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United States Pilots Association |
The USPA flyout/meeting in Roswell, NM, was a dandy, with around 30 people in attendance. Personally, Paul and I flew out two days early to enjoy the area and travel to some of the wonderful places of interest “scoped out” by Bob Worthington. We traveled up into the Capitan Mountains and west as far as Alamogordo, on the edge of the White Sands Missile Range. Among our fun stops was the resting place of the original Smokey Bear (there were two others after him), the historical town of Lincoln (of Billy the Kid fame), Ruidoso (you know of Ruidoso Downs), and the wineries and pistachio groves near Alamogordo. Of course, we came home with wine and pistachio goodies, and many happy memories.
The New Mexico Pilots Association put on an excellent safety seminar on Friday evening, and followed it up with a mountain flying course/biannual flight review on Saturday and Sunday. The weather cooperated, and those flying into the Sacramento Mountains reported breathtaking beauty and vistas too numerous to describe. Our thanks to CFII Jim Van Namee of Taos, and Gold Seal CFIIs Dick Samuels of Alto and Ferdi de Souza of El Prado.
The Saturday night dinner was well attended, after which President Steve Uslan was presented with a plaque of appreciation for his service as President of the organization. Then Bob Worthington, who led five USPA planes on a three week flight through Canada into and through Alaska this summer, gave a multi-media presentation on how to fly your own plane to Alaska. The talk began with describing what preparation is necessary, followed by highlights of the trip.
A General Membership Meeting was held Friday morning, and a Board Meeting on Saturday morning, with discussion and sharing information of concern to GA in today’s uncertain aviation climate. Among actions taken was the decision to withdraw USPA’s offer of flying assistance to FEMA, since they have never called us to service, in spite of several situations where we may have been helpful, including the recent hurricanes. Instead, President Steve Uslan urged members to volunteer their services to other aviation organizations which perform similar missions on a regular basis as their main objective. USPA also heard from a NM representative of Angel Flight, on the good work of their organization, and their need for more pilots.
Friday and Saturday afternoon were left for sightseeing in Roswell and the surrounding area, and many went to the International UFO Museum in Roswell. This fine museum is extremely well done, and documents (among other interesting things) the events surrounding the 1947 crash of a space ship near Roswell, in which three Aliens were killed. One gentleman working there—Glenn Dennis—was the mortician on duty at the time of the crash. Now whether you believe the story or not, if you had seen the sworn testimonies of those involved, and met Glenn as we did, you would be persuaded that we are not alone in this universe. Isn’t that a foolish thought anyway!
By the way, Paul had the goals of meeting an Alien in Roswell and flying in a space ship. He accomplished one of his goals. Working at the UFO Museum was a delightful fella from England, who, of course, is an Alien! The space ship flight remains for another day.
Jan Hoynacki, Executive Director
United States Pilots Association