The AAA/APM Fly-in takes a massive effort yearly to prepare for and execute. It is simply not possible for the small full time staff (5) to accomplish this task. Fortunately we have a loyal and growing number of volunteers who spend their time and talents to help make the AAA/APM Fly-in enjoyable and safe for all attendees.

So with apologies in advance to any I may have missed, below are those individuals who helped make the 2011 AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in possible.

Enthusiasm for the APM Restoration Center was very apparent during the AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in. Our "Buy-a-Foot" campaign netted $2200.00 for the week of the fly-in. That translates into 88 sq ft. being purchased by supporters of this project during the AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in.

To date then, the total of square footage sold is 2306 sq ft (of the available 2840) for a total of $57,650.00 having been raised to help construct the APM Restoration Center. That's over 81% of our goal of $71,000.00.

Work on the Restoration Center should begin again within the next week with the completion of the floor being the next step. We have one bid in hand for the block work (walls) and await two others. Once the floor is poured, a contract can be awarded for the block work and that next phase of construction can begin.

We "Thank" all whom have showed their faith and support in this project and hope you will join with us to see the remaining 534 sq ft quickly spoken for via our "Buy-a-Foot" campaign

Brent Taylor
Treasurer APM

As a metal polisher I couldn't resist posting these photos of Jim Savage's Spartan Executive. Jim keeps the airplane in western Pennsylvania. After repairing airframe damage, Jim has been removing prior paint strips and improving the polish all over on his Spartan. I can attest to how long this takes with a buffer to get a good shine and to blend scratches and scuffs under formerly painted areas. -Russell

Award Winners for 2011

Grand Champion Awards

Chapter Choice Awards

Type Club Awards

Other Awards

Well the AAA/APM Fly-in is over and it was another successful event. We are still compiling the facts and figures but preliminary count is 340 aircraft. While down about 20-25 airplanes over 2010 we would surmise that was due to weather North and East of Antique Airfield on Saturday. We did have a GREAT showing of Monocoupes with a total of 12 Monocoupes and 1 Mullicoupe. More news to come.

Brent Taylor

Photo by Gilles Auliard

Here's the Texas Chapter September 2011 Newsletter. See all the chapter newsletters.

The Texas Chapter crew at Blakesburg

Gail and Doedo Schipper of Longmont, CO sent us this video with scenes from their trip to Blakesburg. If you've been to Blakesburg you probably know that Gail and Doedo are almost constantly flying their Bucker while at Antique Airfield, as they say "Flying is the thing when the sun is shining."

Addison Pemberton sent this update:

See 2 pictures taken by Liz Matzelle at the Historic Flight museum during the wonderful "vintage airplane weekend" hosted by the very kind and generous John Sessions at Paine Field north of Seattle. As you can see I had the good fortune to fly formation with Clay Lacy in his DC-2 with the Boeing 40 which show these to historic aircraft in their true element.

While making my way home to Seattle, I ran into two folks in Spearfish, SD who are flying their Waco UPF-7 on a multi-week tour of the national parks in the Western US. Buzz and Janet Elliott are from Torrance, CA, and are relying solely on their Waco to get around, no RV or ground support involved! Janet says she packs only items small enough to fit into a single bag in the front cockpit with her.

Photos and stories of the Elliott's trip are at biplaneflyaway.org.

Russell Williams