President’s July 2006 Message: It seems impossible but here we are already at the halfway point this year! Your Board and I really appreciate all the fine support you have been giving us in keeping our group so active. We have accomplished so much this year. We have also chartered a course for our year going forward with some very interesting activities and general meetings. We have just made the final arrangements on an extracurricular event to cruise, by boat, to the Reserve Navy Fleet in Suisun Bay on Saturday, Aug. 24. Although we will not be boarding any of the stored ships, the boat tour will take us past the battleship Iowa, and many other historic vessels. While this tour is not aviation-orientated, many of the members have a strong interest in this area, and it was a very popular tour when we took it several years ago. Last time, there were more members and guests that wanted to go than there was space available. Don't be denied this time; sign up early. The Iowa has been in the news lately, as it needs a new permanent home so it may be the last time to see it locally. The remainder of the reserve fleet is also shrinking; falling victim to scrapper's torches. Please see the article in this newsletter for complete details. Another popular repeat event is the 'Tank Tour,' as we commonly call it. The chapter will again have the opportunity to tour this awesome collection on Saturday, October 7. We had this tour about four years ago and it was very well-attended. Mark your calendar, as details will follow. Moving back to aviation activities, I would encourage you to visit one or more of our very nice local air museums. They are our partners in preserving aviation history. A number of our members are volunteers at these museums and you may just run into them. The museums are: Hiller Air Museum at San Carlos Airport: www.hiller.org San Francisco International Airport Museum: www.sfoArts.org Moffett Field Historical Society Museum www.moffettfieldmuseum.org (it is readily accessible and just recently re-opened) Wings of History Air Museum at San Martin: www.wingsofhistory.org Western Air Museum at Oakland Airport: www.westernaerospacemuseum.org USS Hornet Air Museum at Alameda Island: www.uss-hornet.org Pacific Coast Air Museum at Santa Rosa Airport: www.pacificcoastairmuseum.org Castle Field Air Museum at Merced/Atwater: www.elite.net/castle-air McClellan Aviation Museum, North Highlands (just east of Sacramento): www.aerospacemuseumofcalifornia.org Travis AFB Museum at Fairfield www.jimmydoolittlemuseumpromotions.com (access is a little difficult but possible). Contact them by email or go with a friend with a military ID card. I look forward to seeing many of you at our remaining events this year. -Norm Jukes Past President Messages are linked below:
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