On Saturday, six members of our Youth Build group attended a chapter-sponsored TIG Welding Workshop presented by Daniel Hurst. Daniel teaches the welding program at Red Mountain High School in Mesa, AZ, has 30 years’ experience in the welding industry and holds 25 certifications from the American Welding Society. He and Harald Grovers were gracious enough to travel up to Overgaard and share their expertise with our enthusiastic members. Not only was it a fun-filled day, but everyone came away with a newly-learned skill.
Be sure to check out the video for highlights from the day!
During the visit, chapter Youth Build participants Matthew Robinson, Gwen Phillips, Isaac Tudur and Jordan Pariga took the lead and described the restoration process to the those in attendance. The old fabric has been completely stripped from the wings and fuselage, which gave the students the rare opportunity to see the actual tubing structure.
Afterwards, EAA chapter members Pat and Dave Forbes displayed their Van’s RV-12 SLSA. As the students gathered around, Dave presented information about the aircraft, kit-building and aviation in general. Mr. Eilertson volunteered that the school would like to possibly build an RV-12 as part of an after-school extracurricular activity in cooperation with other organizations such as our EAA chapter if grant funding could be secured.
Other chapter members also were present and spoke with the students about the aviation field as a career or avocation. Topics included flying professionally for the airlines, aeronautical and electrical engineering, aircraft maintenance, air traffic control, and “just flying for fun” as a private pilot. Ellen Randoll, chapter Secretary-Treasurer, followed up with a brief summary of the imminent workforce shortages in every area of aviation, both commercial and military, and the abundance of career opportunities looking forward.
This past weekend, 10 people in five aircraft ventured up to Durango, CO to take in the local sights and experience a “blast from the past” – a picturesque train ride through the San Juan National Forest. Powered by a coal-fired steam locomotive, this historic railroad has been in continuous operation since 1882! Both the locomotive and “rolling stock” are well-maintained examples of a bygone era when mining was the primary business in the region. These days, tourism provides most of the commerce. And, with a daily round-trip schedule between Durango and Silverton, passengers can enjoy a brief retreat from our high-tech “civilization.”
2018 marked the return of the EAA Chapter 1044 Pancake Breakfast Fly-In to Mogollon Airpark. The event was a huge success by any measure, thanks in no small part to all of our wonderful volunteers… over 40 in total. Hundreds of breakfasts served and dozens of airplanes from around the state flew in to celebrate the event.