We had a great time at the Awards Banquet! Shannon Walker, the guest speaker, and her astronaut friend, Andrew Thomas, had a captivated audience!    We thank them for coming and sharing their experiences with us.    Sorry, if you couldn't be with this lively group!    Initiated into the fabulous 49 1/2 group were: Willie Nunez (Betty Sue Basham, 99); Dan Rohrer (Mary Rohrer, 99); Ben Taylor (Patty Taylor, 99); Hugh Walker (Sherry Walker, 99). The others present were: Nancy Aldrich, Jo Agee-Housler, Gloria Blank, Cheryl and Max Casillas, Winnie and Bob Clements, Margaret Cosby, Pam Crane, Tessa Dodds, Barbara Faulk, Ruth Nichols and daughter, Carol Dean, Laura Richter and Reni and Roger Moczygemba.    And, of course, our guests Shannon Walker and Andy Thomas.

Andy's bio can be found at
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/thomas-a.html

Shannon's bio can be found at
http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/preparingtravel/ascan_bio_walker.html

Nancy presented the chapter chairman's 99 and 49 1/2 of the Year Awards to Jo Agee-Housler and Laura Richter (a tie) and Ray Leis and Bob Clements (1st and 2nd place); and also to Sherry Walker in appreciation for setting up and maintaining (as well as funding the first year) the San Antonio Chapter website: www.sanantonio99s.org.

Welcome to Betty Sue Basham and Marty Goppert, long-time 99s and have now transferred to our chapter!

We're soon to have a new FWP in our chapter - Reni Moczygemba took her flight physical on Saturday morning and is sending in her 99s application. Welcome, Reni!

Meetings: There will be no meeting in July. Our next meeting will be August 14, 10:00 am at Margaret CosbyÕs home in Boerne. Directions: Turn east on Blanco from Main Street (at the gazebo/park area). It 's roughly .7 mile to Park Place. Turn left to #126 (the 6th house down on your left). Try, try again, we will be going over the NASA aerospace education material. Margaret has a DVD of the China trip if we 'd like to see it.

Have you put these dates on your calendar?     Picnic     September 11,     Section Meeting in Santa Fe September 24-26 and Christmas Party,     December 18 at the Moore 's.

Air marking is in the works - Boerne Stage Airport would like us to paint the numbers on the newly lengthened, widened and when finished, resurfaced runway, probably in a month or so.

Our safety advisor, Cheryl Casillas, has submitted an article about preflights. It 's a very good article. Worth reading. So here's the website: http://www.avweb.com/news/columns/187419-1.html "The Pilot's Lounge #75: Preflight? Who Cares?". (Include such things as - wiggle the exhaust pipe, count the antennas.) Also, go to: "Calling Flight Service with a Cell Phone" at http://www.faa.gov/ats/afss/bdrafss/HTML/cellphone.htm    This will give you a list of the FSS' direct phone lines.

Cheryl also passes on - Question:    The FAA rules require that we fly with current charts. Most of us have probably noticed, that, overall, although the FAA's National Aeronautical Charting Office (NACO) updates terminal area charts and sectional charts every six months, sectionals don't really change all that much from one edition to the next (six months later).   It seems as though they're issued every six months whether or not there have been any changes.    Is this wasteful, or are there really always enough changes to justify it?    Approximately how many changes are there in the average sectional and terminal area chart from one to the next? 3000 in a sectional and 1000 in a terminal? 300 and 100? 30 and 10? 3 and 1?    Answer: According to AOPA, an average of 100 changes are incorporated into each terminal chart update and a bit under 300 (278 actually) in each new sectional chart.    These changes reflect current aeronautical, terrain and cultural information.    Since this information changes so often, it is in our best interests to have the most current chart available.    AVweb - by Jeff Pardo, published 6-15-04

Cheryl also shares this with us: "Once you have flown, you will walk the earth with your eyes skyward, for there you have been, there you long to return". - Leonardo da Vinci

If you enjoy reading books by sister 99s, the late Louise Thaden, Charter Member, wrote "High, Wide and Frightened".

Please . . . if you haven't . . . send Sherry Walker your Chapter dues (they're $12 every June).    We didn't luck out with a fundraiser this year, so our dues are all we have.    We had the usual year-end expenses of trophies, yearbooks and postage, plus we have allocated $500 for a FWP scholarship.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ! Evelyn Sizemore (13th), Jana Drane (21st) and Lisa Padgett (29th)

99s ANNIVERSARY: Betty Sue Basham (20 years) Michelle Achorn (1 year) Thank you!!!

See you August 14 at Margaret's - happy flying, blue skies and light winds.

                                                                                              - Gloria

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