dates. NWAAC is looking for a place to have an airshow and we also agreed if they needed any help that we would help them.
Remember next month we are voting on new officers. Nominated are:
PRESIDENT: Dick Moore  - Bob Johnson
VICE PRESIDENT: Bob Johnson
It was voted that only the President and Vice President will be elected positions and the rest of the positions be left to the same people unless otherwise notified.. So you are stuck with me being Secretary and Treasurer for at least another year!
We need to get more gyrocopters registered for our chapter to the FAA, to show we are an active group.
Jim and Kelly Vanek are were with the Chapter 5 fly in, in Marysville, Ca. Jim was doing some demonstrations and doing some of the stunts he usually does at airshows.
We have three new members so please welcome: Lindsey Jackson, Paul Plack and Don Stevens.
Meeting adjurned at 2:20pm.
November 10th meeting will be at Sportcopter hanger. Jim Vanek will have the 2 place up and ready to fly. BRING GOODIES FOR LUNCH PLEASE!!

Thanks to Ray, Addie, Micheal Bruce and Dick Moore, Tammi and Dan Jordan. Luncheon was a success. We sure enjoyed the new NWAAC clubhouse with the nice comfy couches, recliners for all to sit in, and warmness of the heater, Amazingly we all stayed awake! Also the secretary, treasurer liked the kitchen facilities here for I can bring something for the luncheon the next time we have the meeting here. The club meeting came to order at 1:30 pm. There were 19 members and 4 guests include Micheal Bruce, Paul Place, Dale Archanbault and were were happy to see our past editor and friend Bob Duncan which flew in with his L2. I want to thank Addie, Micheal and Ray Bruce for help cleaning up after the meeting. Your help is much appreciated.
   OLD BUSINESS: We talked about the trainer that Dan and Tammi Jordan saw in Japan. Dan was asked by our president Dick Moore to look into it further on seeing if we could get the plans to making it ourselves. Dan quoted a price of $118,000 yen plus $2,500 yen for money transfers and possible import tax. Now remember American dollars is different from Japanese Yen. Dan and a neighbor built a similar model for the Albany show. It attracted a lot of attention.
We discussed on the Arlington Show next year. Dick Moore,Dan and Tammi Jordan, Brad Crenshaw offered their time to help in representing our club and work in a booth. Any others that would like to volunteer? Club noted to support and help pay for some of the expenses on camping and entrees. There will be 5 passes and one camping spot available  REMEMBER THIS DATE! JULY 10-14th, 2002. Hope in seeing a lot of you there!
   NEW BUSINESS: We voted to go ahead and pay for another year for Ray Bruce and Bob Johnson to secure the NWAAC clubhouse. We discussed using the facilities during the winter months (Jan,Feb,& March) since it is a bit cold then. Bob Johnson will check in to see if we can use the clubhouse at those

Well, first off it was a fall vacation. I have been busy building my RAF 2000 for most of this year. I finally got it to a stage where it looked like it might fly soon. I decided to start my training. I would have
loved to train in the local area, but I wanted to train in an RAF 2000. If you want to know how I arrived at my final decision to fly to Arkansas to train with Ron Menzie, just ask.
Sat, 10/6/01 I flew from Portland to Little Rock and then drove a rented car about 50 minutes north to Searcy.
On Sunday I drove out to the Searcy airport and let myself in to Ron's hanger. He was gone for the weekend. He left some video tapes and some books for me to keep me busy. I had a very relaxing time just hanging out at his hanger and watching tapes and reading the books he left for me.
On Monday Ron arrived just before lunch. It wasn't long before we went flying. We would fly for 50 minutes, come back and take a break and then
when we felt like it we would fly again. On Monday I got in 3, 50-minute flights. The shorter time-per-trip helps to not get overwhelmed. On Tuesday I got in 2 flights. Another student showed up with his RAF 2000 machine on Tuesday, so I helped him unload it and enjoyed going over it and comparing it to mine.
The other student was having his machine final-inspected while he was there, so it was a good experience for me to witness the process since I have to do that shortly with my machine.
The other student also was flying in Ron's RAF until he could have his inspected and ready to fly. So, we took turns. While waiting on the ground I would take little walks so that I could watch the other guy fly. Or I would sit around and read.
On Wed. my second flight got cut short by rain. That last landing on Wed. was a practice balloon-up landing. If any fixed-wing pilot wants to debate the need for getting training in a gyro before taking one up, I would be happy to relate my experiences with trying to break some ingrained fix-wing responses.
So, we hung around in the hanger during the rain. During that time I was able to watch the DAR do his inspection on the RAF. I took lots of notes and

am implementing some of the things I learned. Most of Thur. was raining too, but later in the day we got in a flight. I was even up a little after dark. That challenged my depth perception. I haven't flown at night since the early 80s.
Friday I got in 3 flights again. I was feeling pretty good with my abilities by then. Ron joked that he had his eyes closed on those last couple laps. The enclosed picture is of me standing next to Ron's machine that I trained in. All we did while I was there were landings and takeoffs. We did some emergency engine out simulations too. I got to land on the taxiway twice during the week. That was a new and fun experience for this fixed-wing pilot. The whole thing was great. I love the low/slow flying. A couple days the winds were 15 kts, gusting to 19. No problem. I would not have been as comfortable in a fixed-wing in those conditions. All-in-all it was a relaxing and productive vacation.
Now I have to finish my RAF 2000. I'm working on getting ready for the final inspection. Then it is time to get a solo-signoff and fly off the 40 hour test flight period. If any of you out there have space in a hanger somewhere between McMinnville and Scappoose and would like to share space/rent, let me know. I do not look forward to set-up/tear-down from my trailer during that 40 hour test flight period. You can contact me at:
gkaminsk@att.net or at 503-628-8039. Z

I talked to the kids for a few minutes, then they disappeared as fast as the arrived. Now it was time for the adults to arrive. "Hi where are you from, That thing really fly's huh". "Nice machine, did you build that?" "Yes", I said with pride. We talked for a while and then they said, "Well, let's see her fly". I didn't want to disappoint my admiring fans, even though they were MAKING me fly again. So I dawned my gear, checked over my ride home, strapped in and started the engine and took off. I climbed over the trees and turned back over the runway, and buzzed all my admirers, and waved good bye. As I flew off into the sunset......
Again I climbed to just over 4,000 feet again, and headed back to the airport, but decided to go buzz a couple of friends on the way. Then I arrived at the airport, announce I was going to land on runway 31, and all was clear. And I set up for a landing, and all was well.
Just as I started to land, all went haywire. I didn't know why my gyro was nose down and bouncing from my left main to the right main and back again, getting more violent on each cycle. But I tried to execrate and pull back on the stick........ but too late. It pitched over to the left and I was skidding down the runway on the left front side of the my now injured pride and joy. All of this happened in what seemed like one and a half seconds.
I looked around and all I saw was asphalt, and I was thinking, "this doesn't look right some how". The engine was still running, but as I moved it finally quit. I undid my restraints, stood up and looked back at what was left of my baby. The rotor blades looked wrinkled but in tacked. The left wheel had been tucked under, and the mast bent slightly to the right and the tail was busted up.
About that time three people ran up and helped me flip it back on it's wheels and pull it off the runway. They kept asking me if I was all right, and I kept saying, "I was fine"! But inside I felt someone had just stomped my pride to a pulp. Then the Coast Guard showed up to help. Then an ambulance, then the Warrenton fire dept., the Astoria fire dept. and just about the rest of the world to see a fool and his (used to be) flying machine.
I walked over to my hanger and got my truck and trailer, and went back to the runway and loaded what was left of my gyro onto the trailer and took it back to the hanger. At this point I realized my arms hurt, I

Today is the day, I was thinking, that I will go to that grass strip out in Knappa. I have never tried to land on a grass strip before, but it was a new experience for me so it was going to be today. I had already driven to the airport to check it out, looking for pot holes, gopher holes, and the like, but it looked really good.
I started with the usual thorough pre-flight, and all looked good. So I strapped myself in hooked up my radio, adjusted the altimeter, and yelled "CLEAR". The engine fired off on the first pull. I let it warm up for a few minutes, spun the blades up a bit, then taxied to the runway.
It was a beautiful, warm Monday afternoon. Not a cloud in the sky. The wind was light. A perfect day to fly.
I squawked into the radio that I was taking off on runway #13. I pushed the throttle firm but gently foreword. It started to pickup speed quickly, and I was off the ground flying straight down the runway. I made a right turn and started climbing because I knew there were a lot of trees heading out to Knappa.
I continued to climb passing the Astoria Column, and continued to climb until I got to about 4,000 feet. It was beautiful, looking down over all of Astoria, Tongue point and the Columbia River. There were boats running up and down the river, some fishing, some just playing. And I was thinking to myself, "Eat your hearts out", as I continued flying to Knappa International grass strip.
As I was enjoying the view, I thought to myself that I was looking at the Knappa High School, and football field, which was after the airport. So I started looking for the airport. I knew where it was when I drove there, where is it know...... could that be it, that little tiny strip of grass? So I started a vertical decent heading toward the airport. About an hour later (just kidding) I got down to a couple hundred feet and pulled a left turn and landed with no problems at all. After landing, I taxied toward a little parking area of the grass, shut down, and stopped my rotors. Right away I had three kids run up and start talking about my gyro. "What is that thing?, How many people can it carry?, That's cool"! "My thoughts exactly", I was thinking.

looked down to see "Road Rash". and my flight suit looked like it was burned and had several holes.
Well that was different, I thought. I kept thinking, I hurt my baby, I hurt my baby...... As I locked the hanger and drove away, my thoughts were running wild. Should I rebuild it, should I fly again, what am I going to do. When I got home and talked to my wife, she said get another one and get to flying again. So the next day I checked into getting another one, so you haven't heard the last of me yet..........