Thursday, May 29, 2014

Experimental Aircraft Association chapter to celebrate 50th anniversary: Cross Keys Airport (17N), New Jersey

MONROE TWP. — Chapter 216 of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will honor its 50th anniversary June 6-8 at Cross Keys Airport.

"We were first chartered in Nov. 3, 1964, and at that time, we had 10 EAA members to form the chapter," said Bob Cooper, Chapter 216's membership director and one of 10 of the group's charter members. "Over the years, our members have grown to as many as 90."

Chapter 216 will celebrate the milestone with a dinner and dedication ceremony where each past chapter officer will have time to speak about the history of the chapter and their time with the group.

"We've been doing this for over 50 years, and we really love it," chapter President Dan Marchetti said. "It's a lot of responsibility, but the guys take it on and we can handle it. We're all professionals."

Experimental Aircraft Association members build homemade — and often unconventional — airplanes from plans or kits, or restore antique planes to flying form. 

"We have an interesting group of airplanes ranging from ultralights to rebuilt antiques from all kinds of materials," Cooper said. "There's quite a variance of building techniques, all of which are officially licensed by the FAA under the experimental or recreation category."

Events on Friday, June 6, will include the dedication of Chapter 216's new storage facility gifted to them by the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

"It's a trailer that was gifted to us by the VFW for nothing to bring all of our equipment together and store it," Marchetti said.

Weather permitting, the Deptford Police Department will also be setting up their hot air balloon from 6 to 9 p.m., according to Marchetti.

The festivities will continue Saturday, June 7, and Sunday, June 8, in conjunction with the 23rd Annual Doug Macleod Memorial Pancake Breakfast. Macleod was a dedicated, long-time member of the organization and the annual breakfast is held in his honor.

"He was a past member who was very substantial to our chapter and donated a lot of his time and money." Marchetti said. "His wife, Betty, is going to be there and a few different people will be presenting engraved glasses from the organization to her."

The event is a "Drive-in/Fly-in" inviting the general public, as well as any nearby pilots, to join in on the fun — free of charge.

"We have pilots flying in from all around the area to park their airplanes to have breakfast with us and walk around to check out the planes," Cooper said.

Antique, homebuilt, sport pilot, and ultralight aircraft will be on display, along with an FAA Safety Seminar on fuel management to be held on Saturday. The show also welcomes classic cars and campers and all events are free and open to the public.

Contact Marchetti, 856-881-8343, for more information on all of the events.


Source:   http://www.nj.com

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