Event Draws Eight LSA Manufacturers

Clear and sunny weather throughout the Mid-Atlantic after two years of hurricanes drew about 3,000 visitors to see what was new, and old, in aviation at the Virginia Regional EAA Fly-in. Eight Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) manufacturers displayed new planes along with twelve other aircraft distributors and manufacturers. A 1929 Fleet was the oldest airplane to attend. Nearly 500 aircraft flew in during the weekend from states up and down the Eastern Seaboard. Ultralights arrived from as far south as Georgia and as far north as mid-New York state.

For the first time, Aircraft Spruce and Lowrance Avionics attended as vendors, both reporting good attendance at their displays. Causey Aviation Services, a long time attendee, not only was there as a vendor, but provided two $100 discount certificates. Oregon Aero and Aeroware Enterprises, also provided prizes as an enticement for those flying or driving in to fill out a registration form. In the major drawing, four lucky winners took home, a Lowrance AirMap 1000 GPS, a Lightspeed Twenty 3G headset, an ICOM A-23 Sport radio and a P-51 Pedal Plane.

Any fly-in is months of work for volunteers before the date arrives. This year, a total of 217 volunteers on the field during the weekend with others setting up the field during the preceding week made this year the best organized and executed ever. The parking crew waved in 974 aircraft. During the peak arrival time on Saturday morning a stream of airplanes landed one every 30 seconds.

Thanks to careful mowing and then sweeping with a John Deere tractor-mounted power brush lent by James River Equipment, part of a no longer used concrete runway functioned as additional parking area. Airplane parking volunteers were amazed to be handed a laminated card which gave them a detailed diagram of the field with icons showing the location of each row of airplanes for most efficient use of the parking space. This colorful card with a neck look attached, was the brainchild of Brutus Russell, the Aircraft Parking Chairman, who thoughtfully included on the reverse side a summary of the parking rules.

The pressure of arriving aircraft was lessened by the Ultralights having their own lower pattern altitude , a parallel grass runway, and parking area. A newly installed security fence cut off part of the Powered Parachute landing area, but that didn't phase a number of pilots who flew throughout the two days.

Nineteen forums drew a record 221 attendees. A forum discussing the details of the FAA medical by Dr. Richard Williams, a NASA physician and four sessions presented by Jay Tevis from FAA Oklahoma City, to discuss the Sport Pilot rule were popular. Pilots gravitated to the "Wings Program Approved" forums which counted toward their participation in the new Virginia Aviation Ambassador program.

Randall Burdett, Director of the Virginia Department of Aviation, presented the first five leather jackets for Gold Level achievement in the Ambassador Program to:

• Dale Dudley, Charlottesville, VA
• Peter Eades, Charlottesville, VA
• Jack Pettigrew, Richmond, VA
• Roy Roper, Richmond, VA
• Ray Tyson, Ashland, VA

And three Bronze Level awards to:

• Van Crosby, Richmond, VA
• Ron Knur, Leesburg, VA
• Bruce Southall, Charlottesville, VA

A cadre of judges led by Chief Judge Al Sparks made their rounds and chose as winners for 2005:

Homebuilt

Seawind N80CC Keith Walljasper, Normal, IL
RV-6A N57TK Anthony S. Kirk, Fredericksburg, VA
RV-8A N246VA Matt Brascher/Don Booth, Fredericksburg, VA

Antique 1903-1945

Stinson SR-5 NC14572 Mike Strieter, Laurel, MD
Fleet  N411K Dan White, Harbinger, NC 27939

Classic 1946-1955

Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser NX8671M Harry Mutter, Media, PA
Piper J-3 N70428 Joe Mathias, Windsor, VA
Cessna 140 N77169 Jack Pettigrew, Richmond, VA

War Bird

Stearrman PT-17 N52143 Don Serio, Irvington, VA
Bucher Jungman N131J Joe Vasile, Yorktown, VA
Stearman N2S-1 N55267 David Christian, Smithfield, VA

Ultralight

Kolb FireStar, Paul Servaty Clements, MD
Phantom X1, Ward Madsen ,Richmond, VA

Powered Parachute

Buckeye, Sylvester Hill, Hampton , VA

FMI: www.vaeaa.org