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The DPA is proud to present our Spring 2010 newsletter!
Many thanks to Anthony Witcher for putting this together for us.
- News about the upcoming fly-in at Boulder, Colorado
- A story by Anthony Witcher
- Hall of Fame: Jean C. Hauser
17th Annual DPA Fly-In - Boulder, Colorado
By Todd Barker
I am so excited to tell you all about our plans for this year's fly-in! Our president, Leslie Stayer, will tell you how excited I have been - there were times when I would call him almost every day giving him exciting news and sharing thoughts and ideas to get feedback from him.
As many of you know, this year's fly-in will take place at Boulder, Colorado. Boulder is an absolutely beautiful location!
A lot of pilots are planning to attend, and support for the fly-in has been amazingly wonderful, with donations being received almost every week. I have a LOT of things for prizes and giveaways!
Here is a partial list of some of the items that have been donated:
Garmin: GPS 196
Gulfstream: Leather Jackets and Airplane Models
ASA: Plotters, Logbooks, Electronic E6B
EAA: Membership Certificate and Oshkosh DVD
Jeppesen: VFR+GPS Charts
Icon Aircraft: Shirts and Hats
Diamond Aircraft: Calendars
And many more, including Flying Magazine subscriptions, Colorado aviation charts, Colorado Airport Directories, Avemco sweatshirt, Wright Brother Memorial replicas from First Flight Foundation, Alarm clock with vibrator from Harris Communications, and more!
These items will be used as raffle prizes, door prizes, and as awards and gifts!
We are going to have a very busy week! The following is a schedule of the fly-in:
Saturday, July 10th – Pilots will begin arriving to Denver and getting their rental cars and getting settled into their hotel rooms.
Some may be able to book aircraft rental checkout flights if their flight arrives early enough.
Sunday, July 11th – Some pilots may continue arriving to Denver.
The majority of pilots will get their aircraft rental checkout flights completed today.
Optional dinner in the evening for all who want to come.
Monday, July 12th – Hotel briefing 6:30 AM.
All checkout flights should be completed this morning.
All pilots will have the morning for some free flight if desired. You can arrange flights with the pilots through the forum (Flights at the pilots discretion) Flights are determined by the pilots – if you wish to take a one-on-one flight, or a custom flight, please contact a pilot via the forum to reserve one for either today or Saturday, July 17th.
All free flights need to conclude prior to 1:00 PM.
At 2:00 PM, all pilots will be flying their aircraft to Erie Airport for the Community Picnic (pilots can find aircraft parking instructions in the forum). If you are a passenger, you may have the option of riding on one of the aircraft to Erie Airport.
All DPA Board Members will fly their aircraft to Erie Airport for a Board Meeting at the Spirit of Flight Museum's private Board Room in the morning. The only attendees allowed will be the DPA President (Leslie Stayer), DPA Vice President (Matt Herrman), DPA Secretary (Mark Stern), DPA Treasurer (Kevin Willis), the two DPA Directors (Carl Callsen and Todd Barker), and the Newsletter Editor (Anthony Witcher). After the conclusion of this meeting, all DPA Board Members will participate in the Community Picnic. During this meeting, all other pilots may fly to Erie Airport to participate in the Community Picnic.
At approximately 3:00 PM the Community Picnic opening ceremonies will begin.
Later in the evening there will be a seminar on Colorado weather systems, habits, and tendencies, as well as mountain flying tips, tricks, and a Question/Answer session. Anyone is welcome to observe this seminar but we ask the questions be asked by pilots only.
After the conclusion of all picnic events, all pilots shall make their return flight back to Boulder Airport. Pilots need to make sure they are night current if they are carrying passengers! Those who are not, please refer to the Pilots Notes.
After lunch, all pilots will prepare for flight.
FLYOUT TBD
Tuesday, July 13th – Hotel briefing 6:30 AM.
All pilots will then proceed to Boulder Airport to get their aircraft ready for flight.
If you wish to join the flight, please be at the Journeys Aviation building at Boulder Airport no later than 7:30 AM.
Seats on flights may be arranged with pilots via the Forum
FLYOUT TDB
Wednesday, July 14th – Hotel briefing 6:30 AM.
All pilots will then proceed to Boulder Airport to get their aircraft ready for flight.
If you wish to join the flight, please be at the Journeys Aviation building at Boulder Airport no later than 7:30 AM.
Seats on flights may be arranged with pilots via the Forum
FLYOUT TDB
Thursday, July 15th – Hotel briefing 6:30 AM.
All pilots will then proceed to Boulder Airport to get their aircraft ready for a short period of free flight if desired. (Flights at the pilots discretion)
Flights are determined by the pilots – if you wish to take a one-on-one flight, or a custom flight, please contact a pilot via the forum to reserve one.
All flights need to conclude prior to 10:30 AM.
FBO Briefing at 11:00 AM
Pilot’s Note: If you wish to participate in the Spot Landing Competition, the FBO briefing is MANDATORY! Any pilot that has not attended this briefing will NOT be allowed to participate during the competition
All pilots will then prepare their aircraft for flight.
Pilot’s Note: Please refer to the Spot Landing Competition rules and schedule.
Public airport closure will commence at 1:00 PM, and will only be open to Spot Landing competitors and glider operations during this time (Gliders operate on a separate grass runway and will not interfere with our competition). Airport will re-open to the public at 3:30 PM.
Competition will take place at the same time as airport closure – first aircraft will take-off at exactly 1:00 PM and the last aircraft will land and be off the runway at 3:30 PM.
Don’t Miss It!! It will be a great show!!
At 3:00 PM, BBQ & social will continue until dark. Awards will be given out around 5:00 PM.
Friday, July 16th – Hotel briefing 6:30 AM.
All pilots will then proceed to Boulder Airport to get their aircraft ready for flight.
If you wish to join the flight, please be at the Journeys Aviation building at Boulder Airport no later than 7:30 AM.
Seats on flights may be arranged with pilots via the Forum
FLYOUT TDB
Saturday, July 17th – Hotel briefing 6:30 AM.
All pilots will have the morning for some free flight if desired. You can arrange flights with the pilots through the forum (Flights at the pilots discretion) Flights are determined by the pilots – if you wish to take a one-on-one flight, or a custom flight, please contact a pilot via the forum to reserve one for either today or Saturday, July 17th.
All free flights need to conclude prior to 1:00 PM.
We will be having a formal banquet at a location that has not been decided yet at this time.
At approximately 3:00 PM the Banquet will begin welcoming ceremonies.
Banquet is estimated to conclude approximately 9:00 PM.
All flights will be scheduled to arrive back home by 3:00 PM due to unstable summer weather in the afternoons. We will have plenty of things to do in town after the flight... the fun doesn't end until we are all too tired to keep having fun!
The fly-in this year is going to be a very good one, so be sure to do everything you can to make sure you attend! You can find all the information you need at the fly-in website at:
www.dpa2010.com
Hope to see you there!
Todd Barker
Director - Deaf Pilots Associaton
Host - 2010 Fly-In
The Deaf Teenage Pilot Who Gets His Revenge
A fiction story
By Anthony Witcher
Walking in the park, the deaf teenager saw small airplanes taking off and landing. Excited, he ran to the airport next to the park, and stood before the wooden fence.
He watched the Cessna 152 taxi toward the front hangar and turn around. The pilot stopped the plane and cut the engine. When the propeller stopped spinning, he got out of the plane. Carrying his binder and handbag, he walked around the plane and entered into the hangar.
The teenager saw another bigger airplane, a Cessna 172, came in to land, went down the runaway, increased its speed and took off flying again back into the air.
The teenager fell in love watching airplanes. Another kid came up him and tapped his shoulder. At the same time, he used his hands to sign and said, "Let's go. Mom says we have to come home."
The young deaf kid signed back, "Look at those airplanes. It's SO-O-O cool!"
The older brother looked at the small planes. They have seen big commercial airplanes, but it was the first time they ever saw small airplanes.
They just moved into the neighborhood and were checking out the park their parents told them about. The park had soccer and baseball fields and tennis courts. It has a golf course nearby and a small airport on the other side of the park which their parents don't know about.
He turned to his younger brother, "Wow. Yeah. It's cool."
The younger brother signed back, "I want to fly those airplanes."
Before the older brother could answer, an old grumpy man standing on the other side of the fence heard one was talking. He walked up and said, "Kids, this is a flying school. How old are you?"
The older brother said, "I'm 19, sir."
The man said, pointing at the small kid, "That's good. Is he your brother?"
"Yes, sir."
"Well, you can take flying lessons here."
"I don't know. My kid brother likes airplanes."
"Really? How old is he?"
"He just turned sixteen."
The man turned to the small kid, "Hey, kid, how would you like to learn to fly here?"
The kid didn't answer. He turned to his older brother who said, "He's deaf, sir."
The man started to walk away, "Too bad."
"What you mean, sir? He said he wants to fly those airplanes."
The man turned around, "He's deaf. He has to hear to fly airplanes. Sorry." He walked away.
The deaf teenager tugged his brother's arm, and signed, "What did he say?"
"He said you can't fly?"
"Why I can't fly?"
"Because you're deaf."
"No! Not fair."
"I know! Let's go home."
They went home for dinner. The parents were concerned that their boys were so quiet and asked lots of questions. Finally the older brother told them what happened at the airport. Shocked, the mother made lots of phone calls after dinner.
She came back signing, "Garvin, I have spoken to the flight school. They said they would be happy to take you in for your first flying lesson."
Garvin didn't believe his mother, and signed back, "But the old man told me I'm deaf and can't fly."
"The flight school said the old man was wrong. They said there are deaf pilots out there."
Garvin was excited. When his parents took him to the flight school, they welcomed the kid with open arms. They introduced him to a flight instructor who wondered how to communicate with him. The parents explained that they write and exchange notes. The instructor thought that was a very good idea and took the kid up in the air for his first airplane ride.
When Garvin and his flight instructor were in the air, the flight instructor turned the flight control over to Garvin. He made couple of turns. He dropped few hundred feet and climbed back up naturally. After they flew back to the airport, the flight instructor said, "Your kid's good. I'll be happy to teach him."
Before the parents could answer, the old man came in the lobby and saw the family. The kid moved behind his parents. The older brother stood besides his father and whispered, "That's him."
The old man walked past them like he was grumpy and went outside. The flight instructor sensed tension from the family, "I'm sorry. Don't mind him."
They saw him put on his hat, get on the golf cart and drive onto the taxiway leading to the runaway. Then he disappeared down the runaway.
Garvin's parents signed him up for his flight lessons using Cessna 152. Then another, another and another. He learned to do power-on and power-off stalls, slow flights, and steep turns. He took full flaps landing flight lessons, soft field take offs and landings flight lessons.
Then he went SOLO! Garvin’s flight instructor had signed off that he could fly alone. Garvin was so happy that he continued to do lots of touch-and-go flying practices at the airport. Later he did his cross country flights perfectly.
One day when Garvin was preparing the plane for another flight lesson, the old man came out and went to him yelling. "What the hell are you doing here? Didn't I tell you can't fly?"
Garvin didn't understand a word and shrugged.
The flight instructor came out, "Harold! Leave him alone."
Harold looked at the flight instructor, "He's not supposed to be here!"
"He's my student pilot."
Harold walked away, "Nah, I don't believe it." He put on his hat, got on his golf cart and drove away. He disappeared down the runaway.
The flight instructor told Garvin that Harold is a hard-headed, grumpy old man. Garvin laughed.
Then Garvin passed his written exam and check-ride. Finally he earned his private pilot's license! The press took pictures and wrote articles about him. Aviation magazines called and wrote articles about the flight school and the flight instructor who taught Garvin how to fly.
One day, another aviation magazine writer came for a visit. He noticed that Harold had been driving his golf cart on the runaway. He wanted to know why. Harold replied that it was the quickest way of getting to his hangar from the golf course.
The writer said, "Why don't you drive only on the taxiway? It's safer."
"Too bumpy," Harold said. Then he added, "What are you here for?"
"I heard there's deaf pilot here. I'm going to write an article about him."
"There's no deaf pilot here."
"I'm told there is one."
"Look, young fellow. You're wasting your time. I said there's no deaf pilot here. Deaf people shouldn't be flying at all. All they do is to play bingo. Go downtown and check them out." He left in a huff. He got on his cart car and drove back down on the runaway.
The flight instructor, who heard the conversation, walked up, "He doesn't play golf."
"What does he do around here?"
"Well, he thinks this runaway was built for him to scooter around."
"This is a public airport."
"We have told him that many times. He still doesn't get it."
"Maybe he had bad coffee this morning."
The flight instructor laughed, "That's why he stopped drinking our coffee. He makes his own coffee in his hangar."
"Have you tasted his coffee?"
"Believe me, you wouldn't want his coffee out of his tin can."
They laughed, and then the writer said, “He said there’s no deaf pilot here.”
“Actually, there is one,” the flight instructor said. “I taught him.”
“Oh. How can the deaf pilot hear and fly with a radio?”
“Well, he doesn’t need one. As long as he watches other airplanes and he stays out of airspaces where radio communication is required, he’s allowed to fly without the radio.”
“I smell good coffee coming from the building.”
“Sure, come in. I’ll be happy to answer questions about him.”
“I’m glad to meet you. I’m Alan and we can start by having a good coffee.”
They laughed and went inside.
One day, when Garvin was flying back from his short cross country trip with his brother, he was coming down to land when he saw Harold in his golf cart riding up along the bank of the runaway.
Garvin's brother said, "Look, old man’s there again."
Garvin signed back, "Get out of the way."
"I don't think he will," Garvin's brother said.
Garvin had already set his plane to land. He signed, "Watch."
He narrowed his eyes like he wanted REVENGE! He applied full power to the plane and held the yoke still. The plane gained airspeed and stopped descending. Harold continued driving his golf car, not paying attention to the approaching plane behind him.
Suddenly the plane was gaining on him. The flight instructor stood near the end of runaway and sensed something was going to happen.
As the plane was getting closer and closer, Harold muttered, "That bastard isn’t going to land." But the plane was getting closer and louder. Finally Harold turned his head around. At the instant, Garvin zoomed above Harold, leaving a blast of rushed air at him. He suddenly jerked his golf cart into the grass and his hat flew off. Harold swore at the top of his lungs. Garvin pulled back to climb back quickly into the air, laughing his head off with his laughing brother.
When Harold got out of his golf cart, he fell down several times, chasing his hat being blown away and throwing his fist at the plane flying away. He gave up, got back on his golf car without his hat and drove back on the runaway.
Garvin grinned from ear to ear. Looking back, he signed, "I got my revenge! DEAF POWER!" Garvin's brother was still laughing so hard that his face turned red.
The next airplane coming down to land was a Bonanza. The pilot hastily had to apply full throttle and pitch up his plane to climb. He pushed down his mike on the yoke as he flew over Harold, "What the hell was that crazy man doing on the runaway riding in his golf cart?"
The flight school and instructor heard him from the public speaker. The school radioed back that they will take care of him.
Harold finally drove off the runaway. He stopped where the flight instructor stood and saw the whole thing. He complained, "Did you see that?"
The flight instructor took a deep breath, "Harold, You shouldn't be driving your golf cart on the runaway."
Jean C. Hauser's invitation back to Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame
Written By Jean C. Hauser
I was invited to Wisconsin Aviation ceremony in October 2009 by Rose Dorcey, President of Wisconsin Aviation Hall of Fame. At the ceremony, there were 400 guests and 5 inductees. Along those who attended, I was thrilled to meet Jeffery Skiles, co-pilot of a commerical airplane that landed in Hudson River. As one of Wisconsin native inductee, he gave a very interesting speech about how he felt about being forced to land in the river and his life. Ms Dorcey introduced me to Skiles and I had a nice talk with him. He shook hands with me and said congratuations for I was Wisconsin's first deaf pilot. Betty Anderle, my cousin, interpreted. I regetted that I did not bring along my camera to take a picture of Jeffery Skiles and myself.
Rose Dorcey and Jean C. Hauser
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