VG-21 Squadron |
NewslettersVG-21 SQUADRON ~ VARGA/SHINN/MORRISEY OWNER No. 20 November 10, 1994 *** IMPORTANT & EXCITING NEWS *** Raymond M. "Max" Bishop has agreed to take over the VG-21 Squadron! Suffering from a severe case of "burn out", this newsletter is my swan song. I started this group five years ago and hope you have enjoyed and benefited from belonging. But the time has come for not only new blood but for someone with Max's knowledge, experience and expertise to take over. I have a copy of his resume in front of me and his educational background is mind-boggling. His work experience includes technical and engineering assignments with McDonnell Douglas (presently), Montainair, and Varga Aircraft Corporation as Engineering Manager, Quality Control and Acting Engineering Manager. He received an Honorable Discharge from the USAF in 1969 after serving three years of being responsible for the maintenance of electrical, electronic and environmental control systems of Minute Man Missile Systems. Max is married, has two children, and lives in Chandler, AZ. His address and phone number are: 717 E. Brooks St., Chandler, AZ 85225; Ph: 602-891-6152. Max plans to put out a newsletter in January and you can look forward to issues that are technical and beneficial. I hope you will continue to support the VG-21 Squadron. I know we will all benefit from his efforts! Need Manuals? Have been advised that Varga manuals are available from: Essco, 426 W. Turkey Foot Lake Road, Akron, OH 44319; ph: 216-644-7724. Op. Manual - $7; Service Manual - $35; Parts Manual - $30. New Members - A warm welcome to the following new members: David & Alice Wells, 7532 N. 31 Ave., Phoenix, AZ 85051. Dave purchased Chet Sweeleys's Varga, N5068V. He's a former Navy pilot and flew the SNJ, T-28B, AD-1, AD-5, and AD-6. Dale Lewis, 173 Baylzy Circle, Noblesville, IN 46060. Dale owns N8341J and hope to retire and spend some time in the Phoenix area. He reports that his Varga is immaculate and IFR equipped. Thanks for the photo, Dale! Larry Mason, 23 Grove St., Newport, NH 03773. Larry owns N5lL5V, a 1961 Shinn. He says it's a pleasant feeling to know there are people out there to turn to or seek advice from on the care and maintenance of his Shinn. Dennis S. Schafer, 8545 So. Juniper St., Tempe, AZ 85284. Dennis flew George Varga to the Maintenance Seminar at Indian Hills AP, Salome, AZ. Floyd & Joyce Blankenbaker, 6209 E. McKellips Rd., C351, Meza, AZ 85205, Phone: 602-396-6934. Andy Rosenberg, 1061 Fraternity Dr., Rent, OH 44240, Phone: 216-673-1616. Andy purchased his Varga from member Jeff Klain. He's an ex-fighter pilot instructor in the T-38. Change of Address Carl Sigg, P. O. Box 6394, Carmel, CA 93921. Carl phoned the other day to give me his new mailing address and said he has purchased a music box store in Carmel. His Varga is ready for painting and reassembly. Congratulations, Carl! Raymond J. Johnson, P. O. Box 10305, Prescott, AZ 86304; Phone: 602-771-9200. Ray has retired and they have moved to Arizona to enjoy the warm climate after years of living in cold and snowy Illinois! For Sale Ray Paik, P. O. Box 343, Issaquah, WA 98027; Phone: 206-644-9981. He's selling his 1978 Varga 2150A, 1500 TT, exterior 7, Interior 8, glass 8. He says aircraft is in excellent condition and is priced at $32,000 firm. Bill DeMarsh, 2729 Orchard Park Dr. NW, Canton, OH 44718, Phone: 216-456-5670. 1977 Varga 2150A, 715 TT, interior and exterior 9, glass excellent. Casey Braley, 3053 32nd W., Seattle, WA 98199, Phone: 206-282-1949. Casey phoned to say he was "thinking about" selling his 1958 Morrisey 2150, N5102V. Vargas On The Move - Pat Baylor has moved from southern California to Texas and Joe Conner has retired and moved to New Mexico. I don't have their new addresses. Varga No Longer For Sale - After a near miss with a Cherokee, Frank Gullick put his Varga up for sale. Lee pleaded with Frank to give it some time as we would hate to see him do something he would regret later. Frank has now decided to keep his Varga! Flying Activities - The '94 VG-21 Squadron flying activities proved to be a bit disappointing. Our May event was rained out. Then the June meeting at Paso Robles was poorly attended with only 3 Vargas on the flight line. In July, our Shawano/Oshkosh fly-in was attended by Lee and I, but no other members attended. We did run into one member on the EAA grounds at Oshkosh, Dr. Hart Jewel, who was there gathering material for the RV6 he is building. Also, only 2 aircraft from the Golden State (California) made it to Salome, AZ in October for the Maintenance Seminar. Maintenance Seminar - October 1 & 2, Salome, AZ - The ramp at Indian Hills Airpark was not overly crowded with Vargas, but it was the best turn-out we had this year. The truly sad part of this occasion was the fact that our hosts, Chet and Mary Sweeley, had just sold their Varga. Chet is having some medical problems and I'm sure we all wish him a speedy recovery. In fact, I was under the weather at that time and Lee had to attend the meeting without me. He waited until the last minute to depart Lampson Field in hopes I would be able to go, but it was not to be. Lee reports that eight owners and seven aircraft were in attendance. Those attending were Goettl, Lutz, Johnson, Vance, Bishop, Beery, Schafer plus the owner of Varga Enterprises, George Varga, II. Mr. Morrisey was planning to attend but was under the weather. Due to late arrivals, the meeting ran late. Lee said this meeting was most interesting to him because of Max Bishop's inputs. He learned so much about the background of the Varga's teething years that he was sorry to see the day end. It was apparent at that time that Max would be the perfect person to head the VG-21 Squadron. Chet, Mary and friends of Indian Hills Airpark put on a great hamburger BBQ. They had enough food for the entire VG-21 Squadron! After the BBQ, those that over-nighted went to the local watering hole and continued their Varga hangar-flying well into the night. The group had breakfast together then started their departures for home. Max gave Chet a ride in his aircraft, which is a story in itself. In brief, Max built a Varga the way he thought it should be built and it's certified as experimental. Everyone gave Chet and Mary a fly-by in salute of their hospitality. AOG - URGENT NEED OF PARTS - AOG Please help if you can. Yours truly needs the following parts for my Varga. Need items 2, 3, 4, and #5.) Illustration below! We really need your help. (See following Maintenance Item) Varga Service Center Remains Open Even though Pat and I will be looking forward to receiving the VG-21 Squadron Newsletters in 1995, we intend to stay active in the club. As in the past, our hangar is open to all members. Anyone that just wants to gain some maintenance knowledge or someone with a specific problem is always welcome. I would like to thank those of you that have allowed me to help you as I truly wouldn't do it if I didn't enjoy it. Pat and I both have put many, many hours of effort into this club and want to see the club continue to improve. Just in the past two years, we have received 129 letters and close to that many phone calls. Pat had to write replies to many of the letters and I had to return a lot of calls. On top of that, the "G-21 photo album is nearly full with 48 members (out of 69) represented, So, as the club grows, the workload increases and more motivation is required. I explained all this to Max Bishop when we met at Salome and urged him to take over for us. At the same time, we strongly suggested that he should make it worthwhile for him by establishing annual dues. We stand ready with pen in hand to send him a check because the two of us know what is involved in time and money! And so I close my last newsletter. It's been a fun five years watching the club grow from 8 of us. And we have so enjoyed meeting so many of you and helping those we could. So it's a bittersweet experience to turn this over to Max, but I can't tell you how much I appreciate his taking over! I'm sending to him all my files, including copies of 337's, letters, past newsletters, and the money in our copying and mailing fund. But as Lee stated above, we'll continue to be active in the club and anything we can do to support it, you can count on it! Sincerely, Pat Beery |