The April meeting of Illini Skyriders has been changed from this Saturday the 15th, to next Saturday the 22nd of April.

The newsletter editor returned from Sun-N-Fun too late to get the meeting notice out, and there was a conflict with the Easter weekend.  Instead we will meet next weekend at the Paxton Airport.  Expect a regular newsletter next week including news from Sun-N-Fun.  Please send me your suggestions for future meeting locations.

The next meeting and fly-in of Illini Skyriders will be held this Saturday, April 22 (Earth Day) at the Paxton Airport.  Due to all the rain, those of us based on sod strips will probably have some “earth” on our tires.  It will be an informal afternoon fly-in at Paxton.  Late in the afternoon those present will decide on a local restaurant for an evening feed.

Apologies to anyone who did not get the word about the meeting change.  We had planned to meet April 15 but moved it due to the conflict with the Easter weekend.  The Illini Skyriders normally always meet on the third Saturday of each month.  Some months when there are five Saturdays, it has been moved.  When in doubt, or if you did not get a newsletter, please call one of the club officers.

See our calendar at the end of this newsletter.  We still need meeting locations for May, July, September, and October.  Several members who have hosted our meetings in the past are welcome to pick your favorite month!  There are quite very few active cross-country pilots in our club and we are always looking for some excuse to go flying.  We want to fly to your airstrip or your favorite airport for one of our monthly gatherings.   Call or email soon with your preference.

The March 18 Fly-in meeting at Tuscola Airport was a great success.  A fly-in for is March is always a gamble because of the weather, but this year it was our best ever.   Four of us flew down from the Paxton area and had a great time.  It was Theron, Anliker, McQuinn, and Grunloh.  The air was bumpy but we had a strong tailwind.  It’s always more fun to arrive at a fly-in with group of planes.  There were 16 members present that afternoon with several working like beavers helping Gary Buck with his Phantom.   We visited with our friends including Fred Lamkey who is now flying a very nice Ercoupe.  Raymund got a flight in it and said it’s like driving a car.

Those of us who flew in from the north had to leave early because our tailwind from the northeast was now a headwind.  We return to Paxton by way of Hank Perry’s airstrip where we landed for a short visit and a spell of guitar playing.  Back on course for home the headwind was a significant factor for fuel required.  Some of us had gotten fuel from Hank.  Raymund made a precautionary landing at Rantoul to check his fuel level.  I returned to Loda at about the end of evening civil twilight and realized I was right at Hank’s when I said, “it’s time to go”.

According to the club president at least 6 members who stayed later at Tuscola, meet that evening for a dinner at a local establishment.  There was no formal club business meeting.  We all had fun, they got some work done on the plane, and the Tuscola Fly-in was a success.

I returned just a few days ago from 9 days in Florida at the Sun-n-Fun Fly-In where I work as a volunteer judge.  The number of planes and people in the ultralight area was less than in past years.  Higher fuel costs are one reason but we also have a slowdown of interest and buyers due to the changing regulations.  Attendance by privately owned single seat ultralights has been declining for several years now.

There were many examples of new 2-seaters for the LSA category, but a lower turnout of vendors who display single seat ultralights.  Still several good designs were displayed.  An all white Kolb Firefly won Reserve Grand Champion.  CGS Hawk was flying their new legal Hawk Classic with an air-cooled Hirth.  Phantom was finally flying their plane with the new 40Hp Wankel engine.  If interested in trikes, there were two used Air Creation Racers for sale and a couple of new single seat trikes from US manufacturers.  Two seat trikes were in abundance including the new Apollo from the Czech Republic said to have a top speed of 100mph.  Ask Curt Shoaf for a first hand report.

There were no serious ultralight accidents at Sun-N-Fun.  A plane with amphibious floats stopped very quickly when it landed on the dry grass runway with the gear up.  The pilot reported he had extended the gear but the mounting hardware failed.  The most excitement we had was a grass fire in the auto parking lot.  Reports indicate it was apparently started by a catalytic converter on a very low-slung luxury sports car.  It evolved into a huge black cloud of smoke as the fire encircled more and more cars.  Several explosions were heard and 22 cars were burned up with many more damaged by water. The fireman broke out side windows to hose down surrounding cars to prevent the fire from spreading.

Raymund Theron reports they had a great day of flying on Sunday April 9th.  The Paxton group and friends visited the University of Illinois Pancake Breakfast in Rantoul and also flew to Danville, Kentland, and points in between.  He said it was great day of flying with good weather, many excellent adventures, and he took a lot of pictures.