May 9th, 2025 - Greg Miller's Glasair III
Yesterday Greg Miller fired up his Glasair III at Birchwood and did some short taxi testing.
Greg's plane is looking great and sounds fast!
May 7th, 2025 - Board Meeting
We had a large turnout at our Board Meeting tonight and discussed this summer's plans.
May 5th, 2025 - Merrill Field Summer 2025 Construction - website
Several members of our Chapter attended the briefing regarding the closure of runway 7 / 25 at Merrill Field this summer for reconstruction.
I thought the briefing was very well done and would emphasize that anyone planning to fly in or out of Merrill spend time studying the detailed information available. If you missed the briefing, you can watch the video recording of the full presentation. It can all be accessed at:
https://mri725rehab.com/
They emphasized that NOTAMS need to be checked frequently and even content on their web site may be frequently updated. Because of that, I’m not attaching any documents, just the main website link so that you can help yourself to the most recent versions.
Highlight links:
1) Merrill Field Summer 2025 Construction Pilot’s Handbook
2) Taxiway Diagram
3) Users Briefing (Powerpoint presentation)
4) ForeFlight Content pack
5) Users Briefing presentation recording
Rick Henry
May 5th, 2025 - Merrill Field Construction Notices
May 4th, 2025 - EAA Chapter 42 at The Great Alaska Aviation Gathering
THANK YOU Robb Smart, Ed White, Cliff Belleau, Sara Maurer, Al George, Isaac Smith, and Mark Frischkorn for volunteering in the 40' x 75' Youth Aviation Center tent at the Great Alaska Aviation Gathering in Palmer on Saturday and Sunday this past weekend. Also, THANK YOU Bob Lee for supporting safe air ops at the temporary strip on the Fairgrounds.
All 6 of our stations attracted many, many kids, parents, and adults. This is the 5th year Chapter 42 has supported the Gathering since its move from FedEx's hangar to the Alaska State Fairgrounds (& Palmer Airport) in 2021.
Below, Cliff Belleau helps a young mechanic use a drill press to make a spark plug key ring. At this particular station, the PowerPlant station, Cliff, Ed, & Isaac used a 4-cylinder Continental cut-away engine to introduce young folks to an aircraft spark plug, explaining what it is, where it goes in an aircraft engine, and what it does--demonstrating the 4 strokes of a piston engine.
May 4th, 2025 - EAA Chapter 42 at The Great Alaska Aviation Gathering
Bernie Willis, John Davis and Rick Henry gave a presentation: "Building Your Own Airplane - From Blueprint To Flight".
Apr 17th, 2025 - AK FSS new phone number
Notice from the FAA about the new phone number to call Alaska Flight Service Stations: 1-833-252-7433
Apr 8th, 2025 - Birchwood Airport Master Plan
Birchwood Airport Master Plan
The Capitol Improvement Plan which describes and diagrams the changes to be made on the ground begin on page 144 of the pdf.
Birchwood Airport Master Plan
Apr 6th, 2025 - Tom Lawhorn Teaches Intro to Aviation Maintenance
Tom had an opportunity to instruct a group of youth at Swoop Flight Training Center on the Orca Street side of Merrill Field. Swoop provides mentorship and aviation career training to underserved Alaskan youth and owned/operated by Jamie Klaes. Jamie says Swoop is "The only aviation training facility in Alaska offering professional career training AND training for entry level jobs in the aviation industry."
Tom says, "I just completed teaching my first week long class, introduction to aviation maintenance. It was exhausting but very rewarding. Working with a non profit that brings Alaska native kids to Anchorage to expose them to what is involved in being an A&P mechanic. We toured Airglas, Lynden’s air cargo, and Alaska Airlines maintenance shop. Spent half the day in the classroom and the other half in the shop doing a lot of hands on. The students learned about aircraft structures, how engines work, did a fiberglass lay-up, drove rivets, preformed a 100 hour inspection, even weighed a plane. Being a teacher is a lot of work, developing the curriculum, creating review worksheets, and making sure you have all the tools and materials needed to keep them busy all day. I salute every person who has ever been a teacher. I definitely will be teaching more classes."
See Tom's Facebook page for some great photos!
Mar 25th, 2025 - March Chapter Meeting @ CAP Polaris Squadron
A half-dozen of us attended the March meeting at the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) Polaris Composite Squadron.
Maj Lance Brunner (Squadron Commander) briefed us on the mission of the CAP, including search & rescue, cadet programs, and education.
Maj Caleb Newville (Deputy Sqdn Cmdr) provided a great "walk-thru" of the National Weather Service Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU) website. He also discussed preparations for the potential Mr. Spurr eruption.
Feb 25th, 2025 - February Meeting to see Tom's Glastar on skis
Tom Lawhorn hosted our February meeting at his hangar to show us his ski installation on his Glastar and treated us to chili. Tom is planning his first flight this Spring after he gets some transition training. All 20 of us greatly appreciated the craftmanship of both aircraft and chilli!
Jan 28th, 2025 - January Meeting
We had a great meeting last night with about 20 attendees to see Greg Miller's nearly completed Glasair III.
Jan 11th, 2025 - January Breakfast
First breakfast meeting of 2025. It was a good one.
Jan 9th, 2025 - DOT proposal affecting Merrill Field
We encourage our members to send comments to DOT about how two of their proposed routes would negatively affect Merrill Field and the gravel strip in particular. You can comment via the "Contact Us" or "Comments" links near the upper right. DOT proposal
Dec 7th, 2024 - Airmen's Scholarship Fund donation
On Saturday, December 7th, Ed White, Chapter Treasurer, presented the Alaska Airmen’s Association a check for $1600 to be put towards the Airmen’s 2025 scholarship fund. The Alaska Airmen’s Association will match this donation for a total scholarship of $3200 dollars! This will go a long ways to helping future aviators fulfill their dreams. Thanks to all who helped make this happen.
Nov 26th, 2024 - November Chapter meeting at the Alaska Aviation Museum
We had a great November Chapter meeting at the Alaska Aviation Museum.
Chuck Hosack graciously hosted the event and gave an interesting presentation on the museum's Norseman and Fairchild restoration projects.
