by J. Rion Bourgeois

Breakfast Report

             We served 233 at the April breakfast, up from 168 at the March breakfast. The weather was not that great, so I attribute the bump in attendance to the Hillsboro High School baseball team being hosted by Bob and Betty Stark.  I was forewarned so we did not run short of supplies.  Contact Cliff Gerber at breakfast@eaa105.org if you want to volunteer as a regular or just for the next breakfast as needed. The next breakfast is on Saturday, May 4, 2024.  As the weather improves, we should see more aircraft fly in.

Monthly Chapter Meeting

The program for the April 11, 2024, regular chapter meeting was a trip in the Wayback Machine piloted by Jerry Van Grunsven, 60 years way back before his 30-year career as a jet airliner pilot for the airlines,  and back before he had built six RV aircraft designed by his brother Dick, all the way back to the mid-1960s when he was a helicopter pilot in the US Air Force. Chris Riedener was his co-pilot in the Wayback Machine, Chris put together an excellent PowerPoint Presentation of photos and a video supplied by Jerry.   

A Hiller helicopter visiting the Van Grunsven farm when Jerry was about 10 was his first exposure to helicopters.  He pursued his interest with training in the Air Force in the Sikorsky H-19 Chickasaw (company model number S-55) and Vertol H-21.  Both types were powered by Wright radial engines. These models, and the Kaman described below,  preceded the later ubiquitous Huey with which we have all become familiar from movies and television series. We are talking truly wayback vintage types.

His first assignment after flight school was to Brookley AFB near Mobile Alabama where he flew the distinctive turbine-powered twin rotor Kaman H-43 Huskie on search, rescue,  recovery, and fire suppression missions.  With its two side-by-side pylon mounted counter-rotating and intermeshing rotors, the Kaman did not need a vertical tail rotor, instead relying on a pair of vertical stabilizers.  Another interesting feature was its laminated wooden rotor blades, twisted by servo-flaps on the trailing edge to control the amount of lift generated by each blade.  Jerry passed around a cross-section of one of the wooden blades.  The Air Force rebuilt and repaired F-4 Phantoms at Brookley, with test flights flown out over Mobile Bay, so there were a lot of emergencies and pilot recoveries over  Mobile Bay where they utilized the cable hoist on the Huskie.

He was subsequently deployed to Thailand where he flew Huskies on the same type of missions, but the emergencies were combat-related.  They showed some photos of a bomb location and detonation mission.   The local monks in orange robes helped them to locate and dig up the bomb for detonation.   Subsequently, the Air Force changed the color of the jackets on its emergency personnel to avoid confusion with the local monks.  

Jerry also had photos of a camouflaged F-4 Phantom that crashed due to battle damage before it reached the base.  The nose of the aircraft had been torn off by the jungle.  The backseater had ejected at or just before impact and was killed on his trajectory through the trees.  The pilot’s ejection seat had malfunctioned, and he was still sitting, badly injured but alive, in his seat at what was now the front of the aircraft.   Their flight of two Huskies had used the lamps on the helos and flares to locate the Phantom and backseater..   A flare tube on descent disabled the second helo. Years later, Jerry located the pilot they rescued by looking him up in the Tampa phone book near the McDill Air Force training base in Florida.  The pilot’s ex-wife answered the phone and gave Jerry the pilot’s new phone number and Jerry was able to contact him and reminisce.

            After his tour of Thailand, Jerry was stationed in Arizona and had several photos of search and rescue missions in the Grand Canyon and its environs.

After his military service, he was able to use his familiarity with the Huskie to get a job flying surplus Kaman H-43 Huskies in the Pacific NW timber industry.  These were powered by Pratt and Whitney radial engines as used in the AT6 Texan basic trainer.  He had several interesting pictures of a forest fertilizing job, one of which included his brother Richard Van Grunsven acting as a ground crew hooker loading the fertilizer.  (Is there a new call sign for Dick somewhere in here?) Jerry also had a very interesting short video of a young civilian pilot in a Kaman K-MAX doing precision transport of trees during selective logging. At first glance,  you saw a K-MAX dropping off a couple of large de-limbed trees.   But after several re-runs and Jerry’s narrative, you recognized the skill involved as in one fluid motion, the pilot touched the butts of the trees to earth, lowered them down gently so they wouldn’t shatter, released the weighted hook, swung it gently across the yard right into the hands of a waiting logger to hook up a bundle of chokers, and then flew off.

Following Jerry’s presentation, there was a discussion of the Cessna 120 project.  The project leader, Chris Riedener, is leaving on a six-month Walkabout with his wife from south to north on the Pacific Crest Trail (cue the movie “Wild” starring Reese Witherspoon).  The wings are covered and the engine has been completely overhauled.  The plan is to polish the fuselage and tail feathers before re-assembly of the airframe and mounting the engine.  We may also clean up the instruments and instrument panel.   Ken Howe will be coordinating the work parties.   You can contact him at c120@eaa105.org to get involved and learn the art of aluminum aircraft polishing.

Youth Programs

            To reiterate, the chapter is currently operating three youth programs out of the chapter’s Hangar G1 at Twin Oaks Airpark:  Young Eagle flights on the first Saturday of June, July, August, and September; a model airplane Discuss, Design, Build, and Try program the first Thursday of every month from 6 to 8 pm for 13 to 17-year-olds; and a radio control model airplane Build and Fly Program every Sunday afternoon from 12:30 to 2:30 pm starting May 5, 2024, for 13-18-year-olds. Descriptions of all three programs can be found on the chapter website,  Feel free to refer youths you know who may be interested in building and flying model aircraft, or becoming a Young Eagle.

Flying Start Program

            Also to reiterate, the chapter will be hosting an EAA Flying Start program in Hangar  G1 at Twin Oaks on Saturday, May 25, 2024, from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. to welcome, inspire, and educate aspiring aviators about the pathway to becoming a pilot, capped off with an introductory Eagle Flight.   If you are a CFI who wants to participate or an EAA member and pilot willing to give an introductory Eagle Flight, please contact Rion at 503-720-9394.

 May Chapter Meeting Program

            The chapter meeting of May 9, 2024, will be a visit to Van’s Aircraft at the south end of the Aurora Airport.   Expect pizza at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7:00 p.m. 

Poker Run

            Our annual Poker Run will be conducted on Saturday, June 15, 2024, with the airports to be announced.   We will finish at Twin Oaks as usual for the distribution of prizes.