Of no teworthy interes t is th e p osition of Edito r of Th e VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Eff ective at once, Gen e R. Chase ha s ass umed thi s p ositi o n and b egun hi s duti es to enhance o ur o utstanding publi cation . In STRAIGHT AND LEVEL order to b etter relate Gene to you , w e would Ii ke to present some of th e interes ting background and quali­ ti es h e p ossesses . Born in Casp er , W yoming in 1924 , Gene began his infant car ee r as a no rmal child and m oved with his par­ By Brad Thomas ents to Scottsbluff. Nebraska in 193 1. He too k his first airplan e ride at th e age of twelve, in a Stinson SR- 6. He had been watching and admiring airplanes since his early days in Casp er and th e fa scination of air­ January of ea ch year marks a p eriod of personal for travelers in th ese areas. Corporate flyi ng increased craft bega n to entrench his desire and motivation to drive to enhance and pursu e your New Year's res olu­ and many owners of single and light twins found their become a part of avi ation . After gradu ating from high tions. Following a p eriod of holiday fes tiviti es and time sa ved and travel costs redu ced by th e use of th eir sch ool h e entered coll ege in Scottsbluff, completed seasonal enjoyment , the routin e of your work duti es own aircraft for bu siness and p erso nal transpo rtati o n one year , and with WW II in progress entered th e relaxes and your thoughts wander through th e past to areas not se rv ed by th e airlin e industry. Navy fli ght training program in 1943 and flew TBF 's. year to analyze your goals and achi evements that w ere But what of th e Antiqu e, Classic or sport avi ati o n Returning to Scottsbluff h e compl et ed his coll ege set twelve months ago. During 1979, many unknown owner and pilot? O shkos h '79 w as to tally su ccessful caree r majo ri ng in m echani cal engi n eeri ng. H e re­ factors app eared on th e horizon th at would affect and w e brought our aircra ft fro m everywh ere, drove mained active in th e Naval Reserve program and fl ew your avi ation hobby and p ossibly alter your thoughts our ca mpers and arrived in autos. Admittedly, sp o rt va ri ous typ es of fi ghters; some of whi ch w ere Co rsa irs, and intended course . avi ati o n and general av iati o n pil ots are probably no t Bea rca ts, Panther jets, Cougars and Ph antom F2H-1 's. Th e " Great Airspace Robbery" of th e FAA appea red flying as many pl eas ure hours as in p reviou s yea rs, During hi s college ca reer h e obtained his fli ght in fro nt of us as an unknown blotch to sport aviati o n but w e do show a t o tal interest by combining o ur instru ct o r rating and currently holds a comm ercial and contained many fa cets and proposals that w ere recr ea ti o n al activiti es with a planned schedul e t o ticket , single and multi-engine land , glider , and instru­ definitely not in line with th e intent as presented . continu e o ur hobby with th e z ea l and zest w e have ment and instrument instructors ratings. During hi s Reali z in g th at th ese proposals w ere not in th e b es t always exhibited. transitio n to civilian w o rk h e wa s first employed as an interes t of sport and gen eral aviati o n , we rose to pro­ So h ere w e ar e in January, 1980, having survived en gineer with a natural gas utility and then pro­ test. W e bro ught forth our valid analys is and sugges ted two majo r se t-backs and lo oking fo rward to a w o n­ g ressed to probably hi s most enjoyabl e experi en ce reasonabl e methods to approach the actual problem s drous yea r with th e ambition and su cces s w e p o rtray at that lime, as a pil ot and engin eer with Standard with appropriate lea d ership , thou ght , and fact s. With­ and pursu e with th e ability to overcome that pas t and Oil of Indiana. out th e help of each and every m ember of EAA and look forward to an eventful and su ccessful yea r . O ur In 1973, Gene w as invited to be a p art of EAA Hea d­ our Divisio n , who wrote letters of comment to th e FAA Antiqu e/Classic Di visio n displayed a reasonabl e growth quarters and h e functi o ned in th e va ri ous p ositio ns and your Congress m en , w e firmly b eli eve th e entire during "1979. M embership increased, n ew ch ap ters of ass istant edito r , bu siness manager , and directo r of proposa l would have passed through th e government w ere fo rm ed , O shkos h '79 was fantas ti c, and w e are our EAA Air Muse um Foundation where he continu ed channels in haste. Th e resounding echo of our EAA looking fo rward to bringing you an ex panded and fruit­ to serve until his recent promotion as Senior Edito r m embership togeth er with the resp o nses from A O PA ful Divi sio n during 1980. Your o ffi ce rs, directo rs and of SPORT AVIATION and Editor of Th e VINTAGE AIR­ and oth er aviation o ri entated avi ati o n gro ups bro ught advi sors w ant you th e m embershi p to keep u s info rmed PLA N E and Warbirds p ublicati o ns. Th e backgro und th e att enti o n of our individual and coll ective experti se of your suggesti o ns to ex pand and develop o ur Di vi­ and ex p eri en ce Gen e p ossesses w ill undo ubtedly before th e public, o fficials of Congress and th e FAA. sion for th e purpose it was chart ered to pursu e. We brin g to us an exciting, concise and w ell organized Inflati o n continued to be brought befo re our eyes, h av e many new inn ova ti o n s t o i mp rove o ur image publi ca tion that will continu e to expa nd and crea te and as Janu ary expir ed and th e fo ll o wing m o nths and th ese wi ll b e brough t to your att entio n as th ey th e interes t w e d es ire to develop i n Th e VINTAGE AIR­ vani sh ed , a seemingly endless rise of pri ces appea red unfold. PLANE . in o ur cos ts of oil-related produ cts. W e had all rea d O f special inter est t o o u r m em ber ship is ou r H e has flown 25 1 differ ent typ es of aircraft that and h ea rd through th e media th at gasoline costs t o anno uncem ent that John Turgyan has been p laced include over 80 antiques , 60 homebuilts and 28 military us w ould reach o ne d o ll ar p er ga ll o n befo re th e end of o n th e Boa rd of Directo rs of th e D ivisio n and will typ es. H e is th e pro ud own er of a 1928 Church Mi d­ 1979. In January and February of 1979, I doubt if many ass ume hi s n ew p os itio n immediately. There is p roba­ wing (currently o n di splay in our EAA Museum), a of us actu ally b eli eved th ese es timates of fu el costs bl y no o ne individual w h o, over th e yea rs, has attended 1935 Taylor E-2 Cub th at is li censed and flying, and a would reach th e pri ces predicted. But it did happen and parti cipated in m o re fly-in s th an Jo hn. Hi s ex­ 193 1 Curtiss Wright , Jr ., that is under res to ration . and even exceed ed th e ori ginal es timates. Airlin e posure, knowl edge, interes t and devotio n to EAA, our W e are p roud to have Gene Chase o n our tea m ! transp ort ati on costs have rise n d ras ti ca lly and many Antique/Classic Division and sp o rt avia ti o n will defi­ feeder ro utes w ere terminated , thus multiple probl ems nitely enhance th e image we d es ire to dem o nstrate.