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The 2001 Chapter Officers are Eddie Trimmer, Presiden; Larry (Jake) Jacobson, Vice-President; and Jim McCarthy Secretary-Treasurer. Eddie Trimmer, President - As the newly elected Chapter President I will give a little background of my family and myself. My wife Jackie and I have two darling little girls, Linsey (10) is a fourth grader and McKenzie (9) is a third grader. I have two grown children, Letitia (30) and Kelsey (25). Letitia and her husband have a year old son that made us grandparents for the first time and they are expecting their second baby in August. Jackie is employed at Willow Elementary School. She and I are both Amateur Radio operators. Jackie's call is KL7JJ and my call is KL7MT. There are numerous Ham Repeaters in the South Central area of Alaska that we use frequently. We have radios on both aviation and amateur frequencies that we monitor at my hangar and our vehicles are equipped with mobile VHF and HF radio gear. I am an A&P Mechanic with Inspection Authority and have a business on the Willow Airport (UUO). My first ride in a Short Wing was in the mid fifties while employed as a line boy at the local airport in Littlefield Texas. It was there that I first started working under the supervision of a licensed mechanic. I served in the U.S. Air Force as a mechanic in Alaska working on F-102A jet fighters from 1961 thru 1964. I obtained my A & P license based on training and experience gained in the military. Many of you that are planning on flying your personal aircraft to the 2001 Alaska Odyssey Convention have questions regarding the availability of parts and services. Let me assure you that you can get anything you might need in the way of minor/major repairs, parts or even alterations that may never get FAA approval in the lower 48. We have N7850D, a 1957 PA-22/20/150 that we are flying, N1522A (hanging from the ceiling, N3507Z (sitting under 22A), N3674A (in the jig waiting for attention) N3704P (getting its wings, horizontal stabs & all control surfaces recovered) and N4520A (just crying). We can only hope that you do not think to unkindly of us for the appearance of our aircraft. The alterations/modifications we perform to our aircraft changes them to best serve our needs and purposes for type of flying we do in Alaska, who knows some of you may even like what we do to Mr. Piper's BEST Jake Jacobson, Vice President - My name is L. Jake Jacobson and I have been elected vice president of the Alaska Short Wing Piper Club. Along with my fellow Willow resident, president Eddie Trimmer, we hope to make this year an historic one for SWPC in Alaska. A short bio of myself: After 36 years as an air traffic controller I retired on Jan 2, 1999. I began to fly in 1965 just to see what the other side of the mic might be. That was it, one thing led to another and today I have a Comm/Inst/Multi/Rotocraft rating. I am married to Vivian and between us we have 6 children, 8 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren; and you ask, why move to Alaska? Really, wouldn't trade it for anything. We have the basis for a fantastic club. Be part of the uniqueness only found in Alaska and take part. The address on line for myself personally is ATCJake@Yahoo.com and the club is SWPCINAK@yahoo.com. Jim McCarthy, Secretary/Treasurer - I'm Jim McCarthy and I've been re-elected to serve as the secretary-treasurer for our Alaska Chapter in this first year of the new millenium (actually, I just have this bad habit of raising my hand when everyone else in the room stays silent - the last vestige of my days as a class clown in elementary school). I retired from the Air Force in 1994 after a career as an Electronic Warfare Officer, much of it spent flying in the back seat of an F-4G. That same year, I also earned my private pilot's license. Three years later, I decided to purchase an Aeronca Champ, but that didn't stop Jim Somerville or Russell Smoot from inviting me and my wife Gail to join the SWPC shortly thereafter. They stressed that the most important elements of the club were the camraderie we share and the food. And they're right about that, because I catch more flak from Gail about my "dinky, old plane" than I ever did from any aficionado of Mr. Piper's aeromachines (I think she expected a Gulfstream V, but I keep telling her, "We'd scratch up the paint job on one of those while landing at places like Trail Ridge!"). I'm presently working at the Civil Air Patrol maintenance hangar at Lake Hood and also put in a lot of volunteer time with that organization, while Gail works at the Iditarod Dining Hall on Elmendorf AFB. | |||||||
