EAA Chapter 864 Hosts Rusty Pilots Seminar at St. Louis Regional Airport

By Carmelo Turdo

EAA Chapter 864 hosted a Rusty Pilots seminar Saturday at St. Louis Regional Airport. The program is produced by the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) and taught in person by a team of flight instructors from around the country. Over forty attendees participated in this highly interactive session led by Jeanne' Willerth (ATP/CFI/CFII/MEI) visiting from her home base at Kansas City-Lee's Summit Regional Airport. According to AOPA, over 13,000 pilots have returned to flying after attending a Rusty Pilots seminar or used the online resources prior to completing their next flight review. A Rusty Pilot seminar was also held at Elite Aviation's Spirit of St. Louis Airport facility in 2018.

The Rusty Pilots seminar was held in the airport's new event space off the circle drive near the F-4 jet display. EAA Chapter 864 has moved their meetings there, and it is also available to the public by arrangement through the airport director's office. Here we show the room arrangement in our coverage of the program.   

The Rusty Pilot seminar is a 3.5-hour intensive session that uses the flight scenario method to review skills that tend to atrophy from disuse over time, including aeronautical chart reading, weather METAR and TAF interpretation, airport ground operations, ATC communication and airport pattern entry and exit points to name a few. A detailed Resource Guide and Scenario Handout were provided by AOPA to facilitate the session. The exercise also reviews the aeronautical decision-making process as the group works through variables such as engine and instrument failures, unexpected storm fronts and airport closures that all pilots will eventually experience. The next step for these "rusty pilots" is to contact a local CFI and prepare for a flight review. 

EAA Chapter 864 is very active at St. Louis Regional Airport, hosting special events throughout the year along with their monthly meetings on the second Thursday of each month at 7:00 P.M. The chapter is known for their Pancake Breakfast, this year on June 20 to celebrate the launch of the Air Race Classic from the airport. They also support the popular fall Wings-N-Wheels Fly-In. Here we feature Nick Hobbs presenting a thank you gift to Jeanne' Willerth and announcing the Pancake Breakfast event. The chapter's exhibit included some new items this year - custom laser engraved gifts now available to benefit the scholarship fund. Examples of acrylic lights, with the EAA Chapter 864 logo and St. Louis Regional Airport layout, are shown below.

Another special guest at the Rusty Pilot seminar was Jenna Gerdes, Outreach Director & Development Assistant for Angel Flight Central based in Kansas City, MO. Since 1995, Angel Flight Central has been arranging flights for those needing medical or humanitarian care through a network of volunteer pilots donating their time and aircraft to helping others. Throughout the last three decades, Angel Flight Central has developed an efficient system to match pilots to flight requests, helping to ensure successful outcomes. Here we show Jenna Gerdes with her exhibit and raffling T-shirts following the seminar.

      

The Aero Experience thanks EAA Chapter 864, AOPA Rusty Pilots program, St. Louis Regional Airport and everyone who participated in this great event.