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May 24, 2000

Daryl Hegyi, President
Jeff Rochon, Vice-President
Glenn Ursel, Treasurer & Acting Secretary

Mail to: Pacific Ultralight Flying Association
102-16071 82 Avenue
Surrey, B.C. V3S 2L6

PUFA Newsletter published by Glenn Ursel

From The President
by Daryl Hegyi

The Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast this year was a resounding success!!  It was held at Glen Valley Airfield this year (Father's day is going to be held at Fred Baron's Intergalactic Aerodrome).  Although the field was soft, a few planes managed to land.  Others went over to Ft. Langley, where they were picked up by Glenn Ursel and others (thanks Glenn).  The breakfast was great, as usual, and the Clubhouse was even more comfy than before.  Thanks to Gord, Larry, Fred, Glenn, 2 Beverlys, Marie, and others who helped organize yet another fine event.

This last weekend, we flew into Hatzic Lake.  Originally, it was planned for Sunday, but the lousy weather forced us to postpone until Monday (a holiday).  Four land-planes, 2 sea-planes,  and a number of walk-ins made it a sucessful flyin.  The field there is long and close-cropped.   The winds were "squirrelly", though, and some of the pilots went around a few times before committing to whatever winds there were at that moment.  Thanks go to Ron Bestward for hosting us again,  and providing the barbeque.  Keep checking the website for more anouncements of future events  (we'll try to give more notice).

On a much sadder note, fellow pilot James Sherwood lost his dog, Taffy, last Monday;  struck by a rotating propeller.   Our deepest condolances for the loss of such a beloved pet and companion.

Next Wednesday will be the last meeting before the summer break.  I thought it would be neat if we all brought our photographs in to share with the other members.  See you at the meeting.

Editorial Note

by  Glenn  Ursel

This month, I have another story of Fred Barons in which he recounts a trip he and Jeff Rochon, Bob Christen and Julius Szalontai went on recently to the Rowena Airfield near Harrison Mills.  Fred has also written a short article on club participation which is included in this issue of the PUFA Newsletter.  I hope you will give pause and thoughtful consideration to his entreaties for your more active participation in PUFA.

On the same note, Jeff Rochon has offered an open letter to all local PUFA members concerning the poor attendance at many of our monthly meetings.  Rather than boycott the meeting, why not offer critique or suggestions for improving the interest of the meetings?

Ken Hicks emailed me the information on the recent changes by the U.S. Military to turn off the selective availability of the GPS signal that formerly caused an intentional degradation of the GPS accuracy for civilian users worldwide.  I include this for anyone who may have missed this announcement in the media.  He also sent me the detailed list of flying events for this summer.

Finally, I include a story of my recent flight in a friends purchased Spectrum Beaver RX 550 from Golden through the Blaeberry River drainage, Howse Pass and Howse River to the David Thompson Highway and east through Rocky Mountain House to Lacombe, Alberta.  The flight included a pilot error in judgement which very nearly resulted in an
err, incident!

I didnt have room to publish Fred Barons profile this month so I will include this in the September issue of the PUFA Newsletter.  For September, I also have a story on a recent spur of the moment trip to Hong Kong that my cousin Hugh Forbes took me on as his guest in his capacity as a senior Boeing 747 Captain for Canadian Airlines.  Have a good
summer!

June, 2000 Flying Events
Sunday, June 4th, 2000, 9:00 am to 11:15 am
Delta Airpark, RAA Chapter 85 monthly pancake breakfast
$3, 9:00 am to 11:15 am
Listen to the pre-recorded arrival procedures for Delta Heritage Airpark, Phone 878-9050

Following notices were emailed by Ken Hicks:
June 3   Revelstoke Flying Club Steak Dinner
June 4   Revelstoke Flying Club Fly in Breakfast Info, Dusty Veideman veideman@junction.net
             or phone 250 837-4829
June 4   Thompson Valley Recreational Pilots Assn Location  T.B.A     Ken Barry 250 376-
June 11  Vernon Fly In Breakfast    Barry Harsent  Tel/Fax 250 260-1007 or bharsent@bc.sympatico.ca
June 17  Penticton, RAA  lunch & BBQ    Doug Robinson 250 497-5424 or robinson@neteng.bc.ca
June 18  Salmon Arm Fathers Day Air Affair, Gunter Angermann Breakfast, static displays, flying displays, flea market
              250 675-4895 or g.j.angermann@telus.net
June 24  Trail Flying Club Airport Appreciation Day Info, Phil Molloy, pmolloy@direct.ca  or 250 368-9756
June 24   Salmon Arm Steak BBQ, Dinner 5:30, RSVP. Gunter Angermann, 250 675-4895 or
               g.j.angermann@telus.net
June 25  Merritt Fly in Breakfast Ed. Gott  250 378-0960

Other Summer Flying Events:
July 1  Kelowna, Electric City Fly Out, Les Holmes 250-7684007
July 2  Kelowna  Electric City Fly Out     Fax  250-768-4910 lholmes@kent-macpherson.com
July 8  EAA Fly In, Arlington Washinton  COPA National Convention  P.E.I
July 9  EAA Fly In, Arlington Washington   COPA National Convention  P.E.I
July 16  Kamloops Fly In Breakfast, Trevor Bentz 250 554-2179 or  bentz@direct.ca  Fax 250 554-2678
July 21 Snowbirds, Vernon, details later
July 22 Snowbirds, Kamloops, details later
July 22 Penticton Fly Out, Surprise Destination.
July 23 Penticton Fly Out, Surprise Destination. Larry Taylor 250 492-0810    ltaylor@cnx.net
July 30  Salmon Arm, Fly out to Mable Lake Ron Brown 250 832-2004
Aug 5  Kelowna, Fly out to 108 Mile
Aug 6  Snowbirds, Penticton.. details TBA
Aug 6  Kelowna, Fly out to 108 Mile
Aug 7  Kelowna, Fly out to 108 Mile, Les Holmes 250 768-4007,  lholmes@kent-macpherson.com
Aug 12 Abbotsford AirShow
Aug 13 Abbotsford AirShow
Aug 19 Vernon Fly In, B.S., Burgers and Beans  Barry Harsent, Tel/Fax 250 260-1007  bharsent@bc.sympatico.ca
Aug 26  Oliver Fly In Breakfast Larry Chalmers 250 498-6887 larryjoanchalmers@telus.net  Fax  250-498-6458
Sept 9 Penticton Taylorcraft Fly In, Doug Robinson 250 497-5424,  robinson@neteng.bc.ca
Sept 10 Penticton Fly In Breakfast, Doug Robinson 250 497-5424, robinson@neteng.bc.ca
Sept. 10 Vernon, RAA Corn Roast Lunch, Cameron 250 769-6246 or Rupert 250 763-9109, rgreun@silk.net
Sept 17  Kamloops Fly In Breakfast, Trevor Bentz 250 554-2179

Murphys

These Murphys arent beds.  They are Renegades!  Murphy Aviation was well represented by a spring gaggle of planes on a beautiful spring day in April for a trip to the Harrison Mills Rowena Golf Course.  The air strip has a 2000 foot runway with a wind sock beside.

Their restaurant was not open the day we went contrary to the advice we received previously (by Heath Thompson at the March PUFA meeting) that it would be open in a few days.  So... we (Julius Szalontai, Jeff Rochon, Bob Christen and myself) hiked about 2 kilometres to the nearby Sasquatch Inn.  It was a beautiful day and the walk was through the golf course to a forest and down a road.  It was a mini adventure in itself.  Lots of stories and jokes on the way.  I dont know how people can remember all those jokes.  I need to write them down and then I might be able to remember them.

We all had lunch and walked back to our planes.  As we were approaching our planes through the trees from a bit of a knoll, I was struck by the beauty of the setting with our planes sitting by the Harrison River framed by snow capped mountains in the distance and golfers banging their (golf) balls through the green fairways in the foreground.

We are truly blessed, living in such an awe inspiring place.  The aircraft were sitting there like birds of prey, waiting for a command from their masters.  We were about 10 miles from the Chilliwack Airport.  So, when Jeff Rochon, in a moment of generosity, offered to buy us pie and coffee at the restaurant there, we readily accepted.  Well, if you have never had pie at the Chilliwack Airport Restaurant, you have never lived!  We all did our pre-flight, warmed up our engines and waved good bye to our golfer gallery who had stopped to watch these biplanes take off.  Bob Christen led the way in his low wing GY 20 Minicab followed by Julius Szalontai, myself and Jeff Rochon.

What a great day!  On the way, I was thinking what kind of pie I was going to have - blueberry or lemon meringue.  There was a bit of traffic at Chilliwack likely due to the fine weather.  We all joined in with the traffic and put the birds down safe and sound, taxing to the ramp for shut down.  The open cockpits of the biplanes require a heavy coat in the air but, on the ground, you quickly find yourself uncomfortable.  So, off came the coat and we are ready for that piece of home made, heavenly home made Chilliwack pie.

Bob Christen told us that he had to fly to Alaska on Alaska Airlines the next day to his sons wedding.  We all wished him good luck.  Jeff Rochon told us that he had to avoid a large eagle on take off from the Rowena airstrip for the trip to Chilliwack.  It felt good to be with friends, talking aviation topics like engine temperatures, speeds, rate of climb, etc.  All these things that make a great day.  We have good weather,  good company, a full belly (maybe a too full belly) and a flight home to make.  Its a great life!

I must say that, on way up the Fraser Valley from the Coast, I kept my eye open for our lost flier, the 77 year old gentleman who went down somewhere between the Langley Airport and Chilliwack.  It was also on my mind on the way back to the Intergalactic Aerodrome.  Those mountains are an ominous place but, on a reverent note, they do make a beautiful cathedral and resting place for a fellow flier...   So when we all left Chilliwack, we were destined for our own air fields.  We left Chilliwack vowing to make a lot more flights together this spring and summer.  But it was a Renegade day with the three biplanes in a formation that would have delighted our forefathers and brought a tear to their eye.

Well, fellow ultralighters, as I look at our local newspaper and read about the snow storms across Canada, it makes me feel pretty good living where we do; it is April 12th, 2000 and we all have a great year to fly.  It might start a little later for some but make an adventure out of every flight and fly safe.  I hope you enjoy this article and accompanying pictures. Please  contribute to your flying organization or club.  We are interested in what you have to say.  Tips, stories, safety features are all welcome.  Thanks!

Fred Baron
April 12, 2000

PUFA Meetings - To Have or Have Not?

Members should be concerned about the dismal attendance at many recent PUFA meetings.  Not having a quorum (the minimum bodies needed to vote) seems to be the norm rather than the exception.  What are we doing wrong?  Some members are unable to attend because they reside some distance from the meetinghall, while others have conflicting schedules.  Some even forget the meeting night.  I certainly have.  These reasons, while understandable are not unique to our particular club.  We are a small club numbering fifty odd.  This number has changed little over the last decade and perhaps that is part of the problem.  I wouldlike to discuss with members at the next meeting the future of PUFA.  Should we cut back on meetings to bi-monthly  and not monthly?  Should we cut all meetings except the Annual General?  What action could we take to increase membership?  I urge members to consider these questions and offer your own at the
next meeting.

Jeff Rochon
Vice President, PUFA
May 4, 2000

U.S. MILITARY STOPS DEGRADING GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM
ACCURACY...

With the "flick of a switch" at the Air Force Space Command this week, your GPS navigation box just got better.  As of midnight GMT on Monday, the Department of Defence turned off selective availability (SA), the intentional degradation of the GPS signal that has been supplied to civilian users worldwide.  Instead of a 300-foot accuracy, civil GPS users can now expect accuracy to within 100 feet or better.  No changes are necessary in anyone's GPS nav boxes to take advantage of the improved signal.  Immediate benefits to aviation users include better situational awareness on the ground at airports while taxiing, and more reliable performance from GPS-based terrain avoidance systems while in the approach and landing phase.

"SA" TURNED OFF, BUT THEY CAN TURN IT BACK ON FOR THE BAD GUYS...

The discontinuation of SA was made possible by the development of techniques that allow the military to restore the intentional "dithering" of the timing signal on a regional basis, when required by national security concerns.  This would effectively deny the increased GPS accuracy to unfriendly users in that particular area.  Arthur Money, assistant secretary of defence, was intentionally vague about how the regional degradation system would work in times of crisis, but did say that if the improved GPS signal were denied to a region such as the Balkans, that users in Athens or Frankfurt would not be affected.

The timing of the decision caught most GPS users by surprise.  The Clinton administration had committed in 1996 to discontinue SA for civilian users by 2006, and the implementation was not expected for several more years. Besides the obvious benefit the SA-free GPS signal offers to terrestrial and airborne navigation users, emergency responders will now be able to locate more accurately the origin of "911" calls from the next generation of cellular phones, which will be able to transmit GPS coordinates. There are also benefits to the telecommunications industry from having access to atomic-clock timing broadcasts accurate to within 40 billionths of a second.

Originally published on the AVweb News Wire at:
http://www.avweb.com/newswire/news0018b.html#1

I flew the Howse Pass!

An old friend of mine, Ted Davis who I grew up with in Edmonton, phoned me last November to announce that he had purchased an RX 550 Beaver from a fellow (Roger Schultz) at Golden.  We discussed the possibility of flying it out to Lacombe, Alberta where he lives.  He asked me if I was willing to undertake the venture.  I was somewhat reluctant, thinking of the uncertain weather in April and the gusty winds one encounters in these mountains.  However, after some debate of other options like trailering the plane or trucking it, we decided to try to fly it out over the Howse Pass to the Saskatchewan River Crossing and east to Rocky Mountain House and eventually Lacombe.

For those of you who have never heard of the Howse Pass, a little history may be in order...  As told by R. M. Rylatt in his book, Surveying the Canadian Pacific, Walter Moberly had been lured to western Canada by the Fraser River gold rush of 1858.  When the gold ran out, he became assistant surveyor general for British Columbia.  Moberly knew the mountain interior as well as anyone alive and he went to Montreal in July of 1871 to get himself appointed District

Engineer by Sandford Flemming, the Chief Engineer for the project.  Moberlys idea of the perfect route for the future transcontinental railway was to proceed up the Bow River from Calgary and then through Howse Pass of the Rocky Mountains  to Golden and then through the Eagle Pass that he had discovered in 1865 which would take the railway through the Gold Range down to Kamloops and the Fraser River to the future port of Vancouver.  Well, as we all know, the eventual route taken was through the Kicking Horse Pass from Banff to Golden.  Anyway, on the map above, I hope you can make out Golden with the Howse Pass printed on just north of Golden.

After making the decision to fly the plane out to Lacombe, we agreed to meet at the Golden Airport on the evening of Thursday, April 27th - with Ted driving his old Empress motorhome so that we had a place to sleep in.  On the way there, I purchased gerry cans, a fuel switch and new fuel line for Teds plane.  The next day, Friday, we spent all day installing the fuel lines and new spark plugs, etc to ready the plane for the flight.  After we completed the work, I took the plane for a test flight.  Being a little concerned with a strange plane, I didnt immediately climb but merely lifted the plane a few feet off the runway to test the flying characteristics.  The plane felt fine so on the second run, I lifted off and did a circuit over the town which Roger later told me was too low.

The next day, Saturday, I flew the plane some more to try and get used to it.  I flew up to the Blaeberry River drainage which leads you into the Howse Pass.  I didnt go very far into the Blaeberry because I just wanted to confirm the route and then go back to Golden to take Ted up for a flight.  Both Ted and I are quite heavy at 220 lbs and 210 lbs respectively and, with the Sidewinder parachute installed on the plane, we were maxed out weight wise for the 503 Rotax engine that is installed on the plane.  Nevertheless we took off on Runway 32 and climbed out for another run to the Blaeberry.  Since it was still morning, the plane seemed to be climbing adequately.  Later on in the afternoon, though, we took off on Runway 14 and noticed (as we flew over the sewage ponds made famous by Julilus Szalontai a couple of years ago) that the plane was definitely not climbing adequately.  Since I was flying in the rear seat, I asked Ted to tell me the revs.  He replied that it was turning over at 5600 RPM.  I then remembered that Roger Schultz had mentioned something about changing the circlip position on the carburettor jet.  After landing, we checked and observed that the circlip was in the uppermost leanest position.  We changed it back to Position 3 as specified in the engine manual and then got 6000 RPM in level fllight with 5800 on climb.  I then tested the plane again and felt satisfied with the power.  We were now ready for an early start the next morning, Sunday, April 30th.

We awoke early on Sunday and looked out the windows of the motorhome to see dark, ominous clouds around the mountain tops.  We went back to sleep, thinking the trip was off.  However, at 8:30 am, I noticed the weather looked to be improved and the weather technician at the airport confirmed that the conditions were good.

At 9:00 am, I took off on Runway 32 with 32 litres of fuel in the main tank and 15 litres in each of two tanks tied down on each side of the rear seat.

I climbed out from the 2,575 foot elevation of the Golden Airport to about 4,000 feet over the Columbia River and then banked north over the bench that the Trans Canada Highway is built on and headed up the Blaeberry River.  Just before entering the narrow upper Blaeberry, I circled around the valley and climbed up to 7,000 feet which is the recommended elevation for flying through the Howse Pass.  The plane was climbing about 200 feet per minute with the extra weight of the gas I was carrying.

While I was climbing, Ted talked to me from the Golden Airport with his portable Yaseu aviation radio.  He was nervous that I was actually going through with the flight but I felt reasonably confident that things were going well.  Once I reached 7,000 feet, I turned into the narrow upper Blaeberry and lost contact with Ted.  He was to wait for one hour to see if I turned back and then proceed east to Lake Louise and then to Rocky Mountain House via the Banff/Jasper Highway to the David Thompson Highway junction at Saskatchewan River Crossing.

As I entered the upper Blaeberry River drainage, I was expecting turbulence but was relieved to find the air relatively calm.  I had been told the previous day by one of the local pilots that I would shortly fly by a glacier and then turn right into the Howse Pass.  I was gratified to see the glacier hove into sight and then the entrance of the Howse Pass.  As I flew up the Blaeberry, I had logging roads to land on if there was any engine trouble but, when I entered the Howse Pass, there were only trees below me.  After entering the Howse Pass, I noticed some fairly low cloud or fog ahead and I was a bit concerned about the possibility of having to turn back since I observed that my ground speed was considerable; i.e. a pretty good tail wind which would be painful to fly back against.  However, after flying another few minutes, it became apparent that the fog/cloud was dissipating and I carried on towards the Howse River drainage about 10 miles further north.

When I reached the Howse River, I banked around to the east and could see the Banff/Jasper Highway junction with the David Thompson Highway about another 10 miles in the distance.  As I banked around a ridge into the Howse River drainage, I suddenly entered a very windy area indeed.  I noticed that the gusts were coming from my left where the North Saskatchewan River has its origin in the Columbia Icefields to the north.  I caught a couple of good 40 mph type gusts and wondered whether I would be forced to land.  Although not a desireable option, there were gravel bars in the Howse River that I could have landed on if needed.  Thankfully, however, I didnt have to do this and carried on east to the highway junction.  As I passed over the junction, I wondered where Ted was.  We had agreed before I left that we would monitor 126.7.  I called once but received no answer, likely because he was not within my line of sight.

As I flew east over the David Thompson Highway, I noticed that my ground speed was very good and started to feel optimistic that I might actually make Rocky Mountain House that day.  But, as I neared the dammed Lake Abraham on the North Saskatchewan River, I again encountered fairly severe turbulence and decided to land on the highway to check my gas and consider my options.  After landing, I refueled the main tank with one of the gerry cans and I noticed that the winds had abated.  A few minutes later, however, I heard a noise of wind blowing through the forest that seemed a long way across the river valley.  It seemed strange because, even though you could hear the wind coming, it was calm locally.  When the gust reached me, though, I estimated the wind as about 20 to 25 mph.  Then the wind dropped and it was calm again.  I decided to takeoff from the highway and see if I could carry on. Once I tookoff, however, I was again in the thick of it and I decided to land again.  I circled over the Kootenay Plains Indian Reserve campsite located about 20 miles east of the Banff/Jasper Highway junction and observed that there were two fields I could land it - one oriented north and south with a slope to the river and one to the west which was oriented east/west and was quite level.

Ted had suggested that I land on this latter one if I needed to get down out of the winds. But, as I circled overhead, it seemed that the other field was longer so I landed there instead.  I then walked out to the highway to flag down Ted who eventually arrived about an hour later.  As the wind seemed to be increasing, we decided to stay there for the night and tied the plane down near some trees for a windbreak.  We ate previously frozen mushy beans for supper and then looked around the area.  Ted told me that a nearby Indian gravesite had been moved from the flooded area of Lake Abraham

some 30 years before so we went to see it.  The river valley was beautiful with the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop and I took the picture below to illustrate the beauty that we observed.

The next morning (Monday, May 1st)  was calm and we got ready for the flight.  We observed there was a slight wind blowing from the north downslope to the river.  I had three options:  take off downslope (a plus) with the tailwind (negative) or taxi downslope for a takeoff upslope (negative) against the wind (positive) or we could have carried the plane through a small gully to the field that Ted had suggested I land on.  This field was orientated to the west into the wind and was level and smooth.  Of course I pickedthe easiest option and tookoff downslope with the slight tail wind.  I had done this many times on the Coast with my 532 Rotax but I didnt stop to consider that the 503 Rotax installed on Teds plane had much less power than my 532 and also we were at 4,500 feet ASL, not at sea level.  As you can see by the following picture, the left wing of the plane is tipping down as I lift off the ground.  As soon as I lifted off the ground, I

realized that something was wrong as I wasnt climbing.  I instinctively lowered the nose and tried to gain as much airspeed as I could as I roared downhill towards the strip of white spruce that lined the North Saskatchewan River.  Just before I reached the trees, I banked hard over to the left and then flew towards some other trees that grew back from the river.  I did the same thing;  I flew directly towards them and then banked very hard to the left and, as soon as I cleared the trees, fllipped the plane back to a level attitude and began climbing upslope against the wind.

It was at this point, I finally had time to realize that I had come very close to crashing Teds plane and was shaking for a few seconds.  Ted came on the radio and said in a shaken voice how frightened he had been for my safety.  I agreed that it was a close one and remarked how stupid I had been to attempt the takeoff down wind at that density altitude.

However, after climbing out to the northwest and banking around over the river, I said my goodbye to Ted and that I would meet him in Rocky Mountain House in an hour and a half.  I proceeded east to Abraham Lake and encountered a little turbulence while passing by a drainage that flowed into the lake from the north.  The lake was some 20 miles long and the air was generally bumpy all the way.  After I flew east of the lake, I was over treed terrain and the air smoothed out.  A short time later I flew over Nordegg which is a small village to the east of Abraham Lake.  About 10 miles further I flew between the last of the Rocky Mountain ranges and I was out over the open prairie at last.  I was flying about 6,500 feet ASL or about 2,500 feet above the ground.

As I cleared the last of the Rockies, I could see two lakes in the distance, Cow Lake to the south and Crimson Lake to the north.  I knew from perusing Teds maps the previous night that Rocky Mountain House was located between these lakes.  About 45 minutes later, I was announcing my approach to the local  airport traffic on 122.8 and then I entered the circuit for landing on Runway 31.  A short time later Ted arrived in his Empress motor home and we drove into town for breakfast and more fuel for the plane.

We then returned to the airport and fueled up the plane for the final flight to Lacombe.  I tookoff  and flew south to the main highway to Red Deer not realizing that there was a parallel highway north of the airport that went east to Lacombe.  So I went a little out of my way while Ted took the northerly road but I still got to the Lacombe Airport before he did.  As I flew east, I noticed that my groundspeed was matching the vehicles on the highway some 2,500 feet below me.  When I reached Red Deer, I turned north to Lacombe and flew over the old Highway 2A for reference purposes.  I could see the small lake that Ted lives nearby which southeast of Lacombe and another lake to the west where Teds parents have a summer house.  I flew over Teds house first and then banked to west to fly over his parents house.  When I circled over their house, I could see someone waving up at me.  It turned out to be Teds81 year young mother as she and Teds step father, Lloyd, drove to the airport to greet me.  They arrived just as Ted did.  My air adventure was over!

Glenn Ursel
May 4, 2000

Participation

Clubs are only as good as their members contributions to their club whether it be running for the offices of President, Vice President, etc.  We are all under the assumption that once we pay a membership and contribute nothing else but our dues, we are all right.  Nothing is further from the truth.  An organization or club is only as good as the contributions by their members.  As President Kennedy of the USA said Dont ask what the club can do for you but what can you do for the club!  Get in there and contribute help.  Be vocal, pitch in and help.

My boy scout badge goes out to Marilyn Parsons for her unselfish help over the years and also Fred Glasbergen and Beverly Lawrence for their fly-ins and involvement in the PUFA Executive.  Jeff Rochon is another prime example of a long time organizer and active member.  If we were all to model a club member, you could not go too far wrong following in the footsteps of Jeff.  His organization of the ultralight participation in the Abbotsford Air Show is invaluable.  Be vocal and active.  Make our club a voice to be heard.  Thanks also to Glenn Ursel for his many contributions.

We should try and get some of our past unpaid members back into the club.  If we had an activity for every time we had a meeting, that would stir up the interest.  I propose we have a sit down Christmas dinner in December and it is not too early to book the hall.  I suggest the Sundowner Hall by Boundary Bay Airport.  I, and a few of the members, were there last year for a party and it was great.  They have a nice facility.  I also offer my air field to any members that like to put on a fly-in but dont have a field for the event.  Every one wants to go to a fly-in breakfast but it is an effort to put it on.  Participation!  Lets all be active.  I hope I stir up a more concerted effort by our members.  Write a story.  Help make our newsletter more interesting till it is like a collectors item of trivia and interest.  It is a great newsletter now.  I dont mean to imply its not.  Now about a swap meet of plane parts.  Im sure we all have accumulated too much stuff.

Fred Baron
April 14, 2000