Fred Austin sent us this story of an unexpected Lockheed 10 arrival at Reno-Stead.

Stand by the fence out at Stead Airport in Reno, NV and you never know what you’re going to see. A couple of days ago I was sitting in the pickup with my dog Thunder and my old pal Tom Cathcart when we heard nearly forgotten sound. More like music to the two of us it was a pair of P&W 1340 swing a pair of Hamilton Standard Hydromatic full feathering propellers, the long ones! It was a beautiful clear day in the high desert, CAVU. Tom’s handheld crackled and a vaguely familiar voice reported, “Lockheed N16020 8 miles southwest landing Rwy 26 at Stead”. A shiny speck in the sky grew bigger, the music turned into a deep throated roar and the photos tell the rest of the story. It was the flight in a Lockheed 10 for both of them. Taigh won the toss and make the textbook-smooth landing!

Tom and I went over and threw some chocks under the tires and who climbs out of the hatch but our old pals Taigh Ramey of Vintage Aircraft, and Alby Redick of Aviation Classics. We took a few photos; one of the four of us left to right Alby Redick, Fred Austin, Tom Cathcart, and Taigh Ramey. Then we headed for the local coffee shop and started catching up on the last couple of decades.

Longtime member Winn Baker has been inducted into the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame. Click for the article.

The death of an airfield is never a pleasant event. Memories of bounced landings, first flights and sunset formation flybys in Pietenpols, Chiefs and Cubs drift away as the runway is plowed under and hangars molder in dust away. Such was the fate of the grass strip in Atwood, Illinois where long-time APM Board member, the late Earl "Skeezix" Adkisson, kept his collection of antiques and homebuilts. The airport is gone, but Earl's 45'x48' hangar is not. In fact, it's found a new home. Almost.

APM thrives on volunteers. We couldn't keep the antiques flying without the generous support from AAA/APM members, which brings us back to Earl's hangar. Earl's son, Steve (a current APM Board member) and Earl's widow, Wanda "Blondie" Adkisson, are donating the hangar to APM. This generous and much needed donation is greatly appreciated but comes with one hitch. We need to hitch the hangar to a couple of semis and haul it the 300 miles or so to Antique Airfield. And we need to do it before March 31, or the hangar becomes just another memory.

The hangar is a Butler Building, which should make disassembly and reassembly relatively easy since it bolts together, and as Foghorn Leghorn once noted, "all the parts are numbered for just such an emergency." The Earl-built hangar door is a bit more challenging and may require transport via an oversize permit. Details to be worked out later but all doable - with your help.

We need a volunteer crew to disassemble the hangar in Atwood, load it onto the trucks and reassemble the pile into something resembling a hangar at its new location. We also need to remove the concrete foundation and have it hauled away. A local contractor can remove and dispose of the concrete for about $3000. If anyone has suggestions to mitigate those costs, please advise. The entire operation should be completed over two weekends.

Once erected at Antique Airfield, Earl's legacy hangar will be used to store the APM's growing collection homebuilt aircraft, an assortment that now includes: a Model A-powered Pietenpol Air Scout, Pietenpol Aircamper, Smith Miniplane, Piel "Super Diamont", BD-5 and others.

As you can see this hangar would be an invaluable addition to the Air Power Museum. Removing, transporting and reassembling require some funding and much volunteer input. Please feel free to contact me with any suggestions and offers of support. Let's keep Earl Adkisson's memory alive and flying here at Antique Airfield.

Thank you. Please emailBrent Taylor or call if you can help.

Here's the Texas Chapter February 2013 Newsletter.

Numerous things are happening at Bob and Bill Juranich's hangar at the Auburn, WA airport. The Fleet is being lettered with the Kinner Airplanes & Engines logo as the Fleet was used as a test ship by the Kinner factory early in its life.

Restorer Bob Johnson in front of the INF fuselage.

New upper wings for the INF under construction.

Here are January chapter newsletters from the Florida Antique Biplane Association and the Florida Cub Flyers. More Super Cub flying adventures in Africa, fly-in recaps, and fly-in announcements from our friends in the Sunshine State.

Since the flying weather has been poor in Iowa AAA/APM Executive Director Brent Taylor has been working on his Skokie for the Jimmie Allen Air Races at the 2013 Fly-In. Wing #2 ready:

Vintage Airplane featured Chuck Doyle's freshly restored Stearman this past month, and they've kindly offered permission to include the article here. Chuck brought the airplane to the 2012 Blakesburg fly-in and we look forward to seeing the turquoise fleet at the 2013 fly-in. Don't worry Chuck, we'll get your name right!