Valley Flyers, Inc
General Membership Meeting
21 MAY 2009
Present: John Barringer; Ron Boucher; Allan Hadley; Randy Ireson; Joan & Vern Johnson; Brendan O’Mara; Joe Ourada; Tom Turnbull; three member spouses present; Invited guest: Cindy Ford, Tower Chief at KSLE
Hot August Flights:
Information was presented about the upcoming Hot August Flights at the Salem Airport on Saturday, August 1st. There will be a fundraiser breakfast for Angel Flight, aircraft and automobile static displays, live music, etc. Valley Flyers had previously done a “FlyMart” flea market, and we’re wondering if anyone would be interested in coordinating another event this year. Let one of the club officers know if you are interested.
PC/ATD simulator available:
Tom Turnbull gave a presentation on the new PC/ATD simulator that EAA Chapter 292 has available at the Independence Airport. It is available for their members (you can join EAA for $40 per year, plus $30/year chapter dues) for $15 per hour. Instructors are available, and dual instruction on the simulator can be logged as flight experience. He also spoke briefly about the Young Eagles program, and some events coming up at Independence. July 18th will be the biplane fly-in, and Van’s Homecoming will be the weekend of August 29th and 30th.
Guest Speaker:
Cindy Ford, the tower chief at the Salem Airport, was our guest for the meeting. Cindy spoke about her past experiences as a controller, first in the Air Force, then for the FAA and now working for a “contract” tower. She offered that tower tours are encouraged, and will be available after mid-June. She also said that overall, business is good, and traffic counts for March and April were actually up compared to the same time last year. She did mention that one of the controllers is leaving, and a replacement will be hired, and will begin training soon.
Other items mentioned – noise complaints continue, although less than when Silver State Helicopters was on the field. There were approximately 30 noise complaints last month (April) generated by three different households. There are noise abatement recommendations available, and she mentioned that she sits on the “noise group” made up of her, the airport manager and the surrounding neighborhood representatives, and the committee reviews the noise complaints regularly.
Other items mentioned were a request for accurate position reporting when approaching the airport, and a reminder that a 45 degree pattern entry is expected, unless something different is requested, or assigned.
Respectfully submitted,
John Barringer