd in the Bomb Drop. Click here for Pictures and Results.
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August 2nd
There has been a change to the dinner menu for this Saturday's meeting. Instead of hamburgers and hotdogs, we will be ordering chicken. The current heat wave is making it undesirable to be grilling outdoors.
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August 1st
Our next meeting will be on August 5th, 2006. Our annual “Ace of the Base” flying competition will be held that evening. Last year’s winner was Mickey Watson. Attending that meeting will be a man from the West Virginia Tourism Magazine who will be writing an article about the club. He may camp out there this weekend. It would be especially nice to have a good turn out for that meeting and possible club pictures for the magazine. I would also like to take a new picture for our WVFunflyers.com web site with as many members as possible. The one that is being used is from the mid 1990’s - pre-current editor’s as well as many other’s memberships.
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July 30th
Several of the WVFF made their way to Oshkosh, Wisconsin to attend EAA’s AirVenture 2006. Club members that attended were Curtis/Kathy Pack and family, Gretchen & Mickey Watson, Glen Beckett, Josh & Danielle Shirley, Ron & Marge Rife. On the way to Oshkosh, Curtis, Mickey/Gretchen, and Steve Doll all met up at a trike fly-in in Newark, Illinois. Steve took his Sport Pilot Practical Exam while there and passed with flying colors. He is now the fourth person at the airfield to have his Sport Pilot license. Others are: Glen Beckett, Gretchen and Mickey Watson. Steve then made his way back to West Virginia while the others continued on to Oshkosh.
AirVenture 2006 was very exciting with air shows everyday beginning at the ultralight field in the mornings from 7:00 a.m. through 1:00 p.m. and with the large airplanes beginning around 2:00 p.m. through 6:00 p.m. In the evenings the ultralight field would again be buzzing with aircraft. Later toward nightfall the “Theater in the Woods” had many interesting speakers that came to tell their flying and war stories. This year AirVenture introduced a new outdoor walk-in theater that showed many movies throughout the week. Attendees brought their chairs and Ford Motor Company provided the popcorn.
Curtis’ balloon building seminar went very well with very good attendance. Mickey wheeled and dealed all week with the Australians (Airborne dealer) regarding a new wing for his trike.
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July 7th, 8th & 9th
What a nice weekend for flying! The weather was calm and not too hot. Unfortunately I (Newsletter Editor) missed it because of having to work at a conference at the Charleston Mariott Saturday - Thursday. However I heard that many WVFF showed up to fly and socialize all weekend. Some are even getting items ready for the Oshkosh trip. Mickey for one, since he is planning on leaving a whole week early in order to fly part of the trip there in his Trike. He and Gretchen will meet up with Steve and Curtis at a Trike fly-in located in Newark, Illinois the weekend of the 21st.. Then it will be off to Oshkosh for the following week.
I hope to be back from Oshkosh in time to write and mail the next newsletter but in case I'm not, the August meeting will be on the 5th. Dinner will be hotdogs and hamburgers - bring a dish as usual. We will be having a flying competition that day so start practicing for the bomb drop, spot landing, touch and go and carrier landing. All types of aircraft are welcome to compete as well as non-WVFF. Come on out and join the fun.
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July 4th - 2006 Buffalo Parade
Kevin volunteered his Mini Max to ride on the trailer. Little Jessica rode in the cockpit during the parade. Several WVFF rode on the float which they had decorated with signs and flags. We tossed candy to young and old as we rode through Buffalo. After the parade we all went to the Pack's for dinner and swimming in their pool.
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July 1st - 2006 Meeting/Dinner Weekend
Click here Pictures and Story of that weekend.
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June 28th, 2006
Chuck and Rosa came down to clean up at the Lounge before this weekend's dinner. Chuck then flew the Mini Max around for a while. Bret stopped by and took a Trike flight around the Buffalo area. Mickey and Gretchen were there cleaning up their camper for the upcoming Oshkosh trip.
The July Dinner/Meeting will be this Saturday. We failed to discuss the food plans at the last meeting, so, if you can, bring a dish.
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June 24, 2006
Captain's Tiger Cub finally arrived at the airfield and it really looks nice. To see a picture of it, click here to go to the Hangars section of this website.
Ed recently sold his Pterodactyl and the new owner has moved it to hangar 2.
Melvin Miller recently sold the Hi Max (Tiffany). The new owners are planning on staying at Leon.
Steve and Mickey flew to Curtis' backyard and landed that morning. Gretchen made one pass then changed her mind because she doesn't like landing there from the southern direction. After breakfast, Josh flew Mickey's Trike back to the airport. There was quite a bit of wind, more than Josh had been in before, but he did just fine.
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The FAA has denied USUA's petition asking for an extension of the deadlines allowed for ultralight pilots and vehicles transitioning into Sport Pilot. Details here: http://www.usua.org/HotNews/Archives/20060620/
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June 17, 2006
Several WVFF met Saturday morning with plans to head for Jackson County to eat breakfast. However, plans changed when someone mentioned that Gallia Meigs was having a Fly-In with a pancake breakfast. Ken (J3 Kitten), Kevin and Chuck (Mini Max's), Curtis and Mickey (Trikes), Gretchen (TBird), Glen (Zenair 701), Randy (Cessna) all took off for Gallipolis, OH around 10:00 a.m. The trip there was hands off of the controls smooth. Upon arrival no pancakes were to be found. It seemed that the celebration wasn't to begin until around noon with various vendors selling food such as pizza, hotdogs, etc. There was a helicopter there selling rides all day long as well as various other activities. The starving WVFF borrowed a car from the airport and drove to Bob Evans about a mile down the road. We left for our return trip shortly after arriving back at the airport. The trip back home was a bit more bumpy than before yet everyone arrived safe and sound back at Leon. Click here for Pictures.
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June 9th, 10th, 11th - 2006 - Super Dave's Fly-In, Cannonsburg, Kentucky
The 7th Annual Super Dave's Fly-In brought pilots from literally all over the country to enjoy an ever growing event. A large campground accommodated a myriad of campers and tents. Several vendors, mainly powered parachute related, set up tents showing off their products. Campers actually began arriving, setting up and flying early in the week. Jim Stephenson (DAR) with ASC was there conducting airworthiness inspections. A couple men from the FAA attended, answering questions and holding a small sport pilot question and answer session. Jim MacLeay from Tennessee was the safety coordinator.
Darian Fields and family arrived around Thursday and Doran Mitchell and his wife arrived that afternoon. Steve, Mickey and Gretchen all flew over Friday evening. Kevin accompanied them about half of the way before heading back to Leon. There were three grass runways, two side by side and one on an adjacent field.
At 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning a briefing was held and many parachutes took off for Olive Hill, Ky, to land on a 2500 paved runway. Doran, Dave Purdin and Darian went on that trip. At around 7:30, another group left for the same airport including Steve, Mickey and Gretchen. The weather and wind was looking extremely dark and grey and a phone call to a pilot at Olive Hill from Jim MacLeay said to get back immediately if possible. However, it looked worse than it was but the winds were strong down low. It took the parachutes a good while to return to Cannonsburg. Pilots flew all afternoon until around 5:00 when it began to drizzle briefly and the wind kicked up some. However, the catered food had arrived for all who registered upon arriving that weekend. Later that evening, a parachute competition was held, spot landing, bomb drop, etc. The last event that evening was one that everyone had anxiously anticipated. All those that registered were given a raffle ticket for a new Buckeye Powered Parachute as well as many, many other very nice prizes. However, the winner wasn't one of our members but the person was extremely excited anyway. He had apparently needed to give up flying and sell his parachute about three years ago and missed it very much. His health is fine now and it seems that the machine was definitely meant for him to win. It was a Part 103 Buckeye Legal Eagle with a 447 Rotax. Very nice. Infinity Powered Parachutes will be giving away a new powered parachute at next year's event.
Other WVFF that attended were Bret, Robyn and Josh Shirley. John Koch was also there speaking with vendors regarding a new powered parachute.
Early Sunday morning everyone awoke to a very wet campsite and airfield. By noon nearly everyone had packed up and left. Mickey, Gretchen and Steve dried out their planes the best they could and lifted off around 10:30. It took nearly two hours to return to Leon but they arrived safe and sound.
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May 27th - 2006 - Newlon Airport Fly-In
When the fog lifted that Saturday morning, Steve (Trike), Ken (J3 Kitten), Mickey (Trike) and Gretchen (TBird) took off for Newlon Airport. Ken stayed under the clouds while the other three climbed to between 5500 and 6500 feet. However, they all landed within minutes of one another. There were already several planes at Newlon and many were entering pattern upon our arrival. Several arrived via parachutes (jumpers) a while later. There was food for all and games for the kids. Later in the afternoon, Chuck (Mini Max), Kevin (Mini Max) and John Bolton (Titan) arrived for a short stay.
Upon the WVFF's exit, someone announced from Newlon that the Leon Air Force was departing the field. Only Steve climbed up above the clouds on the return trip. However, he ran into a strong headwind which lengthened his flight time. John Bolton shot out ahead of everyone, taking the long way via some of the river route, and arrived back at Leon first.
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May Day Camp Out - 2006
What great fun. The weather was fairly cooperative. There were planes, parachutes, jumpers and .....bikers. Click here for the May Day Article and Pictures.
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April 28th, 29th & 30th - 2006
It was a very nice weekend for a cleanup of the airfield. It wasn't bad for flying either. Members brought lawnmowers, weed eaters and plenty of elbow grease on Saturday and by evening, the field looked great. However, at this time of the year the grass grows really fast. A few will be back this coming Thursday to mow again, weather permitting, before the May campout/meeting day on May 6th.
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April 14th, 15th & 16th - 2006
Chuck started out the weekend by taking a late evening flight on Friday. Saturday morning, Bret, Raine, Ron and Curtis helped Mickey & Gretchen remove their doors from hangar seven and attach them to hangar 3. It was windy all day long so many just worked on their planes. Rick arrived back from Florida with his Challenger on a trailer. He worked all afternoon reassembling it. Ron, also back from Florida, worked on getting his challenger ready for Spring flying. Captain and and Doni were also at the airfield. Gretchen took one flight after the wind died down right before dark.
On Easter Sunday, Glen (701), Steve (trike), Mickey (trike), John Townsend (Quicksilver) and others were flying on what was a beautiful afternnoon.
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April 2nd, 2006
It was a little calmer that morning than the day before. Steve (trike), Mickey (trike) and Gretchen (Tbird) flew to Jackson County for breakfast and then over to Kenna. Steve and Mickey landed at the Rodney Travis International Airfield (aka cow pasture) while Gretchen circled over head monitoring the activities. On the way back the thermals made for quite a ride. The two trikes climbed up over the clouds to approximately 4500 ft. seeking calmer air while the Tbird stayed under them. Glen flew later in his Zenair 701. Chuck (Mini Max) showed up toward evening and flew for a while.
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April 1st, 2006 Meeting-Dinner
It was a nice warm day for the first day of April but just a little too windy for much flying. Kevin and Chuck however, braved the elements and entertained us with a few wing overs. Captain said that his new plane, Tiger Cub, should be finished in a few weeks. The two place Quick Silver, Roger's, has gone home to get new wing covers.
Since it was so windy, Bret and Raine flew their kites. Kevin built a couple very cute radio controlled Mini Max planes out of foam board and flew them between wind gusts.
Mickey is moving his hanger doors to a new hanger which is taller. He will no longer need to pick up and attach his wing to the frame every time before flying.
Here are some pictures of April's Meeting/Dinner.
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March 23rd, 2006
Whether we want to or not, most of us must comply with the upcoming FAA Sport Pilot rules. I am preparing outlines and narratives regarding the Procedures By Which To Become Legal. I will be adding information to that article over the next few days regarding the Sport Pilot Licensing procedures as well as the procedures by which to get your airplane legal as an ELSA. This is a must read by all club members.
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March 22nd, 2006
The weather flirted with us giving us a couple nice warm days and then dashed our hopes of a warm March by thrashing us with ice showers, snow flurries and cold weather. Hopefully by our next meeting in little over a week, things will look a little brighter. The meeting is scheduled to be at the airfield. However, if the weather doesn't improve, look for it to be held at the clinic.
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March 18th, 2006
It was not warm and certainly not calm most of the day but that didn't stop several from flying. Glen flew the 701. Kevin stopped by and flew his Mini Max. He then showed off his latest radio controlled creation - a very pretty 1909 replica (the name escapes me). It has a double rudder, above and below the elevator. He added ailerons where the original employed wing warping. Actually, he said that the original also used warping for the elevator. He said that his replica flies very well, no doubt due to his obvious improvements upon the original design. It seems to me that the 1909 pilots were truly flying by a wing and a prayer.
Mickey and Gretchen left early and flew to Kenna where they landed on top of a friend's pasture field. Well actually, Mickey landed on top, Gretchen landed somewhat on the side of it - didn't realize from the air that it was peaked with just a very narrow strip of flat on top. It was a nice trip over there even though it was chilly. However, talking too long made for a nice bumpy ride back to Leon.
Several people from various locations around the US were there looking at and inspecting Henry's 172. It's doubtful that it will be here much longer. It is a nice plane and anyone who buys it will certainly enjoy flying it for a very long time.
Roger sold the purple and green Flightstar, aka Mud dauber's old plane. It apparently went across the US to Washington State, via trailer that is.
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March 4th, 2006
The dinner and meeting that day was held at the clinic across from the airfield. It was cold, in the 20's, that morning which kept the flying down to just a few brave souls - Darian Fields for one. Kevin flew one of his radio controlled planes from the field in back of the clinic. The dinner was soups of various types, meatballs and sandwiches. After the meeting, several headed for the field to begin preparations for takeoff.
At around 3:30, Chuck and Raine took off in their Mini Max's, Mickey in the trike, Glen in the 701 and Gretchen in the TBird. Within 15 minutes they all returned from a bumpy ride. Darian had his powered paraglider wing laid out and waiting on the ground for the next two hours. The wind finally calmed down and most everyone returned to the air, including Doran in the powered parachute and Darian in the paraglider.
Rick called from Florida to say hi before the dinner/meeting. Ron and Marge were also there. They were leaving to attend another flying club's dinner. Rick said that it was colder than usual there that morning, in the 50's, but that it turned out to be shorts and tshirt weather by noon. However, I'm sure that none of the WVFF here in WV are feeling sorry for him.
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February 15th, 2006
Kevin (Mini Max), Mickey and Gretchen (TBird) were all out that evening flying around the airport. Mickey packed up his trike and took it home for a while where he will make some necessary repairs and adjustments. Cold winter days can be used to do some much needed inspection and maintenance on our planes. By doing so, when good weather comes around, they are ready to be flown.
Even though Rick Johnson has been soaking up the sun in Southern Florida, flying time has been down to a minimum. Apparently the winds have been pretty stiff. However, this past week he was out flying his Challenger and Ron Rife was out flying his Kolb. Rick and family are planning on returning to WV after Sun-n-Fun.
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February 4th, 2006
There was a very good turn out for this month's meeting and dinner which was held at the Teays Valley Unos. The weather was looking a little grim and many stayed home because of slippery roads. It was determined that the quilt will be raffled off at the meeting after next. Tickets for the quilt will be mailed along with the next newsletter. Send one back with your money if you want to be entered into the contest. Details will be included in the newsletter.
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January 28th, 2006
Curtis and Bret got an early start, around 7:00 a.m., inflating their latest balloon creation in the field next to the Pack's. Steve (Trike), Raine (Mini Max), Mickey (Trike) and Gretchen (Tbird) attempted to go toward Jackson County for breakfast but the winds were getting pretty strong. Instead, each one picked up a breakfast item - Gretchen with the pancake mix, Mickey with the Bacon, Raine with the eggs and Steve with the appetite - packed them into their planes and flew them to the Pack's where they each landed in Curtis and Kathy's back yard. It was a little bumpy but even the eggs survived. Thanks to Kathy's kindness, breakfast was prepared and served. Steve, Mickey and Gretchen then took a trip to the Winfield/Poca area and returned. It became quite bumpy on the way back so they climbed to around 4-5000 feet to escape some of the turbulence. Ken (J3 Kitten) flew later in the afternoon. Chuck (Mini Max) flew during the afternoon. Captain and Doni were there also as well as John Townsend. There were several visitors that flew in from other airports.
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January 24th, 2006
Request for Information: Chuck Overby, Athens, Ohio, is requesting information on the following subjects:
1. Information on true ultralight machines, kits or otherwise.
2. Wants to hear from anyone, WVFF member or not, with personal information regarding the pluses or minuses of Kolb Fireflys. Are they decent machines to build and fly, etc.?
Chuck can be contacted at OverbyCm@hotmail.com.
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January 22nd, 2006
It was overcast and not the warmest of days, yet Glen Beckett (Zenair 701) and Mickey Watson (TBird) flew for a couple hours during the afternoon. Gretchen flew her new toy - radio controlled powered parachute. John Bolton rode in on his fairly new Suzuki 1300 motorcycle - nice.
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January 15th, 2006
A very calm and relatively warm day for this time in January. Raine, Mickey and Gretchen started out around 1:30 flying around the Leon area. Bobby Queen, who bought Raine's Rotec Rally, came to the airfield to move it to its new location in hangar 6. He also took a flight in the trike with Mickey. However, it was a short flight due to the cold. John Bolton flew many times during the afternoon in his Titan. John Townsend waited until later in the afternoon to take off in his QuickSilver. Gretchen flew various times during the afternoon in the TBird. Steve arrived toward evening and took off in his RedBack Trike. Captain and Doni were also at the airfield that day.
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January 8th, 2006
The weather was warm but the winds were brisk. Raine was seen flying his Mini Max around Leon during the afternoon but was being noticeably rocked. Later, Steve in his trike took a few flights including landing at the Pack field where Mickey was able to borrow it for a few minutes of flying time.
Raine sold the Rally. It will soon be moved to a new hangar at Leon. Congratulations to the owners and welcome to the field.
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Location of February Dinner/Meeting:
The February 4th dinner and meeting will be at Uno's in Teays Valley at 6:00 p.m. Turn into the Shoney's drive then turn left. Uno's will be on the right. It is roughly behind Go Mart and KFC.
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January 1st, 2006
This New Year's Day was very fun and very exciting. Read the FULL STORY along with pictures.
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Send me news articles: News doesn't need to be dramatic to be posted here. Any news is interesting to someone. How was your flying this past weekend? Did you go anywhere interesting? Any concerns? SEND IT IN!!!
These news articles don't necessarily need to be directly club related. If any person has any news of interest, please feel free to send it in for posting on this page.
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There is always room for more news so...
Email gretchen.watson@wvfunflyers.com with ANY NEWS that you want listed on this page.
