Happy New Flying Year!  2006 was a banner year for the Georgia Flyers, where several important revisions incorporated into the bylaws have enabled us to adapt to changes in demographics of our members and potential members. 2007 will be the second year of operation under the steering committee concept, where our organization is directed by a committee assisted by you, our members, to provide all of the services and fun flying activities to make us a vibrant, growing organization. We have increased the activities that are “family friendly,” meaning fun for our pilots, their spouses and children. A member survey conducted at the October meeting indicated that the course we have set is the right one, and we received several good suggestions that your steering committee will incorporate into this year’s activities and events. One suggestion concerned increasing opportunities for member socializing.  So in 2007 we are planning to increase events where members can simply socialize. We are also planning trips of shorter distance and duration to better accommodate working families and ease the cost of fuel and lodging. We received several new members in 2006 who came to us through other members passing the word, the PDK Good Neighbor Day display, and Paul and Sherri’s Lunch-Bunch events. I am also very encouraged by the active interest and support of our Board of Directors. The future for our Georgia Flyers could not be brighter. I hope to see all of you at the kick-off meeting January 21^st where we will roll out a wide array of activities and trips for the 2007 flying year.

Monthly Recap.  The December Lunch-Bunch journey to Jekyll Island was a great success for the second year in a row. Despite having to delay the event one week due to low overcast conditions forecast along the Georgia coast, absolutely gorgeous weather greeted the 10 aircraft and 27 people attending the Lunch-Bunch’s second annual Sunday Holiday Brunch at the Jekyll Island Club on December 10^th.  This has grown to a popular December destination, and we are looking forward to next year’s excursion to Jekyll Island.

Lunch-Bunch News.  The next Lunch-Bunch outing will be at Pell City, Alabama (KPLR) on Saturday, January 20^th at Sammie’s Touch-n-Go restaurant on the field. If you have never been there, it is a delightful fly-in restaurant with parking in the grass right in front. Just hop out and walk in. Sammie’s has a good variety of menu choices and plenty of seating room. The normal meeting time is 11 a.m. (remember that KPLR is on Central Standard Time). Send your reservation to lunchbunch@georgiaflyers.org

Meeting News.   Our January meeting will be the annual kick-off event on Sunday, January 21^st at The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant on Delk Road in Marietta.  This is the same location as last year’s kick-off meeting.  The meeting will start at 1 p.m. Please plan on being at the restaurant no later than 12:30 p.m. so that menu choices may be ordered. The banquet room will be open at 12:00 noon for socializing. The cost is $19.00 per person. Menu choices will be:

• Spaghetti with Meatballs
• Incredible 15-Layer Lasagna
• Four Cheese Manicotti
• Fettuccini Alfredo
• Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad

Desserts: (1/2 portions of -)

• Cheesecake
• Turtle Cheesecake
• Tiramisu
• Brownie Sundae

All entrees include a crisp house salad, freshly baked sourdough bread and choice of soft drink, tea or coffee. You will give your order to the waiter at the restaurant.

Reservations are required no later than Tuesday, January 16th. Please call Carolyn Deering at 770-321-9380 or e-mail to reservations@georgiaflyers.org.  See the address and directions at the end of this letter.

You will have a chance to sign up for the planned trips at the meeting. The sign-ups will be on a first come, first served basis. I expect most of the trips to be filled at the meeting. Bring your calendars along so you can be prepared to schedule the trips you want. You won’t want to miss out on the socializing and signing up for the planned trips.

We will also be accepting reservations for the Valentine’s Day Dinner-Dance at the St. Ives Country Club. The Dinner-Dance will be on Saturday, February 10, 2007.  Invitations will be sent to members prior to the meeting.

Website News.   Make sure to check out the photo gallery on the Georgia Flyers website (www.georgiaflyers.org).  John Horton has rearranged the photo galley and has posted interesting photos of trips, events, and Lunch-Bunch outings. John posts these so members who were not able to attend can see the events through his camera lens.

Meet a Member.  This month, we are featuring our steering committee members Paul and Sherri Platt, as well as their little co-pilots, Christian and Michelle.

  

Paul and Sherri Platt have lived in Atlanta since 1994 after Paul’s company elected to open a remote design center here.  They moved to Atlanta after 6 years in Starkville, MS.  Prior to Starkville, MS, they lived in the San Francisco Bay area (where they met) for several years.  They have two children, Christian age 10 and Michelle age 6.  Paul had wanted to learn to fly his entire life. After receiving an introductory flight lesson as a birthday present, he decided not to put it off any longer, finally starting flying lessons in 2001 and earning his private license in 2002.  Sherri took a pinch-hitter course to help Paul. She took up flying strictly as a safety factor. In case of an emergency, she wanted to know how to land the plane. She liked it so much she started training, getting her private license in 2003.  Paul and Sherri both have instrument ratings and are part owners of a Cirrus SR22 in the AirShares Elite fractional ownership organization based at PDK.  Paul currently has over 600 hours and Sherri just crossed the 500 hour mark with almost 400 hours in the Cirrus.

Paul and Sherri joined “The Georgia Flyers” in 2003.  They realized after Paul got his license that they needed a “reason” to stay active.  They both serve on the organization’s steering committee and are actively involved in planning events, Sherri as the trip committee chairperson, and Paul on website maintenance committee. They also started “Paul & Sherri’s Lunch-Bunch” which is open to anyone who enjoys flying and eating.  They fly to a different location each month to meet for lunch.  This has been such a success that they’ve received offers from all over the Southeast to host lunch fly-ins.

Paul and Sherri were recently selected as "Owners of the Quarter" by AirShares Elite for demonstrating a high commitment to safety and training and for their strong involvement in the aviation community. Candidates are nominated for demonstrating the "Gold Standard" with respect to a list of attributes, including community involvement and recurrent training.  Paul and Sherri are both active Angel Flight of Georgia pilots, flying missions whenever possible. Concerning their Angel Flight experience, they said, “We’ve been very fortunate to have the opportunity to fly.  It’s been incredibly rewarding to share our passion for flying with those that are in such need.” Angel Flight also enables them to keep their pilot skills sharp, Sherri explains, “Since we fly strictly for pleasure, Angel Flight gives us an opportunity to exercise our instrument training.  We’ve been in weather that we wouldn’t normally launch in (not for a family trip) and gone to airports that we would not normally fly to. This keeps our planning and critical decision making skills sharp.” 

 The Platts holding their Owners of the Quarter Certificate

“Being legal and being proficient are two different things,” Paul says. In order to stay proficient while spending quality time together, Paul and Sherri like to fly at least once a week. They act as each other’s safety pilot as they practice approaches or learn some new avionics techniques. They each like to spend time on the simulator to go through emergency procedures and scenarios that are impractical in a real airplane.  “Schedules don’t always allow flying weekly and if it’s been a particularly long time (2 -3 weeks) then it’s time to grab an instructor,” adds Paul.

Sherri also serves on the organizing committee for the Cirrus Owners and Pilot’s Association (COPA) annual Migration.  Recently, Sherri was on the “Partner-in-Command” panel which consisted of six ladies – both enthusiastic right-seaters and pilots-including world renowned aerobatic champion Patty Wagstaff.   Sherri was happy to learn that at least eight ladies made the decision to learn more about flying after hearing the inspirational stories shared by the panelists.  Sherri’s focus for the next Migration will be expanding the kids programs to encourage more families to attend.

Sherri and Michelle with Patty Wagstaff

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Stay tuned for the February newsletter when Dick and Katie Malone will be featured. Dick has a long and distinguished flying career to tell us about, and Dick and Katie have been long-time Georgia Flyers members. I am sure you will not want to miss their story.         

As always, if you would like to volunteer to be the subject of my Meet-a-Member article, please contact me or just send me a short bio and a photo.

Information for The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant.  The address is:

The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant

2475 Delk Road

Marietta, GA 30067

770-953-1175

The Spaghetti Warehouse Restaurant is located 0.3 mile east of I-75 exit 261 on Delk Road. If further details are needed, enter the above address in Mapquest: http://www.mapquest.com

Happy flying, Ron Deering