Paid Up Members Summer 1999 - Alaska

June 1999

Solstice Fly-in Summer 1999

The Friday night kick-off dinner of Halibut which was donated by Bruce Ingersol was great, thanks Bruce, it's things like this that make the Club activities so neat to attend, we all pitch in and somehow it comes together.

Purchasing hot dogs, buns and all the goodies that go with them just to have the day rained out, they will consumed on the 10th, HEY!!! Hot dogs are normal fare for the 4th of July, they will fit perfectly. A BIG!!! Thanks to you Dennis.

PIP Printing did the flyers and packets, they do great work, Thanks to them also.

On Saturday, Sand Benton prepared an oriental dinner that was as always outstanding. Watching grown people walking around stuffing their faces is proof the meal was more than just acceptable, thanks to Sandy for feeding the tired flyers.

Sure hope that I didn't miss anyone, As I couldn't attend most of the days, it would be easy to overlook someone, if this happened it was not intentional.

Meeting Dates

Sunday was rained out so hangar flying was the thing of the day. The bomb drop and precision landing contests are scheduled for Saturday July 10th, maybe this time the weather will cooperate.

Randy Zieman from King Salmon donated an ounce of gold nuggets which were won by Ephraim Carter, Congratulations, WOW!!! What a deal.

1999

July 9

August 13

September 10 October 8

November 12 December 10

Dave Vernoy brought his radio controlled airplanes including a helicopter. Watching him fly them was like seeing an artist paint a beautiful picture, the spectators really enjoyed this, thanks to you for the diversion.

Pete Marsh won the cross country poker run, Bud "the bag man" Gish won the red lantern award.

Inside This Issue

Solstice Fly-In Meeting dates Paid up members Summit Lake fly-in Wings Proficiency Awards Article by Debbie DeBaun

Ginny Jacober did a wonderful job of organizing the entire event and keeping everyone busy, she really works hard on this yearly event and most of it is done behind the scenes, giver her a big thanks for her efforts.

Mid 1999

Paid Up Members

Lanse Welsh Dennis Mitchell

Bud Gish

Bill Tuovinen

Jerome List Ryan Anderson

Frank Smith Vern Stevenson

Roy Benton Kurt Wein

Sam Parsons Steve Hendershot

Pat Mooney Ronald Starr

Lloyd Hood Dave Vernoy

C.W. Jasper Bela Bodner

Loren Simpson Beau Bodner

Paul Westcott Ken Richardson

Richard Phelps Cliff martin

Harland Pope Kermit Ketchum

Mike Vierthaler Don Weste

Pete Marsh

Bruce Ingersol

Ron Hightower Steve Glos

Slim Lambert Joel Wallace

Jackson Perry

Summit Lake Fly-In

There are still plans to meet at "Summit Lake" which is south of Cantwell for a fly-in July 17th and 18th. The folks from Fairbanks are planning on attending, this should be fun. It will be a camp out affair, there is parking for motor homes and tents. It is a dirt strip.

There will be more information avail-

Wings Proficiency Awards

The following people have earned and received FAA Wings awards. Bud Gish, Dennis Mitchell, Cliff and Marcy Martin, Frank Smith, Jerome List and Roy Benton JR.

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Summer Solstice Fly-in

And Competition By Debbie DeBaun

Ah, Summer Solstice. The beginning of summer is a bittersweet celebration for most Alaskans, in that, the days begin to shorten while our energies soar. Although the curious can find an Alaskan festival somewhere between Home and Fairbanks all summer long, the most highflying activity was at Birchwood Airport this weekend. Talk about energy. The Poker Run "a game of chance" (not an actual race of speed) is more fun than a three legged foot race. Most of the Pilots were friendly and eager to talk about their favorite ultralight. But the real story as expressed by John Langham is the "camaraderie".

Bud Gish, in his powered parachute (a. k.a "Six Chuter") was the first one down the taxiway setting up for the Poker Run. Approximately three an ah half hours later Bud won the Red Lantern, his second year in a row. The Red Lantern is a dubious honor, or so I am told. Each ultralight pilot contributes $25 to the pot and the winner, or the best hand, gets to pocket all the money. However, the worst hand gets the Red Lantern. Last year Bud received his first Red Lantern when he returned to Birchwood Airport in last place, which isn't hard to do at a steady speed of only 26 mph. Before the race began, Bud boasted that within 15 minutes he could set up, warm up and preflight his "Six Chuter" The winner of the pot was Pete Marsh in his "Tundra Trike" with an Orion 195 Wing," who scored the coveted prize with only a pair of Kings.

The Poker Run is actually a card carrying cross country jaunt. The flight plan was to take off from Birchwood Airport at approximately 11:00 am on Saturday, June 19th. First stop was

Willow, then Big Lake, followed by Wasilla and back to Birchwood. Each pilot picked up a card at each check point and their arrival time was logged. The cards are sealed and packaged in different color groups, and each pilot picked the same color he began with in Birchwood. The cards were to remain unopened or the participant would be disqualified.

After the morning pilots briefing, lead by Mike Jacober and crew, the details were ironed out and the fun began. The clouds started drifting in with only intermittent sunshine but the wind didn't appear to be a concern as yet, more on that later. The line up was decided by 8 year old Victoria who picked the names out of a big fruit bucket.

Lanse Welsh who also had a "Tundra Trike with an Orion 195 Wing" was scheduled to take off first with Ephraim Carter, in his 1982 "Eagle" with multicolored wing and wing tip drag rudders, close behind. But Bud Gish in his low and slow "Six Chuter" surprised everyone by flying overhead before Lanse, Ephriam and my camera were ready. Ephriam ended up at the end of the runway with an apparent problem. The fuel tanks were sucking air instead of gas so he couldn't get more than 30 feet off the ground. Jacob Izerda took off next in a rented "Cessna 150" who had commented that he also few ultralights except when he "felt the need for speed." Close behind him was Jim Moss in another "Cessna 150." The rest of the pilots proceeded to taxi to the edge of the tarmac where I stood with my camera ready and everyone wondering what was wrong with Ephriam's "Eagle" parked like a rainbow at the end of the runway.

Pete Marsh lead the group with the support of his family waving him good-by when he took off in his "Tundra Trike." Next up was Roy Benton in his "Anteres Aros Stranger Wing" who were the most colorful flying gear of the lot. John Langham, who characterized himself as an

Ultralight Flyers of Alaska

Ultralight junkie, smiled and waved farewell from his "Tundra Trike" Mike Vierthaler flying his "Tundra Trike with an Alpine 175 Wing" left his dog Spenard behind wagging his tail. And the last one was Rick Huggett in his single place, home built "Challenger" as my camera clicked away. One by one, each ultralight lifted off the ground in precision flight.

Ephriam waited for everyone to take off before he taxied his "Eagle" back to the hanger where Mike Jacober came to his rescue and discovered that the problem was that three out of four "O" rings were missing in the fuel connections. Although the "Eagle" was the most colorful ultralight out there, and my favorite, Ephriam was the last to leave Birchwood Airport sitting aloft, and safely secured, in his one man sling seat. Ephriam stated before taxing down the runway, that his ultralights two wing, up front, canard adds lift and is spin proof. The "Eagle" averages 45 mph. Mike Jacober mad a few modifications to the original design such as dual controls and other innovations, then turned around and sold 70 more "Eagles" before switching to the "Anteres" model.

Still on the ground was Dennis Mitchell. His new Russian built, shiny black "Anteres" had only three house logged on it since he assembled it after unpacking the two wooden crates. The wings were shipped in a big bag that came out of a huge silver colored metal tube. Dennis said that he had the directions read, "some assembly required-batteries not included" The whole process took only about an hour and a half. The seat of the new "Anteres" looked like a shiny black lounge chair. It was a two s

eater that could be transformed to a single seater. As far as I could tell, the only thing missing was a remote control. The engine "sold separately" was a "Rotex" currently the most popular duel ignition engine sold. Dennis is no novice ultralight pilot. He has over 100 hours in one of the original "Weed Hoppers" that came

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Another part of the day's celebration was the radio controlled aircraft on display courtesy of Dave Vernoy, who has been building and designing model aircraft for 13 years. He also owns and flies an "Air creation Trike" ultralight. The biggest radio controlled model, with an 84 and on half inch wing span was the red, white and blue "Fun fly Extra" that do a torque roll 10 feet off the ground. There was even a bright yellow looking plane with "V" shaped wing span called terminal "velocity" and races 130 mph. The fastest model displayed was the racy looking red "Black Jack" which can reach a speed of 185 mph. Thanks to Dave I was educated in acrobatic terms such as: end over end sideways tumble loops five or six feet off the ground. Unfortunately I missed the vrash excitement later described by Mike Jacober. "The Shine Red One" pulled our of a loop and on a down wind leg stalled it and augured in resulting in many pieces and parts" Not to worry, it was all put back together with instant "Cyanoacrylate" glue.

By the time Joel Wallace and his "Tweedy Bird" approached the Birchwood Airport, and after the Poker Run, a fast moving gust of wind blew in. John Langham was able to land with his "Tundra Trike" but Bud Gish ended up flying backwards and it took him a half hour to get on deck. Joel at a 1000 feet up was unable to make any turns so he glided (safely) straight down to the airport.

This is no "Boys with Toys" club, no this is serious business. The guys talk about safety, rules, regulations, and fuel efficiency. One thing that I observed when talking to the ultralight pilots was that they all had something in common, it was the twinkle in their eyes when they get together and talk about flying, and it's contagious. For the curious that missed the show, or who arrived on Sunday only to see the down pout, or who just didn't know about the Summer Solstice Fly-in and Competition, you have a second chance. The rescheduled Spot Field

Landing and Bomb Drop will be held on Saturday, July 10th after the 9:00 am pilot briefing. See you there.

P.O. Box 221735 Anchorage, AK 99522 (907) 245-0508

Ultralight Flyers of Alaska

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