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Volume 9, Issue 10

December 2005

President’s Message 2

Challenger Learning Center 3 Museum Notes 4

Aircraft Restoration 5

Space Update 6

PAM Remembered 7

Aviation Briefs 12

Upcoming Events 11

Gooney Bird: A flight back in time 8

Annual Year-end appeal letter 9

Inside this issue:

Merry Christmas and Season’s Greetings to all from the

Volunteers and Staff of the Prairie Aviation Museum

The Prairie Aviation Museum’s entry into the Annual Festival of Lights. The tree was designed and set up by Tom and Karen Kuhn

WOW — 1981 seems so long ago when we started what we are today. As 2005 comes to a close, we can reflect on another successful year of being in busi-ness. With the

Thanksgiving and Christmas cele-brations of ’05, let each of us re-dedicate ourselves to the mean-ings of those holidays and may this be a positive influence on our lives, the lives of our families, and the life of this Museum.

As we look to year 2006, there is more to be done and more to be given to our customers. Team work, priorities, volunteerism, cost effectiveness, Museum goals, ex-pansion, protecting our assets, affordability, accountability, com-petition, marketing, budgeting, and fund raising are words that will be taking on stronger meaning for Phase II – Growth activities. Preservation and presentation is the goal. We now need to “Raise the Roof” of a hangar complex for the DC-3, static aircraft, and thou-sands of display items in multiple storage areas.

Vice-President Fran Romine re-cently completed the review of a project started in 1996 that helped move the DC-3 restoration into a flying status. My letter dated May 1996, invited donors to contribute to the “DC-3 Challenge”. My an-nouncement stated that, “for those who accept the “challenge”, the individual’s name (one name per $100), organization name, or memorial name will be placed in the airplane and travel with it wherever it goes.” The perma-nent professional display now be-ing constructed by a local busi-ness, that replaces a very tempo-

rary and worn unit, will contain 229 names, $22,900, with 37 names contributing more the one unit of $100 for an additional $13,700. From May 1996 through May 1999, 215 names had been registered with an additional 14 being added through April 2004

As I think about end of the year, I must remind all of us that the Mu-seum has been most fortunate in the past to receive timely dona-tions from you the readers. It is again that time to ask all of us to consider a 2005 year-end contri-bution. It can be tax deductible based upon our 501(c)3 certifica-tion and your particular financial status as defined by the Federal IRS. The American Association of Museums headquartered in the D.C. area has just announced a liberal change by the Federal Government this year for taxpay-ers. For example, we have been told that persons who do not item-ize have an opportunity to claim a deduction to not-for-profits. Check with your tax advisor.

The form in this newsletter can be removed and returned with a check or credit card donation. You may indicate a specific pro-ject or as general funds. The Board of Directors thanks you in consideration for help in keeping this Museum growing.

Yours Sincerely Norm Wingler President and Founder

Prairie Aviation Museum P. O. Box 856

Bloomington, IL 61702 2929 East Empire

Phone (309) 663-7632 Fax (309) 663-8411

E-mail pamdc3@verizon.net

Web www.prairieaviationmuseum.org

Challenger Learning Center Phone (309) 661-1621

President: Norm Wingler Vice-President: Fran Romine Treasurer: Ron Blue Secretary: Diane Schwelle

Directors At Large: Ben Clawson Gary Taylor Earl Kingman Cathy Bissoondial Janet Hood

Director Emeritus — John Percy

Janet Moore, CLC Flight Director Stacey Shrewsbury, CLC Asst.

Flight Director Karen Carroll, Office Asst.

Fran Romine & Sally McMullen Volunteer Coordinators

Bob Davis Director of Flight Operations

Dennis Beard DC-3 Crew Chief

Loren Winkleman Chief — Aircraft Maintenance

Pat Riccolo President, Soaring Cobras

Ron Blue Logbook Editor

Frank Thompson Museum Curator

John Ohler Restoration Coordinator

Joanne Ohler Membership Chair

Janet Blue Tour Director

Brenda Koehler Media/Public Relations Specialist

Brad Zipprich & Pete Moore Webmasters

Page 2

President’s Column — Norm Wingler

THE LOGBOOK

President Norm Wingler

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10

Although the mission of the Chal-lenger Learning Center is to inspire students through simulated space missions, space travel is just the beginning of what happens at the Challenger Learning Center. An important component of education is in public outreach. This fall, the Challenger Learning Center at Prai-rie Aviation Museum greatly ex-panded its outreach efforts by host-ing a variety of unique special events and programs.

Family Science Night Family Science Night resulted from a tremendous collaboration among:

• The Challenger Learning Center

• Busey Bank • Girl Scouts of Centrillio

Council • Illinois State University • Radio Bloomington • Suzi Davis Travel • The Pantagraph.

Family Science night was held in the ISU Bone Student Center on Thursday, September 29, 2005.

From 5:00 to 7:00, students and their parents could participate in about 50 different science experi-ments and activities, ranging from flying an airplane on a Prairie Avia-tion Museum flight simulator to watching their voice waves on a

screen while they talked with an ISU Physics student, from trying on the Challenger Learning Center space suits to making slime with the ISU Chemistry students.

At 7:00 p.m., Dr. Rhea Seddon (lifetime Girl Scout

and former NASA As-tronaut) spoke to the group about her experi-ences as an astronaut on three dif-ferent space shuttle mis-sions. Then, Commander Janet Moore from the Challenger Learning Cen-ter at Prairie Aviation Mu-seum conducted a pro-gram about researching and experimenting in the

microgravity of space. Commander

Janet had a very special co-host for this performance -- none other than Star Wars celebrity R2D2, who tele-conferenced from a galaxy "far far away".

Overall the evening was a tremen-dous success and approximately

Page 3

Challenger Learning Center — Janet Moore

850 people attended.

Good Movie/Bad Science Night On Saturday, October 29, the CLC Departure area was transformed into a theater for Good Movie/Bad Science (GMBS) night. Participants in GMBS night watched the original and classic Star Wars movie.

However, this showing of the film was unique. Any time that the audi-ence saw bad or im-possible science dis-played in the movie, the “Bad Science Buzzer” sounded and the movie stopped. At that point, Commander Janet from the Chal-lenger Learning Center discussed the scientific inaccuracies from the film before continuing on with the movie.

After analyzing Star Wars, partici-pants joined the Twin City Amateur Astronomers for an outdoor tele-scope observing session to view Mars in the nighttime sky.

A student takes a spin in Prairie Aviation Mu-seum’s Peashooter model airplane

Former Astronaut and lifetime Girl Scout Dr. Rhea Seddon signs autographs and talks to students at Family Science Night

Upcoming Special Events

CLC special events will continue into the Spring with a new series of programs called Science and a Story, for K-2nd grade students, and Sci Labs, for 3rd-4th grade stu-dents.

Science and a Story and Sci Labs will be held on the fol-lowing days at the Challenger Learning Center: (Science and a Story will take place from 10:00 –11:00 a.m. with a cost of $3 per student, Sci Labs will take place from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m. with a cost of $5 per student)

Jan. 16, 2006 — Weather or Not!

Feb. 24, 2006 — Attack of the Microbes!

Mar. 6, 2006 — Levers, Pulleys, and Wedges, Oh My!

This past fall, the restoration team finally was able, through the steady hands of John Ohler, to get the crest and unit symbols of the 187th Assault Helicopter Company at-tached to our Huey helicopter. As some of you might know, our Huey helicopter flew with this group dur-ing the Vietnam conflict for about a year from November, 1968 to No-vember, 1969(?). Knowing this, I thought it might be interesting to visit one of their reunions which are held each November. So, on No-vember 11th of this year I headed to Columbus, Ohio to join in this year’s reunion as a guest.

Spending several days with the unit was a very pleasurable experience for me. I felt that I was a part of this group and thoroughly enjoyed lis-tening to the various stories and experiences that these vets had to tell. While there, I was able to pick up several color photos of the UH-1H 67-17832 (our Huey) from Bill Vancura, while our chopper was actually stationed in Vietnam. Dur-ing my time there, I also met sev-eral vets, Rick Scheffing and Jerry Kunishige , Vietnam Huey pilots who actually flew our helicopter while stationed there. I was able to get their autographs signed on one of the photos that I had taken over to be displayed.

One of the ideas I had prior to go-ing over to Columbus was to make an exhibit that could be transported to the reunion with photos and in-formation about our Huey. So with

the help of Ron Blue, Dave Smith, and John Ohler, I was able to make up a nice display to be shown in the day room of this event. To say the least, it was a nicely received and looked at many times during the several days I was there.

While there I was able to get sev-eral good contacts with the promise of materials about the 187th and possibly of our Huey, that would be mailed to me to help the Museum continue to reveal more about this helicopter. And isn’t that what we are all about…. discovering history of the articles and objects that have been entrusted to us, so that those who come to visit the museum will have a better understanding of what they are seeing.

I was quite pleased with the recep-tion I received from the men and spouses of the 187th ASH. I felt as part of this group as if I been there 37-38 years ago with them. These guys are my heroes and I highly respect what they did for our coun-try during the Vietnam War. Hope-fully, there are plans that this group have their reunion in Springfield, Illinois next year, thus more of Mu-seum’s membership might be able to share in the 187th reunion.

Page 4

Museum Notes — Frank Thompson

THE LOGBOOK

Treasurer’s Report

Profit and Loss through October 2005

Ordinary Income/Expenses

Total Income $ 474,522.50 Total Expenses $ 407,848.99

Net Income $ 66,673.51

Balance Sheet as of October 31, 2005

Assets

Total Current Assets $ 156,963.28 Total Fixed Assets $ 156,230.00 Total Other Assets $ 1,230,525.43 Total Assets $ 1,543,718.71

Liabilities and Equity

Total Liabilities $ 987,314.95 Total Equity $ 556,403.76 Total Liabilities & Equity $ 1,543,718.71

Financial Summary

The 187th Assault Helicopter Company Reunion

Dee’s Delight, one of the helicopters of the 187th Assault Helicopter Com-pany. This particular helicopter had chromed much of the exterior parts of the machine.

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 Page 5

The spirit of aviation is alive and well in our area. On Saturday, Oc-tober 15, a group of volunteers from the Kiwanis Club of Normal, spent a good part of the morning cleaning and waxing our T-38 Talon. This group has adopted this aircraft to keep it looking respect-able for public viewing. This is the kind of support that PAM needs to assist with restoration. These kind members were Dee Wilson, Dave Axtell, Merle Murray, Joe Davie and Ben Clawson. They are a great example of our mission and goal to preserve our nations avia-tion history. We thank all of you volunteers for your dedication and assistance.

Volunteers of PAM and the restora-tion department ventured out on a mission that we would dub “Operation F-4S Camp Atterbury”. This started over a year ago when we were looking for data and com-ponents for our Huey restoration. After a number of phone calls, and information received from the Headquarters of the National Guard in Arlington, Virginia, we arranged a trip to Shelbyville, Indi-ana to speak with members of that unit, where they were flying Hueys. The information that we were able to receive was very important to

our restora-tion project. Prior to our departure from Shelby-ville they informed us that they had a number of Huey bodies at the Air to Ground Tar-get Range at Camp Atter-bury, Indi-ana. We ar-ranged to the visit that range with the possibil-

ity of finding spare parts that were needed and the Museum could use. That trip was of great value for us as we retrieved many parts that we have already used and more slated to be installed.

The Camp Atterbury Range Com-mand Center has a F-4S Phantom II as their front gate display, and it needed some urgent TLC. During

our conversations with their per-sonnel, we spoke of our F-4N pro-ject and how we restored that air-craft to the Chargers Squadron. After visiting our web site and see-ing our F-4N restored, they re-quested that we consider helping

them restore their F-4S Phantom II. On October 3rd, 2005, five of us left for Camp Atterbury on a mission to restore an aircraft on a military base. The last restoration project away from PAM was in Texas when the DC-3 was recovered and flown back to Bloomington.

Atterbury Range personnel worked on this aircraft prior to our arrival to clean and degrease the surfaces. With the five PAM volunteers that made this trip and Atterbury per-sonnel, we worked as one unit to-ward the goal of getting this aircraft prepped and painted. We had scheduled to have this restoration completed by Friday, October 21st. This project went well and by Wednesday, October 19th we were finished and departed for home. During our stay, we also had the pleasure of living again in a military barracks, and that took us all back many years when Uncle Sam wanted us. For myself, this was a great experience and having these volunteers as part of the crew, Frank Thompson, Pete Troesch, Tom Kuhn, and Phil Gulotta, was

a joy. We all had a great time even though the hours were long. The outcome was very successful and Atterbury personnel are very pleased that their aircraft now sports a new look.

Let’s Talk Restoration — John Ohler

The F-4S Phantom II at Camp Atterbury as prepared by Prairie Avia-tion Museum Restoration Staff. Great job!!

Kiwanis Club members cleaning the T-38. Our thanks to you for all your help.

Page 6 THE LOGBOOK

NASA has successfully launched the Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-114 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The launch occurred on July 26 with a smooth countdown at the Kennedy Space Center. Launch was originally set for July 13th but was postponed due to a valve indication being erratic. The Discovery crew consisted of Com-mander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jim Kelly, Mission Specialist Wendy Lawrence, Andy Thomas, Steve Robinson, Soichi Noguchi and Charles Camarda.

During the 13 day flight the crew performed the first ever pitch roll reverse prior to docking to the ISS. The pitch roll reverse allowed the Expedition-11 crew to photograph the underside of the Shuttle Discov-ery.

During docked operations the astro-nauts delivered much needed sup-plies and logistics to the orbiting out-post. They also performed three space walks in which they tested repair techniques for tiles, replaced a control motion gyro on the ISS and during the third and final space walk, astronaut Robinson pulled gap fillers from the shuttle that were protruding from the underside of Discovery. Also, they installed the external sci-ence platform to the ISS.

Halfway through their mission the Discovery astronauts and ISS crew paid tribute to the Space shuttle Co-lumbia crew as well as other Astro-nauts and Russian Cosmonauts who have lost their lives in the pursuit of the conquest of space exploration.

The flight overall was the smoothest

in the Space shuttle pro-gram. The Discovery was sched-uled to land at the Kennedy Space Center but was di-verted to Ed-wards Air Force Base in California due to bad weather at KSC.

With comple-tion of this flight the Space shuttle program will continue when NASA engineers and managers determine what caused a piece of foam to fall off the External Tank during ascent. NASA has set next May as a launch date for the next flight of the Shuttle Discovery on the STS-121 mission to the ISS with a seven person crew. The long delay is due to the hurricanes and more time to understand the foam loss issue.

NASA also has a new administrator by the name of Michael Griffin. Grif-fin is a former NASA employee who became the 11th administrator of

Space Update — David Houseworth

the Space Agency. In September, Griffin announced that the Space Shuttle program will be cut back in favor of a new program to send hu-mans to the surface of the moon by the year 2018.

(Next issue: a personal account of what is was like to be at the Kennedy Space Center during the STS-114 flight and to be there for the landing attempts.)

A nighttime panorama of early morning launch day activities at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. (Image Credit: Chris Chamberland/KSC )

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 Page 7

A special thanks to the following individuals for donating items to the Museum. Without your help we could not preserve and display the history of air travel.

If you have anything to donate to the Museum, please feel free to call (309– 663-7632) or bring it out. We don’t want to lose our history.

Good Times Blimps — Normal, IL NASA Mission Profiles with patches.

Evans Britton — Springfield, IL Aviation reference book, The Com-plete Book of Fighters.

Charles Bassi — Bloomington, IL Aircraft instruments and a dead reckoning flight computer.

Charles Rhykerd — West LaFayette CD, “Winds in the Wires” sounds of early aircraft

Greg Struve — Normal, IL Program text booklets for the UH-1H helicopter.

Ernie Crowl Peoria, IL Ozark DC-9 metal model on a stand

Mark Nanklival — St. Louis, MO Approximately 250 miscellaneous aviation magazines

December, 1985 Tentative plans have been made for a birthday party for our DC-3. Its return from St. Louis is the deter-mining factor. A lot of help was to be needed with Tom Kuhn receiving calls from out of town members to help out. The plans were to hold it at the old airport terminal second floor conference room. Refresh-ments were to be served and there was a planned viewing of the PBS program NOVA which will air a spe-cial on the DC-3.

Interesting note states that the ‘DC-3’ thanks each of us for the pizzas we’ve made to keep her alive. Dale Rogers holds the record with 375, Dennis Beard sold a total of 300 in November. Another note states that it was just learned that certain Ozark employees and members of the Missouri Air National Guard worked together in their off time and replaced a structural member known as a wing angle attachment. It was understood this required the removal of one of the fuel tanks.

December 1990 At the December meeting attended by 19 members, President Wingler distributed a copy of the 1991 Budget and said that the budget represented a conservative ap-proach to expenses and income, with a focus on getting the DC-3 flying again. Also a Committee has been established for the March An-nual meeting and a Spring M.A.S.H. Bash dance. After showing a video about the role of aviation in our country’s Armed Forces, everyone relaxed to enjoy the treats.

The Museum continued its search for aviation and aircraft objects. At that point they had letters, medals, clothing, aircraft parts and numer-ous other items. It was noted that Earl Kingman, present board mem-ber in 2005, donated KC-97 and KC-135 manuals and check lists to the Museum’s achieves.

December, 1995 The PAM annual Christmas party is set for December 11, 1995. As al-ways, Fran Romine was to be called with reservations. This infor-mation came via the P.A.M NEWS, a new monthly newsletter to im-prove our communications of what was going on with the membership. It will contain regular monthly fea-tures, which includes a monthly cal-endar.

As always, there was a call for navi-gators to work as museum hosts. Along with space in the museum, this situation has been a never end-ing problem.

Finally, APPLAUSE went to Chuck Schumacher, especially for the “Special Tours” he conducts, usu-ally on his own time. Thanks goes out to Chuck!

December 2000 Finally this month, it was noted that Mrs. Olive Aldrich of Normal, pre-sented a patron Life Membership for her son, David Aldrich of St. Charles, Il. The memberships plaque was presented at wing side of our A-7A Corsair which bears Aldrich’s name as he assisted with the recovery and historical research for the plane’s painting and design, etc.

Noted events for the Museum for December are the PAM Christmas Party at the Radisson Hotel. Some new members included Henry O. Falb (Hank), Fred Telling, and Chuck Sprietsma. The souvenir center headed up by Mary Lou Hedstrom and Bruce Hill, includes the new “King Louis” PAM jacket. It could be just the thing for Christmas coming in khaki, navy, or dark green, with a hood zipped in the collar and are suitable for men or ladies. And by the way, we still have those available in the center December 2005.

PAM Remembered — Frank Thompson

Can you Help? As an ongoing airpark project, the graveled area continually requires grooming. We have a drag that can be used but we need a riding mower / tractor to pull the drag. If anyone has a riding mower or trac-tor, mower deck not required, in operating condition, and would con-sider parting with it, please contact the Museum. This would greatly help us to keep your airpark pre-sentable for our visiting public. Thank you.

Page 8 THE LOGBOOK

The commercial airline industry owes its very existence to one type of aircraft more than any other — the Douglas DC-3 (affectionately called the “Gooney Bird”). It was the DC-3 which, beginning in 1935, made the flying of passengers and cargo a viable commercial enterprise.

As a lifelong airline enthusiast I had always lamented the fact that I had not flown on one of these great airplanes before they left the U.S. com-mercial fleets in the 1960s. So it was the fulfillment of a dream to fly on the Prairie Aviation Museum’s DC-3 at Bloomington, Illinois, in May of this year. I was able to experience commercial flying the way it once was, as I took 4 flights in this elegant transport. Our intrepid group of passengers boarded the airplane's self-contained stairs at the rear of

the aircraft and climbed up the aisle (the DC-3 is a “tail dragger” with its nose pointed upward). The seats were comfortable and the windows were adorned with attractive curtains. The two powerful radial engines provide a thundering sound compared to the steady hum of today’s turboprop or jet engines. On takeoff the tail rises first and with the wings leveled the DC-3 lumbers into the air.

Our flights over the central Illinois countryside were surprisingly smooth and actually qui-eter than I had expected. Among the passengers throughout the day were a clown, a cou-ple who plan to be married on this aircraft in-flight later in the summer, and several former Vietnam POW fighter pilots who were Museum guests on this Armed Forces Day. At one point a World War II-era AT-6 aircraft pulled alongside to film our DC-3 in flight, then banked sharply to the right and disappeared behind us.

The landing approach to Bloomington Airport was executed at much slower speeds than found in today’s airliners and the touchdown was incredibly smooth with the main wheels touching and the tail wheel gently settling to the runway.

This DC-3 is painted in the colors of Ozark Air Lines, one of the great former airlines of the Midwest. It was delivered to the US Army in 1942 and also served with the Navy before joining the commercial fleets of Southern Airways and Continental Air-lines. The plane was privately owned during the 1960s and once flew actress Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, to a Texas ranch. It is also one of the few aircraft listed on the National

Register of Historic Places. In its heyday the DC-3 typically carried 21 passengers, but for insurance purposes our flights were limited to ten.

As a young boy I was introduced to commercial aviation by watch-ing the DC-3s of Lake Central Airlines operate out of the Zanes-ville, Ohio, airport. That thrill has never left me as I have flown the world’s airlines — and on this day I was able to step back in time and live out a dream, cruising low over the Midwest farmlands in the proud 63-year old “Gooney Bird.”

Gooney Bird: A flight back in time — Jack Follmer

Douglas DC-3A-363, N41831, c/n 3275, completed Febru-ary 3, 1941. Operated by Lake Central from May 1, 1953, to April 18, 1968. (Photo by D. Lucabaugh/D. Linn collec-tion courtesy of Walt Bohl)

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 Page 9

PRAIRIE AVIATION MUSEUM YEAR-END GIFT

Name: ___________________________________________________________ Address: ___________________________________________________________ City: _________________________ State: __________________ Zip: __________

Send all gifts to: Prairie Aviation Museum (c/o Joanne Ohler), PO Box 856, Bloomington, IL 61702

Gift: $ ____________________ (Your gift may be tax deductible and a receipt will be sent to you acknowledging your gift)

Credit Card: Type (Visa, Discover, Mastercard, American Express): _____________________________

Number: __________________________________

Expires: _________________

Signature: _____________________________________________

Designated Project, if any: ___________________________ ________________ The Museum is an Illinois Not-for-Profit Corporation and Federal

Income tax exempt under 501(c)3 of the IRS Code. Contributions may be tax deductible

This past November 4-5, the Museum held its first an-nual Garage Sale in the former terminal loading area to support the F-14 project. Not knowing what to expect from a garage sale in this location, and at this time of year, I think we were all pleasantly surprised at the re-sults. The event garnered enough money that we may possibly run another sale next spring at the beginning of the garage sale season. Stay tuned for more information on that upcoming event.

I would like to thank a number of people who helped bring this event to the forefront. First, thanks go out to all those people who brought in items to be sold at the sale. Obviously, having a variety of items gave the bar-gain hunters many choices to spend their money. Then there were Tom and Karen Kuhn, who co-chaired this event and made it run very smoothly. And, I certainly have to thank Chuck Schumacher for all the work of put-ting up the A-framed signs showing the way to the steady stream of customers throughout the two day event. Then there was Fran Romine who spearheaded the radio advertising through a little nudging of WJBC on Thursday, and then through an interview on the radio Friday. Also, thanks goes to Janet and Ron Blue for getting the start up money ready for us to use and the final pickup of our monetary gains.

Another group of people that needs a pat on the back

and good job done were the baking crew and spouses. This group of people baked their heads off and we ended up with a tidy sum of cash to support this fund raising event. Hats off to John and Jeanne Ohler, and Mike and Barb Miller. Tom, John and Mike also helped out in other areas as did Karen, which helped tremen-dously to keep the sale running smoothly.

Finally, there was a group of people that without their help this event would have been running in low gear. These people helped in set-up and breakdown, helping with customers, and other various activities needed done at the time. Kudos to Pete Troesch, Steve McDaniel, Don and June Gault, and Brad Zipprich (who also up-dated the web) for their fine help. And, finally, a thanks goes to Ryan Weishalla, who brought in some rather unique framed pictures of several of our aircraft that start out as photos and then are somehow changed to looking like paintings. These were sold and the money donated to the cause. By the way, there are several at the Mu-seum for sale. Would make an idea Christmas gift.

So, another great fund raiser of the Prairie Aviation Mu-seum. And remember, start saving all those items that you feel you would like to get rid of and be ready when the bell rings in March or April to run them out to the loading area. Maybe with your help, we can again raise funds for another worthwhile event to support the Mu-seum.

First Annual Garage Sale — Frank Thompson

It has been a while since we held a Membership Drive. I would like to challenge each of you to bring in one or two new members by June of 2006. Our members and volun-teers are truly the life blood of our organization. If you have questions regarding new members, please don’t hesitate to give Joanne Ohler (309/663-7632) or Fran Romine (309/661-1621) a call.

As you all have heard, it is the goal of our Board to build a NEW MU-SEUM, which of course will take a lot of money. We are setting up a strategic plan to do this. In February of 2006 we will have our very first fund raiser to begin this project. The new project will be called “Raise the Roof.” WE NEED YOUR HELP!!!! We are putting together a fund rais-ing committee and could use some help with the effort. Whether you are just an idea man/woman, or are willing to help solicit items or cash, please give us a call.

Now, with our educational depart-ment (Challenger Learning Center)

in full swing, we have the opportu-nity to attract more folks to join our efforts. Our goal is to pay off the debt we incurred when developing the Challenger Learning Center. While it is nice to obtain grants for new projects, it is very difficult to obtain funds for past debt. A couple of weeks ago we did manage to obtain a $50,000 grant for our “Starflight” Theatre and beginning

construction on our “Transport” Module”. Will be writing more on this the first of next year.

REMEMBER WE NEED EACH OF YOU TO TRY AND BRING IN AT LEAST ONE NEW MEMBER BY THE END OF JUNE, 2006.

Membership Alert!

Page 10 THE LOGBOOK

Name: _____________________________

Address: ____________________________

City: ___________ State: ____ Zip: _____

Phone: (_____) _____ — _______________

E-mail address: _______________________

I would like to contribute $____________

Memorial (Please state name and if applicable, aviation or space affiliation)

________________________________________

________________________________________

Membership Application If you know of someone who might want to join the Prairie Aviation Museum, share this newsletter with them and ask them to fill out the membership application (or if you would like to donate or give a memorial), then return it to the Museum or send it to: Joanne Ohler, PO Box 856, Bloomington, IL 61702. Members are the heart and soul of the Museum and you can help by growing our base of members.

Volunteers are the backbone of the Museum. I would like to volunteer some of my spare time to Museum projects Please Enroll Me As A Member In The Following Classification

Individual Member $30

Sustaining $50

Benefactor $100

Regular Life $500

Patron Life $1000

Youth (under age 18) (One-Half of Above Fee Schedule)

Bill Conway shows atten-dees at the Science Fair how the Prairie Aviation Mu-seum’s Air-plane Simula-tors work. Eve-ryone had a great time and many were still there after the Fair ended.

December 2005

3

4

5

Challenger Learning Center — sponsored trip to Navy Pier and IMAX Movie “Magnificent Desolation” — Call the CLC for reservations

Christmas Open House — PAM and CLC Purchase crafts and foods for Christmas — noon to 4:00 p.m.

Annual Christmas Party — Challenger Learning Center — 5:30 p.m. Social Hour, 6:30 Dinner

January 2006

16

28-29

Science and a Story and Sci Labs Weather or Not! — Challenger Learning Center

20th Anniversary — Challenger Space Shuttle Memorial Tribute — Challenger

February 2006

24 Gala Charity Fund-Raiser Holiday Inn North — 7:00 p.m. Science and a Story and Sci Labs Attack of the Microbes! — Challenger Learn-ing Center

March 2006

6 Science and a Story and Sci Labs Levers, Pulleys, and Wedges, Oh My! — Challenger Learning Center

Upcoming Events

Saturday, October 8th, a large group representing Springfield flew to Bloom-ington to support the Prairie Aviation Museum and the Challenger learning Center. The fund raising lunch was held in the former terminal building and provided a chance to see the out-standing program available to Central Illinois students thanks to the commit-ment of the Museum.

The DC-3 was in the air and greeted us as we arrived in Bloomington by flying over our car. When the DC-3 was ready to take on passengers, seven seats on the first flight were occupied by members of the Reynolds family. Later, open cockpit tours at the Mu-seum gave the grand kids a real hands-on thrill. One of the staff commented that my grandson must hold the record for questions about the F-4. Another pilot in the making? Who knows what will grow from the seeds we plant. One of the kids you turn on to aviation today could be flying passengers to and from Mars tomorrow. Bob Reynolds, Editor of the Illinois Pi-lots Association, Springfield Chapter newsletter authored the above article in their November edition.

IPA Out In Force To Support Challenger Learning Center

Welcome to Our New Members — Joanne Ohler

Please welcome our newest members to the Museum:

Chris Watkins Caseyville, IL

Charles L. Rhykerd West Lafeyette, IN

Remember, new members are the life-blood of our organization. Encourage all your friends to join and become a part of all the fun.

VOLUME 9, ISSUE 10 Page 11

In October, members of the Soaring Cobras had a field trip to the Kala-mazoo “Air Zoo”. Unfortunately all of the kids were not able to join us. We had a great time while there. The simulators, of course were the highlight of the trip.

I was really excited that so many of the parents were able to accom-pany us. We have a great group of kids that are excited about aviation and hope to groom them for a future in aviation.

Soaring Cobras – Fran Romine

Part of the collection at the Kalamazoo Air Zoo

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SJ30-2 Business Jet to be Certified for Use

Aviation News Briefs

Sino Swearingen Aircraft Corporation (SSAC) an-nounced a series of spectacular performance specifica-tions that meet or exceed the companies highest and best advertised goals in all major areas of; speed, range, altitude, pressurization and other customer desired per-formance features.

The amazing new SJ30-2 jet aircraft is now about to en-ter the aviation world as the most spectacular light busi-ness jet of its era, with FAA certification due the second half of this year. Everything about it spells futuristic; with jet speeds and range years ahead of its time, fighter air-craft looks, an ultra high speed of Mach .83 (486 kts, 560 mph), faster than all light business jets in production, and currently announced, coupled with a range of 2,888 sm (2,512 nm) also places the SJ30-2 as the longest range light business jet on the planet.

SSAC is finalizing the FAA certification of the new SJ30-2 twinjet aircraft at its international headquarters and manufacturing facilities in San Antonio Texas. The new Sino Swearingen SJ30-2 business jet is an Ultra High Performance, exceptionally High Speed and Long Range, Intercontinental, twinjet aircraft. The SJ30-2 op-

Prairie Aviation Museum 2929 E. Empire

P.O. Box 856 Bloomington, IL 61704

erates at altitudes to 49,000 feet and maintains a “Sea Level Cabin” through 41,000 ft with the best pressuriza-tion in the world, 12 psi. The new SJ30-2 will also have certification for single pilot operations with easy han-dling characteristics, a low stall speed of 91 kts, short field operations for landing and take off, under 3,600 ft and a slow approach Vref of 105 kts or less under typi-cal landing weights.

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The SJ30-2 Business Jet from SSAC. Soon to be the fastest business jet in production