(continued from Part 1)

Wednesday, June 20

But it didn't, and we had to scrub our plans for a flight to Grand Glaize-Osage Beach Airport on the Lake of the Ozarks. Jeff was ready with a new plan, however: we'd have the membership meeting indoors Wednesday, safe and dry from the storms, instead of on Friday, to which we'd move Tuesday's aborted flight to Atchison.

Over a span of four hours the members discussed and debated a variety of items. Among the most important were the presentations of Denise Kowalczyk, Eric Mansfield and Bill Paolini on plans for the 2002 IDPA-USA Fly-in at Frederick, Md., July 14-20, 2002.

     
At the membership meeting Wednesday morning, June 20, Eric Mansfield, Denise Kowalczyk, and Jack Kelsey did their things.

After Alec Naiman made a plea for economy, we voted to lower our financial sights on a site for the banquet, for which Denise had sounded out a lovely but expensive old mansion in Frederick. Eric outlined possible day flights of 33 to 160 nautical miles from Frederick, focusing on flexible scheduling to cope with bad weather.

Bill reported that the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association had been extremely helpful to us. AOPA, he said, would make its facilities at Frederick Airport available to us and help us reserve a block of rooms at a local motel.

Joe Stevens reported that IDPA had 35 paid-up full members and 15 associate members for a total of 50, down from 120 members in 1997. We discussed reasons for the precipitate drop in our numbers.

Among them: Some members seem to feel that being able to read the newsletters on our Web site means they don't have to pay their dues to get their information; we discussed passwording the site so that only paid-up members can read the most recent newsletters. The decision was to post only the cover stories and any fly-in-related stories openly on the site, with all other content reachable only by password.

It was proposed to raise the membership dues, but we voted to keep them at the same levels, $30 and $15 per year for full and associate members, respectively.

There was a long discussion about removing "International" from the title of IDPA-USA to solve a number of problems, among them the high costs associated with providing newsletters and fly-in interpreters to European members, and the difficulties of achieving tax exemption for the American group.

It was pointed out that many corporations and individuals hesitate to donate funds and items to us for our activities, because they cannot deduct donations made to organizations without tax exemptions. For the same reason, we have not been able to persuade the Experimental Aircraft Association to establish a section on deaf pilots in the EAA museum at Oshkosh.

It was suggested that we become the Deaf Pilots Association, with IDPA being changed into a separate umbrella organization with a limited function to coordinate matters among all national groups of deaf pilots.

The membership voted to establish a committee to push the tax exemption forward, and with powers to decide on a new structure and name for our organization. Committee members are Jack Kelsey, Clyde Smith, Mark Stern, Jeff Willoughby and Alec Naiman.

The membership meeting Wednesday, June 21, in the EAA Chapter 91 hangar was orderly but spirited.

We also voted to issue lapels and keychains bearing our logo for fund-raising purposes, and briefly discussed possible fly-in sites for the future: Atlanta in 2004 and, for 2005, a possible return to North Carolina or to California, and finally Alaska.

Afterward, the clouds having lifted enough for limited flying, we manned (and womanned) our aircraft for short trips around the greater Kansas City area. Five airplanes, piloted by Jack Kelsey, Stephen Hopson, Alec Naiman, Eric Mansfield and Mark Stern, flew to Lawrence Smith Memorial Airport in Harrisonville, Mo., for touch-and-goes and some full-stop landings (the latter were tricky because the airport has no taxiways).

Alec, Eric and Mark then flew their planes to Gardner, Kan., to check out the venue for the picnic and spot landing contest Thursday.

Thursday, June 21

Finally the clouds broke and the sun shone. Late in the morning we piled into our airplanes and our cars and headed for Gardner, Kan., Jeff Willoughby's home town. Some of the members participated in a dead reckoning contest, working out a timed flight log from Lee's Summit to a waypoint at Miami County Airport in Paola, Kan., thence to Gardner, a pretty little grassroots airport.

Mark Stern came in first, just 55 seconds late on his ETA, and Alec Naiman won second place, landing at Gardner 1 minute 17 seconds early. Eric Mansfield took third, 2 minutes late. Mark won a special-edition IDPA-logoed shirt, Alec a donated folding seat, and Eric a license plate frame.

Then the membership fell upon a delicious picnic of cold cut sandwiches provided by the Olathe Club for the Deaf. At the meal we interacted with children from the nearby Kansas School for the Deaf, and afterward we introduced ourselves to the kids and answered their enthusiastic questions about flying. There were 22 schoolchildren and 43 adults--not counting the IDPA folks--and 11 deaf pilots on the panel.

Jack Kelsey, Clyde Smith, Jean Hauser, Becky Center, Eric Mansfield, Joe Stevens, Stephen Hobson, Jeff Willoughby, Alec Naiman, and Henry Kisor were among the panel of pilots who spoke to children and adults at the picnic Thursday at Gardner, Kan.

After lunch it was time for the spot landing contest. The spot was marked one-third of the way down the runway, confusing some of the pilots who naturally flew normal downwind legs and landed close to the threshold, hundreds of feet short of the mark.

Jeff's friend Jim Joyce, who had judged the contest, won it in his Mooney at 3 feet past the marker, but inasmuch as he's not a deaf pilot, the first prize--a special edition IDPA-logoed shirt--went to Joe Stevens, who put the manual flaps on Henry Kisor's '59 C-150 to good use, landing just 3 feet 6 inches past the marker.

Joe Stevens takes off in Henry Kisor's 1959 C-150 on his way to winning first prize in the spot landing contest during the picnic Thursday, June 21, at Gardner, Kan. It was the plane that did it, wasn't it, Joe?

Eric Mansfield's landing 25 feet past the marker won second prize and a folding seat. Clyde's landing 75 feet in front of the marker took third prize and a license plate frame.

(All prizes were announced and awarded at the banquet Friday.)

Incidentally, Stephen Hopson gave young Jay Kowalczyk and new IDPA member Jimmy Carter a ride in his rented Archer III to and from Gardner. On the way back to Lee's Summit, Stephen let Jay fly the airplane "to his surprise and delight," Stephen said. "All I had to tell the 12-year-old was to keep the heading steady and to fly straight and level. Later that evening, I told his beaming mother how Jay was a natural pilot and will someday make his passengers very happy. Jay was listening nearby and smiled so widely it must have hurt his face."

That evening we motorcaded to Habanero's Mexican Restaurant in Lee's Summit--you can't miss the place; a worn-out yellow Piper Tomahawk graces its roof--an interesting establishment that offers an unusual combination of aviation and Southwest decor. Everyone agreed that the margaritas went very well with the tacos and burritos.

     
You can't miss Habanero's Restaurant in Lee's Summit--just look for the Tomahawk. At right, Juanita and William Thompson and James Roper at Habanero's.

Friday, June 22

By car and by plane we wended our way northwest of Kansas City to Atchison and the Amelia Earhart birthplace museum. Those who went by air from Lee's Summit--Clyde Smith, Henry Kisor, Alec Naiman, Jack Kelsey, Stephen Hopson, Mark Stern and Eric Mansfield were the pilots--tried mightily to find the famous Amelia Earhart earthwork portrait, but nobody could spot it on the way in.

On Friday morning, June 22, we flew and drove to Atchison, Kan., to visit the lovely Amelia Earhart Memorial Birthplace in town.

It didn't matter. After we arrived at Atchison Airport, a big yellow school bus picked us all up--all but one--and took us to the Earhart birthplace in a lovely house overlooking the river. It was a fascinating museum containing many interesting artifacts from Amelia's life and aviation career, and we all walked engrossed from room to room for a solid hour examining the items.

The exhibitions in the Amelia Earhart Memorial Birthplace at Atchison, Kan., held us all rapt for hours.

Afterward the bus delivered us to a number of fast-food places in Atchison. While we were eating, Bill Pundmann arrived at Atchison from St. Charles, Mo., in his Bonanza. He managed to buttonhole someone at the airport and persuade him to drive to the Earhart birthplace. When they got there, they were told that the bus had left 15 minutes before for lunch in town. They drove around Atchison looking for something big and yellow, and presto, they found it--and Bill joined up with the group. (It's hard to hide a big yellow school bus in a small town.)

We returned to Lee's Summit in early afternoon--some of us actually found the Earhart earthwork after the mechanic at Atchison airport told us how to find it--to get ready for the hour-long bus ride to the banquet at the renowned Hereford House restaurant in Lawrence, Kan., where we dug into succulent Kansas City strip steaks.

Jerri and Jeff Willoughby, our esteemed hosts, at the Hereford House banquet.

Over dessert Jeff handed out the many door and raffle prizes donated for the banquet. They included two free tickets on Southwest Airlines, two nights at any Hampton Inn in the nation, a complete Sporty's Recreational Pilot video set, two text pagers donated by Metrocall, a pilot bag, dozens of T-shirts, duffles and caps donated by Garmin--and the piece de resistance, a Garmin GPS III Pilot, the people's choice among hand-held GPS units.

When Jeff Willoughby called Tim Casey, the Garmin rep who donated the prize, to the podium to draw the raffle ticket for it, Jeff teasingly instructed Tim, "Now, promise me, you just have to draw my name."

And guess whose name Tim drew? None other than our beloved Jeff, who, everyone agreed, deserved it.

Deanna Weddle interprets as Lee's Summit Airport manager John Ohrazda addresses the closing banquet at the Hereford House.

Saturday, June 23

That morning EAA Chapter 91 hosted a big pancake breakfast for IDPA members and the public culminating a week of extreme friendliness on the part of the chapter, headed by Larry Young; the airport manager, John Ohrazda, and the staff of the Lee's Summit Airport.

Afterward we departed. Mark Stern, Alec Naiman and Stephen Hopson flew in loose formation to the one destination we had to scrub during the fly-in--Grand Glaize-Osage Beach on Lake of the Ozarks.

There they ate at the famous Kenilworth House restaurant on the field, Alec declaring that it served the best hamburger he'd ever had. In fact, he said, the burger didn't even need ketchup.

Then the pilots split, Stephen for Jacksonville, Ill., and Troy Oakland Airport near Detroit, and Mark and Alec as a flight of two for Selinsgrove, Pa. The next day Mark and Alec diverged, the former for Boston and the latter for Lincoln Park, N.J.

Acknowledgments

IDPA would like to thank the following individuals and organizations who gave us assistance and donations during the fly-in:

Businesses:

Big Blue Bar-B-Q
George Butler Association
Garmin International (Tim Casey, Jim Brown, Dave Brown)
Habanero's Mexican Restaurant
Hampton Inn
Hereford Steak House
Lee's Summit Airport (John Ohrazda)
Metrocall
Midwest Executive Aircraft Inc.
Southwest Airlines
Sporty's Shops

EAA Chapter 91 (Larry Young, president)
Amelia Earhart Birthplace Museum
Greater Kansas City Club for the Deaf
Greater St. Louis Association for the Deaf
Olathe Club for the Deaf

Martha Joyce
Deanna Weddle

The following IDPA members and their families and friends attended the fly-in:

Jimmy Carter
Becky Center
Teddy Clemons
Rita Cooper
Bonham and Marie Cross
John and Jennifer Epperson
Louise Fabbio
James Giddley
Jim, Martha, Erin and Cameron Joyce
Jean Hauser
Stephen Hopson
John Russell Jones
Jack and Nora Kelsey
Debra Kelsey-Salo
Wayne and Pam Kester
Henry Kisor
Janet Kluck
Denise Kowalski
Jay Kowalski
Herby Lester
Suzy Long
Eric Mansfield
Gene and Gloria McDowell
Alec Naiman
Bill Paolini
Gerald Piscotty
Bill Pundmann
Cathy Roach
James and Carole Roper
Ron and Marilyn Schoneman
Barry and Pat Schwartzmann, their daughter and son-in-law, and three granddaughters
Clyde Smith and Maralee Hankins-Smith
Joe, Christine, Austin and Kaylee Stevens
Deanna Weddle
William and Juanita Thompson
Jeff, Jerri, Jessica and Jeb Willoughby
Jerry, Yvonne and James Willoughby

Stephen Hopson: Piper Archer III, from Detroit, Mich.
Henry Kisor: Cessna 150, from Wilmot, Wis.
Alec Naiman: Cessna 172, from Lincoln Park, N.J.
Bill Pundmann, Bonanza F33A, from St. Charles, Mo.
Clyde Smith: Cessna 150, from Jacksonville, Ill.
Mark Stern: Piper Archer, from San Martin, Calif.

Becky Center: Cessna 152
Jack Kelsey: Cherokee 180
Wayne Kester: Archer III
Eric Mansfield: Cessna 172SP