My motto is-better late than never since it is now July
As always the Mack Airport Saturdays are busy. EAA Chapter 800 and HAWK shared the duties of feeding breakfast and lunch to the pilots of the Fat Tire fly in May 2017. The weather was perfect for the fly in and there were airplanes from all over the west competing in the short takeoff and landing competition. The weather was good and the flying excelent . Steve Henry of Wild West Aircraft took home the bragging rights with his usual precision flying style in Yee Haw. He has lots of videos on the web of his exploits in the airplane- he can sure fly it.
HAWK is taking 7 kids, including Braden, to Oshkosh this year (Braden’s 2nd trip). EAA 800 has reserved 2 campsites in Camp Scholler and HAWK will be sharing it with them. Come by for a visit and meet the kids. Last year Charley Becker EAA National donated Oshkosh passes to EAA 800 for our young eagles since we had the HAWK Fisher Products Dakota Hawk the kids put together on display in the teen build fly area. (Thanks Charley Becker for the passes last year). The plan this year to get kids passes was to take the HAWK balloon out for the glows but most of the HAWK kids are flying out in airplanes and none of the airplanes going have trailer hitches on them. The one pickup going will be loaded with camping gear and is going on to New York to pick up a glider and trailer so the balloon to Oshkosh idea has been shelved. It would take some real skill and lots of good winds to fly it to the show – Maybe next year. So far, it looks like there will be at least 5 airplanes from our area going to Oshkosh. Including HAWK’s Cherokee. Braden snagged a ride with Bill Marvel in his new, just finished, RV-14. (Lucky Kid). For a 16 year old, Braden has flown balloons, and all sorts of airplanes including conventional geared airplanes. Heck, 2 years ago he could not even spell pilot now he are one!. I would bet he has a private balloon pilot rating before he gets his fixed wing rating.
Thanks WESTSTAR!
Thank you to Micro VG for donating a full set of micro VG’s for HAWK’s Piper Cherokee.
N838CP, The Zenith 701 is coming along nicely. Pat W has taken that job on and is doing an excellent job. The partially donated 912 rotax engine is about ready to install- HAWK just needs an engine mount. The Continental C90 engine is going on the Zenith 601. Hopefully the 701 will make Oshkosh next year.
N13245, the HAWK 172 is now in pieces and the wrinkled firewall is almost out. This has been William, Logan, Jake and Solomon’s project. Solomon is one of the best 11 year old riveters I have ever seen- when he drills a rivet it is always centered and he is very careful to only drill the head off so he does not elongate the holes. He did an awesome job on his tool box build and it shows in his work on the 172, at the end of the work sessions Solomon does not want to go home- watch for him at Oshkosh 2017.
There are lots of new kids that have signed on with HAWK and every Saturdays’ build sessions are very busy. Logan is learning a lot and is starting to be a backup mentor for Braden. He should solo in August as he turns 16- Logan is flying to Oshkosh in the family 172 with his mom Shay B as pilot. Shay purchased the 172 (Rosies Angel) a few months ago and has gone from a rusty pilot to a confident pilot thanks to HAWK and its instructors. Jaden worked with Braden at WestStar on the Cherokee paint and also helps out in the shop along with William. It is nice to have the older kids mentoring the younger kids. I do not think anyone in HAWK would have believed that there are so many kids interested in aviation. HAWK has some turnover in kids but not a lot. Most of it happens because the parents move out of the area. On Saturdays when the weather permits, both the HAWK airplanes, The Dakota Hawk and Cherokee, are busy flying Young Eagles. The Cherokee is usually busy giving instruction or rides to the kids.
The Mack Airport 10CO really comes to life every Saturday- If you are in the area, check out what is happening at the best airport in the Grand Valley. Heck, HAWK will even treat you to lunch. (If you get there before the kids).
HAWK’s website is now set up to receive donations through Pay Pal.
Just go to www.hawkaviators.org and click on the “Donate” tab, and then on that page scroll down to the “Donate” button.
With all the things HAWK has happening and 3 hangers to pay for, any donation is appreciated. REMEMBER THE KIDS! Without outside financial help the programs could not exist. Any donations are good for a tax write off, as HAWK is a 501(C)3 educational non profit.