September Meeting Minutes
Dave Deweese
Dave Deweese
The minutes for September will be less structured than usual, since our meeting varied from the norm this month with a field trip to Zenith Aircraft Company's annual open house in Mexico, Missouri.
Temperatures were unseasonably cool for mid-September, and with light rain and drizzle in the forecast it was anybody's guess as to how many Chapter 32 members would manage to fly in. I opted to take the land route, fueled up "The Blue Flame", (my '89 Tercel,) and headed west. To get to (North) Mexico by road from the St. Louis area your best bet is 70 west. This is familiar territory, since my old alma mater, Mizzou, is in Columbia, and I made many trips that way in the late eightees. Many landmarks remain from those days, and gray skies recalled the drive back to school after Christmas break: a depressing trip during which post-holiday blahs mixed with thought of trudging across campus in snow and ice for months until spring returned.
Thankfully this was not January, and I was glad to turn off of 70 onto 54 northbound. For years I've been aware of Zenith, but never had a real excuse to trek out to their annual open house. The place is easy to find: you simply follow 54 as the highway shrinks from four lanes to two, then stops, turns eastward, and guides you past homes and small businesses until you see the airport sign on the right.
Despite gloomy weather a fair number of attendees were parked alongside of the road by 9:00 a.m. Cool drizzle (and after effects of morning coffee) inspired me and I jogged past the row of parked cars and up to the open hangar doors. EAA HQ had a table inside where Charlie Becker was actively recruiting new members, and our own Gale Derosier took a microphone and spoke about the Tech Counselor program.
I wandered about the facility, fascinated by all the shiny airplane parts, and one of the robots who fabricates them. He's sort of like a big printer with rotary tools instead of ink. First he picks up a drill and sinks a pattern of holes in a sheet of aluminum, then picks up a cutting bit and cuts a nice, perfect part while a vacuum neatly picks up all the shavings while he works. A formed example of the piece sat on a table nearby; other tables held subassemblies from yokes and rudder pedals up to an uncovered wing.
Outside I ran into Don Doherty and Tim Finley, who flew his shark-mouthed 601 through the drizzle. We watched a couple strolling among the airplanes with two young children who obviously approved of the Flying Tiger motif: the little boy stuck his nose up so close to the cowling that he appeared to be sniffing it. We were there for group picture time, and you can see how a fun paint job makes a bird stand out from a more conservatively painted flock.
The new 650 and 750 are fine-looking planes, no doubt, even lacking eyes and teeth. I wondered how the 750 would look as a tail-dragger, and imagined the view from that big, bubble canopy. A 750 took off a few times, its steep ascent reminding me of my wife's speculations on a piece of land out in the country, where such a machine would be at home leaping off of a grass strip. If I was in the market it'd be tough to pick between the two.
Art Zemon arrived later on with Troy and Jeff. He, too, had braved the weather. The local EAA chapter was serving up hot dogs and pork steaks, proceeds going to their own scholarship program. We all sat together and ate lunch. The food was hot, though the weather was chilly, and once my stomach was full it was time to adjourn and head back to home base in St. Charles. I'm glad I finally made it out to the house of Heintz, and if you have not, and feel any interest in shiny airplanes, then you should plan on trekking out to Mexico, Missouri, for the 2012 open house.
Onwards and upwards, (and westwards and eastwards,)
Dave Deweese
