Greetings Everyone!
A full month has passed since the last update... something I never wanted to let happen... I truly have no idea where the month of May disappeared to! At any rate, here we are in June, and the Minnesota Wing is in full swing!
The L-5, BT-13 and Harvard MK IV all participated in Memorial Weekend/Day Flyovers. The P-51 (Red Tail) was at an airshow in Missouri and returned on Monday. The B-25 stayed home and was great to have since we had a number of visitors
The Hangar Dance was a great success! We had around 700 visitors, and everyone seems to have had a great time. We had more members on hand to help set-up, work the dance, and tear-down than I have seen in a LONG time! Thank you everyone who helped!
The motor pool had an appearance and WWII Days in Farmington. A number of the vehicles were displayed and helped add to the flavor of the event! Between donations and giving people rides in the vehicles, the motor pool has begun to pay for the many repairs being performed on the vehicles, including new structure, engine overhauls, exhaust repairs, interior work and paint!
Amy Lauria presented our proposal to the Minnesota Historical Society Grant Committee a week ago. The presentation was for a steel mezzanine and storage equipment to more appropriately house our increasing collection of artifacts. This grant will cover most of the costs, save for work performed by the membership, which will include demolition. Feel free to talk with Amy or myself about the details. We are very excited about the possibilities to expand the museum, and to create a proper space for storage of our artifacts! We received a warm reception from the group who clearly was aware of our existence and our mission!
The L-5 ground school took place last Thursday, followed by a few solid days of training. The L-5 flew more hours in the three days of training than it has in the last two years! The interest level for that aircraft is fairly high, and I suspect we will see it operate a lot more.
Saturday was the MN Wing Awards Banquet! We had a fantastic group attend, and everyone had a great time. Ron Legg made sure the desert was extra special, and had a cake specially designed for the Wing.
One event that we all have been waiting for... the first flight of the PT-22. Chris Hughston, our L-5 trainer from Texas, has extensive PT-22 time, and offered to test fly it. We accepted, and Chris took to the air early on Saturday morning! He did a number of manuevers, making sure that everything was working as it should. When he landed, he stated that it was a very straight airplane, and a great flier! Congrats to Doug Olson (crew chief) and all the members who helped to get the aircraft back to flying condition!
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