March 2026

Issue 254

Next gathering speaker: Jay Findlay

10:00 AM – Noon
Port of Skagit conference room
15400 Airport Drive, Burlington

Join us for our regular monthly gathering this Saturday, March 14. Our speaker will be our own Jay Findlay. He’s calling his talk “Alternative Engines for Aircraft—There’s More Involved Than Money.”

We’ll hold a board meeting at 9 am, also in the Port conference room. All members are welcome and encouraged to attend.

On April 11 we’ll welcome back former Boeing historian Mike Lombardi (he retired last year). Mike has a very engaging presentation style and always tells you something you didn’t know about how some of Boeing’s most iconic projects unfolded. This time he’ll speak about “William Boeing and the Creation of America’s Airways.”

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President’s Message

It seems that the trees and the daffodils are coming back to life earlier than usual this year. It’s a sign that spring is lurking just out of sight. While there have been some scattered flyable days recently, I’m looking forward to more consistent VFR soon.

AirVenture Is On the Horizon

Another sign of Spring—the first AirVenture-related event has just popped up on the calendar. The April 29th EAA webinar topic will be Flying to AirVenture Made Easy. To register, check out the webinar calendar later in the newsletter or the chapter calendar here for this and other offerings. It’s a great way to learn something new and keep your aviation skills sharp.

Membership

Rick Rathbun reports that about a third of our members have yet to renew for 2026. You can avoid a series of bill-collector-style phone calls (you know how aggressive Rick can get when he’s on a mission 😉) by filling out the form here and bringing it and your dues payment to Saturday’s gathering, or you can mail them to Rick at the address on the form.

Mischke Scholarship

We’ve just received a second application for the 2026 Mischke scholarship. The applicant seems very focused on her goal and determined to find a way to fly. As I’ve said at the last few monthly gatherings, we want to help young people like this get started on their Private license by awarding a $2000 scholarship annually. However, we still need to raise another $1000 to fund this year’s award. You can talk with Treasurer James to contribute. Any amount helps and is appreciated.

I recently had to replace the transponder in my Rans. I’d earlier installed a Garmin GDL 82, which adds ADSB Out data to an existing transponder’s output. I’d planned on selling it, since the new transponder has built-in ADSB, but if anyone wants to donate the remaining $1000 to the scholarship fund I’ll give you the GDL. Installation is simple—give it power, connect it between your current transponder and antenna, and connect the included GPS antenna. You get the benefits of ADSB out at a quarter the cost of a Garmin GTX335 while helping a young person get their start in aviation.

Flying Club???

We’ve been thinking about how we might use one (or more) of the airplanes we’ve acquired to reduce the cost of flight training for our Sky Flight kids. As you probably know, an EAA chapter can’t operate any aircraft, so we’d need to do something like set up a flying club that would own or operate the aircraft. Kerry Taylor has volunteered to research this option and he could use your help. There are many issues to consider—operational, financial, legal, and others. Please contact Kerry to help figure out how this could work.

That’s all for this month. I’ll be traveling for the next couple of weeks so Bill Calvert will be covering for me this Saturday at the 9 am board meeting and 10 am member gathering. Hope you can make it.

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And Now, the News

Ed White

New Years Party in 2027

After we had to delay our December holiday party to January this year, some members suggested we permanently move the party to January, when we’re past the rush and competing events of the holidays. So at our February meeting we put the question to our members. The consensus was that January would be better,. so we’ll make that change for 2027. Our December meeting will be a normal member gathering.

Making the Chapter Easier to Find

As Dan reports in the Sky Flight update below, we now have a chapter sign on the Crosswind Drive side of hangar 400. Thanks to the crew that made this happen.

And thanks to Rod Freed, the chapter now has a mailbox and street address–we no longer have to have mail sent to one or another board member and wait for them to drop off mail the next time they’re in the area. The address is 15325 Crosswind Drive, Unit 400 Burlington WA 98233.

Reminder: Fly-in Barbecue June 13

Sharon and Don Hall invite everyone to attend a barbecue at their home on Decatur Island after the June chapter gathering. We’ll have more info closer to the date but wanted to remind everyone so you can pencil it into your calendars.

Sky Flight Update

Dan Holden
Sky Flight Coordinator

Twoeth by land and foureth by air we came (sorry, Paul Revere…). The Zenith 601 was uprooted from its cozy nest at Bowerman field and placed in the warm confines of our EAA hangar, ready for the crew to return it to flight.

Speaking of the EAA hangar, there is now no doubt as to its whereabouts; the faithful took advantage of a break in the weather to install our gorgeous sign, which was also largely manufactured by the youth (with a little help from a local welder).

We were pleased to have Ralph Jones, the fellow who sold us the RV-12, pay SkY Flight a visit last Saturday. He assisted Ross and Bruce perform the carburetor balance procedure, essentially the last task before we schedule the inspection by a DAR. Ralph was overjoyed to see his former machine running and was quoted to say “I learned a whole lot more about Rotax engines!” Ross and Bruce are our chapter Rotax wizards, so he was in good company.

With the RV in an undisclosed location awaiting inspection, SkY Flight is full steam ahead on the condition inspection on the Zenith 701. The crew is hard at work performing all the usual checklist items typical of a condition inspection and reengineering elevator controls. Templates and drawings are being created, which will be submitted to the FAA so that we can share the improvements with the wider Zenith community. Jay is overseeing the job and has agreed to sign it off after getting some dual on Rotax engines from Martin at Vertex.

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Speakers Schedule

Bill Calvert
Chapter Vice President

Members have already volunteered to provide speakers (or to speak themselves) at over half of our 2026 monthly gatherings. See the list below—the speaker or topic is in parentheses, if known. You can volunteer for one of the open slots; just send me an email or catch me at a Sky Flight session or monthly gathering.

March: Jay Findlay, “Alternative Engines for Aircraft—There’s More Involved Than Money”	April: Mike Lombardi, “William Boeing and the Creation of America’s Airways”
May: Rowe Moyle (Dan Hammer)	June: Dan Holden
July: Brandon Holdeman (All About Rotax)	August: annual picnic, no speaker
September:	October:
November:	December:

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Young Eagles

Scott Bushnell and Richard Lewellen
YE Coordinators

At last Saturday’s hangar day, with help and prodding—er, encouragement—of our hangar manager Jay Findlay, we consolidated picnic/pancake breakfast supplies and labeled the storage tubs, freeing up space in the cabinets.  This allowed each of the chapter airplanes to have space for the paperwork they require and freeing up space for the Young Eagles program materials recently provided by EAA in Oshkosh.  We are now well equipped with log books, registration forms, and brochures benefiting the program.

The first Young Eagles rally is tentatively scheduled for June 13, so Rich and I will be asking for additional volunteer pilots, and ground volunteers too.

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Membership Update

Rick Rathbun
Membership Coordinator

Another friendly reminder. It’s time to renew your membership for 2026. About a third of our members haven’t renewed yet. Just download the form here and send it to me at the address on the form, along with your $25 check, or hand them off to me at the monthly gathering this Saturday.

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Safety Corner

Ross Mahon
Safety Coordinator

Reading the article in the February 2026 on Britt Lincoln, one of the current US Aerobatic team stars, reminds me of the benefits of competition aerobatic training. A few decades ago I dabbled in aerobatic competitions, going to contests, even had a Pitts rebuild project that I owned for a while. And while I enjoyed flipping around the sky, my attentions headed to other aviation endeavors. But the discipline of learning and practicing competition aerobatics had tremendous benefits for my flying.

Flying to a Script

One of the key ideas that comes from competitive aerobatics is the idea of ‘Flying to a Script’, or more specifically for the aerobatic routine – the Aresti diagram. This diagram is a graphical depiction of a predefined sequence of maneuvers to be flown in consecutive order. The concept here is that you have a quick visual reference sheet in the cockpit that leads you through the maneuvers. This same idea is also used on instrument approach plates, with a visual reference for the descent profile with key checkpoints along the way. 

I know it may sound like a bit of stretch – but the concept here is to visualize key events in your flying in a similar, visual representation. Applying this specifically to the landing phase of flight, we’ll look at a couple of recent landing accidents at Harvey Field in Snohomish to emphasize how this idea could be of benefit.

Local Examples

The first example was a landing to the south that ended up running off the end of the runway in May of 2025. The Cessna Cardinal was arriving from the south. The flight data was downloaded from an online source (i.e. Flight Aware or similar) and depicted the flight path. Of key note was that parts of the pattern other than final approach were at very low altitudes, including an initial entry at 600 feet and downwind segments at 400 feet. The NTSB report indicated winds 220 at 13/G20. The pilot commentary indicated that his approach was too high resulting in a long landing.

The second example occurred in February 2026, just about a week ago, with a Piper Seneca landing to the north with the aircraft leaving the runway and impacting the side of a hangar. Again, the flight profile indicated very low altitudes at various places in the pattern other than short final, included a pattern entry below 700 feet and one segment on final at perhaps a mile distance indicating 175 feet.

There could be discrepancies in the altitude data, after all it does come from the ‘internet’…. But assuming that data is approximately correct, the altitude values do not match the nominal expected values of entering the pattern at 1000’, turning base at 700’, turning final at 500’ or whatever values you may typically use.

Put It On Paper

So back to the aerobatic diagram and the instrument approach plate concept – Spend some time with a sheet of paper and define your key points in the pattern. Make a list of the key targets you want to achieve and controls you have. Key points might include: Prior to entry, entering on the 45, turn to downwind, abeam the touchdown point, turn to base, turn to final, over the threshold. Key controls and values might include power, landing gear, flaps, airspeed, RPM, manifold pressure.

Remember, you learned all this in basic training, but during this rainy season, revisit your visualization or ‘script’ for the landing process. Refer to publications such as the Airplane Flying Handbook (FAA-H-8083-3C) if needed. But write it down in your own depiction of what a normal landing should be. When the weather gets nice you’ll have a script to follow for developing that perfect landing!

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Here’s a list of some upcoming webinars and in-person presentations. Click on a webinar title to go to the registration page. And for the most up-to-date list and registration links, check out the chapter’s calendar at http://skagiteaa.org/calendar/.

The EAA webinars are listed at https://www.eaa.org/eaa/news-and-publications/eaa-webinars.

March

April

Apr 1, 5:00 – 6:00 pm	EAA webinar: Mike Busch—Logbook Deception
Apr 6, 13, 20, 27; 5:00 – 6:00 pm	Social Flight weekly webinar: speakers to be announced, Cockpit2Cowl with Brian Schiff on 4/13. See www.socialflight.com.
Apr 8, 5:00 – 6:00 pm	EAA webinar: Cognitive Bias in Aviation
Apr 14, 5:00 – 6:00 pm	EAA webinar: How to Care for Your Home Collection
Apr 15, 5:00 – 6:00 pm	EAA webinar: Tailwheel Flying Techniques
Apr 22, 5:00 – 6:00 pm	EAA webinar: Flying With Broken Flight Controls
Apr 29, 5:00 – 6:00 pm	EAA webinar: Flying to AirVenture Made Easy

In addition to SocialFlight Live’s webinar series on Tuesday nights (topics are announced 2-3 weeks before each session), there are a number of other webinars listed on their site. Go to https://socialflight.com to view their offerings and to register. Brian Schiff joins once a month for Cockpit2Cowl, which covers both flying and maintenance topics. The site also has a link to their YouTube channel, where you can catch up on past SocialFlight Live webinars. The Social Flight website also provides info about aviation-related events by geographic area.

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Meeting Minutes

Kerry Taylor
Secretary

EAA Chapter 818 Board Meeting

February 14, 2026 Meeting Minutes

The BOD Meeting was called to order at 9:01 AM at the Skagit Airport terminal meeting room by Larry Buerk, President.

Chapter Officers present:

Larry Buerk, President

Kerry Taylor, Secretary

James Nichols, Treasurer

Ross Mahon, Safety

Rick Rathbun, Membership

Dan Holden, Sky Flight

Jay Findlay, Hangar Manager

Richard Lewellen and Scott Bushnell, Young Eagles Coordinators

Ed White, Website Technical Administrator

Bruce Fox, Tool Crib Manager

Rod Freed, Member

November Meeting Minutes

The board and general meeting minutes for November 2025 were accepted and approved. 

Chapter Renewal

Larry Buerk acknowledged that the Chapter has been renewed; payment was received and he has asked for the letter of insurance since the port usually wants it for our use of the meeting room, and we require it for other events as well. 

Treasurer Report

The Chapter is in good shape. The 2026 budget was discussed. We had sufficient funds in the operating accounts so didn’t have to cash in a CD to pay for the Zenith 601 or HOA fees. The HOA fees were due February 17^th and that check has been sent. We have about $13,000 in operating cash at present, and $3,000 in the savings account. Tax preparation is on the agenda; taxes have increased to about $2,100. The David Mischke Scholarship fund is $2,500; $500 has been awarded and $2,000 has been committed with the understanding that $1,000 will be acquired from the general fund. A fundraiser and donations were suggested to raise the additional $1,000. Larry advised that we set a schedule every year to award the scholarship and ensure sufficient funds. 

We anticipate general donations of about $12,000, plus donations of $8,000 and a sale estimate of about $30,000 for the RV-12 for Sky Fight. Other expense items for the hangar and Sky Flight were discussed including taxes, utilities, tools, supplies and petty cash. James mentioned that petty cash procedures will be modified to allow for day-to-day small expense items. Total expenses for the hangar are about $6,500; Larry requested that Chapter dues and hangar taxes be split for tracking purposes. Budget changes will be made and emailed for approval rather than waiting until next month. Tax return: Bob Savage will assist the Chapter in the 2025 tax return which is due April 15th. He requests all 2025 reports to be in the same format; will coordinate with James. Once the taxes are completed, we will turn our attention to working on the Washington State charitable registration. 


Registered Agent

Registered Agent documents have been completed to change that responsibility to Kerry.

Chapter Post Office Box

Rod Freed volunteered to coordinate with the Burlington Post Office to establish a Chapter post office box in the mailbox on Cross Lane Drive adjacent to the museum. 

Speakers List

Set through July. Ross to change to November. Jay will speak in March on alternate engines. Other speakers for the year discussed.  Larry is attempting to place a rotating two months of speakers on the web site.

Young Eagles

Doug, Scott and Rich have met and discussed YE routines. June 13^th is first YE event for the year, YE International Day, but also Chapter meeting day. Agreed that Chapter meeting would be supporting the YE event from 10-noon, then travel ling to Don Hall’s place for the afternoon. Discussion ensued about business cards for advertising YE, possibly with a QR code, as well as suction ad devices that can be easily attached to an aircraft or car. Ross mentioned possibly using 3×5 cards with a QR code that can be placed quickly inside the window of an airplane. Larry will investigate acquiring business cards; 3×5 cards we can make ourselves. James mentioned we have QR codes set up for the Chapter web site on the PayPal donation account and will send those back out to everyone. Scott will also be checking pilot registrations on the national web site using the roster management tool and reminded everyone of the ongoing hat promotion by national to encourage pilot turnout. Doug mentioned the Northwest Aviation Conference and Trade Show will take place on February 21 at the Washington State fairgrounds in Puyallup. Larry will touch on signing up for a couple of hours at wherever we share a presence (either the Port or Vertex booth) at the Chapter meeting.

David Mischke Scholarship

Josiah is waiting for better weather to start his training to avoid interruptions and loss of proficiency. Waiting to nominate Carter for a scholarship to when he is eligible next year.

Membership

Rick is still collecting dues; 29 of 62 members have yet to renew, most are those we don’t see much. Timothy Wheeler, a member who winters in Virginia, sent a check for dues plus $500 for Sky Flight! We are currently in an unofficial “grace period” until Rick starts serious follow-up calling in March.

Sky Flight

A lot of activity. Larry Buerk noted that for the record the BOD approved Kerry Taylor’s donation of his Zenith 701 to Sky Flight. Dan stated that the RV-12 is 98% done and will be moved to another hangar to provide space to start a condition inspection on the Zenith 701. The Zenith 601 will be moved from Hoaqium airport to the Chapter hangar in the next week or two depending on weather. A Sky Flight crew assisted a pair of Canadian pilots with wing removal and securing a Zenith 750 they purchased at KBVS for trailer transport to Canada for a generous donation of $500 Canadian. The “Baby Ace” clone was donated, sold and delivered for $2,000. The Chapter sign will be hung on the hangar this weekend. Dan mentioned that building the Hummel H-5 is providing a good challenge when compared to the elegant RV kits. Larry stated the C150 registration has been updated and provided Jay with the FAA historical records. Vertex agreed to sign off the prop strike inspection and will finish restoring the carburetor. Larry mentioned that making Sky Flight participants Chapter members remains an open item: the first step is determining who on that list has already participated in Young Eagles in order to receive a national membership. Larry will coordinate with Bill, noting that participants have already been added to the Newsletter list and the Sky Flight Forum. Discussion ensued on the Pietenpol project: Since switching to an aircraft engine has certain advantages and could very well increase the livelihood of the project, there was consensus to sell both Ford engines currently on test stands to generate cash. Larry noted that we still need to work on the tool crib inventory.

Google Nonprofit Account and Chapter Web Site

Larry can use the Skagit EAA domain for the Google account but must restart the process. Regarding the Chapter web site, Larry is working on an offline copy looking for an available alternative theme to apply before he then reworks the web site.

Newsletter

Everyone seemed to receive the newsletter, although there was an unexpected two-factor authentication code needed to apparently reverify subscriber status. Larry will continue to troubleshoot the WordPress process and provide a Forum link on the newsletter beginning next month. There was consensus that the newsletter format looked great and works on both PC and Mac formats. For now, nonmembers should go to the Chapter website in the newsletter section where there are links by month and year; no verification needed.

President Potpourri

Larry not here for March meeting, Bill Calvert will cover as the VP. Larry opened the floor for Chapter To-Do ideas for 2026:

Dan Holden: Establish an organizational entity to manage Sky Flight aircraft. Perhaps a flying club or LLC. Aircraft may be temporary or permanent depending on educational and training use. Most likely the Chapter would own but lease to the entity to operate. Kerry was volunteered to head this effort; Jay and Dan volunteered to assist. Dan would like to use some of the money generated by the eventual sale of aircraft to paint the C150. He proposed revising the Mischke Scholarship process. Instead of a yearly obligation of $2,000, Sky Flight participants would be offered 10 hours of pre-solo flight time in the C150. Can also use the C150 as a Chapter member recruitment tool by offering some number of flight hours. 

Bruce Fox: Karen Faye is willing to donate or sell her late husband’s building effort of a custom Zenith 750 flight simulator. Bruce will communicate with Karen and coordinate a site visit for those who are interested to determine the operational status. It may be a useful recruitment tool for Sky Flight.

Finally, there was discussion concerning hangar organization to free up space, such as moving the router, major cleaning, and building a large cart for mobile storage.

Meeting adjourned at 10:02 AM.

EAA Chapter 818 General Meeting

February 14, 2026 Meeting Minutes

The General Meeting was held in the Port meeting room at the Skagit Airport terminal and opened with the Pledge of Allegiance at 10:20 AM. Meeting was chaired by Larry Buerk, President.

Members in Attendance

Chapter Officers Larry Buerk, President, Kerry Taylor, Secretary, and James Nicols, Treasurer, as well as about 25 members and guests attended the meeting.

Guests

Today’s guests included Tom Madden. He’s building a Glass Star and a member of Chapter 28 at Boeing Field who recently moved to Arlington. Two newest members of Sky Flight from Mt Vernon High School, Andreas and Roberto, were introduced by Dan Holden.

Initial Comments

Larry mentioned that EAA Ultralight Days begin next week. Chapter Video magazine couldn’t be played due to no sound, but members can access online. Great Christmas party in January. Bob Savage given pin and certificate of appreciation in recognition as Membership Chairman. Membership voted to hold a regular Chapter meeting December and have the Christmas Party in January; Stu also advised to general consensus that the food be served at 11:00 or 12:00 rather than 10 AM. 

Speakers List

James Nichols will be our speaker for today immediately after the Chapter meeting on the topic of composites. Jay will speak in March on engine alternatives, Mike Lombardi, the Boeing historian will speak in April, Dan Hammer will address restorations in May, Dan Holden is scheduled for June but may move due to Young Eagles event, and Ross has moved to November. Carter volunteered for sometime in summer.

Membership

Starting in March, Rick will be calling and emailing those members who have not yet renewed. Larry to work on member access to web site member tool,

Chapter Hangar

Jay mentioned that there will be a cleanup day soon. New Chapter sign will be installed on the hangar today.

Sky Flight


Dan encouraged everyone to stop by Hangar 400 and see all the activity. The RV-12 project is almost completed; the plan is to move to another hangar and sell to make room for the next project a Zenith 601. The goal is to do a project a year that has educational value and pays for the hangar. The “Baby Ace” clone was purchased, moved to the hangar and quickly sold to Mark Boberg. Zenith 701 donated by Kerry Taylor will be brought into the hangar for a condition inspection as an educational opportunity. Discussion ensued on annual condition inspections. Dan displayed a plaque to be presented to Rocky and Annette for their Cessna 150 contribution which became the kernel for the Sky Flight program.

Young Eagles

Scott and Rick have decided that the first rally will be June 13^th International Young Eagles Day. Ground crew and pilots are needed. The Chapter will not have a meeting that day but rather have members assist at the rally beginning at 10 AM; once the Young Eagles have flown members will fly to Decatur Island for a BBQ at Don Hall’s place. The Chapter receives $25 bonus for every new pilot that joins the program. Working on procuring business cards with QR code link to Young Eagle program and directs to National and Chapter. Noted that you don’t have to wait for the rally to fly Young Eagles. Larry explained that we want to have Sky Flight participants involved in Young Eagles so that they can join National and then qualify for Chapter membership. Scott reminded everyone that there is an embroidered hat given to any pilot who flies 25 Young Eagles. 

David Mischke Scholarship Fund

Looking for $1,000 in donations to solicit and award the scholarship. Let Larry or James know if you’d like to contribute. 

Safety

Ross doing a great job on safety writeups, so take a look at the Newsletter. Dan described a recent incident regarding a blocked pitot tube.  Discussion ensued on preflight practices and other pitot tube adventures. 

Vertex Announcement

Vertex is now doing complete transponder certifications.

Northwest Aviation and Tradeshow Conference

Port has a booth but no notification to us. Larry will coordinate with Keith and if we have a spot, he’ll send out an email to the distribution list for volunteers. Good place to promote the Sky Flight program.

Calendars

Some still available at the hangar and Larry has a few as well.

Hats

James announced there are new Chapter hats available for $25 each. 

Sky Flight Aircraft Disposition

Larry explained the need for a legal entity to operate completed aircraft coming off the Sky Flight pipeline, especially those that the Chapter decides to keep on a more permanent basis, since an EAA Chapter can own but not operate an airworthy airplane. Kerry Taylor will head that effort, along with Jay Findlay and Dan Holden. 

The meeting ended at 11:05 AM

All minutes ubmitted by Kerry Taylor, Secretary

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Chapter Leadership

Larry Buerk	President, Newsletter Editor, Webmaster	larryb55@live.com
Bill Calvert	Vice President	billcontheroad@gmail.com
Kerry Taylor	Secretary	ktaylor.vet@gmail.com
James Nichols	Treasurer	janich78@gmail.com
Dan Holden	Sky Flight Coordinator	tail_wheel@hotmail.com
Scott Bushnell, Richard Lewellen	Young Eagles Coordinators	sbushnell2@gmail.com m20c201@comcast.net
Ross Mahon	Safety	rossair178@gmail.com
Rick Rathbun	Membership	rwrathbun@live.com
Jay Findlay	Hangar Manager	jayfindlay@aol.com
Stu Ashley	Food Czars Leader	ashleysc@broadstripe.net