East Hill is Now Approved for Veterans Benefits!We received approval from the NYS Approving Agency to accept veterans' benefits on Wednesday. We attempted this once before but the paperwork jungle proved too immense. This time, after eight months of haggling, we prevailed and have been blessed. This is a complicated process but basically we qualify under Chapter 30 (Montgomery Bill) to accept 60% reimbursement for all flight training past private. Under our Aviation Degree program with SUNY veterans qualify under Chapter 33 and can get all their training (including private) paid and even a housing allowance. This second option is coordinated through our affiliated college program.
To start you must fill out the VA form 22-1990; you can download the application from the VA’s Website and file it electronically. If you are currently enrolled in another school, such as a college or tech school and receiving benefits, file VA Form 22-1995. Once you have completed the form, bring a copy of the filed form into the school along with your DD-214, if you are in the Guard or Reserves a copy of your NOBE (Notice of Basic Eligibility).
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Avoid Wingtip DamageIt makes little sense to fix up and paint planes if members keep running them into the walls! There is a newly painted "safe box" in front of the hangar. If the doors are fully open and you stay in this area it should be impossible to hit the wingtips! Please be careful moving the planes and get help from other members when attempting this. Students should not move planes in the hangar alone. |
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Thanks Cornell ROTC: A Flying Great Day!We flew 10 separate cadet flights for the Cornell ROTC. A great group of people, very motivated and talented. Thanks to Cadet Campbell (air traffic controller Scott's son) for arranging this event. Thanks to Eric Hummel for delaying his trip and saving the day!
FAA Fun: School and Testing Center Approved
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You have to love a polite and eager young person ready to learn about flying. Here, Ginny Stromberg is pre-flighting with our newest club member, Nile Gossa. For those that do not know, we have a "junior membership" at a lower rate for young people that are too young to solo. Three individuals have transitioned from juniors to full members in the last year so they can solo at the club. Nile picked right up on this opportunity and joined to be part of aviation at East Hill. Her uncle is a senior check airman with the national airline in Ethiopia.Fly-out dinner this Friday to Hamilton!⇒
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 Dinner Friday! Meet at East Hill at 5PM: VJ's is a short walk from the KVGC Airport |
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Doug has the right idea; all your friends will enjoy a flight. Weather is great and a Skyhawk accommodates four so take them all flying.
The Mooney is currently at Finger Lakes Flying Service for annual inspection but all the Cessnas are available as well as the LSA for local sight seeing. The Citabria needs some company too if you feel like learning a new way of flying! The grass runway has been open lately for the adventurous pilots (dual only except tail wheel).
Please Copy (all) Numbers Carefully
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We had a wonderful trip to Oshkosh in the Aerostar. John Hrubos flew out in his Skyhawk and joined us. There is always too much to see and do and you can never capture the whole experience in words and pictures or even videos. I would encourage any pilot to add this to their "bucket list," it's educational, motivational and lots of fun too. Accommodations for everyone were at the "Waucau Stalag" and the return was at flight level 210 and took only a little over two hours. Highlights: »How to increase the TBO of our Rotax engine for $40 in parts (this saves our club $5,000) »EAA "Next Step" program which pays flight schools (like us) to fly the Young Eagles on their next flight and continue their training. |
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| The front office of the AeroStar with new Aspen 1000 | KFDL was jammed with planes and the crew adds oil | |
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| The crew heading to Airventure | New amphibious floats approved for the CT (this is the only pair in existence) | Ballooning on the cheap (sit on the tank) |
Oshkosh Warm-UpHere are a few inspirational videos to persuade you to get to Wisconsin one of these summers. Something like seven East Hill members will be flying out there this week. You can follow the daily events on the EAA Website and plan for next year! ⇐ Here is a plane you can drive on the road when you arrive. Hopefully if there is an easy internet connection so we will post some photos of club members at the show. This guy flew a single seat helicopter all the way from France ⇒ |
Fun Gathering on the Lake: Thank-You Tim and Betsy Fallon!
East Hill On Line Ads Showing Up
There are efficient ways to display VFR sectionals or IFR approach plates without the "pile of paper." The new iPad or the Kindle display aviation data with different apps and success. The legal aspects are discussed in a recent article in FAA Safety Briefing. What would you think of the club getting a couple iPads with subscriptions instead of the "piles of paper?"
This weekend we will tour Elmira ATC, meeting at the club at 9. Glider rides will also be available from the Elmira Soaring School if you are interested in powerless flight.
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N53045 Is Being Repaired!We awarded the contract and a day later 045 is on the way to Corning. Joe Costa, regionally famous (or is that infamous?) for Cessna salvage and repair will be doing the aircraft restoration and engine reinstall. His very reasonable bid kept us from having to total this plane! We will keep you updated on progress but expect to have this plane out of service until September. |
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Great Vacation: Back at the East Hill Monday!If anyone wants a hint on where to vacation far away from civilization, this would be the place. Up by Queens University Biological Research Station in Ontario there are 1000s of acres where your only neighbors are the loons and bears (and bugs!). |
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New Pilot: David Solomon!You just gotta believe! The first big step for David was to retire. When you are as talented and competent as David, that takes time...they keep hiring you back! Then you have to make space in that newly busy retired lifestylle...yeah! We finally had to just push him into taking the test. But he did it and now can go out and scare his friends too. As you can see, it was about the hottest day you can even get a C-152 airborne...Congratulations David.
Congratulations Gary Schultz: New Private Pilot!Great news: we have another pilot in the club. Gary got interested in flying with RC models and flying with his employer (and EH club member) Jack Henion. Then he came to a seminar at the club and got interested in our simulator...the rest is history. Gary will soon be checking out in the Skyhawks so he can take the whole family flying; congratulations Gary!
Here is a fun little video from our recent breakfast. One of the people on a breakfast flight posted this last week. Some good narration and scenery. Fortunately Mike had a good landing too!
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| Landing well is important to a safe flight. Staying current and practicing (this area and all your maneuvers) regularly is essential to safety. If your landings are getting flat or unpredictable, please get some dual. An annual check might not be enough if you are not flying regularly. This is money well spent. Fortunately nobody was hurt in this incident but we have an expensive insurance claim and a plane out of service for a month or more. We will all end up paying for this incident! Our annual focus on landings this year was meant to address the deteriorating skills in this area of operation we were observing. We will meet to decide on new initiatives to increase safety and your input is encouraged to make us all better pilots. | |
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| Thanks for making this a wonderful breakfast experience; lots of smiles! Peter and Joanne deserve a lot of thanks for all the effort making this run so smoothly. You members deserve the thanks for putting in the work (and doing it so joyfully) It was fun, we made new friends and some $$. See: Mark's Picasa Album | ||
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 The View from AirNav |
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| The Runway Cafe in Blairstown, NJ is a great destination for food or a fun stop on the way south. The food here is exceptional and you can't beat the service. If you are lucky, Jennie Novack will be your waitress. She makes breakfast a fun experience! The Cafe is open 7 days a week 7am-4:30 pm and menus are available at the club. The airport has a dedicated website and fuel is currently $3.96 a gallon. | ||
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Plane Crash: Pat Jessup, CFI +2Something went wrong on approach to Lock Haven and we lost a very nice guy and talented flight instructor at Hornell, Pat Jessup. Pat recently married Lise Lemeland and was starting a new life. More details will emerge regarding the crash but apparently something went wrong with the plane on approach from initial reports. |
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Please Sign Up!
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We are inviting guests over to our place and we want it to look nice. Please come by and give a hand even if you can just push a broom for a little while. We will be washing the aircraft, sweeping out the hangar and general tidying up the place.
Joanne has promised to fire up the grill with some burgers and dogs so please come by for some food and beverages too. Tomorrow we go get the tables and chairs to have the "diner" set up for Sunday!
We were required to obtain a food permit this year so there are some new food handling considerations you should be aware of if you are cooking.
Great hot dogs, burgers AND RIBS and thanks to members for all the side dishes. We had a good turn out and can you believe it was wonderful weather? July BBQ will be at Joanne's house on Friday July 9th. Get ready for the breakfast this Sunday, June 20th. Still some slots to fill. More calendar items here.
Tom is off to a job in Boston after five years at Cornell, but not without his instrument rating! Tom flew a great test, mostly in the clouds (we just missed the t-storms that rolled through Ithaca) Tom has been a great member and helper at all our events, he will be missed; best of luck in Boston!
Perfectionist Tendencies Anyone?Pilots often are self-confessed perfectionists. This article points out some of the negative implications of this personality trait (doomed to a lifetime of doubt and depression) Maybe strive for excellence?
This study came largely as a result of the Colgin 3407 crash in Buffalo NY in the winter of 2009. The investigation of that crash strongly implicated the flight crew actions and lack of training as causal factors. After years of burying their head in the sand and ignoring the root cause of accidents (deficient prefunctory pilot training), some action is finally being demanded by the flying public.
At every level, superficial training leads to pilot deviations and ultimately safety issues. We have a mandate as pilots to train thoroughly and maintain our currency to be safe. Download this document here.
The Aviation Safety Reporting System is well known for its monthly on-line bulletin "Callback." This short, two-page publication treats the diverse collected reports from pilots and crew seeking immunity from prosecution for safety deviations. NASA also organizes these disparate incidents into subject matter areas and issues reports pertaining to specific operations. Download these excellent guides here.
We had a great fly-out to Melony's Landing with seven planes darkening the skies headed north. Syracuse Radar was busy keeping everyone separated. The dinner was fabulous and we even found three guys from Cortland that came up for dinner also (they were reading our web page) There are more pictures on the member's blog shot by Richard Rand. Thanks to everyone that participated! I would encourage every member to use this convenient airport restaurant so we keep this vital service available.
There are two breakfasts this Sunday: Perry-Warsaw and Wellsboro, PA. This is real "bee hive flying" with lots of planes and lousy radio calls to confuse you; bring another set of eyes and go have fun!
Thursday was a beautiful day to fly and we have a new pilot at East Hill! Julian flew a great test and earned his private pilot rating. For those preparing for the test, please consult this ppt on the FAA IACRA system; our biggest problem was getting the on line application process to function smoothly. More information is available on preparing for your flight test here.
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EAA Young Eagles: A Great Experience at East HillWe flew over 80 new pilots at East Hill Saturday. Thank-you to the many members that donated their day and exposed these fliers and their families to aviation and our flight operation. Special thanks to Tim Fallon for organizing and attending to every detail. Especially missed next year will be Tom Weber and Eric Estey who are graduating from Cornell this spring. Link to Mark Sanford's photos on Picassa <here> |
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Thanks to John, Theodore and Carlos for stuffing the breakfast mailing while waiting to fly. Enclosed in this mailing are your four tickets to sell or give away to prospective pilots (or hungry friends) and a poster to display prominently. We need to really publicize this event and have a good turn-out. Please let us know if you need more tickets.
Also enclosed in this mailing is a reminder about our next BBQ on June 11th at the club. This is a great time to meet fellow members and the grass strip is open for some tail wheel rides (open to everyone) There is a printed calendar of events for the whole summer to post on your fridge; the updated online version is <here>
Johnny Neno, owner of many businesses in Ithaca and perhaps known to most for his airfield on Rt 79 west, was a club member and board president many years ago. His bright yellow J-3 Cub taught many pilots the basics of flying and was generously donated for exhibition in our 40th anniversary celebration in 1994.
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Mike Brown, club member and local attorney gave a very interesting and thorough talk about the battle of Gettysburg at East Hill. It is an amazing feeling to hold the rifle that an actual soldier took into the battle. Mike has swords, rifles, actual bullets from the battlefield and all the NY Regimental insignias. The weekend weather looks terrible for our planned trip so watch for a future date to be announced for our group fly-out to Gettysburg. |
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We had a wonderful evening gathering at the Wings of Eagles in Elmira. Corning Catering provided a superb dinner in the shadow of restored war birds (this is the last time this facility will be available unfortunately). Tom Benenson senior editor with Flying Magazine gave a great talk about his aviation history mixed with safety tips and humorous anecdotes from his past. Thanks to all that attended and helped with the logistics. Thanks especially to Brent Chidsey for providing the transportation for our speaker from Albany in his beautiful Cirrus. <more pix> |
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| We are aggressively advertising the Young Eagles Program this Saturday, May 15th and hope to fly 200 young people for the first time! This is part of our mission of promoting aviation. This open house also is an incredible boost for our business. We need EAA member-pilots to fly kids and people on the ramp to direct the crowds and TEACH at the learning stations (we set up five learning areas: simulator, navigation, weather, pre-flight, Sciencenter) There will be food all day and an ice cream truck as well as Code Red Robotics on site. Please sign-up to join the fun! | ||
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| These are members teaching last year at theYoung Eagles learning stations. | ||
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| Mario Tomei washing planes in preparation for the breakfast | Capt. Tomei, July '69, after 125 combat missions over Vietnam | Jean-Baptiste flying with friends on a nice day at East Hill. | Jorgen Overgaard is working on his Light Sport certificate. |
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| Not quite as easy as described but "many hands make light work." Thanks to those that helped move and assemble our light sport in the airline terminal! We had numerous volunteers staffing this display and meeting potential pilots; you guys are great! | |
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| Wow, check out the new cute CFIs we have teaching in the CT (that is Michelle from Continental and Joanne our member) We successfully returned the aircraft to the hangar Friday night and it should be approved for flight by noon Saturday. Thank-you to everyone that helped; especially the crack disassembly teams! Watch for the mall show April 10th! | |
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| Our plane attracted lots of interest from all kinds of people (even pilots!) Our CT is now safely home in the hangar. | |
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| Thanks to the dedicated "CT Plane Moving Team" and all who came to talk to the potential pilots. We have quite a few names on a list and passed out lots of information. It was fun watching people stare and point as we drove the plane down there. Brent probably has enough rigging equipment to transport our whole fleet (we're not asking!) These events are what make us visible and continue to bring people into our club. We invited the Radio Control Society to our banquet May 1st. | ||