PROPWASH

PINELLAS SENIOR SQUADRON Civil Air Patrol - Florida Wing

Saint Petersburg Squadron SAINT PETERSBURG Wing Civil Air Patrol FloridaSQUADRON Civil Air Patrol 5798 Avenue S.E. - Florida Wing St. Petersburg, P.O. 33701 FL Box 352

St. Petersburg, FL 33733

Albert Whitted Airport, www.stpetecap.org St. Petersburg Phone (727) 821-8354 July & August, 2008 Vol.XXVIII,No.4 As we increase Squadron ES Capabilities, we are looking at individual member qualifications for promotion. Administration and Personnel Officers will be going over the qualifications for each member to move to the next level. Each Officer has specific requirements to move from Tech to Senior or Master ratings. Major Eugene Olson, Commander
4 1

FLORIDA HOME SCHOOL CONVENTION The Annual Florida Home School Convention was held at the Rosen Shingle Creek Hotel in Orlando, 22-24, May 2008. This convention is sponsored by the Florida Parent Educators Association. There were 201 vendors in the exhibit hall with curricula in math, science, language, history apologetics, geography, phonics, literature, foreign languages, web design, creative writing, colleges, U.S. Marines, U.S. Naval Sea Cadets, and the Civil Air Patrol. Also, 117 seminars on various topics were offered. Maj Linda Trimpey, Cmdr of the 800 school groups, headed the Civil Air Patrol recruiting booth. Maj. Gene Olson was the Commander in Charge of the color guard who presented the color at the opening ceremonies. LtC Vivian Olson was responsible for the 8 foot tall inflatable Cadet Ken which was popular walking around the exhibit hall. The cadets demonstrated aerospace projects including Alka-Seltzer rockets, paper parachutes, and fatal vision goggles. Other senior CAP members involved with recruiting were LtC John Lynn, Wing Director of Aerospace Education and Capt. Corey Halaychik, Childrens program officer. Hundreds of people stopped at the booth and received literature and explanation of the CAP program. This is a major recruiting event. Written by LtC Vivian Olson TWO NEW MEMBERS Alexander Tel has joined the organization to give something back to the community. He wants to help as a pilot. He was born and grew up in Switzerland. His best early experiences were flying with his dad. He is currently married, has no children and has earned the MBA degree. His current job involved being transferred to Europe and Switzerland for JAA training. He enjoys traveling, pets, sports and a Harley-Davidson. Russell Savela was born in Boston and grew up in Quinoy, Ma. He is married and a consultant with Dell. His other interests include sailing, skiing and golf.

YOUNG EAGLES FLY DAY The Experimental Aircraft Association in their Young Eagles Program offered their quarterly free flights for children 8-17 years on 14 June, 2008 at the Albert Whitted Airport. 92 children and 19 adults were flown. The purpose of the program is to introduce children to the world

of flight. Instruction is given about the controls and parts of the airplane. The pilots donate their time, use of their own airplanes and fuel to give the kids this experience. Pinellas Senior Squadron had a recruiting booth nearby to capture the attention of the children who were old enough to join Civil Air Patrol. Maj. Gene Olson and LtC Vivian Olson were tasked with recruiting, talking to many families and teens. Lt. G. Frittitta from the Clearwater Composite Squadron assisted at the booth.
Members Instruct at Johnson flight Academy By Captain Walter Pleasants Again in 2008 Captain Pleasants of Pinellas Senior Squadron and 1st Lt Dennis Dix of the Brooksville Squadron instructed for a week long midJune Johnson Flight Academy in Mattoon, Illinois. Dennis as a glider flight instructor and Walt taught the glider ground school. Flight and ground instruction takes place at the Cole County Airport located between Charleston and Mattoon, Illinois. This was Walts fourth year and Dennis third year at the academy. This year there were 20 cadet students with ages running form 14 to 19. Nine cadets were first timers, nine cadets were second timers and two cadets were attending for the third time. This flight academy has three programs: balloons with about six students, gliders with about 20 students and power with about 14 students. Aircraft and instructors come from several states. More about this program will follow in the next Propwash. Special thanks to Shelia for proofreading the Propwash. Lt. Wynelle Deese, POA

We look forward to meeting these new members and helping them to grow within the organization.