When the Wichita Aero Club was formed in October, one of its goals was to have a black-tie affair and recognize a person or organization who has made a significant contribution to the advancement of aviation.
The plans have been tweaked a little. A trophy will be not be presented this year. With thousands of laid-off aviation workers in Wichita, the gala has been turned into a fundraiser for laid-off workers called the “No Black Tie” Black Tie Ball. It will be held in cooperation with the United Way of the Plains.
Instead of spending money on a new dress or to rent a tuxedo, attendees can buy items at a silent auction to help laid-off or displaced workers, which will go into United Way’s Laid Off Workers Fund, said Wichita Aero Club executive director Dave Franson with the Wichita Aero Club. The dress is cocktail attire.
The event’s keynote speaker will be Tom Poberezny, CEO of the Experimental Aircraft Association. He has been chairman of the annual EAA AirVenture Fly-in convention, now called EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, for more than 25 years. It’s the world’s largest general aviation event and attracts more than 500,000 people from 70 nations and 10,000 airplanes for a week every summer.
The gala will be held at 7 p.m. June 6 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Tickets are $125 for nonmembers and $100 for members. Information and reservations can be made at 641-5962 or 681-4491.
Want to learn to fly but need help with financing? The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association has a new program to help fund pilot training available through Cessna Pilot Centers, Cessna announced from the 35th annual Sun ‘n Fun Fly-in in Lakeland, Fla.
The program lets an aspiring pilot access up to $25,000 to finance their flight lessons. The financing program is administered and funded through a third-party provider not associated with Cessna, Textron or Textron’s finance companies, the company said.
At the same time, Cessna announced two fleet orders of piston aircraft. The Civil Air Patrol ordered 19 additional new Cessna 182T Skylanes. And the University of North Dakota has ordered 13 additional 172S Skyhawks to be used for flight training.
The Civil Air Patrol is a nonprofit volunteer organization that serves as an auxiliary to the U.S. Air Force. It helps with disaster relief, cadet programs, aerospace education and search and rescue operations.
Cessna Aircraft has a mock-up of its light sport aircraft, the Model 162 SkyCatcher, on display at this week’s Sun ‘n Fun in Lakeland, Fla.
The company has placed the SkyCatcher back in development after two flight tests involving spin-testing led to crashes. In the coming weeks, Cessna will gather additional wind tunnel testing that will be used with data from recent spin testing to refine the configuration before spin testing will be resumed, the company said today.
On March 19, the plane was undergoing an aggressive spin test regime, power and and cross-controlled, when it entered a spin that was not immediately recoverable. It was one of more than 500 test flights flown using various combinations of center-of-gravity positions, power settings, flap settings and control inputs, the company said. The aircraft was slightly damaged and is being repaired.
Cessna is testing beyond those required by the American Society for Testing and Materials.
