APRIL 2002 PRESIDENT's CORNER
By Gordon Anderson

I'm delighted to announce that Steve Sterling has agreed to lead the instructor program in 2002. Steve has been an active and successful instructor for many seasons. Many of our pilots owe their wings to Steve. Thanks Steve, I look forward to working with you.

The mowing schedule starts in April and there are still a few slots open for those of you who have not yet signed up. Please visit our web site and click on the mowing schedule link to sign up for mowing or to remind yourself of when you need to mow. I have seen the city testing the water system, so I expect to see the water on soon. If you can't make your assigned mow time please let someone know so we can insure the field is ready for weekend activities.

Gates! We have already had a gate incident! Please remember to lock up the gates. It's the last person outs responsibility to make sure the gates are locked. Please check to make sure all of the field gates are locked, not just the one you used.

There has been some confusion regarding the safety line. This is the line, or plane, that we never fly behind. The safety line is the edge of the runway nearest to the pilot. Accidents do happen and from time to time an aircraft will cross this line. We should never intentionally cross this line. The pilots stand in an area of higher danger because they are on the runway side of the safety fence. We do not want to fly over the pilots or takeoff next to them. The safety fence is there to insure that a runaway aircraft will not make it into the pits, at lease a ground bound runaway!

I have been discussing, with Fred Fisher, combining the June 8th Big Bird fly-in with the August 17th Biplane fly-in. The Big Bird events always seems to land on a windy weekend, so moving it till August will hopefully yield a better event. This is the event where the winner of the biplane raffle will take place. If you have any comments on this issue please let Fred or I know.

We could use a few more CDs. We have a group of members who have been running events for us for some time and it would be nice to get a few more CDs. If you are interested I have the paperwork or you can visit AMA's web site and download an application form, you will need to take an open book test!

I will not be able to make the next meeting, I have business travel that will take me out of town. I will prepare an agenda and make sure the meeting is held at the standard time and place.

Please attend the April meeting, we will be giving a very nice door prize. Monty donated a park flier to the club and we will give it away in April!