September 2003

From the President Kathy Taylor

During the August general membership meeting, I was elected to complete Paul Chase’s term of office. Paul accomplished a lot for the club while President and his will be tough shoes to fill.

Board Report. I was pleased to discover that the club is in good financial health. We have to thank our hard working members for this state of affairs. Mark Mocho showed great perseverance in repairing the water leak in the bathroom. And Brian Resor has done a wonderful job of reconstituting our new web page. You can check it out at www.abqsoaring.org.

We do not know who is keeping the hangar waiting list. If you are on that list or know someone who currently on the list, please contact Brian Resor with that information. He will be keeping the list in the future.

You probably already know that the club has been audited by the Internal Revenue Service and they have had numerous questions concerning our income sources. With the help of Laurie Carlton and Paul Chase most of these issues have now been resolved. A sore point is the way we handle our Visiting Members. These folks may receive tows at club rates, but they must fill out a membership form and we must collect $1/day from these people. Failure to complete these steps will result in the club having to pay income tax on the money collected. Please ensure that these steps are taken.

We have begun an initiative to increase the number of younger members in the club and Brian Resor and Mitch Hudson will kick off this effort with some sort of recruiting effort at UNM.

We do not have a record in our By-Laws of a number of changes that were approved in past years and so you will see these presented in this issue of Towlines for voting on during the next general membership meeting on December 17.

Some members have proposed going back to monthly general membership meetings. This issue will be discussed at the next social event on October 25. There will be a general membership meeting at 9 am and Mitch Hudson will host the barbecue at the end of flying day. Come to the meeting and make your voice heard.

By-laws Change Proposal

Per our By-laws, notice of proposed By-law changes will be published twice in newsletters preceding the vote on said changes. This is the first notice.

The following changes to the By-Laws will be voted on at the next general membership meeting on December 17. Both of these changes were previously approved by the membership but were never changed in the formal copy of the By-Laws and we have no record of votes.

It is proposed to change Article II of the By-Laws to add a new paragraph 2.8, to read as follows:

2.8 A Student Member is a member is not more than 25 years old and is registered as a full time student at an accredited educational institution. A Student Member pays no initiation fee and no monthly dues but pays Regular Member club rates and performs Regular Member duties. A Student Member is not liable for special club assessments.

It is proposed to change Article VII, paragraph 7.2 of the By-Laws to read as follows:

2.7 A regular membership meeting shall be held at least two times each calendar year at times and dates to be decided by the membership. Questions as to meeting conduct shall be as prescribed in Robert’s Rules of Order

Currency for Codgers Billy Hill

I was approached by one of the senior members of the club who asked me about getting current. Like many of us, the amount of time he has spent flying has decreased over the years and because he’s not getting any younger, he’s concerned about currency and proficiency.

Currency is covered by FAR’s which require us to make three take-offs and landings within the previous ninety days. Additionally there is the requirement for an every other year “flight review.” That defines the minimum for currency. If that’s all you do, you may be current, but you won’t be proficient.

Proficiency is somewhat more subjective in nature. As we age, our reflexes slow and from time to time we are prone to having a “senior” moment. What can become impaired as we age is judgment. What doesn’t change is muscle memory. We’ve learned how to fly, and by now that process has become a conditioned reflex. One way we can reduce the probability of a “problem” is to fly more often. Yet another is to exercise more caution as we approach different flying scenarios. If a situation looks as though it might tax our abilities or our reflexes, then we should avoid exposing our selves to that particular scenario. It’s not good enough to be just keeping up with the aircraft if we expect to avoid untenable situations. We must maintain situational awareness. We must be thinking ahead of the aircraft.

It’s difficult to be objective about the subject of your personal abilities. Therefore it is advisable to bring in one or perhaps more individuals in the form of flight instructors who might be prevailed upon to offer an assessment of your strong points as well as those which are in need of improvement.

If you feel that your flying skills have atrophied by virtue of a lack of recent experience than by all means contact one of the club CFI’s and ask for assistance.

What allows an individual to prevail under trying circumstances is experience and experience can only be gained by flying more often, not less.