EAA 690 Veterans November 2018

EAA 690 at Air Venture 2017
Happy DC-3 Passengers
Flying Start - 2018
EAA 690 Youth Work the B-17
Jack Pelton - Christmas Party 2016
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At the last Pancake Breakfast Greg announced that the chapter has indicated that it intends to raise $10,000 over the next three years to help EAA pay for the new wings for the airplane. 

Over the year’s visits from the Tri-Motor have brought revenue to the chapter. Beyond that, it has brought many visitors to our airport and lots of smiles on lots of faces of those that have ridden on the plane.

Last year the plane was removed from service when some corrosion was discovered in the wings.  These are the original 90-year-old wings.  A shop was found that could produce a new set of wings with a price tag of $1,000,000.  Of the total, chapters have been asked to commit $160,000 over the next three years.

The Board voted at their last meeting to commit the chapter to the $10,000 or Platinum level.  If the chapter can reach that commitment level, they will be given the following in recognition:

  • Golden Age of Aviation Weekend Retreat, August 9-11, 2019
    (for individual donors or chapter representative(s) only)
    An immersive experience at EAA including Bi-Plane or Helicopter rides, ground school, Ford Tri-Motor history lesson and extended flight experience, meals and an overnight stay at the Air Academy Lodge.
  • Ford Tri-Motor Certificate Suitable for Framing
  • Listing on a donor plaque in the aircraft
  • Recognition on EAA website and Annual Report

I’ve set up a donation item at the Square Marketplace https://mkt.com/eaa690/item/ford-tri-motor-wings-campaign for you to make your donation. To follow the progress of the project you can go to https://tingoose.eaa.org/

The new wings are complete and it is hoped that the plane will be back in the air by the end of March.

IMG 1926

In December of 2015 an idea was proposed to have a chapter build of an RV-12 for members of the chapter. It was to be funded through member donations and certain matching donations. By the end of January of 2016, we had donations totaling more than eight thousand dollars. We ordered the empennage kit and were off and running. By April of 2016 we placed the order for the fuselage kit as many members became involved and the airplane continued to take shape.

Construction continued through the end of 2016 and donations continued to come in and in January of 2017 we were able to order the wing kit. Work continued on and as the wings were nearing completion, we were able to order the finishing kit in August. Work continued on the finishing kit until recently. Unfortunately, the donations have stopped and we have not been in a position to order the remaining kits to complete the airplane.

A couple of months ago the BOD voted on a motion to do one of two things with the RV-12. We set the overall price of the plane at seventy-three thousand and four hundred dollars. One option was to have a club form that would provide the money to the chapter to order the remaining two kits, an amount of approximately fifty thousand dollars. Once the airplane was complete, its ownership would be transferred to the flying club and they would begin to pay the remaining twenty-three thousand and four hundred dollars back to the chapter over a three-year period at zero interest. John Post decided to take the lead on putting the flying club together and began to speak to folks that had indicated an interest in being part of the club. Although interest was expressed, money was not put forward.

The second option was to sell the airframe as is to a third party for the amount of twenty-three thousand and four hundred dollars. This would bring money back to the chapter and we could decide whether to pursue a different project or to do something else with the money from the sale. To that end, we have been advertising in Barnstormers and are hopeful of getting an ad in Trade-A-Plane soon.

Work on the plane has ended at this time. There is still an opportunity to fund the flying club and complete the airplane. That would be dependent on four to eight folks coming forward with capital necessary to order the remaining kits and complete the airplane. I would love to see this happen, if possible, but we will continue the effort to sell to a third party.