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march 2026
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DEDICATED TO AVIATION, SAFETY, FRIENDSHIP, COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT, AND EDUCATION SINCE 1984
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ARTICLES
President's Message As the Prop Turns The Impossible Turn: Knowing Your Airplane Distant Biplane Memories: Sharing the Magic
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INFO of INTEREST
MISC.
In This Issue
PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE
NEBIL ALMAKDESHI, AAA PRESIDENT
Hey all, Scholarships are closed. Interviews are about finished. Those of you that will be getting scholarships, understand the community that we are building here. We are invested in you, because you have shown investment in yourself. You have shown/demonstrated a willingness to reach down and pull another person up, through the knowledge you’ve gained, or will attain. Don’t take it lightly. Nobody gets anywhere in life by themselves. Part 121 or bush pilot in Namibia, you will need help, and how you go about that speaks volumes. Sometimes in aviation, your reputation precedes you, good or bad. Be mindful of that. High school/college/or career changer, the community here at KAUN is not common, AAA/5AC is not common, the senior members at KAUN/KGOO are not common. In other news: CFI/CFII’s, while not mandatory, we HIGHLY SUGGEST you attend the safety meeting in April. Again, HIGHLY SUGGEST you do. This will be for CFI’s only and that is not open to everyone else. Only CFI’s on the field. Ask your respective flight school for date and time. There will be a separate safety meeting for everyone that wants to attend also in April; see our events column in this issue for details! Fly safe! SEEEE YAAAA
Main Dish: M-Z Side or Salad: G-L Dessert: A-F
meeting
General membership meeting menu
Join us for our monthly membership meeting and potluck dinner. Guests and non-members are welcome! This month's speaker will be Robert Grossman out of Truckee with a presentation on "Aviation Myths"!
EVENTS
this months speaker(s)
please provide according to your last name
03/04/2026 6:00 PM (PST)13666 New Airport Rd, Auburn, CA 95602
Auburn Aviation Flight Safety Conference Tuesday, April 28, 2026 at 6:00 PM Free Pizza at 5:30 PM
upcoming
Space is limited. Register online by scanning QR before April 26, 2026.
Discussion Topics -Airport Operations Update -NASA ASRS -MOSAIC Briefing -Loss of Control in Flight
April 28, 6:00PM 5:30PM FREE Pizza 13666 New Airport Rd, Auburn, CA 95602
Auburn Aviation Flight Safety Conference
Door Prizes include Lightspeed Headsets & Radios!
Presentations -Tyghe Richardson, Airport Manager -Captain Gerry Hartman -Juan Browne, Blancolirio -Michael Murphy, CFI -Don Bradley, CFI -Dustin Jones, CFI
"don't be upset with your airplane"
O61 - Cameron Airpark
AS THE PROP TURNS
Ryder Agostini
MIKE DUNCAN, SUNSHINE FLYERS
Tim Sorensen
Saint Patrick's day is near. Green beer, shamrocks, and four leaf clovers and let us not forget the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. That pot of gold for us will be that adventure of flying. Some of those folks that have found their rainbows and seeking that pot of gold are Tim Sorensen who made his first solo in a C-172 with Chris Hale as his instructor. Evan Drake was not too far behind, by soloing a C-172 with Holly Brusa as his instructor. And finally, Ryder Agostini was also able to join that group of first solo’s in a C-172 with Vinh Truong as his instructor. Quick shout out to Katie Mitchell, as she passed her practical test for her Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) certificate this past month with Denny Pollard as her examiner. Katie was able to work with Ash Vidal of Full Throttle Aviation to gain her two years of work experience to qualify for the license. Thank you Full Throttle Aviation for your help and the Getchell Foundation for helping get through that process. Matt Carlson was able to pass both his Instrument Ground Instructor (IGI) and the Flight Instructor Airplane – Instrument (FII) written tests. Congratulations to all on a job well done! Auburn is a unique airport in the kinds of airplanes, helicopters and people that are attracted to the area. One morning when I was doing my morning walk I met a gentleman, named Ben Skorstad, who was flying an A-star helicopter for Bear Grylls. Mr. Grylls appears in many reality tv programs including “Man vs. Wild” and “Running Wild”. Currently they are working on a show called “Adventure Garage”, about modified off-road vehicles. Ben’s job is to fly the camera wherever it is needed and to move people and equipment. His background is over thirty years of flying helicopters for the movie industry. He has worked in over one hundred movies such as Transformers, Fast and Furious, Ambulance, Dune, Fall Guy, and many others. The kind of flying that he does is not the everyday point A to B flying most of us do. Something different every day. His business card says “pilot/stunt pilot”. Ben was very complimentary of our airport with the four helipads, fuel service, airport activity and welcoming atmosphere of everyone on the airport. It reminded him of his earlier days when he was a student pilot. It is nice to see that the airport has attracted so many people from all over and makes the airport the place to be for whatever your aviation needs are. One last thing before I go this month: The Airport Safety meeting will be on April 28th at 5:30 at the Barnstormer building (terminal building) in the main meeting room. I encourage all the flight instructors to attend but everyone is welcome. Food and refreshments will be served, so please let us know will be attending! Nobody needs to go hungry. Well that is about all for this month. Good Night Miss Daisy. The Prop Turner Mike Duncan
STEVE SCHULTE, PILOT EXTRAORDINAIRE
It was just another Saturday. l'd spent the majority of the morning working on,the RV-6 and the lnterstate Cadet and my mind was starting to wander, normal... The weather was uncharacteristically awesome - no Fog! lt was just too nice of a day not go exercise my "Open Cockpit" Yellow Bundle of joy. The Stearman is always ready and willing to go! I pulled her out, did a quick pre-flight, dumped a gallon of oil in and off I went. After I got airborne, I realized I didn't really have a plan, so I headed to Auburn. There is always something going on there or at least places to sit and BS. Off I went! As a side note, I had spent a week in San Antonio, Texas the previous month training with the Dream Flight Organization doing nothing but getting familiar with their Policies and Procedures as well as practicing every conceivable Emergency Procedure. Boy, did that pay off! One of the things I learned in the Stearman. is that speed is king. Prior to my trip to Texas, my usual takeoff consisted of rotating at 45mph and climbing out at 60-65mph lA5. Unfortunately, that doesn't leave much room (or excess speed) in case some failure were to occur. The correct or safer departure is to rotate when the airplane is ready to fly and accelerate to, a minimum, of 80mph lAS, thus giving 20mph to play with if something were to fail. As a note, the Stearman does not stay in the air very long below 60mph so you better be faster or have the nose pointed at the ground, preferably the runway. So, on departure, I accelerated to 80mph and made a shallow left turn to fly the 20 degrees dictated by the noise abatement Karens and started my climb. As soon as the climb was initiated, the engine started to surge reminiscent of fuel starvation. I didn't have time to look at the gauges and focused on turning back to the runway. I wasn't much higher than 300', but I knew that my airspeed was sufficient enough to accomplish the 180 degree turn back. I actually thought I would overrun because the airplane reacted so favorably I was halfway down the runway when ltouched, but still made the Charlie lntersection. "Hmmm", l thought to myself. Did I hit the mixture or something? That was weird. I went to the Run-up area for runway 7 and did some high power runs, played with the Mixture and Mags and damn if it didn't purr like a kitten, so l taxied back to 25 and tried it again. Same outcome. As soon as I initiated the climb the engine surged. This time I was ready for it and had turned to the right in anticipation of a return to the runway. Another "lmpossible Turn" accomplished with no broken bones or damaged airplane. Unfortunately, everyone on the airport heard or saw it... Darn! Well at least I got some feedback on what they thought had happened based on the sounds. Everyone thought that it was fuel starvation. The Dwelles were kind enough to allow her to stay overnight in their maintenance hangar (Thanks going to Ben Foss and TJ !) and I returned the next day to trouble shoot the fuel system. I spent the majority of the day draining fuel line, cleaning the Carb, etc. I then taxied out to the run-up area on runway 7 again and did a run at 23" of Manifold Pressure and 2300rpm, she ran like a kitten (again!). I bumped it up to 25" and 2300rpm and 45 seconds later the engine started surging! This time I could watch the gauges and saw what I need to see... The manifold pressure stayed rock solid, but the prop was surging. Sounded and felt just like fuel starvation so, now l knew it was the Propeller Governor. A few suggestions had me remove it and check the screen for sludge or debris. I did and there was. I cleaned it up, re-installed, but unfortunately the Governor wasn't going to cooperate so off it went to West Coast Governors in Tulare. They got it the next day at noon, they called me the following day at 7am and told me it was on its way back to me! 2 day turn around! AWESOME SERVICE. Why am I telling you this? First thing, Go OUT AND STALL YOUR AIRPLANE, fly it as slow as possible. Know at what speed it breaks left or right? What happens if you are uncoordinated? What does a spin feel or look like? At what altitude and speed can you safely return to the runway? VX and VY are demonstrated numbers, but maybe your airplane is rigged just a little off and a faster IAS is needed? Luckily I have flown over 80 different Types of Aircraft from the smallest of Taildraggers to one of the biggest, the Air Tractor 802 which grosses out at 16,500#'s. l've taught hundreds of hours in the T-6, N3N and Stearman Biplane, flying different Models of the same Type and know that, just because it's a Mooney Ovation, Fred's Mooney Ovation does not always fly the same as Pete's Mooney Ovation. Even more so with Experimental Aircraft. Again: Know your Airplane. Go out with an Aerobatic lnstructor and throw your Airplane around. Get out of your "comfort Level" and learn what you can get away with - safely. Again, Thank to Everyone at the Auburn Airport. If l'm going to get stuck somewhere, there's no place l'd rather be!
THE IMPOSSIBLE TURN: KNOWING YOUR AIRPLANE
BEN MARSH, EHGF BOARD DIRECTOR
In our days flying Stearman at Schellville, each of us had magical flights, customers or situations that linger favorably in our memories. These flights were exceptional, for the oneness we felt with our machine, for the vividness of a moment, or for a connection with a passenger. One such flight came to me in the late afternoon of a late summer day. A family of four pulled into the aerodrome, stopping on a whim to see the old open-cockpit biplanes resting on the ramp near the road. It was a dad and mom with two daughters, in their mid and late 20s. The dad and elder daughter were all-in for a ride, immediately signing up with Linda-Sue for a Kamikaze flight, lots of airbatics. The mom was okay with it, but the younger daughter wasn’t. She was quite sure her dad and sister were going to die in a horrible crash. Shawn got the ride, walking them to Stearman Seven-Four-Nine. I held back watching the drama develop. The younger daughter was melting down, quite articulate in her discontent. Shawn’s flight was delayed a bit to fuel Seven-Four-Nine. I approached the younger daughter to say hello. I asked her what she did for a living. She told me she was studying history in college. I asked if she wanted to hear the history of the Boeing Stearman, the airplane her dad and sister were going to fly in. She looked at me dumbfoundedly, not considering that an airplane could have a lineage or a connection with history. As we walked around Stearman Two-Three-Three, I pointed out features of the airplane, explained how it was controlled in flight and of its role training Army Air Corps and Navy cadets to fly during World War Two. I told her about the engine and propeller, how they worked and how the airplane was constructed of wood, metals and fabric. I could see her fear and resistance turn to interest and engagement. To my surprise, she asked, “If I want to go flying, will you take me up?” She told her dad and elder sister she was going for a ride, just a scenic flight, no fancy or scary maneuvers. By the time Shawn and his victims were fueled and ready to go, the young lady and I were strapped-in, fired-up and taxiing out to Runway 16. It was a perfect afternoon, warm, but not hot, with just a breath of wind breezing in from the coast. We launched smoothly, transitioning to flight as if levitating off the ground, not a bump, draft or bobble. She was wide-eyed, consumed and engaged in the moment. Looking over my left shoulder, I could see Shawn accelerating down Runway 07 on his take-off roll. Within a couple minutes, Shawn overtook us with his more powerful and faster 450-horsepowered Stearman. As Seven-Four-Nine approached on our port side, I leaned forward to tap my bright-eyed passenger on the shoulder. She looked up in the mirror, located at the trailing edge of the upper wing, as I pointed to the left. I could see her face, completely astonished to see her dad and sister waving at her from another airplane floating in space off our wing. Shawn sped past us, toward the practice area for the airbatics. We cruised low over Farmer Rick’s fields, turning gently so she could see the countryside, lowland of farm and wetland where they meet the San Pablo Bay and where the pressure ridge of Rogers Creek Fault lifts the land to define southern Sonoma Valley. We powered up to gain a little altitude, another perspective from on-high in the dimming glow of afternoon light, whispers of fog licking the distant shoreline horizon to the West. A few miles nearer to the coast, I could see Seven-Four-Nine descending for airspeed. I tapped my charge on the shoulder, again motioning to the left, as Shawn pulled Seven-Four-Nine to the vertical, then cresting a loop. I went back to my duties, climbing and watching for other airplanes, turning slightly left and alternately to the right to clear the nose of potential traffic. Checking back with the mirror, I could see her engagement. I caught her eyes as she looked up to the mirror. I gave her the universal symbol for airbatics, a circular looping figure with my finger. She didn’t hesitate, smiling broadly and nodding her approval. We climbed a bit more and eased into a clearing turn. With a last check-in before letting the nose drop to build airspeed, I gave her a nod. Her smile was my approval, as if she was about to be kissed for the first time by someone she really liked. At our target airspeed, I eased the stick back with a breath of right rudder to keep us straight on the up line. The G-load weighed in, then eased as we topped the loop. I could hear her squeal above the roar of the engine and the rush of air around us. Then, our windscreens were full of the green fields below, a moment later, earth and sky were replaced as we left them. We had enough airspeed to pitch up 20° for an aileron roll to the left. Her smile was ear to ear. I smiled too. I gave her one more finger figure of an eight on its side. She nodded approval. A little more aggressively, I let Two-Three Three’s nose drop for airspeed, then pitched up and over for the first 5/8ths of a loop, pushing just enough on the upside-down line for half a negative G, half-rolled and repeated the maneuver, a perfect Cuban Eight. Stearman. Two-Three-Three on the vertical over Rogers Creek Fault. Sear Point Raceway on the mid-horizon. Marsh photo 1993. I throttled back to cruise power and pointed Two-Three-Three toward home. Shawn was just ahead on the left downwind for Runway 25. We joined the pattern smoothly from over the Rogers Creek Ridge to the West, the warm light stretching shadows and highlighting the distant mountains bordering Sonoma and Napa Valleys to the East. On our base leg, Shawn was in the flare mid-field. Our transition from flight back to the earth was as ultra-smooth as our earlier levitation, the tires chirping as one, the wind around us settling to propwash in our taxi back to the ramp. Checking in with the mirror, she was somewhere else, looking out of her cockpit, right there in the moment and a thousand miles away. I spun Two-Three-Three around 180° with the left brake as I pulled the mixture control to cut-off. The propeller spooled down, magnetos off, battery switched off. I called to her, “How’d you like them apples?” a phrase my dad used with me on occasions like this. “That was the most amazing experience of my life,” she replied. I smiled knowingly. I helped her with her seatbelt and shoulder straps, held her hand as she stepped down off the wing. She hugged me, kissed my cheek, looked me in the eyes and said, quite simply, “Thank you. I will never forget this.” She rejoined her dad and sister, comparing notes as birds chirp. Mom was along shortly. They loaded up in their car and drove into the evening. I never saw her again, probably wouldn’t recognize her if I did. Nonetheless, I never forgot that flight, or capturing her imagination, if only for a few minutes, in a lifetime of dreams.
DISTANT BIPLANE MEMORIES: SHARING THE MAGIC
Stearman Two-Three-Three on the vertical over Rogers Creek Fault. Sear Point Raceway on the mid-horizon. Marsh photo, 1993.
Stearman Two-Three-Three on the vertical over Rogers Creek Fault. Sear Point Raceway on the mid-horizon. Marsh photo 1993.
Justin and his #1 fueling companion.
four paws on the clock
DPE Mark Montague and student Rain Wrenn embarking on a night flight.
moonlit miles
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OFFICERS President - Nebil Almakdeshi - president@auburnaviationassociation.org Vice President - Doug Bolsover - vp@auburnaviationassociation.org Secretary - Doug Fee - secretary@auburnaviationassociation.org Treasurer - Deborah Sandbank - treasurer@auburnaviationassociation.org BOARD MEMBERS Past President - Chris Haven - pastpres@auburnaviationassociation.org Scholarship Director - Don Wolfe - flyfund@auburnaviationassociation.org Assistant Scholarship - James Jacobson - skyfund1539@gmail.com Membership Director - Andrew Van Wagner - membership@auburnaviationassociation.org Publicity Director - David Sanborn - publicity@auburnaviationassociation.org Propwash Editor - Mike Duncan - duncan7kcab@sbcglobal.net 5AC Chair - Ken Dwelle - 5ac@auburnaviationassociation.org Board Member at Large - Joanie Mooneyham - joaniemoon05@gmail.com Donations Coordinator - Nancy Benjamin - don_benj@pacbell.net Special thanks to Brooklyn Brown for laying out the newsletter and David Sanborn for managing distribution of the newsletter.
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