Fall 2012

Argentina Odyssey Flight-by Steele Scott, with Ivan Perez and Andrew Grauer

My First Aerobatic Contest-by Ronney Moss

ContentsArgentina Odyssey Flight by Steele Scott ............ 1My First Aerobatic Contest by Ronney Moss ...... 1President’s Message .............................................. 3Club Trip: Tangier Isle by Patrick Lofvenholm.... 7George’s Corner--Our Inclusive Club Culture 11Annual Meeting and Candidates ...................... 15Absentee Voting Proceedure .............................. 18New Certificates .................................................. 19

Will you help me fly a Cessna 172 toArgentina?” That’s what Ivan Perez, afellow member at the Wings of Carolina

Flying Club asked me in October last year. Coolthings happen to Club members all the timethrough our friendships and the flying networkswithin our community. For me, however, theprospect of piloting a Skyhawk to a destinationhalf a world away was a “cool thing” on acompletely new level.

Earlier in the year I had been volunteeringduring a 2nd-Saturday event when then-WoC ClubPresident David Greenfield asked me to show anew prospect, Ivan Perez, around. Ivan came tothe 2nd Saturday wanting to learn to fly. I hadrecently completed my CFI reinstatement in June2011 and had accepted an invitation from GeorgeScheer to start teaching at the Club. When Ivanjoined and became my student, he almostimmediately asked me to pilot the Argentina ferryflight. The airplane in question, N8186V, was aCessna 172K Skyhawk XP that Ivan needed todeliver to his customer in Argentina to be used forphotographic missions over the vast forestry farmsof the North. Ivan’s business, CambiumEnterprises, provides forestry equipment to thismarket. As an entrepreneur and industrial engineergraduate of North Carolina State University, he hasbuilt this business to also include an occasionalgeneral aviation aircraft; so far, 7 planes have beendelivered. I was at first a bit stunned by therequest. Even though I had the time and allexpenses would be paid, I still knew that this tripwould take all of my flight experience and trainingto another level.

Ivan had a grand total of 11 hours dual inhis logbook when we arrived by taxi before dawnat TAC Air’s RDU ramp on December 7, 2011. At

On the third weekend in May 2012, I went tomy first aerobatic contest at WilsonIndustrial, W03. The local aerobatic club,

IAC 19, sponsored the “Carolina Boogie” withhelp from the local EAA chapter. It was awesome.There were nineteen competitors: three guys thatwere air show quality, three that were really goodand most of the rest were in the “sportsmancategory.” And then there wuz me’n Bob Wall andone other fella…and they treated us like REALpilots. Seriously, the way the experienced pilotswelcomed us was very refreshing.

We lost points for not recovering our spinon heading and other details. I am at the pointwhere I celebrate every time I successfully recover,much less apply precision. We also volunteered tohelp; I got to be a line judge and report when apilot went out of bounds. It was incredible towatch the air show. Watching several competitorstry to replicate the same set of maneuvers was veryeducational. The professionalism of the event wasimpressive. One of the things that struck meduring the pre-brief was the admonition that “thesafety maneuver can only be performed on the baseleg.” The safety maneuver is to invert the aircraft,rock the wings and check the engine instruments. ILOVE IT!

Continued on page 2

Continued on page 3

2

8:14 a.m. Ivan pushed the throttle forward to fullpower and we were accelerating on RDU Runway23L with N8186V’s 210 bhp Continental Six. Itwas a cold, low-overcast day as we entered cloudsat 2000 feet. Fifteen days later, after dark, wewere over the Parana River on final approachRwy 18, Posadas, Argentina. The trip took 7days longer than we had planned, and wewondered at times if we would make it back to theU.S. in time for Christmas.

This is the story of two Wings of Carolinamembers sharing an amazing aviation journey: anadventure that spanned two continents, 9countries, 5000 nautical miles, 15 legs, 54.7flight hours (consuming 500 gallons of avgascosting $3,930), and miles and miles of blueocean and the endless green expanse of theAmazon Jungle.

Planning the Trip

My first call for help on how plan thisadventure (where was I even to start?) was toEAA 1114’s venerable James Zazas. Jim captainsBoeing 767s for US Air, flies and instructs inwarbirds and other aircraft and has ferriedairplanes from South America and many otherplaces. Over several hours of coaching, Jimbecame my guide through many of thepreliminaries—it was clear that my homeworkhad just begun. Additional consultations withAOPA, Caribbean Sky Tours and several othersalso helped me flesh out the picture as to what weneeded: routes to follow, places to land;documents, permits, visas;instrument & VFR maps andapproach plates; emergencyequipment: life vests, 406 ELTwith GPS; places to sleep and,of course, food and water.

We started the routeplanning by assuming the IFR/GPS equipped C172 with 49gallons usable fuel would burn11 gph and achieve a 110-knottrue airspeed. This gave us a3 hours and 20 minute flightwindow with a one hourreserve giving us a 375nautical mile rangebenchmark. We then used

Google Earth to initially plan the flight legs andairports using this range.

Ivan worked on all visa and country flyingrequirements for the trip. He arranged for aBrazilian visa for me, which was the only countryof the nine requiring such. Ivan has an Argentinepassport that worked for him in Brazil and—goodnews—he had just completed naturalization as aU.S. Citizen.

My friend and fellow WoC Flying Clubmember Grover McNair gave me advice on flyingthe Bahamas as far south as Haiti. He alsosuggested we wear vests while flying over waterat all times; he said he would loan them to me ashe just bought two new ones. Betsy McCracken’ssage advice was to get immunization shots and todrink only “agua con gas,” or bottled seltzerwater. With an abundance of advice and a degreeof nervous excitement, we took to the sky on ouradventure.

Leg One and Two—RDU to SAV to PalmBeach, FL Day 1, December 7 and Palm BeachPropeller, Day 2-4, December 8, 9 & 10

On our first day we flew two legs, endingup in Palm Beach, FL. 8186V had beenupgraded, per the customer’s specs, from a 185bhp to 210 bhp at Tom Melachuk’s GuardianAviation in Siler City prior to our trip, and wasdue at Palm Beach Propeller to re-pitch thepropeller. To complete the supplemental typecertificate, the prop needed to be inspected and

Steele Scott and Ivan Perez in 8186V

Scott, Continued from page 1

Continued on page 4

3

President’s Message

Jan Squillance is Presidentof the Wings of CarolinaFlying Club

The cooler flying weather is now here! As thecolored leaves here at TTA leave theirbranches, the south ramp is busier than ever.

The club now has 13 airplanes with our latestacquisition of a club-owned Mooney. We now have350 club members. Our ground school classes andflight training are doing well. The marker board in thelobby is full of new ratings and accomplishments.Many of you have asked me how it feels to bepresident. It’s a fun job with all the help graciouslygiven by all the club volunteers. I feel like thedirector of a marvelous orchestra, setting the tempoand seeing all the volunteers pull together for ourflying club.

We have Club Ambassadors who each spenda weekend afternoon at the club to welcomeprospective members. The Board (Jim Carlson, JohnGaither, Mat Waugh, Ian Frid, Steele Scott, PaulWilder) and the Safety Committee (Dick Kenney, LenFelton, Grover McNair, Ronney Moss, Sam Evett)each meets monthly to set the course for the club.Our club bookkeeper, Dee, enters new members intothe hand scan system and a host of other tasks. JohnHunter works tirelessly to keep the airplanes in goodflying order. Then, there are all the other tasks doneby volunteers including writing and publishing thenewsletter, club trips and events, keeping the financialbooks and paying the bills, plane washes, pilotrecords, updating GPS data bases, making sure wehave Internet access, airplanes are maintained, lunchis prepared on Second Saturday, keeping the snackcorner stocked, taking out the trash and all the otherday-in day-out jobs it takes to keep our club clean,safe and welcoming.

Some of the projects done so far this yearinclude landscaping in the front parking lot (thanks toJohn Hunter, Terry Gardiner, Jeff Hoerle and all theother volunteers who pitched in); buildingmaintenance (Obdulio Bastista, David Hughey andChris Berg), improving the cell phone coverage (IanFrid, and Obdulio) and improving the phone system(Graham Mainwaring, Keith Silva)

Our club would not be aswonderful and in existence for over 50years without YOU, all the membersthat work to make it happen. Thankyou.

Later in the day we got to watch the judgingteams. One judge, a recorder and an announcer worktogether as a team. The announcer calls out themaneuver, such as “a humpty-bump push push with asnap on the top…end of maneuver.” Like anytechnical endeavor, aerobatics has its own languageand a short hand method to record the maneuvers.The Aresti system is a series of cryptic squiggly linesthat translate into precise symbols for each maneuver.By looking at the Aresti symbol, hearing the assistantannounce the maneuver and then watching the aircraftperform the maneuver, I really gained clarity intowhat precisely the Aresti symbols were calling for.Then the judge would make his comments whichwould help clarify errors in the execution.

At the end of the day we retired to the hoteland cleaned up for dinner. Our dinner conversationwas like most pilot conversations: all about those“other pilots.” So what do aerobatic pilots think iscrazy? Balloon pilots. “They just float aroundhelpless in the wind. When they get to the placewhere they can land they just pull the cord and plopdown!” People have different perspectives on what isrisky. (Hat tip to Jonathan Trapp.)

Risk is relative; a group of aerobatic pilotsexploring the performance envelope of man andmachine has inherent hazards. At my skill level I amnot coming close to the limits of the performanceenvelope, but learning how to precisely control theaircraft hones my skills and makes me a safer pilot.The pilots in the upper division flirt with the limitsimposed by physics and physiology but take steps tomitigate hazards. Turning an airplane upside downduring the safety procedure on base leg may seem likemadness to many people, but the loose screwdriverwill fall to the roof instead of flinging about duringthe actual routine. The ramp was a “dead prop” area,demonstrating that the risk of a turning propeller inan area where people are gathered is indeed a hazardthat can and should be mitigated.

The “license to learn” includes many veryinteresting avenues. The thrill of aerobatics, theprocedural order of instrument flight, the sweet songof a tail wheel kissing a grass strip or learning theinner working of the machine on maintenance nightare all worthy pursuits.

P.S. I did my second contest and placed second.

Moss, Continued from page 1

4

re-shimmed to prevent it from over speeding andto permit the full development of its ratedhorsepower. During the takeoffs prior to arrivalat Lantana, Florida, we had to manually reducethe rpms to stay below 2,800.

We flew most of the two legs in actualIMC, first from Raleigh to Savannah, then weclimbed into 800 overcast and moderate rain inwindy conditions taking off from Savannah.Most of the trip to Lantana Airport in PalmBeach was in the clouds or between the layers—not the most scenic beginning to our trip. Wespent the next three days waiting for Palm BeachPropeller to complete the modifications, forimproved weather, and getting JeppView IFRCharts and approach plates loaded to the twoiPads and two laptops for the Caribbean andSouth America portions. We would heavily usethe JeppView charts on the iPad and the two and,sometimes, three on-board GPS systems, theGarmin 430, 396 and portable 296. Thistechnology was the most incredible thing I haveever seen. We also had an Aspen glass displaythat integrated the Garmin 430 navigationinformation.

The goal was to file IFR with mostly VFRconditions at destination airports during the day.Nearly everyone’s recommendation was to alwaysleave early in the morning—just after dawn—andland by 3 PM to avoid the convective afternoonweather typical of the Caribbean and SouthAmerica. While we took this goal to heart, wewould learn that between maintenance issues,flight planning, customs, immigration and

security, we almost always departed later in themorning and sometimes early afternoon.Throughout the trip, we would discover that werarely got as far as we would have liked, but weresolved to just take events as they came. Thiswas one contributing factor why the whole triptook longer than we thought.

Leg Three and Four—Palm Beach to Bahamasto Turks and Caicos Islands Oil PressureProblem, Day 4, December 10

We lifted off KLNA around 8:00 a.m. andpicked up our clearance just east of West PalmBeach about 10 miles out over the Atlantic Ocean.I planned to remain over land as much as possibleto help mitigate risk. So I filed to Grand Islandand then VOR to VOR to dog-leg down toNassau, Bahamas. Our clearance quickly gotamended by Miami Center, however, so we justflew nearly direct. So much for my riskmanagement strategy.

When we took off from Nassau just afternoon, weclimbed to7000 ft.We weregoing to flyan airway,A555,almost thewhole wayto Provos,Turks andCaicos.The leg was

350 miles and we expected a total flight time of 3hours and 25 minutes. After cycling throughNassau Tower and Nassau Departure, MiamiCenter was to be our controller for the first two-thirds of the flight. Then, 90 minutes into ourlower Bahamas flight, the unexpected happened.

At first, I was not sure I was really seeingwhat I was afraid I might be seeing. Then Ithought I must be imagining it—the oil pressuredropping, dropping ever so slowly. As it snuck itsway down through the green, I was incredulous.When it finally crept into the top of the yellow arcbelow 30 psi, my first thought was, “Not now, notthis far out.”

Our route--northern half

NOT what you want to see

Scott, Continued from page 2

5

So what would you do? The oiltemperature went up, but not appreciably. Was itthe sensor, or was it a real oil pressure problem?As Ivan and I considered our options anddiscussed the possibilities, we watched the oilpressure gauge continue to fall to 20 psi, but thenstabilize just above the middle of the yellow arc.We carefully watched the gauge as we approachedthe halfway point in the flight—both pressure andtemperature were remaining steady. We thereforedecided that our best option was to continue theremaining two hours of the flight, with somerevisions to our plan. The first was tocommunicate to Miami Center that we had aproblem. We also wanted to fly close to land, andfrom airport to airport where possible. We couldachieve this with permission from Miami Centerto deviate from Airway A555 by up to 10 mileswest of center to follow the many islands alongthe route.

Miami Center granted this permission, butthen advised us that radar contact andcommunications would be lost until we were 60miles out from Turks and Caicos. This wasalarming given our situation. However, MiamiCenter arranged a communications bridge withtwo airliners flying 20 or 30 thousand feet aboveus. As we progressed, we continued to giveposition reports to the friendly crews. When wefound ourselves at 7,000 feet running into alooming layer of clouds, we got on the radio withan Air Canada crew to relay a clearance requestto go higher. Air Canada relayed back permissiongranted to go up to 10,000’ if needed.I hardly wanted to change the power setting,especially an increase, but our two options wereeither flying into the clouds or taking the chancewith the power. I cautiously advanced thethrottle, keeping a wary eye on the oil pressureand temperature, which both stayed as they were.With great relief, we cleared the layer at 8,000and leveled off with oil pressure unchanged. Thecloud deck was solid all the way to Turks andCaicos, so we flew VFR-on-top, positioning byGPS and JeppView charts.

Other than the wrecking job adrenalinewas completing on my nerves, the rest of theflight was uneventful until we picked up ProvosApproach. Most airports in the Caribbean do nothave radar—you have to make position reports,and they sequence airplanes in based on those

position reports, time, distance and deadreckoning calculations. When Provos asked if wewanted to declare an emergency, I asked for a“Priority” approach. Provos announced theywould have emergency vehicles standing by. Ohboy!

We started our descent through theovercast layer and then picked our way around thebigger clouds. We could hear chatter on the comindicating that Provos was holding a couplejetliners stacked up until we could come in—andone seemingly annoyed Jet Blue pilot wanted toknow what the holdup was. A Provos controller,equally annoyed with the Jet Blue pilot, gave hima very curt answer: “Because there is someoneholding below you.” Ivan suggested that we letthem come in, but with engine gauges indicating aproblem, I just wanted to get down and not riskbeing asked to hold.

In the end, landing on that long, beautiful,welcome runway was uneventful, except we didnot expect that there would be no taxiways. Thisis actually a typical situation in the islands, butwe did not know this yet. As the emergencyvehicles stood down, we backtaxied to Provos Air,keeping one Jet Blue pilot (and an AmericanAirlines pilot) in the air still a little longer.

Turks and Caicos Island, Engine Repairs, Day4-7, December 10, 11, 12, 13 & 14

Ivan and I then started a four dayexperience dealing with the intricacies of aviationengine repair in the islands. We first startedtalking about repairs with the FBO, Provos Air.They directed us to their chief mechanic, of whomthey were obviously very proud. And he was agood guy, who was obviously very capable on theother airplanes in the hanger and wanted to do agood job for us. But he basically summed up akey problem while we were still shaking his hand.“Gee, I haven’t ever worked on a Continental 6engine before.”

Three days and more than $5000 later, hehad attempted all kinds of things to try and naildown the problem. He had checked the sensorand checked the oil screens. He examined thepump, and then tried things we didn’t even fullyunderstand. The main result of all these effortswas not an airplane that worked, but an education

6

for Ivan and me on how maintenance duties areperformed, island-style.

Island-style maintenance offers pilots theproposition that you really don’t know what youare getting into down there in terms of themechanic’s capabilities. Island-style maintenancecould be described as collaborative, in that if thehanger doesn’t have the tool the mechanic needsfor the job, it falls to the pilot to acquire the tooland perform the service. Thus did Ivan and I findourselves Sunday afternoon running to the storeto purchase a hacksaw, so that we could cut openour oil cooler ourselves. Island-style maintenancemeans that you accept that the hanger will bestocked with every manner of airplane part,except the kind you need. And, if you thinkairplane parts are expensive here, try adding thecosts of express shipping them to the island inquestion and the huge import duties. Provos didnot have an oil filter on hand. With the shippingand 30% import duty, a $20 part cost us $150.

Due to the collaborative nature of island-style maintenance, we spent at least part of everyday at the airport. But we also had some downtime. The island is beautiful. We had some timeto relax by the pool. We also rented a jeep andwent off-roading. However, it did not take uslong to pick up on a sense of unrest on the island.The recent political history of the Turks andCaicos is not exactly happy—the British tookback control of the government due to rampantcorruption, but the locals were upset by this.Rightly or wrongly, our sense in talking with thelocals was that tension remains heightened—wenever saw any actual protests, but there remains asense of volatility.

On the fourth day we were informed thatour fabulous mechanic had to leave the island forsome time off. Now what? But our luck wasabout to change. Another Provos mechanic tookup our cause—one that had worked on Cessna206s for the Panamanian Air Force for severalyears (Cessna 206s are powered by Continental 6engines). He listened with interest to our oilpressure problem, took a look at our engine andgot the problem nailed within 45 minutes. The oiltemperature valve to direct oil through the coolerwas dirty and not seating properly. Since oil wasnot flowing through the cooler, it got hotter andhotter resulting in the pressure dropping belownormal. After a successful run-up, thePanamanian also went out with us on a test flight.

Everything checked out, and, anxious to make upfor some lost time, Ivan and I thanked ourgracious (and expensive) hosts and departed at4:20 p.m. on an IFR flight plan to the DominicanRepublic.

After passing through a light rain at 1200ft, we set our compass for Punta Cana. Thiswould be the largest over-water segment we wouldfly—50 or 60 nautical miles. With a newly-repaired engine, we decided to follow the islandchain for a while, then turned south over openwater. Unexpectedly, we got a nice tailwind forthe first time in the trip. We had generally beenmaking around 90 knots groundspeed fromFlorida, but now we were cruising along at 126knots. Little did I realize how much that tailwindwould nearly cost me.

Leg Five—Puerto Rico, A $5,000 Fine, Day 7,December 14

Seeing our fastest progress over the openwater thus far, Ivan and I decided to extend theleg a little bit and land in Puerto Rico. While thisput us over the water at night for a little while,the landing was easy; we shot the ILS runway 27at Borinquen (TJBQ). This big old former AirForce base is now a huge FedEx depot. We sawabout forty FedEx jets lined up as we taxied in.

But, that was not the only thing we saw aswe taxied in. As we approached customs, wenoticed uniformed Customs officers coming out togreet us with firearms and flashlights. Uh-oh. Igot an increasingly sinking feeling in my stomachas it became obvious how upset they were. Theywasted no time in letting us know exactly whatthe problem was—we were completelyunexpected.

When we were preparing to leave Florida,we had registered and filed our departure with theautomated Electronic Advance PassengerInformation System, or EAPIS. EAPIS is anelectronic data interchange system established byU.S. Customs and Border Protection, and its usebecame mandatory for private pilots flying to orfrom certain countries beginning in May, 2009.We had gone through the approval process for ourFlorida departure—but had completely forgottenabout this requirement when we decided to extendour leg to Puerto Rico, thereby re-entering theUnited States. Since we had not anticipated U.S.

Continued on page 8

7

Club Trip: Tangier Island-by Patrick Lofvenholm

Cessna 53587 you’ve got traffic at 2 o’clock in2 miles, same direction.”“Yea, Washington Center, we know him;

we’re all in Operation Crab Cake Lift, but thanks.”The short 2425' runway at Tangier wasn’t

expecting 8 airplanes that morning, and neither wasWashington Center, who was handling all of our IFRflight plans. But we managed to get to Tangier withno issues. Some of us left earlier in the morning thanothers, but all arrived within 30 minutes of eachother. A quiet ramp was found, and then our walkinto town began.

We found the facilities to be an RV camperparked outside of the airport fence, with just a toiletand a couch—no charts for sale or fuel ready to bepumped. There was a ramp lady who instantlyappeared to collect landing fees. We walked intotown, finding small streets filled with golf carts,tourists, bicycles and yet more tourists. It was aquick 15 minute walk through the center of town overto our lunch stop. Luckily, David Greenfield, our triporganizer, had already given them a heads-up that thissmall restaurant should expect to welcome 25 peoplefor lunch. As we all settled in at the restaurant andcontinued our hangar flying (what else would pilotsdo sitting around a table?), we were served dish afterdish of homemade seafood—crab cakes, oysters,apple sauce, on and on. Once we couldn’t fitanymore food into our weight & balance calculations,we hopped on a golf car to the marina—there are fewcars on the island—for our boat tour. Being theadventurer I am, I decided to go on a quick walkwhile we waited on our boat to arrive.

Lo and behold, I actually found an ice creamstand, and better yet—they offered me fresh TangierIsland tap water to refill my water bottle. I had to trythe raspberry flavored ice cream and headed back tothe group which had started loading onto one of theboats. Our group was divided into two boats thattook an hour’s trip around the island, and along theway got a five-minute introduction to the island’smain industry: crabbing. The soft shell crab is whatwe got to watch. As we continued, our guide, aTangier native currently living in Washington DC,told us about the island; its history and other things towatch for as we continued our adventure. The beachcame up on our left as we were told how the islandwas shrinking, and the major effort of the islanders to

install a sea wall that surrounded the island to preventthe land loss.

There was a shipwreck followed by the lighthouse that was once manned 24 hours a day in 4 dayshifts. What turned out to be a very large building,almost a mansion on stilts in the water, would havebeen a great place to stay and keep the light burningthrough the night. The back side of the island showedus more trees and calm waters as we headed back tothe marina.

After the boat ride, the entire group got toenjoy the ice cream stand and we had a group picturetaken. All but 3 of the group decided to begin thelong, hot journey back to Sanford. The 3 of us thatelected to visit the museum were lucky enough to seethe history of the island in great detail. The airportwas once home to a longer runway, but knowing ourclub’s short runway rule, the island decided to cut itslength short by 25'. We watched a video on theisland, saw all kinds of memorabilia and got a quickair conditioning before heading back to Sanfordourselves.

Our pilot had planned ahead so that werequired no fuel stop. As we departed Tangier andpicked up our flight plan home, we could hear as therest of the group started departing Accomack County,where they hand landed to refuel. As we quicklyclimbed to 8000', we started to see Virginia Beach inthe distance, and then Langley AFB. The milesstarted ticking down, and Raleigh gave us 4000' aswe passed Franklin County. The heat started settingin and a landing seemed farther and farther away, butfinally we were able to touch down at TTA and openthe doors expecting to feel relief. But unfortunately,all we were given was the hot jet blast of the 100degree day we had avoided on Tangier Island.Mother nature quickly told us—welcome back toSanford in July!

Until the next club trip, keep the blue partup, the oily part down, and the gear pointed straightdown the runway.

Writers and photos wanted. If you wouldenjoy getting involved in Wings of CarolinaFlying News, please contact Editor AndrewGrauer at (919) 201-0716 orandrew@blackethouse.com

8

re-entry, we also did not have a customs stickerfor the airplane, which would have enabledcustoms to track us through our stops. None ofthis was helping to improve the moods of the menwith the guns.

After repeated explanations, apologies,form filing and an investigation—which still didnot improve Customs’ mood—we were permittedto leave the airport to take a $75 taxi ride to ourhotel, which, fittingly, turned out to be a completedump. It was now nearly 11 p.m. and hot; we hada quick dinner by which time everything wasclosed. Everything, that is, except the hotel’sfirst-floor bar that remained noisily open all nightunder our rooms.

But as awful as that evening was, I wasexhausted and slept soundly. I am also glad Iremained blissfully unaware of what U.S.Customs was preparing to do next. A few daysafter this incident (while I was still flying southwith Ivan), my wife, Jill, opened a letter fromU.S. Customs and Border Protection describingour re-entry without an EAPIS form andassessing a mandatory $5000 fine. To Jill’scredit, she was wise enough not to burden mewith this news until after I came back. For thenext three months I would be battling Customsand Border Protection over this incident.Fortunately, I found a strong ally in Rick Gardnerof Caribbean Sky Tours, based in Mexico. Rick’scompany helps pilots with international GA travelarrangements, and when he heard about myplight, he took on my case for free—he hasworked with U.S. Customs over the years, hascontacts in Washington, DC and was able tointercede within the department on my behalf.After three months, I finally got a second letterrelieving me of the fine, but advising me that onmy next offense, the punishment would be$10,000 with no appeal possible.

Leg Six and Seven—The Bottom of theCaribbean Chain, Guadeloupe & Grenada, Day8, December 15

The next morning we arrived at the airportto find light rain and MVFR conditions to matchthe general mood of our Puerto Rican experience.Puerto Rico has high mountains, so we climbedup to 9000’ and stayed IFR until we left thesouthern mountain range. At that point, theweather cleared, the sun came out, and most of

the trip to Guadeloupe was under VFR conditions.The beautiful trip over the Caribbean Sea quicklylightened our moods. In the afternoon, the slantvisibility range goes down due to humidity andhaze and the islands themselves can be hard tosee. However, you find the islands by thecumulus clouds that form over the land masses.

We shot the ILS into Guadeloupe andlanded into a very strange airport experience.Guadeloupe is enjoying a brand new renovation atthe airport. Unfortunately for us, the GA terminalis on the old side of the airport, which apparentlywas built to withstand a tactical assault. Ourramp was deserted. The flight planning office islocated behind solid bullet-proof glass. Whateverforms you need are slid from behind the glass.Since we were not permitted to leave the tarmacwithout going through customs, we had to pay tenbucks just to go to the bathroom in unpleasantconditions. We did not stay long, but took on fueland an expensive cup of juice.

Leaving the heat of Guadeloupe, wefollowed the island chain—Dominica, Martiniqueand St. Lucia, finally arriving in Grenada. Notingon final approach that again there were notaxiways, I touched down anticipating a longrollout to the turnoff. But no sooner had the nosewheel come down when the engine suddenly quit!We were still on a part of the runway where thetower could not see us behind a hill, and with anunnerving lurch in my stomach, I remembered thatthere were commercial jets on approach. Icoasted the plane off to the left side of the runwayand began cranking the engine, which fortunatelystarted fairly easily allowing us to complete thetaxi without incident. But during every landingfrom then on, I had to carry extra power

Scott, Continued from page 6

The letter--hand addressed.

9

throughout the rollout or the engine would quit.Later, we learned from Wings of CarolinaMaintenance Director John Hunter that we neededto lean while on final approach—the hot, humidair was making the Continental 6 run too rich atidle and it would flood-stall. But meanwhile,fortunately the runways we would be utilizingwere all long enough that I could carry powerwithout worry.

We pulled up and parked near a VirginAtlantic B747, which was cool. What a starkcontrast, seeing our little Skyhawk next to thishuge airliner. In Grenada we also learned a neattrick—always ask hotels if they give pilotdiscounts. Ivan and I stayed overnight in anexclusive resort for $73 because we were pilots.

Leg Eight—Jump off Point to South America,Grenada to Georgetown, Guyana, Day 9,December 16

Departing late morning the next day, wepassed over Trinidad and Tobago and then had tofly 30 miles offshore for over one hundred milesto remail clear of hostile Venezuelan airspace. Welanded at Georgetown, Guyana at 3:00 pm. Aferry pilot had landed just in front of us, and we

had the chance to pick his brain on what to expectas we prepared to fly over the jungles ofSuriname for the first time. He had ferried 126airplanes from North America to South Americaover the past several years, and was full of sageadvice for us, the first of which ended our furtherflight plans for that day since we would be flyingafter dark. “I advise you not to go—don’t flyover the jungle at night in a single-engine aircraft,ever,” he told us. “Cities, airports and VORs losepower all the time. Airports lose power, everyonegoes home.” Ivan and I knew that VFR flight isnot permitted at night in South America, but wehad not fully understood that to fly IFR at nightwould be to trust an unreliable system. Evenduring the day, the ferry pilot told us, we shouldforget IFR. “Only fly VFR—if you can’t see,don’t fly. That’s the way we all do it over thejungle.” We would hear this VFR-only adviceechoed by other ferry pilots we would meet alongthe way.

So it was clearly time for another ground-based adventure, which in Georgetown took theform of the craziest taxicab ride of my life. Theairport was in the middle of nowhere,necessitating a one-hour cab ride to the hotel(which turned out to have a funny smell). But the

Clockwise, from left: Our route,southern half. Cloud formations overislands aid in locating land masses.Steele flight planning in Grenada.

10

ride itself made the experience. The road was atwo-lane highway packed with people, livestockand oncoming traffic all apparently randomlydispersed between the lanes. Not that this causedour driver any concern or made him slow down. Ijust closed my eyes in places. The cab driver wasvery friendly, and after some banter offered totake us home for a visit with his family. Heassured us that he could keep us safe—andbacked it up by showing us the revolver he waspacking. We politely declined his offer.

Leg Nine andTen—Georgetown,Guyana toCayenne, FrenchGuiana to Belem,Brazil, Day 10,December 17

Ivan and Iwere determinedthat at least oncewe should get anon-time departurein the morning. A3:00 a.m. alarm anda taxi at 4:00 got us to the airport at 5:00 a.m..We began the exit process with a trip to the towerto file a flight plan. Few of these airports haveradar, so their control system is the deadreckoning and position reporting sequencing wehad experienced in the Caribbean. You alwaysreport time off, souls on board, your estimatedtime to the first checkpoint, and your destinationtime of arrival, or “toa.” Every time you contactan approach or departure control, you give anestimated toa to your next checkpoint ordestination.

Having gone through the exit process,customs and immigration to get to our airplane, Idiscovered I had left my pad with our departuredocuments at the tower when we filed our flightplan. I tried to explain to the officers what hadhappened, and request that they let me just runand grab it. Or, send someone to escort mestraight to the tower and back. No dice: I had togo back out of the terminal, take a cab to the baseof the tower, run up the stairs to the second-flooroffice to collect my pad and then go throughcustoms and immigration all over again, which

took another 45 minutes that we had planned onflying. So much for our on-time departure. Butin the customs and immigration officers’ defense,in these countries they are used to all kinds ofshenanigans, and have learned through experiencenot to tolerate very much.

Despite the delay (again), the flight wentsmoothly. As our ferry pilot had told us, we wereglad we could see as we overflew the Amazon,landing in French Guyana. Here we had a fueland rest stop, but didn’t immigrate, preferring to

press on to Belem,Brazil. En route,we crossed themouth of theAmazon River,which is where theequator also passes.The fair weatherand pleasant, if dry,air at altitudebelied the swelterof the jungle belowus. As wedescended in theafternoon from thecool, crisp, dry, lip-

chapping air into the humid haze of Belem,Brazil, we had no idea it would take us four daysto fight our way out again.

Stuck in Belem, Brazil, Day 11-13, December18-20

We landed in Belem, Brazil on Saturday,and it turned out that the Customs people wereoff-duty on what was a crowded travel day. Wewere met at the plane by two officials with sidearms and escorted to their office. Getting in wastough, but not as tough as trying to get out thenext day. We were keen to get a prompt start,because we had seemingly caught a lucky break ina particular Brazilian weather phenomenon.Although we had left in the NorthernHemisphere’s winter season, we were flying intothe Southern Hemisphere’s summer season. Fornearly the entire trip, we had been looking at a100-200 mile band of clouds and storms thatcirculates diagonally from the Atlantic Ocean inthe southeast towards the Andes Mountains

Steele and Ivan dine in Belem

Continued on page 12

11

George’s Corner

Late one night not long ago, after everyone elsehad left, Ronney Moss was eating his dinnerafter another full day of instructing (8am-to-

8pm), and he remarked to me that this afternoon fourdifferent women had been flying as WCFC students.We both thought that was pretty great. I have alwaysbeen proud that our club is a place where everyonefeels welcome – men, women, young, old, ofwhatever race or nationality orsexual or political or religiouspersuasion, of whatevereconomic status or professionor physical ability or disability.

Aviation is noteverywhere so inclusive. Someyears ago I walked into anFBO flight training facilitywith my mother-in-law, whohad taken some flightinstruction years previouslybut who was now advancing inage. I had persuaded her tothink about taking a few moreflight lessons, not to obtain acertificate but merely to revisitsome of the happy experiences of her youth. So, inwe walk, a scruffy looking guy with a sixty-five-year-old woman, inquiring about flight lessons. We findseveral young instructors in Ray-Bans and epauletsflirting with the cute young girl at the front desk.They could not have been less interested in us ormore dismissive. These young bucks were on the fasttrack to the flight levels. We didn’t fit the profile.

I am proud to say that would never happen atthe Wings of Carolina Flying Club. One evening afew nights ago I was working at the desk when thephone rang. I answered and found myself speaking toa woman with a tentative voice. She asked if wetaught people to fly. She told me that she had takensome lessons years ago but had to abandon it to raiseher children. Now that they were on their own, shewas dreaming of resuming her flying adventure. Itold her about the club, about the ground school, andencouraged her to join the ground school in its secondweek. She hesitated, then asked if it would be allright for her to join the class. I explained that shehad missed a session but that we would help her catchup. She kept asking if I thought it would be all right

for her to join the class. I could tell that she wasworking herself toward the real question in her mind.Finally, she asked, timidly, “Would I be the onlywoman?” I told her that there were several in theclass. She asked, “Do you realize that I’m a littleold?” Her concern revealed itself. I laughed and toldher, “If you don’t want to take the class or are toobusy or want to wait until the winter or are busy onWednesday or whatever, that’s fine, we can talk aboutthose questions, but do not for a minute worry about

being a woman or being a littleolder than some of the others.The president of our club is awoman. And we haveinstructors who were flyingwhen you were still readingDick and Jane. Trust me. Noone cares.”

She came in that night andpicked up the books andmaterials to jump into theground school. I don’t know ifshe will finish the class, orsolo, or obtain her certificate.I do know that she will feelwelcome and that she willpursue her flying dream as far

as she wants to with a group of people who willencourage her and who believe that she does “fit theprofile.”

Ronney and I were remarking that the clubwas special in this regard. He asked, “How does itget that way?” All I could say was that a lot ofpeople set an example. And others recognize andfollow and are attracted to the world we build downat our end of the runway. And in our piece of the sky.

Those people are us. We have our faults, butI am really proud that our profile is big andexpansive and inclusive. You all set that example.We are all better for it. Aviation is better for it. Theworld is better for it. And I walk in the door everyday knowing that I am going to find the mostinteresting people.

Thanks,George

George Scheer is Chief Flight Instructor at theWings of Carolina Flying Club.

12

northwest of Brazil for the length of summer.This weather was effectively blocking our path toArgentina. As we drew closer and heardrepeatedly from ferry pilots that you have to seeto fly over the jungle, we became increasinglypreoccupied with how we were going to navigatethrough the massive cloud and rain band.Especially with no on-board radar and scarce airtraffic control facilities. Throughout our tripthrough the Caribbean and in the northern part ofSouth America, we had been looking at radarimages of clouds and rain that were not moving.But for some reason, as we arrived in Belem, itwas thinning out, giving us a window ofopportunity for a safe VFR flight.

Throughout our trip thus far, we had beendealing with a mind-boggling amount ofpaperwork, between the flight planning processes,entry/exit requirements, landing permits, multiplecopies of the general declaration forms,immigration, customs and other authorities. Allof this was still inadequate to prepare us for thebureaucratic nightmare that attempting to fly outof Belem entailed. Brazilian flight planningregulations are strict, and any missing orincorrect information caused our flight plan to berejected, necessitating that we begin the processall over again. In hindsight, we probably shouldhave arranged for a local expert to help ensureour flight plan wasn’t rejected—which itrepeatedly was over the next four days. In reality,we could have avoided much of this pain anddelay by carefully reviewing, respecting,understanding and complying with Brazilianrequirements. Every day we attempted to leave,and were told we could not. Each day we had anargument, usually with a different Customs orairport officer, over why we did not comply withthis regulation or that. And the next day we

would show up to try again, all the while keepingan eye on the cloud band over the Amazon.

One of the bigger issues was therequirement to have a Brazilian liability insurancepolicy, which we had not purchased before hand.Finally Ivan, with his experience negotiating invarious South American cultures, persuaded theflight planning office to file the flight plan eventhough we didn’t have insurance. They told usthey were giving us a provisional acceptance bytheir office and off it went to the control tower.Finally, it seemed, we were getting somewhere.

Ivan and I took the shuttle to the GA area,completed the pre-flight and got the plane started.We were cleared to the edge of the ramp tocomplete our run up, which we did. Finally, withthe hot, Brazilian sun beating down on us, werequested ground clearance to taxi for departure.Belem Ground Control issued us our clearanceand then after a successful read back cleared us totaxi to the runway in use. As we started to taxifrom the ramp to the taxiway, they told us to stopand hold in position.

Five minutes passed, and we contactedground again, assuming we had been forgotten.But again, we were told, “Standby.” After tenminutes, we started getting uncomfortable. Whilewe opened the windows, the outside airtemperature was already in the mid-90s. Wecould occasionally see other taxiing traffic, butnothing that would account for our delay, nor didwe hear any radio chatter that indicated a problemon any runway. Still, we waited.

After twenty minutes, we startedwondering if we should taxi back. And afterthirty minutes holding in the heat with the enginerunning, we finally asked ground for clearance totaxi back to the ramp. Their surprising answercame back. “Negative, continue holding short.”

Continued from page 10

Belem, Brazil

13

Ivan and I looked at each other, and each openeda new water bottle.

We didn’t know it as we sat there bakingon the ramp, but the issue this time was that wehad not properly filed an ANOC (AgênciaNacional de Aviação Civil) form, which goes tothe agency responsible for GA clearances. Theissue was the missing liability insurance, whichwe thought we had resolved because the flightplanning officer filed the flight plan. Belem AirTraffic Control was attempting to figure outwhether or not we could be cleared for departure.Not knowing if we were authorized to leave,ground also would not authorize us to taxi back tothe ramp or they would lose sight of us, and wemust have appeared suspicious to them. And sowe sat on the ramp with our engine running; afterone hour passed, we were soaking wet, havingwatched the outside air temperature climb into thelow 100s. After an hour and a half of sitting onthe tarmac with our engine running and the airtemperature passing 105 degrees, ground clearedus to taxi the fifty feet back to our parking spoton the ramp. The entire ordeal had been fornaught.

We already knew many of the pitfalls ofthe flight planning forms, having spent three daysin various failure modes already. Ivan contactedhis customer and convinced him to buy a liabilitypolicy. On day four we finally hit the properconfluence of forms, info, fees and requirements;ANAC also requires 24 hours after the receipt ofthe liability insurance to issue a clearance, whichtook the form of a two-day permit to get throughBrazil. Keep in mind, that’s two days to travelseveral hundreds of miles across the wide expanseof Brazil with the convective weather systembetween us and Argentina. Our one saving gracewas that the inexplicable thinning of the summercloud layer in one spot gave us a potential hole totravel through. Over the next two days, we wouldbe able to pick our way through, not alwayseasily, but we did it.

We did spend some time in the city wewere trying so vigorously to depart. Portuguesein general is a tougher language to understandthan Spanish, we thought. I was struck by thedominance of meat in their diet; beef is cheaperthan vegetables in Brazil. Dinners at somerestaurants are family style dining. Everyone sitsat long tables, and the servers bring out drinksand skewers of meat, describe what meat it is, and

if you want some, they carve off a portion foryou. Ivan noted that this is typical in Argentinaas well, and said that the standard when havingguests for a barbeque is two pounds of meat forevery person.

While we noticed a much larger incomedisparity than we have in the U.S., we also couldfeel a type of productive energy radiating throughthe city. Brazil is working hard to modernize itseconomy and raise the standard of living of thevery poor and they have a ways to go. Theycontinue to work hard to build high-qualityindustries and improve exports; Embraer wouldbe one example.

Leg Eleven and Twelve, Belem to Redencio toPorangatu, Brazil, Day 14, December 21

After departing Belem, the rest of the tripwent smoothly. We flew to Redencio, took fueland rested a bit, then continued to Porangatu,landing as the sun set in the west. We stayed atthe Atlanta Hotel (It seemed such a funny namefor a deep back country place where probablyvery few Americans have ever been), which hadnot a single other U.S. tourist staying there. Thenext morning, they did have the most highlysugared coffee I have ever tasted. But thePorangatu Airport’s best asset was probably itsgenial and multi-talented security guard, who alsodrove our taxi and pumped fuel at the airport foradditional income. He picked us up at 4:00 AMthe next morning from the hotel and, havingnoticed that we could not drink the sugary coffeethe day before, brought us fresh, black, verysweet coffee from his home in a thermos. Themorning was beautiful, and we took some greatpre-dawn photos of the plane and departed as thesun rose in the east.

Leg Thirteen, Fourteen and Fifteen, Porangatuto Rio Preto to Foz do Iguacu, Brazil toPosadas, Argentina, Day 15, December 22

Three hundred nautical miles or so south,we set down in São José do Rio Preto, but quicklydeparted for what may have been the highlight ofour trip and our last stop in Brazil. Iguacu Fallsis listed as one of the seven natural wonders ofthe world and is a national treasure that falls onthe border of Argentina and Brazil, with Paraguay

14

nearby. It is so massive that it is equal to aboutthree Niagara Falls. Legend has it that a godplanned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipi,who fled with her mortal lover in a canoe. Inrage, the god sliced the river, creating thewaterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternalfall. Numerous islands divide the river intoseparate waterfalls, varying between 200’-270’high. Iguacu approach gave us permission tocircle the falls, which, we did for about 45minutes while Ivan took about fifty or morepictures. It was one of the most spectacularsights of the trip. Ivan was absolutely beaming atbeing home, flying over a national treasure in hisown airplane.

The airport was located near the falls andwe stopped for fuel and a quick rest. This wasour last stop in Brazil, and we needed only onemore flight to complete our journey. We clearedBrazil customs and immigration and filed a VFRflight plan. Taking off from Foz de Iguacu Airportaround 6 p.m., we followed the Parana River toour final destination, Posadas, Argentina. We hadto open an IFR flight plan en route since VFRflight is not permitted at night in South America.We landed at 9:05 p.m..

Yet, that was not quite the conclusion ofour adventure. After Ivan took care of businessthe next morning, we drove through the 115-degree heat back to Iguacu Falls to experience itsmajesty (and cooling effect) from the ground. We

caught a flight from there to Sao Paulo, then aUnited overnight home, where I discovered thatmy luggage had been lightened by a few items.What had taken us 15 days to travel down took usonly 15 hours to travel back.

Unbelievable opportunities open up for usas pilots when we are members of a networkedcommunity like Wings of Carolina and EAA. Theadventure that Ivan and I took together washonestly everything I could have dreamed, butnothing I could have imagined. From the peoplewe met to the experiences we shared; from theamazing scenery to the torturous paperwork; thepleasant cruise flights and the harrowingproblems; they all combined to create anexperience that at various times touched us at allpoints on the emotional spectrum. I was oftenexhilarated, but also exhausted much of the timeand scared more than once.

If I do it again, I will consider doing somereal world survival training. Much of the tripover the Amazon rainforest is awesome, but anunexpected crash landing in the canopy wouldrequire more equipment and skill for survival thanI was prepared for during this trip. My bestadvice to pilots considering such a venture wouldbe to do it with someone that has done it before.We did a lot of networking for advice bothbeforehand and during the trip. Whenever youland, talk with the locals. Buy the ferry pilotsdinner and pick their brains on local conditions.

They often havejust come fromwherever you aregoing.

Above all:be patient, expectdelays, keep anopen mind, bepolite, have fun,and fly safe. Andenjoy the amazingworld we live in.And remember,you always flyone leg of yourtrip at a time andthat’s how youcomplete anamazing trip likethis one.

Iguacu Falls

15

The club will hold its Annual MembershipMeeting, which includes elections for the2013 Board of Directors, on Thursday,

December 13, 2012 at 7:00 pm (pizza is served at6:30) at the clubhouse at Raleigh Executive Jetport.Current club officers will discuss our club’sfinancial position along with a 2012 review andthoughts for 2013. We will then hold elections forour club’s officers for 2013.

This newsletter serves as the official noticeto the club members of the elections. The leadershipandpolicy decisions of those who sit on the board ofdirectors significantly impact how well the club isable to weather challenges and capitalize onopportunities that present themselves.

For those unable to attend the December 13meeting, the club will offer an absentee ballotprocess. This process is permitted by Club BylawArticle IV Section 20, and is described in clubdocument 3.95 on the club website. It has beenreprinted in this newsletter issue after the candidatestatements.

To help you get to know those running forthe2013 board, declared candidates have writtenpersonal statements about why they are running andwhat they hope to accomplish if elected. Along witha general description of the duties andresponsibilities of each office, these personalstatements are printed below.

WCFC President

The individual who is elected to the office ofclub president will, according to the club’s bylaws,“Have the overall responsibility for the proper andefficient operation of the club.” As of this writing,the following club member is running for clubpresident for the 2013 board:

Jan Squillace

Background: Joined WCFC in 2004, taken privateand instrument training here at the club. I earnedmy private certificate in August 2007 andinstrument rating June 2011. The instrument ratingwas worth all the work to earn it. I am nowworking on a commercial rating.

Experience: Key volunteer since 2007 to present forpilot supplies. Board secretary 2010, member-at-large 2011. President, 2012.

My goal as president is to make the club awelcoming place to fly well-maintained aircraftsafely.

We continue to do a good job of attractingnew members, even in the face of competition on thenorth ramp. We can do an better job of retainingmembers. It takes the effort of all of us toaccomplish this task.

The board represents all the members andneeds to know what the members are thinking. Also,the members need to be aware of the challenges theboard faces in keeping our fleet and buildingoperating on a sound financial and operationalbasis.

I welcome the opportunity to continue toserve the members and the club. This is a greatplace to fly and I like to help keep it that way.

WCFC Vice President

Aside from filling in for the club presidentwhen necessary, the club vice-president is primarilyresponsible for managing the club’s membership.Specifically, this entails advertising the club andattracting new members through a variety of media,reviewing membership applications, overseeing newmember orientation, and maintaining the club’smembership records. As of this writing, thefollowingclub member is running for vice president for the2013 board:

Jim Carlson

I am Jim Carlson and I am requesting yoursupport of my third term as Vice President. I havebeen a steward of the clubs coffers, balancing fleetupgrades with maintaining affordable flying. Ichampioned the upgrade of the GPS in the midrange fleet to the GTN 650; pushed forimprovements in the Trainer fleet; and pushed forthe addition of the new Mooney. I recently pushed for the new tables and umbrellas to make sitting outon the front patio a comfortable experience year

Annual Membership Meeting 2012

16

Chris, and I have two children: son, Jack, anddaughter Marisa, both living in Chicago.

WCFC Member-at-Large

The Wings of Carolina Flying Club by-lawsstate that “at such times as deemed desirable, otherofficers may be elected by the Membership at theAnnual Membership Meeting in December.”Traditionally, the club has used this provision in theby-laws to elect three board members-at-large.While the bylaws do not specify the duties of amember-at-large, these members usually overseespecial projects at the direction of the president.Further, having three members in addition to thefour mandatory officers spreads out the workload ofthe board and provides a diversity of perspectivesand skills, which increases the effectiveness of theboard. As of this writing, the following clubmembers are running for member-at-large for the2013 board:

Ian Frid

Dear Members,

It’s a year later. I still speak a littlestrangely, spell a little differently and still lovesoccer, but I’ve got something new to be thankfulfor: The past year that you gave me as a member ofthe board!

It seems impossible that the year has passedso fast, and we are into the round of elections again,but as they say, “Time flies when you’re enjoyingyourself,” and I really have enjoyed being a memberof the board this year. It has taught me so muchmore about the club, its people, its duties and itsmission.

Last year I tried to describe my passion forthe club, how it had helped me and how I want tohelp it, help you. This year I can only doubleunderline that same sentiment. The year you havegiven me has shown me even deeper, what a trulywonderful club we have, and aside from thefacilities, the planes, the airport and the fact we canfly here nearly all year round, what makes this placethe place it is, is you, the members.

I have had such a great time as a ‘Memberat Large’ on the board over the past year, I amseeking your permission, and hence your vote, inorder to do it again. I want to learn more, do more

round. I learned to fly in the club starting out of theold shack at Chapel Hill. I have progressed upthrough Instrument and know how I have benefitedfrom the club environment to learn and advance myown training in. I pledge to again serve with thesame commitment to each and every member as Ihave in the past, to make sure the same environmentis there for all to enjoy.

WCFC Treasurer

The club treasurer is charged with theresponsibility of monitoring the financial health andwell-being of the club. The treasurer manages theclub’s cash flow, makes reports to the board on thestate of the club’s finances, and ensures thatmember accounts are accurate and up-to-date. As ofthis writing, the only candidate running fortreasurer for the 2013 board is currently-servingtreasurer Mat Waugh. He has elected to not providea statement.

WCFC Secretary

The club secretary is responsible forcreating and managing written records andcorrespondence for the club. This includes recordingand filing the minutes of all board meetings,publishing a written newsletter, and maintaining theclub’s mailbox. As of this writing, the followingclub member is running for secretary for the 2013board:

John Gaither

I joined WCFC in 2008, when I moved toNorth Carolina from the Chicago area. I startedflying in 2006 in Kenosha, Wisconsin. I wasimpressed by the culture of the Club and found bothJohn Hunter’s instrument course and commercialcourse excellent. I earned my instrument rating withClub instructors and mostly fly the Club Mooneys,but occasionally fly the 172’s and Warriors as well.For the last year, I have been Secretary of the Club.While we are a Club, we also must maintain ourbusiness records in appropriate fashion and I havedone that. I have also served on the SafetyCommittee, participated in maintenance nights, andundertaken special projects from time-to-time. Fortwo years prior to becoming Secretary I served asdirector at large. My wife and flying companion,

17

and be more for the club. Please consider me torepresent you, as you choose the board membersyou want.

We’ve had a real good board this year I feel,with a wide range of business and flying skills,knowledge, diversity, views and backgrounds. I’dadvocate voting for any and all of them again, but ifof course there is someone else you feel able, go forit. That person may even be you! As I mentioned,I’ve enjoyed my experience so much, I’d advocatethe task for anyone willing to give it a try. It reallyis that rewarding . . . you know, a similar feeling tothat when you nail that landing . . . .well almost :-)

So once again, please consider me as youchoose. If I get on the the board again for a secondyear, awesome!

Sincerely yours,Ian Frid #1605

Steele Scott

I would like your vote for the BoardMember At Large position for a second year. Manyof us agree the Wings of Carolina Flying Club is avery special place to fly. It has just the right blendof a great members, nice facility, fleet of aircraft,excellent instructors, officers, and staff. Keeping inmind all the good things that we enjoy is to alsoinclude opportunity for improvement.

Allow me to pause on this thought of whatcould be improved to briefly describe mybackground. You may know that I have supportedthe Treasurer and Accounting function for the pastalmost-two years as the assistant treasurer. Inaddition, and perhaps my most importantcontribution, is being a full time flight instructor,recently completing the Instrument InstructorCertificate along with Jennifer King. Other timesyou have seen me cooking on the grill, showing newmembers and prospects around and even workingwith Obdulio Batista, John Hunter, Len Felton,Terry Gardner, Jeff Hoerle, Philip Kennedy, andMonica Olsen, outside on the new South Gardenlandscaping project.

Also, you could say, I love flying, took myfirst flight at 14 years old, soloed at 16 and earnedthe Private Pilot Certificate at 17 in Stormville, NY.After graduating from NYU Business School in1977, I went on to finish the CommercialCertificate, Instrument and Multi-engine ratings and

Certified Flight Instructor at ATE of NY FlyingSchool, Long Island Mac Arthur Airport.

Most of my career has been spent in theAerospace Insurance and Risk Managementbusiness starting with Associated AviationUnderwriters (now Global Aerospace), Marsh &McLennan while instructing part time at BeechcraftEast, Teterboro and Sunrise Aviation, FlushingAirports. Some of my other employers wereFairchild Industries, Sikorsky Helicopter, parentUnited Technologies, and Pratt & Whitney Canada.During my Connecticut years, we raised twochildren, Michael and Caroline, with my wife, Jill.

Two and a half years ago, we moved ourfamily from Fairfield, CT to Apex, NC with Jill’sABB corporate office move. With over 2,000 flighthours in almost 30 different aircraft models, ownedpart of a Beechcraft Baron and Cessna Turbo 210as part of an aircraft charter, leasing and salescompany. I have seen and been a part of manyaspects of the aviation business from small toFortune 100 companies.

We have a great organization and offer anunparalleled service to our members that is notavailable anywhere else in North Carolina andperhaps few places in the United States. As great asour product is, we should always strive tocontinuously improve. As your Board Member andFlight Instructor, I would like to help us improve byengaging more members in the many projects thatcould be completed with more involvement.

This includes leadership with prioritizing thenumerous efforts, encouraging officers and otherkey volunteers with grooming other members forfuture positions, develop a process to constantlyimprove the fleet we currently have and reduceunplanned down time. These are my ideas. Also, Iam always open to club members’ thoughts andsuggestions on how we can improve our club. Byworking together and everyone pitching in, justimagine what success our club could achieve.

Paul Wilder

While I have contributed much time andeffort in the past, there are still more things I wouldlike to do.

Since joining the club in 1999 and servingon the board most of the time since 2004 (includingpresident, vice president, interim treasurer, and

Continued on back cover

18

coordinator or hand delivered. It is theresponsibility of the member to verify that thecoordinator has received the ballot. It is suggestedthat the member email the coordinator notifyingthe coordinator that an absentee ballot has beensent, and asking the coordinator to reply to theemail in acknowledgement once the ballot hasbeen received.

8. On the day of the election meeting, the electioncoordinator notes on the member list everymember from whom an absentee ballot has beenreceived.

9. At the election meeting any eligible membermay receive a ballot, including members who havesubmitted an absentee ballot. If a member who hassubmitted an absentee ballot requests a new ballot,the election coordinator removes the member’ssealed early ballot from storage and discards(shreds) it, then gives the member a new ballot.

10. After the voting at the meeting, the electioncoordinator checks the member number andsignature of the outer envelope of each remainingabsentee ballot, to ensure that the member is avalid voting member and has not already voted.The coordinator destroys any invalid ballots(already voted, or not a voting member). Thecoordinator removes the remaining absenteeballots from their outer envelopes, and destroysthose envelopes. Each ballot is then removedfrom the inner envelope and combined andcounted along with ballots cast at the meeting.

The Absentee Voting Procedure is designed tomake the club elections accessible to a largerpercentage of the membership without unduly

diluting the tradition of the annual election pizzanight or precluding floor (or late) nominations.

The procedure allows eligible members theflexibility to vote early, keeps absentee ballotsanonymous, and gives members the ability to changetheir vote at the membership meeting. Therefore,members who vote early are not precluded fromvoting for floor nominees or late nominees, and canstill experience voting at the election. This procedureis to be finalized and published by the board ofdirectors.

The procedure is as follows:

1. The board designates an election coordinator.This can be an existing staff member or avolunteer club member. The coordinator cannot bea candidate for the board.

2. A description of the Absentee Voting Procedureis communicated to the membership well inadvance of the election meeting.

3. The Board designates the date by whichcandidates must have declared in order to beincluded in the absentee ballot. The board maychoose to not use the Absentee Voting Procedurein years where there are no contested boardpositions as of that date.

4. The election coordinator creates the ballotconsisting of members who have declared theircandidacy.

5. Any member wishing to vote absentee mustemail their request to the election coordinator nolater than 48 hours before the election.

6. The election coordinator emails to the member aballot and directions on where to mail the ballot.The member prints the ballot, marks their votes,and seals the ballot in an unmarked innerenvelope, which is then sealed in an outerenvelope. The member writes their membernumber on the outside of the outer envelope, andsigns across the flap of the envelope.

7. Only ballots received prior to the election arecounted. The ballot can be mailed to the election

Absentee Voting Procedures

19

New Certificates and Ratings through Sept. 30, 2012

Name Date Instructor

SoloJOE ZAMBON 3/6/12 WeaverOBDULIO BATISTA 3/27/12 ScottBERNHARD MUELLER 4/7/12 ScottNORMAN PAYNE 4/7/12 TaylorAIDAN SHEEHAN 4/7/12 TaylorBILL GILES 4/13/12 McCrackenADNAN NASIR 6/3/12 McCrackenBENJAMIN FLOOD 6/5/12 MossGREG LEIGHTON 6/31/12 TaylorJESSE KALISHER 7/14/12 McCrackenJERRY SHACKELFORD 7/15/12 McCrackenMICHAEL WANKO 8/12/12 SheltonRUTH ANN SNEITH 8/19/12 EvettCHARLES LUMSDEN 8/23/12 SheltonJONATHAN PARKER 9/7/12 GolickPETER DIGENNARO 9/21/12 McCrackenKARSYN BAILEY 9/24/12 McCrackenERIC RIGGLEMAN 9/24/12 Taylor

PrivateNINA PISKAREVA 3/3/12 CoronaKEVIN CLAYTON 5/13/12 McCrackenCHARLES HIBBARD 7/25/12 WallBILL GILES 8/1/12 McCrackenWILL FUTCH 8/13/12 WeaverBARRY MOORE 9/24/12 McCrackenBENJAMIN FLOOD 9/25/12 Moss

InstrumentREN BABCOCK 3/12/12 WeaverCESAR FRIETAS 4/8/12 MossADAM DOWNING 6/31/12 Moss

CommercialJAY NABORS 5/25/12 SheltonTHOMAS WRIGHT 6/7/12 MossTODD SYNAN 9/1/12 MossKORY ADAMS 9/11/12 Moss

Flying News Wings of Carolina Flying Club 702 Rod Sullivan Road Sanford, NC 27330

Wings of Carolina Flying ClubSanford Lee County Regional Airport

702 Rod Sullivan RoadSanford, NC 27330

(919)-776-2003

http://www.wingsofcarolina.org

Chief Flight Instr. George Scheer cfi@wingsofcarolina.org 919-967-1088Chief Safety Officer Dick Kenney safety@wingsofcarolina.org 919-542-6010Dir. of Maintenance John Hunter maintenance@wingsofcarolina.org 919-818-7203

Board of Directors

President Jan Squillace pres@wingsofcarolina.org 919-606-0233Vice President Jim Carlson vp@wingsofcarolina.org 919-815-2250Secretary John Gaither secretary@wingsofcarolina.org 919-816-7472Treasurer Mat Waugh treasurer@wingsofcarolina.org 703-634-9181Member-at-Large Ian Frid dropzone@earthlink.net 919-257-6225Member-at Large Steele Scott steeleinvest@gmail.com 203-520-7525Member-at-Large Paul Wilder paul.wilder@earthlink.ne 919-672-5458

Key Volunteers

2nd Saturday Events Bill Sawyer wsawyer2@nc.rr.com 919-669-0655Asst. Treasurer Steele Scott steeleinvest@gmail.com 203-520-7525Flight Hours Ken Williams cwilliams1@nc.rr.com 919-810-8063Facilities Coordinator David Hughey dhughey@nc.rr.com 919-467-7729Information Technology Craig Walton craigwalton@bellsouth.net 919-303-2298Marketing John McNeill marketing@wingsofcarolina.orgMaintenance Ron Bickers ron@bickersfamily.org 919-387-4549Maintenance Hunter Moore hunmoore@nortel.com 919-225-6396Newsletter Andrew Grauer andrew@blackethouse.com 919-929-9175Pilot Records Kay Maltbie kays.key1@verizon.netPlane Wash Barbara Eldredge bdeldredge@verizon.netSupplies Jan Squillace jsquillace@gmail.com 919-650-1915Website Nate Massey webmaster@wingsofcarolina.org

member at large), I have always tried tohelp out in some way because Istrongly believe in the club’s missionstatement.

This past year one of my largerclub efforts was in coordinating theclub’s efforts for Family Fun Day. Itwas a great day for me and others tosee the spirit of the club shine. Manypeople volunteered and worked hard forall of us. This group of volunteers didsuch a great job, I was able to spendmost of the day working with YoungEagles.

This effort with Young Eaglesoperation has paved the way for a largejoint Wings of Carolina/Young Eaglesevent in 2013 where I expect we canget over 100 kids plane rides.

Since I believe my both mydepth of and length of service allow meto bring a valuable perspective to theboard, I appreciate your considerationin electing me to the board as memberat-large.

Continued from page 17