Happy New Year!

Post date: Jan 4, 2017 5:05:25 PM

Fellow members,

First I want to thank everyone for their hard work in 2016. When you think of where we were in Dec 2015 compared to now it is night and day.

· Belle was stuck in Oshkosh and it was not certain that she would return.

· We only had one fully operational airplane.

· Our airshow was in jeopardy due to the airport construction.

· We had very few qualified pilots.

I could go in but you get the picture. In 2016 we knocked the ball out of the park.

· We got Belle back and flying without breaking the bank or going into debt.

· Significant progress was made on the PT-19 restoration and the L-17 issues were finally worked out.

· We managed to reschedule our airshow and despite extreme weather issues, the airshow as a great success.

· Squadron finances are in great shape. We have more money in the bank than we have in quite a while despite buying a C-47 engine.

· We have added so many pilots that HQ asked us if we were starting our own airline!

· The squadron made a strong showing at highly visible CAF shows and really came through for HQ.

2016 was largely a rebuilding year. I am planning on 2017 to be a growth and improvement year. We should have four operational airplanes next year, and we want to take them to as many events as possible. We need to expand our membership. With so much to do, we need more help to be successful “Many hands make light work”.

Again, I want to thank everyone for a great 2016 and encourage everyone to help make 2017 even better.

Keep Em’ Flying!

Col Mark Davis