Monday, May 22, 2006

SC BC PhotoShow

Click on the link below to see the PhotoShow for the SC BC held at Whiteplains on Sunday.

http://www.photoshow.net/cooks/whiteplains_airpark

Enjoy.

Photos by Don Cook & Nancy Van Wormer

Sunday, May 21, 2006

Storm Damage!

Date Line: 5-21-2006

We received some strong winds, rain and lightning this afternoon and 7 - 10's of an inch of rain. Lee Van Wormer said his wind gauge dropped out at 57 mph. Jim Causey weather station reported 47 knots. One home had shingles pulled up, and another had some siding pulled loose.
Bill Como's Pear tree in front of his house has a nice list to port. A pine tree next to my house is snapped in two. Several tall trees on Windy road were also toppled. A lot of trash was removed from the end of runway 27. Good thing this storm didn't arrive earlier in the day. Hate to think what could have happened.

SC BC Photos






Another one under our belt, as we conclude this years SC BC at Whiteplains. While the weather didn't look real good early in the morning, it gave way to a wonderful day. We had over 30 aircraft attend this year, from home builds to two helicopters, and everything in between. Over 220 meals were served. Thanks to everyone that pitched in to keeping things rolling along.

Best of all, everyone landed and took off safely.

Thanks to Ray and Mary Anne Chaplin for hosting this years event at Whiteplains. Don & Rosalie Cook host next years SC BC.

We are very Blessed to have such a wonderful community that help in every way they can at these events. Without them it wouldn't be possible.

A BIG THANK YOU!

Whiteplains Plantation Pilots Association

May 21, 2006

To the Whiteplains Plantation Family,

Another very successful fly-in is on the record books as we hosted the South Carolina Breakfast Club. We served 220 people the best breakfast in South Carolina. This first class residential community with aviation amenities, is one of a kind in South Carolina and we all should be quite proud of it. The grounds, hangers and homes looked great because of a common effort by all to obtain the best look possible. This is a steak and eggs place to live!

An extra big Thank You to the volunteers who did a great job of handling the ground maintenance, car parking, aircraft parking, air traffic control, latrine service, hanger preparation and food service. And a sincere Thank You to our hosting hanger owners, Ray and Mary Anne Chaplin. I heard that Ray found some tools that had been missing since he moved here! A big Thank You to the folks who drove their pride and joy classic cars and shared them with us.

Normally at this time of the year I would turn over my duties to Ray Hill, our Vice President/Secretary, to carry on for the summer months. But there has been a drastic change in my life, as less than a week ago I was diagnosed with serious lung and liver cancer. Therefore, I have a new job assignment as captain of the battle to win over this shocking health issue. Nancy and I will take a Medical Leave of Absence from our Whiteplains duties to concentrate all of our energies in conquering this daunting threat.

Please support Ray Hill as he carries on my duties and support the Whiteplains Pilots Association with your attendance and enthusiasm.

May your wheels touch first.

Lee Van Wormer
President

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Free calls to all landlines and mobile phones within the US and Canada

Greetings:

Skype has recently made their PC to phone communication free. Simply download skype and sign up for a free account and your are able to call from a PC or Mac for free! The only catch is when you type in the phone number, you must us +1 first. For example +18038081993 would reach me! Enjoy!!

www.skype.com - To download click on link below.

skype http://tinyurl.com/f9jwr

I tried it out and it works great. Works best if you have a head set. I had a cheap $5.00 set and it worked fine. Sound was not as good as your home phone, but a lot better then a cell phone.

Don Cook

Insurance & SC Guard Airwing

Received the following message:

Subject : Are you Insured?

FYI

From Monday Pilots meeting.

I talked with Robert B. Kamsch with AUA Aviation Inc. this morning. It is his opinion that we will not be insured flying mission for the State Guard during a disaster or into a disaster area.
Your policy may be different but not likely.
Please check this out before signing up.

Thanks

DP

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As a result of DP email... I called AOPA, my insurance carrier threw USAIG. They told me just the opposite. Said that it shouldn't be a problem, but requested the information that we got at the meeting. So I faxed it to them. They said that they would email me if they thought it would be a problem. So far, no email. If they come back and say... no way, I'll let you know. Best check with YOUR insurance company.

Don Cook

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

YOU ARE INVITED!



TO THE WHITEPLAINS FLY IN

BREAKFAST 9:00 A.M.

SUNDAY MAY 21, 2006

HOSTING THE ANNUAL

SOUTH CAROLINA BREAKFAST CLUB

STEAK 'N EGGS 'N GRITS

COOKED BY EAA CHAPTER 242

Monday, May 15, 2006

Whiteplains Pilots Meeting




Date Line; 5-15-2006

Below are a few notes I took during tonight pilots meeting for those that could not attend.

Trash pickup last Saturday netted 25 bags of trash that are no longer littering our streets. This year, Bud Light was the winner, followed by Natural Light.

Ron Ackerman and Dennis Perry got their Commercial tickets. Congratulation on a job well done.

We had a presentation on concrete floor polishing. Didn't get the name of the company, but Lee has his card if you’re interested? 42X36 hanger runs around 3 grand ($1.50 - $2.00 Sq FOOT). Should last a life time.

The LED beacon light was voted down by the board. So... were still in the dark at Whiteplains.

Guest speaker, Lieutenant Colonel Greg Stidom, gave a talk about the new upcoming (one of a kind) Air Wing of the South Caroline State Guard. In a nut shell, they are setting up an Air Wing with 72 aircraft, up to 144 pilots/navigators and support personnel. If you want to hear more about it, you can see them June 10th. at Owens during the Young Eagles flight.

We got Hail!


Date Line: 5-14-2006

We got a little hail Sunday. In fact we got it three times at my house. As you can see by the picture, some of it was large. Only damage that I know of is one broken window, and Neil said he got slight damage on his Mooney tail feathers.

Next Young Eagle Flight

Received a call from Shelton that the next National Young Eagles Rally day is coming up on June 10th. If you would like to join in the fun, send him an email that you want to sign up for this important opportunity.

His e-mail address is: sheltr@mindspring.com

Saturday, May 13, 2006

Project update: Bob Chatham





DateLine : May 13, 2006
Ray Chapin and myself check out Bob's new canopy for his RV that he is constructing.
Must say, it fits real good. If I was having someone build me a plane, I'd want some one like Bob to build it.
Next step once this is finished, is off to the paint shop. Great Job Bob.

Pictures by Don Cook.

News Flash!

Date Line: May 13, 2006

Just in case you haven't heard, Whiteplains is expecting again... this time the proud parents are our newcomers, Doug and Lisa Sowder. They are expecting number Three in December, just in time for Christmas!
Congratulations to you and your family.

Whiteplains Platation Service Project



Date line: Saturday May 13, 2006







Today around 8:30 AM. people started to show up at Jack and Diane’s place for our twice a year road clean up project. We had a very good turn out. Thanks to all of you that supported this worthy project. As you can see from some of the pictures, we had lots of food and good time by all. A total of 25 bags of trash were collected! Next event, SC Breakfast Club May 21, 2006.

To see a PhotoShow go to:
  • PhotoShow


  • Friday, May 12, 2006



    News Flash!

    Phase one gate key pad was rearranged yesterday 5-11-2006 when a delivery truck attempted to back out the in side of the gate entrance. This was managed with the help of a second person guiding the driver with the use of a two way radio.
    Thanks to Bill Como for the fine pictures. Bill stated that the gate keypad should be repaired by the delivery company in two weeks.

    Wednesday, May 10, 2006

    Ray's Bird gets it's wings...








    Just wanted to share a few pictures of Ray's plane, now with wings! More to follow.

    Click on picture to see full size. Enjoy!

    Reminder from Diane Fastnaughts

    Whiteplains Plantation Events - May 2006

    Birthdays - Happy Birthday to the following members:
    May 1 - Tommy Robbins
    May 5 - Gary Elliott
    May 13 - Bruce Cunniff

    May 20 - Michael Benton
    May 26 - Lee Van Wormer
    May 30 - Michelle Perry

    Special Events:
    May 7 - SC BC Bennettsville (BBT)
    May 13 - Adapt - A - Highway Pick up Day 9:00 AM
    ...............Meet at the Fastnaughts Hanger
    May 14 - MOTHER'S DAY
    May 15 - Pilots' Assoc. Meeting 7:00PM

    May 21 - SC BC Whiteplains Plantation (SC99)
    May 29 - Memorial Day

    June Special Notice:
    June 3 - Family Dance at the Fastnaughts!! RSVP 358-0667
    June 10 - Young Eagles at EAA 242

    Cool Must have Weather Link added...

    I just found a COOL weather link... see the side bar Links and click on Current Weather. Check it out. If you know of another cool link, e-mail me and I'll put it on the site.

    Don Cook
    duckey123@hotmail.com

    Young Eagles Flight - Saturday May 6th


    Update: May 6th

    Congradulations to Bill Como for flying his Seventh young eagle on saturday this year. Great job Bill. Thanks for making it a really exciting day for this young cadet.

    Coln. Jim Tucker said that the next batch from LHS won't be till september.

    The next EAA Young Eagles event is to take place at Columbia airport this summer.
    _______________________________________

    We have a flight this saturday, 5-06-2006. At the moment we only have one to fly.

    Don Cook
    Whiteplains Flight Leader

    WHITEPLAINS PILOTS’ ASSOCIATION MINUTES

    MARCH 20, 2006

    HELD AT FRANK SKENES HANGAR

    The President, Lee Van Wormer, called the meeting to order at 7:05 PM with a statement of the purpose of the association and a welcome to all members and guests.

    Members and guests asked to sign in on the sheet being passed around.

    Introductions and type aircraft flown were made of each person present.

    Dennis Ramsey asked for motion to accept the revised minutes from the Jan 2006 meeting.
    Mica Froese seconded.
    Voted and passed.

    Terry Yon presented a Treasurers Report where he indicated that only two checks had been written for power.

    Todd Falstad took the floor and donated a fine Chinese replica of a rolex watch for a door prize. Todd presented a short presentation on landing long and overshooting the runway which included the reading of an article from AOPA magazine. Todd emphasized the importance of recognizing the need to go around when too high or too fast and explained how any accident or incident could impact the airpark.

    Lee took the floor and thanked Frank Skenes for the use of his hangar and the food. Lee announced that the Adopt-a-highway last month was successful with the collection of 29 bags of litter. Lee explained that the donated surplus beacon was too heavy for our tower and a new light weight strobe beacon would cost about $800.00. Ken Plesser advised that we could possibly sell the beacon on ebay to help fund the new beacon. Dennis Ramsey mentioned that a $400.00 donation from an unknown member had been offered to refurbish the old beacon and would still be offered towards the purchase of the new beacon.

    Lee announced that the South Carolina Breakfast club would be hosted by Whiteplains on May 21st and the clean up day would be May 20th. Jim Causey and Bill Como will coordinate the clean up.

    Neal Bonacum advised that the Breakfast Club team was in place but Ray Ackerman needed six volunteers for transportation.

    Lee announced that the JROTC flights had been successful with 15 kids taken up and Don Cook would have a photo package link on the Whiteplains website soon.

    Congratulations to James Kiesler for getting his Private Pilots license.

    Lee advised that new flags on the Elam tower were in place and that the FAA safety seminar would be held at Graniteville on the 28th at 6:30 pm.

    Lee stated that there was some interest among the pilots to have a windsock placed at runway 9 on Jack Fastnaught's hangar. Neil said that there was a tear in the current windsock. James Kiesler stated that he had a windsock to put up on his hangar at runway 27. Lee asked for a show of hands for the windsock on runway 9 and said that he would approach the board.

    Peggy Como will be coordinating a yardsale on Saturday and Dennis Ramsey will coordinate the flight to the South Carolina Breakfast Club on the 26th to Georgetown.

    The guest speaker Col. Walter L. Watson was introduced, he presented an interesting program on the SR-71 aircraft and his experiences flying it.

    The door prizes and cash drawing were drawn and the meeting was adjourned at 8:30

    Respectfully Submitted,

    Ray Hill

    LHS JROTC AWARDS BANQUET






    April 22, 2006

    Saturday night, Bill Como and I, along with our wives, attended the Awards Banquet at LHS. We presented Young Eagle certificates to the ROTC member that flew with us during the two young eagle flights that were held at Whiteplains Airpark this year. It was a rewarding night, with lots of good food and awards.

    We can be very proud of our young men and women that were in attendance last night. Scholarships were awarded in the amounts of $70,000 all the way to $160,000 for a four year scholarship to USC.

    The youth of today well be our leaders tomorrow. From what we saw, we are in good hands.


    Congratulations, to over 160 cadets that were in attendance last night. You made us proud.


    Don Cook / Bill Como

    US Flag Message


    Do you think they might get the message?

    SPECIAL EAA Chapter E-Gram: TSA Issues Warning to Aircraft Owners

    TSA Issues Warning to Aircraft Owners, Airports
    Web forum message "orders" destruction of private jets
    *******************************************************************
    April 21, 2006 - The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has
    issued
    an advisory warning
    (http://www.eaa.org/communications/eaanews/Sec_Advisory_4_20.pdf)
    to aircraft owners and airport managers to remain vigilant in the wake
    of an Arabic message posted on a web forum urging followers to
    identify and destroy private American jets. The TSA reminds all
    aircraft and airport owners to review the TSA information Publication,
    "Security Guidelines for General Aviation Airports,"
    http://tinyurl.com/hnpqn
    and to report any airplane theft or suspicious activity immediately to
    the
    TSA General Aviation Hotline, 866/GASECURE (866/427-3287).
    Go to the www.eaa.org for the story.

    First TIme Using your IFR ticket

    AOPA has a good story about a pilot that went on his first IFR flight in the soap after getting his IFR rating.

    Click like below to read.

    http://www.aopa.org/members/ftmag/article.cfm?article=3707

    Don Cook

    Whiteplains Communications Report

    4/20/2006


    Newsletter : Nancy Van Wormer and Susan Ramsey

    The first newsletter was created and distributed and/or mailed to all residents and hangar owners during the week of March 13, 2006.

    The second newsletter will be created in the Fall of 2006 by Susan Ramsey. Any items for the newsletter should be in her hands by October 15.


    Caring and Sharing: Peggy Como

    Cards will be sent to residents and hangar owners in the event of a death in the immediate family.

    Flowers sent to funeral homes will be on a personal, friendship group basis only and will not be in the domain of this committee.

    Small flower bouquets ( $10-$15 range ) will be sent to residents and hangar owners in the event of injury or surgery.

    Peggy needs to be informed via e-mail ( billandpeggycomo@alltel.net) or phone ( 951-0773 ) if you wish to receive this gesture of caring. Therefore the name – Caring and Sharing. Before we can care – you have to share!

    Peggy submitted a detailed account of expenses for future budget planning.


    Welcoming Committee – Peg Peterson, Nancy Bonacum, Cindy Ross, Vicky
    Gardner, Gwen Mochak

    This committee has met and created packets for new residents which will be delivered to them when they move in to their new home. To keep costs at a minimum some items will be listed that residents can find on line to be downloaded themselves. One such item is the Whiteplains Directory. Calendars will not be included in the packet since these are sold to residents. New residents will be directed to Nancy Van Wormer if they wish to purchase one.


    Web Site – Michael Cone, Don Cook

    Michael Cone continues to work on the structure for the whiteplainsplantation.com website that was created over a year ago.

    Don Cook is piloting a BLOG ( a BLOG is a message board/notebook) with some new technology he received from his daughter. His goal is to have a user-friendly site that any Whiteplains’ resident can access, contribute to, update, etc. It would be community based . Any page submitted to the site would be screened by Don for appropriate content which would include a calendar, meeting minutes, photographs from community wide events, items offered for sale, etc. There would also be links to AOPA, FAA,EAA Chapter 242, Young Eagles, Weather, etc.

    This site will soon be piloted with 8 families at Whiteplains.

    It is hoped and planned that this message board could be eventually accessed through the official Whiteplains web site.

    An up-dated Whiteplains Directory was e-mailed to all residents and hangar owners during the week of April 10, 2006, by Ken Plesser. Folks will be notified of any corrections and/or additions by Nancy Van Wormer via announcements@whiteplains.com


    Calendar: Nancy Van Wormer

    This is a work in progress .

    Bulletin Boards: Everyone

    If you have not noticed, Susan Ramsey has posted a note about walking together. Take a look and join in if you wish.



    Respectfully submitted by Nancy Van Wormer
    Communications Coordinator

    Board Meeting

    The next meeting of the Whiteplains Plantation Board of Directors and Leadership Team will be on Thursday, April 20, at 7 PM in my hangar. Any property owner is welcome to attend.

    In addition to routine business, discussions will include mowing (how to best maintain our common areas) and the issue of liability insurance for the Association and its Officers/volunteers.

    Ken Plesser

    Photos from Whiteplaines


    Controls for mower.

    Bill putting it through it paces.

    View of Runway at Whiteplains Airpark (SC99) after recoat.

    Next Young Eagles Flight

    We are hosting the JR. ROTC cadets for Lexington High School on May 6th, 2006. Col. James Tucker should have the names and numbers of Cadets to be flown by the end of April. If you would like to help fly the cadets, please send an e-mail to the flight leader, Don Cook, to duckey123@hotmail.com as soon as possible.

    Thanks,
    Don Cook

    Update: As of 4/19/2006 Col. Tucker said that they have only two young eagles to fly at this time. This could change later.