I've just taken this last couple weeks to reflect on all the great things that have happened so far this year.  What a fantastic year Wausau Flying Service, Inc. has had so far.  This season's taildragger flying has been busy and fun, despite the heat.  We had the biggest turnout yet for the Balloon Rally in terms of both balloons and spectators.  The EAA B-17 visit brought out all kinds of people.  This year's AirVenture will go down in history as one of the best ever.  Putt-Putt Patrol is getting more flyers than ever to fly, only for the sake of flight.  Youth Flight Camp doubled in size this year.  We had the best Musky Days Fly-In on record with no adverse weather!

     So what's the point?  These events are part of our master plan to infect everyone we  contact  with our passion for  the "art of flight!"   It's evident that our plan is being executed successfully.  Flight's pleasures are earned by experience.  We gain experience by practicing and doing.  Although you can learn by thinking about flight, reading about flight, and watching flight, the most enriching is through doing.  The emails I have received most recently have proven that many of you are experiencing just what I'm talking about.

     So, this month's "CONTACT!" will be a little different.  I receive a lot of enjoyment from writing "CONTACT!" and 90% of the words are mine.  But this issue of "CONTACT!" is almost entirely contributions from my friends about their experiences.  These are photos and excerpts of their aviation experiences.  Take the time to read and enjoy now.  Reflect on your own flight experiences. 

     But this flying season isn't over.  There is so much left to do.  For me there is the "Grand Champion Tailwheel Safety Seminar" at the American Champion Factory, the National Stearman Convention in Galesburg, IL, a CFI Refresher Course at AirVenture Museum, and some aerobatic training.  Now figure out and execute your next opportunity to experience the "Art of Flight" not by thinking, reading, or watching but by doing!  Feel free to write me about it, so we can continue to spread the word!

Feel free to forward this newsletter to your friends and if you know of someone who may be interested in receiving "Contact!", email me at taildraggerflyer@yahoo.com.  CAVU and wishes for safe flight to you all!!!
 
 

     We had orginally decided that we weren't going to organize the "Canadian Adventure" for 2005.  In conversations with our flying customers, we're thinking that may be a mistake.  Many of you have said you want to go back again this year!

     The purpose of this trip is to familiarize the participants with the procedures involved with international flight, customs, required documentation for the airplane, pilot and passengers. The trip is currently planned for VFR, but Robert Fenske will be going with those of you who are IFR rated. 

     In the past this has been one of our most fun and successful adventures.  If a trip to Canada appeals to you this fall, during "Colorama", please email us now at taildraggerflyer@yahoo.com    If we get enough interest, we'll be heading back for the 3rd year in a row!!  And we're open to destination suggestions.

     This was the second year for Youth Flight Camp.  It's been a great success and we're looking forward to it growing into the future.  One of the reasons for its success is that we have teamed up with other aviation organizations in Central Wisconsin to provide our youth with a superior aviation experience. 

     One of those organizations is the Wausau R/C Sportsmen.  These radio control enthusiasts provide a great demonstration to the kids showing them their model airplanes and explaining in detail how they work.   They even had an R/C flight simulator and instructor to help the kids practice.  And then, with the assistance of one of their experienced flight instructors, each youth participant got to fly one of the radio control models as part of this year's Youth Flight Camp. 

     This is how I met Tim Feathers and heard his unique story of how he and the Wausau R/C Sportsmen created the "Sky's the Limit!" program.  Read on, because it may be something that you may want to participate or invest in.  Great job Tim!!

     I worked through my local club (the Wausau R/C Sportsmen) and looked for a way to fund the equipment necessary to make this work.  My first grant attempt was not successful and I returned to the Board of Directors of the club and announced that the program would not take place because of a lack of funding.  They/we- I’m on the Board- decided that we needed to step up and make this happen anyway. 

     We felt that the construction of an airplane was an educational and worthwhile activity that the students would remember the rest of their lives.  We worked on getting items donated: Pope’s Hobbyland donated an LT-40 and gave us great pricing on supplies, US Filter/ Zimpro donated a Futaba 7C radio system, individual club members donated engines, covering materials, and tools.  Finally, I wrote another grant application to the AMA for a YES grant and they provided the program with an additional $500 dollars.

     The Wausau R/C Sportsmen club then voted to use our youth scholarship funds to supplement whatever was needed to fund two planes.  This was a result of receiving almost 30 written applications for the 7 slots we had available to work on the completion of one plane.  We still had to turn away kids- but we included a coupon for a free buddy-box flight during the day of our annual Tune-Up clinic to students who were not selected.  So that’s how we ended up working with 14 kids (two teams of seven) building two complete LT-40 trainers.  Club member Bob Weller (who has generously donated his time by attending every building session) and I worked with the students Monday and Thursday afternoons after school from 2:30- 4:00 PM for nearly three months. 

     With the planes ready for covering, we realized that 14 kids with two instructors and two covering irons would not work.  So we called in the troops.  We had 9 Wausau R/C Sportsmen members show up with covering tools ready to work from 9-12 noon one winter Saturday.  Everyone worked for an hour and a half covering and it was pretty exciting to see fuses, wings, and control surfaces all being covered at once around the art room.  For the second half of the morning we split into three groups- one group continued to cover, another group worked one-on-one with kids on flight simulators, and another group did flight demonstrations in the gym using foam electric planes.  We also had over a half-dozen completed models on display for the students to see.
 
 

     On May 14th we brought our The Sky’s the Limit planes to the field for the first time.  We had two club trainers for each of our planes, plus another two for a third club member trainer we had for parents to fly (and as a back-up in case something went wrong with one of our project planes).  At 10:00 AM the two LT-40’s were fired up and our club instructors guided our The Sky’s the Limit planes into the blue (well, ok, overcast and gray) skies for the first time.  The students had done a great job building and both planes flew very well.  We hooked up the buddy box cords and the long wait ended for many of our students as they finally were flying the planes they’d worked on for so long.

     We flew for almost four hours before the rain ended our day around 1:30 PM.  In that time eight of our students had a chance to fly.   We had a generator running to provide power to two computers running flight simulations and many parents experimented with flying on the computer.  We had a few parents brave enough to come out and try the third plane also.  Our instructors did an outstanding job and even though we were dealing with some heavy winds all landings were accomplished with no damage to our planes.

     On May 21st we again set up the computers and brought the planes to the field.  Another group of students arrived and we began flying at 10:00 AM.  Those two planes, other than fast charging and fueling, were in the air for the entire four hours.  The wind again climbed into the 20+ mph range but our first-class training crew handled all the landings with no damage to our planes. 

     We had two great days at the Wausau R/C Sportsmen’s Hagerman field.  The kids seemed very excited about flying.  Parents took photos of them with the plane they helped build.  Grandparents arrived to watch the students fly their plane for the first time.  Students were using the two flight simulations to show their Parents and Grandparents how the transmitter operated as well as warming up before flying the real thing.  I found out later that we had picked the birthday of one of our students for our first day of flying and that he had moved his birthday party to a different day so he could come out and fly.  Some of our older members brought out antique R/C equipment to share, and other members brought out planes and helicopters to demonstrate during the short lunch break- it was a cooperative effort by the entire club to make this program a success for the kids. 

     The planes were also used on June 22nd as the Wausau Airport’s Youth Flight Camp kids came out to the field to try flying R/C.  One of our flight instructors ended up with an emergency at work that left me as the lone flight instructor with 32 kids!  Yikes.  Thankfully my son Ryan and daughter Kendra were there to help instruct on the flight simulator and Bob Weller kept the kids moving through the line as well as helped fuel planes and buddy box trimming.  It was a busy three hours but every student had the chance to fly for a short while.

     The Sky’s the Limit students are invited out to the field one more time this summer, July 11th from 6:30 PM to dusk, to fly their planes some more.  Anyone is welcome to come out and watch.

     Thanks go to the Academy of Model Aeronautics for the YES grant, which allowed this program to happen.  Thanks also to US Filter, Pope’s Hobbyland, and the rest of our sponsors.  Thanks to Bob Weller who spent countless hours working with the second group of students as they built their plane, and to the quality individuals in the Wausau R/C Sportsmen club that donated their time to give these students the chance to experience model aviation.  Finally, thanks to the students who worked so cooperatively on this project.  They truly demonstrated that with hard work “The Sky’s the Limit”!

The B-17 Fuddy Duddy landed at the Wausau Airport on Thursday, July 14 and immediately gave 3 media flights.  Each flight also took a WWII B-17 veteran.  The B-17 veterans included Jerry Viste, Warren Tessmer and Elroy Huebner. 

Many rides were given on Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings,, and hundreds of people did the ground tours each afternoon.  Many people bought B-17 merchandise, also.  A very big Thank You goes out to our volunteers, who did a wonderful job. 

Some of the volunteers got a free ride on Fuddy Duddy around Wausau, and a few more got a free ride to Eau Claire, the next tour stop. 

The B-17 people said that Wausau was one of their better stops, and they were very happy with the number of people who turned out to ride and to tour.

This year Cal and I volunteered to work at the Oshkosh EAA Seaplane base. Paul and Ann Seehafer run the show at the seaplane base and what a job they have to do. We arrived Tuesday afternoon towing my little camping trailer.

They had a camping spot picked out for us with a free drive in pass. I know you were treated poorly when  volunteering at the Warbirds but this is not the case at the seaplane base. I told Ann and Paul we wanted to work and they put us to work. Cal and I took people on tour of the seaplane base on a big pontoon. Our assigned schedule was 8-4 both days. We were very busy as we could see long lines of people waiting for their tour.
    I was told because of the crowds I should cut the tour length down but after following the other pontoon boats and they didn't cut their tours down I decided not to short change my passengers. Cal and I really enjoyed meeting all the great people and by the end of the tour they were like old friends.

    Steve Krueger and Brian flew the Rans down on Wednesday. Tuesday the winds were from the North East at the lake was too rough. So on Thursday with the Rans parked at the base we had a little fun with guests. As we approached the Rans I told them they were very lucky for today they would see the worlds most beautiful airplane. Then I asked if they knew why the Rans was the most beautiful airplane, they thought for only a few seconds, and the came back "Because you own it".
    Steve flew the Rans in the Seaplane Fly By at Whitman field. There were only 6 planes in the flight and he said it was quite a thrill to fly in front of thousands of people at 200 feet over runway 18/36. So Steve brought the Rans back.

This is the gap control as we came back from our flight. It was just a perfect evening for flying. Steve then took up a few more for rides.
    Tuesday night we were invited to the Canadian Beaver Tail Stew dinner. It was great but really not Beaver tail. Wednesday night we sign up for a clambake. It was terrific with a dozen clams each, I should have signed up for two dozen. Thursday night we all went to the famous Seaplane pilots cornroast where we ate to much. Steve Krueger won the grand prize of a $1400 Garmin 295 GPS. So we were ahead on this trip.
    Cal and I left for Boulder Junction 5:30am Friday morning. We took the trailer next to the house and will use it for extra room on Musky Day. Cal and I never made it to Whitman field. This is the first time I came to Oshkosh and didn't see Oshkosh.

PAYZER

     Just sharing with you some of the pictures from the Fly-In in Boulder Junction on Sunday.  Have a great Day! 

Rita

The weather was perfect this year and we had 77 planes which is a new record up from 62. All 62 chickens were served and I guess we ran out of potato salad and cold slaw. This is the first year my refrigerator wasn't full of left overs.

    It all started the previous Wednesday with the boys setting up the tent.

     Joe Lohmar is one of the "coffee guys" that meet at the airport during the week.  Up until last week, I didn't know that Joe had trained/flown AT-6's in the Army Air Corps in World Ward II.  His family decided to give him a special birthday present and surprise him with a ride last week!  Happy Birthday Joe!

John, 

Have fun with the B-17 and going to the fly-in.  I am in Moscow as we speak.  I was on my way to Russian Mission Control last night when they scrubbed the attempt, so I am working a normal work schedule over here until we get the shuttle off the ground.  It has been quite 
an experience, and if you'd still like me to,I will write up a little thing about the trip and working here, for a future airport newsletter..I have already been putting a lot of thoughts down on paper...

Here's a picture I took the other night.  A colleague and I were on Red Square at midnight, he took the picture of me standing in front of St. Basil's Cathedral.  Hope all is well with the family, I will keep you posted from this side of the globe...;-)

Matt-Man
 
 

Just a quick note to say that Putt-Putt Patrol has turned out to be one of the funnest activities of my aviation career!  You don't have to fly formation to participate.  You don't have to fly a slow airplane.  Everyone can be accommodated.  Non-formation flyers get one altitude, "putt-putt" (slow airplane) formation flyers get another, "vroom-vroom" (faster airplane) formation flyers get another altitude.  This is all briefed prior to the flight.  We've grown with experience and now each patrol includes a pre-flight briefing which includes:

• designated altitudes for non-formation, putt-putt, & vroom-vroom altitudes
• flight leader for each group
• each flight leader briefs the formation on the procedure for that flight
• weather briefing for the trip
• airport briefing for the trip
• debriefing after the flight in Syd Cohen's hangar

What is Putt-Putt Patrol?  It’s like Friday Lunch Club.   Except after we eat, we fly!

1. Bring your own food & drink.  We’ll bring the     grill.
2. After dinner, we fly . . . who cares where!
3. It’s informal

     Wausau Flying Service now has mahogany airplane models available.  There are over 40 models of real airplanes to choose from!  Cost of these beauties is $75 + tax.  Of course we don't have them all in stock, but we'll be happy to order and receive within 2 weeks.  We currently have a Cessna C172 and B17 on display.  Please email your order to me at  taildraggerflyer@yahoo.com or call 715 845-3400 .

     We're changing the dates for our last 2 adventures of the year.  We will announce the dates for "The Art of Flight" How to Use OVR to fly Safer! and Wausau Air Rally 2005 in a future issue of  "CONTACT!"  We need volunteers to help us organize the Wausau Air Rally.  We need judges, people to help with sign-up, etc.  If you are interested, please contact me:
Call 715 845-3400 or email taildraggerflyer@yahoo.com
 
 

     The WFS crew has finally come up with the 2005 Adventure Season.  Here's the tentative line up and schedule.  Right now, the events that you see specific dates for are set.  We'll have more info and descriptions of each event in future issues of "Contact!"

Tailwheel Clinic  May 21st
	Flight Night  May - September  Tuesdays 5:00 p.m. - sunset
Youth Flight Camp  June 20 - 24
	Wausau Balloon Rally  July 8 - 10
EAA B-17 Visit  July 15 -17
	"The Art of Flight" How to Use OVR to fly Safer!  Date/Time To Be Announced
Wausau Air Rally 2005  Date/Time To Be Announced

     There is only immediate T-hangar opening at Wausau Downtown Airport. 

• T-hangar #7 has a manual door and rents for $90.11 (includes tax) & faces west.

• "Got some pilot supplies just sitting around gathering dust?  Wanna upgrade your old headset, hand-held radio or GPS?  What should you do with your old one?  We can sell it for you through our consignment program!  You set the price.  We'll display it and advertise it. 
• Want to display your aircraft for sale in "CONTACT!"?  $50 gets you 6 months.  Includes color pictures and spec. list.  We'll include an automatic email link for your ad too.  If you sell your airplane through your "CONTACT!" classified we ask for an additional $50 commission.  "CONTACT!" comes out twice monthly and goes out to 500+ subscribers.  Our subscriber list is growing every day.  Just email us at taildraggerflyer@yahoo.com for details!"

PITTS S2A

Factory Built  1974,  973 TTSN  A&E,  2 Place aerobatic,  200 hp. Lycoming,  Inverted fuel & oil,  Hooker Harness,  Narco Nav-com,  Fresh Annual with sale!

Now Only $52,900
Call Glen at 715 571-2121

For Sale:
50% Share in 1979 Mooney 201
N4583H
(Mooney Flyers of Wausau)

Cruise 155 kts@ 10 gph
Major Engine Overhaul Completed May 2005
Leather Interior
Full IFR Panel

• Garmin 430 GPS - IFR Approach Certified
• Stormscope Wx500
• HSI, ADF, RNAV
• King KFC 200 Flight Director/Autopilot w/Altitude Hold
• JPI Engine System/Fuel Monitor
• Garmin Audiopanel 4-place intercom
• Garmin Transponder

 Total Time: 6908 
 Engines: 1600 T.B.O. by Western Skyways    L1004/R328
 Props: Left - 629, Right - 728 
 IFR. Certificates: 2254 
 Reweighing Due: September 2003 
 Fuel Capacity: 255 (Long Range) 

 Comm #1: King 900A 
 Comm #1: Garmin 250XL 
 Nav #1: King Gold Crown KNR600/GS KGS681 
 Nav #2 / RNAV: KNS80-IFR Certified GS KGS681 
 ADF: KR85
 XPDR: KT76 
 Audio/Marker: KMA20 
 Radar: Bendix RDR160 
 Autopilot: Bendix FCS810 
 HSI: King KCS55A
 Encoder: Yes 
 RMI: King KI226 
 GPS: Garmin 250XL, Moving Map 
 Intercom: Flight Com

 Cleveland wheels and brakes
 Copilot instruments 
 Oxygen system 
 Ground power plug 
 Cabin deck divider
 Part 135 current
 EGT
 Refreshment center 
 Full de-ice
 Flight hour recorder 
 Heater hour recorder 
 Wing & tail strobes 
 JB air conditioner 
 Courtesy lights 
 Executive tables 
 Engine heaters 
 Tail beacon 
 New main and horizontal boots 

 Paint: White / Tan (8 out of 10) 
 Interior: Light brown cloth (6 out of 10)
 Annual Due: 08/03 
 Damage History (Major): None