The Indianapolis Aero Club will host Dick Curtis on Feb 9, 2010 at their monthly meeting. Mr. Curtis will be talking to the club about his experiences during World War II. Here is an excerpt from one write up on his book:

Book: Dumb But Lucky!: Confessions Of A P-51 Fighter Pilot In World War II - Second Lieutenant Dick Curtis arrived in Italy in May 1944- twenty years old and part of a shipment of P-51 Mustang fighter pilots so desperately needed that they were rushed into combat with less than thirty hours of flight time in their new high-performance aircraft. Six of the twelve pilots assigned to the 52nd Fighter Group were shot down in the first two weeks. By his ninth mission, Curtis was the only one still flying. A maverick, he barely escaped court-martial with his high-flying antics. Escorting bombers sent to pound heavily defended oil fields was risky enough, but strafing the enemy supply lines, ports, and airfields was even more dangerous. Curtis may chalk up his success to dumb luck, but these missions took exceptional skill and courage. This hair-raising account captures the air war in all its split-second terror and adrenaline-pumping action.

After all the "Happy New Year" greetings were exchanged, our new officers and general board members were introduced and sworn in.  Click on the photo below for a slide show - and you'll get to see pictures of all our new officers, and a few pictures while members enjoyed each others company during dinner.
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Visitors for our January meeting were Phil Brooks from Brownsburg, who is a former member, and Michael L. Tyra  from Indianapolis.  Hopefully, we'll be seeing them again soon!
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One of the missions of The Indianapolis Aero Club is to help promote Indiana aviation history.  Ron Darrah presented "Clipped Wings:  Indiana's 181st Fighter Wing Stands Down" where he gave the history of the wing and shared some of his experiences while being a part of the fighter wing for 18 years.  If you'd like to review his power point presentation, we've saved it for you.  We had to break the presentation into two parts due to size, but it's worth a second look:  Part 1, Part 2

Click here for a larger view

We didn't have a speaker.  We didn't have a business meeting.  We DID have a good time!  While Dave Graf entertained us at the piano we enjoyed each others company, shared holiday plans, and told stories about our loneliest Christmas - to honor those serving our country away from home this Holiday Season. 

Silver Certificates were handed out to 39 people/couples to commemorate and thank them for their loyal service to the Indianapolis Aero Club for the past 25 years (or more). 

Thank you to those who contributed to the Food Pantry once again.  This year there was a tremendous need and thanks to your generosity we were able to do our part. 

The Indianapolis AERO Club will be awarding one EAA aviation camp scholarship for the summer of 2010. The EAA Air Academy sponsored camp will be held in two sessions (July 20-28, 2010 and July 30-Aug10, 2010) at Oshkosh, WI., which overlap the world’s largest fly-in, the annual Oshkosh EAA “Airventure”. This scholarship includes all food and lodging costs of the aviation camp. Transportation to and from the camp is the responsibility of the winning candidate’s parents.

At camp the winning candidate can expect to learn:

• Fundamentals of flight
• Flight controls and systems
• Navigation and weather
• Flight training requirements
• Aircraft construction basics
• Hands-on techniques of builders
• Flight history
• Fly simulators
• Visit the EAA museum

The candidate may possibly even fly with an instructor.

Candidates must be 16-18 years old during the 2010 summer. The candidate should not have attended the aviation camp in any prior year. He or she must be in good health. The winning candidate will be selected based on three selection criteria:

1. Interest and existing experience in the field of aviation,

2. Recommendations from teachers, clergy, EAA members, etc.,

3. School course grades for the Aug-Dec 2009 semester and overall GPA.

Interested candidates should fill out the attached application form, be sure to include

1. A 1-2 page letter describing your background and interest in aviation,

2. At least two letters of recommendation (no family member references please),

3. Scholastic grade information.

Mail the requested information to:

               James L. Bettner

5990 North County Road 550

Pittsboro, In 46167

If the candidate has any questions, please Email me at jlbettner@att.net.

The deadline for receiving applications is April 1, 2010. Good luck and happy flying.

Indianapolis AERO Club

2010 EAA Aviation Camp Application Form

Name_____________________________ Date of Birth______________________

Address__________________________________________ Sex__________

City__________________________ State__________ Zip____________________

School__________________________________________ Grade Level_______

Home Phone____________________ Email Address______________________

Please enclose the following:

1. Completed application with applicant and parent signatures,

2. Letter-stating aviation interest and experience and career goals,

3. Letters of recommendation-at least two from teachers, clergy, flight instructors, EAA members, etc,

Please provide course and grade information for Aug-Dec 2009 school semester.

Course Grade

1.______________ ___________________

2. ______________ ___________________

3._______________ ___________________

4._______________ ___________________

5._______________ ___________________

6_______________ ___________________

Over all GPA ____________

Parent Information

Paerent/Guardian_____________________________Email________________________

Address_________________________________________________________________

Phone_________________________________

Signatures

“I understand and have completed all requirements to be considered for an aviation camp scholarship”.

Candidate__________________________________ Date_____________________

“We give our son/daughter permission to attend the EAA Aviation camp. Also, we understand the cost of the camp includes food and lodging, but not transportation to and from the camp, which we, as parents, will provide.”

Parent/guardian_______________________________ Date___________________

The deadline for receiving the applications is April 1, 2010.

Note:  I will have a photo gallery from our trip posted later this week.  - Mike

Click on page above for a larger view

Lt. Col. Todd Lovell with Sam Lazerov. Todd, now Avionics Department Manager for Raytheon Avionics served 21 years on active duty in the U. S. Air Force. His last assignment was commander of the first Osprey squadron. His presentation was rather informal, very informative and very interesting. The questions and answers would have gone on all night if our leader had not put an end to it. A great meeting, Todd! Thank you so much.

Dick Egan (on the left) put together the slate of officers and board members for the next couple of years. You will see a lot of Doug Wagner (on the right) because he will be our president beginning the first of the year. Doug is an experienced meeting manager, having been associated with the Scientech Club for many years.

Roger Bishop (on the left) will be our new Vice President. Roger is with Channel 13 and is the General Manager of the Indianapolis Air Show. He has a wealth of

new and great ideas to help re-invigorate the Indianapolis Aero Club. On Roger’s left is Mike Souders and his wife Debbie. Mike is working with Sam Lazerov developing meeting plans. We are hearing rumors about a full year meeting calendar.

New member, Don Alsop came with Bill King. Don was an Aero Club member in the past and attended when he was not in China or Canada or Oklahoma or some other exotic destination. It will be good to have him back.