Twin Cities RV Builders December Meeting
Saturday, December 14, 2024 – 10 am to noon
Doug and Paul’s Hangar, 41C Mooney Lane
Lake Elmo, MN Airport (21D)
Every pilot has a story. There is something about aviation that attracts unique people that do unique things with their life. Dreams are dreamt, sacrifices are made, hardships in many forms are endured in the pursuit of that goal to be a “pilot.”
Our guest speaker this month is Ray Wilson. Growing up in rural New Jersey in the 1950s, Ray dreamed of being a pilot. But, being African American, he didn't have role models or a clear path to that goal. While pursuing a degree in teaching, he decided to take the leap and began flying lessons. There an instructor introduced him to a recruiter and the rest was history. Ray joined the Army in 1969 to pursue his dream.
After spending 366 days in Vietnam as a combat Huey helicopter pilot he continued his Army career that spanned 22 years and included positions as flight school instructor, a Medivac Pilot, and a Chief Warrant Officer. After retiring from the Army, a job with Northwest Airlines brought him to Minnesota in 1990 where he held positions as an academic instructor in the training department and later a test and ferry pilot on the Boeing 727 and 747-200. He returned to his rotorcraft roots in 2005 signing on with LifeLink where he spent 8 years as a medivac pilot flying a variety of Bell and Sikorsky equipment. Ray’s retirement 2.0 has seen him active in veteran affairs and he was featured in the Twin Cities PBS production of “The Telling Project: Minnesota Remembers Vietnam.” https://video.tpt.org/video/raymond-wilson. In 2023 he co-authored a book titled “Brothers” with fellow veteran Bruce Richardson, a story of two young men of the 60’s from diverse racial backgrounds defining their early lives in Vietnam and then meeting 50 years later. Join us to hear a unique pilot’s story.
As always, tech counselor Tom Berge will be on hand to answer your RV building and flying questions. PLUS…. Coffee and necessary goodies for your dining pleasure!!!! Note…. Restrooms are at Lake Elmo Aero and please park on the hard surface.
11-23-2024
10-23-2024
Carl Ziegler has posted a HUGE collection of building tools and test equipment available to club members for loan. Head over to the "Tool Crib" page and check it out!!!
09-09-2024
06-15-2024
04-08-2024
Video of our 2024 Spring Meeting ... The RV Roundtable with Tom Berge.
03-05-2024
11-27-2023
Tom Turner, executive director of the American Bonanza Society, recently published this article concerning the ABS’s report on the EPA’s 100LL endangerment finding. The topic of finding a viable unleaded alternative to 100LL fuel and the EPA’s involvement is of interest to all GA pilots including the RV community. Click the link below…….
20231207163853720.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [349.4 KB]
11-27-2023
11-27-2023
Lake Elmo airport (21D) is in the process of implementing a noise abatement initiative. The Metropolitical Airports Commission, which manages the airport, has been proactive in addressing a significant increase in noise complaints over the past year. This document discussing this topic and also includes a comparison between flight operations and noise complaints at the local reliver airports.
leaac meeting packet 11-27-2023.pdf
Adobe Acrobat document [7.3 MB]
06-15-2023
04-29-2023
Video of our 2023 Spring meeting at Lake Elmo. Guest speakers Eric Janssen and Pete Howell.
Enjoy....
03-08-2023
12-01-2022
9-14-2022
RV-12 builder Bob Collins is reviving our Tool Crib. If you have a "rare" tool (such as scales, c/s prop wrench, wing jack, etc, etc) that you might be will to loan to a member, zip over to the Tool Crib page for details
3-11-2022
1-14-2022
RV-7A driver Frank Huber recently took a flight of a lifetime in "Crazy Horse", a beautifully restored 2-place TF-51 in Kissimmee, Flordia.
1-14-2022
Here's the video of our January virtual meeting with Guil Barros. Enjoy...
12-06-2021
11-8-2021
Eleven "antique" issues of the newsletter have been added to the "RVator's Log" page. They range from the March 2007 to the December 2005 issues. The graphic format on some of the issues did not convert properly so you may see some issues with photos not displaying but the content is there. Enjoy.......
10-3-2021
9-3-2021
Head over to the Video Clips page to check out Tom Berge wrassling the Colorado River on his rafting trip in August
09-03-2021
The September issue of the RVator's Log is now available HERE.....
06-22-2021
The June issue of the RVator's Log is now available HERE.....
03-16-2021
The March issue of the RVator's Log is now available HERE.....
12-14-2020
The December issue of the RVator's Log is now available HERE.....
07-07-2020
Mark Owen's RV-12 has been flying for several months. Every RV that takes to the air has a back story that is unique. Here's Mark's story...........
Adobe Acrobat document [2.3 MB]
03-17-2020
The March issue of the RVator's Log is ready for your literary pleasure. Click HERE....
11-19-2019
9-10-2019
8-13-2019
Most of the club was at our Summer hangar party where we honored RV-guru extraordinaire Tom Berge. We presented Tom with a commemorative book with a ton of "Tom" photos and testimonials from club member on Tom's impact on their projects and planes. Here's a link to the publisher where you can page through and enjoy the book!! You can enlarge the size of the page for better viewing.
6-15-2019
The June 2019 issue of The RVator's Log is now ready for download HERE........
6-4-2019
Every time I make a trip to Hibbing to visit Midwest Aircraft Refinishing, I usually find some reason to marvel at their artistry with a spray gun. Monday of this week, I flew the RV-7 north to meet up with Frank Huber who was taking his RV-7A back for some minor touchup work. His RV is painted in Bud Anderson's "Old Crow" paint scheme and is flawless, as I would have expected by any paintwork coming out of Hibbing.
The big news is their completion of a major addition to their facility. Their new hangar is more than doubles the size of their other buildings. One half is a sterile dust free space where they can do their final polishing and vinyl graphic work. The other side is a state of the art paint booth big enough for a King Air. Brightly lit with LEDs, the north wall is one big filtered air inlet and the south wall is the exit. All the air is filtered and captured so no bad chemicals escape into the pristine Minnesota north woods nearby.
Most of their work is Cirrus restorations and repair, but their reputation is spreading among the RV community. If you want the best, book early, as they are usually scheduled 8 to 12 months out!
- Doug
For more details on how Midwest Aircraft Refinishing came to be, here's an article in Business North magazine from last fall.
Frank Huber's RV-7 in front of Midwest's new paint hangar
This is the detail side of the new hangar. Final finish work is done here before delivery.
The paint "booth"... filtered air comes in through the entire wall
George Virnig explains the "exhaust" side of the hangar to Frank
Their bread and butter is Cirrus repairs. This one in the process of recovering from a chute recovery with major composite repairs.
This is a recent Cirrus restoration (it's a 2004 model). The carbon fiber effect is painted not vinyl graphics. It's a secret how they do it, but they do it!!!!
4-13-2019
Our resident tech counselor Tom Berge recently returned from Austria where he reassembed Joerg Pfeiffer's RV-9A. Joerg's RV had been based at the Lino Lakes, MN airpark for a number of years. He splits his time between the U.S. and his home in Austria managing his company JP Powersports Engineering. This fall Joerg decided he wanted to move the airplane back home to Austria. In late November, he and Tom took the airplane apart, crated it up in a standard shipping container for the trip to Europe. After it arrived, Joerg contracted with Tom to come put it all back to together. So in March, Tom and his wife Karen spent two weeks in this most beaitiful part of the world splitting time between RV "work" and sightseeing.
Here's a short clip of the engine start on March 17th. Keep in mind the battery has been sitting in the airplane since the end of November and traveled on trucks and ships for all of this time with no attention whatsoever. The Odyssey PC680 is a pretty robust battery and will hold a charge a LONG time without human intervention!
Here's a couple shots of around the local area in Nuziders, Austria (about an hour's drive east of Zurich.)
Driving to St. Moritz
This is certainly not Minnesota!
Pretty impressive place to fly your RV!!!
6-26-2018
Our June summer hangar party (aka Anoka Extravaganza) is history. Go HERE to check out the photos......
Tom Irlbeck tribute page
6-05-2018
4-10-2018
Our April meeting was a great success highlighted by a fascinating talk by retired Northwest Captain John Hanson.
12-18-2016
Tom Irlbeck reflects on his 57 years as a pilot, 71 1⁄2 years of flying....
Thought I’d drop you a note, as I reflect back on my years in the air. Flying has been good to me. I consider myself very fortunate, having been born into a flying family. My Dad was a B-17, B-29 pilot. When he was home on leave in the fall of 1945, we went out to John Benson’s Airport, just north of White Bear Lake. Don’t know all of the story how my Dad and John met, but know they were close friends, until both went west, a number of years ago. Anyway, I have a cherished photo sitting in John’s J-3 that he was renting, on my Mom’s lap, with my Dad in the front seat. That was my first ride at 2 1⁄2. I have my hand on the stick, my Mom said I want to shake the stick, and to this day I still enjoy “shaking the stick”, must be in the genes.
Last Sunday, old “Bear”, my trustworthy RV-8 turned over 2,000 hrs. I started building her in 1997, and June of 2000 she took me into the air on her first flight. On Sunday I was giving a “Young Eagle Ride”, a young lady of 15yrs, her 1st ride in a “little” aircraft. She had been in the air only once before, in an airliner, and was a little apprehensive. On such rides, I take it “easy”, you might say I hold back a lot, not my normal “Navy Take Off”. I mentioned that we would be turning over to the 2,000 hr mark to her, but I’m sure she didn’t realize the signifigance, but “Bear” did!!!!
09-16-2014
RV-4 pilot John Field recently took his niece Mono for a ride in his beautiful yellow -4. She wrote him this REALLY COOL thank you note... You'll love it!!! (make all that labor worth every minute!)
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