Member Profile: Marty Bridges
Age: 49
Lives in: Scottsdale
EAA Ch1217 member since: 1999.
Employment: I’m a Southwest Airlines captain and have flown for them since April 1992. Before that, I flew ATR-42s for Pan Am Express.
Aircraft owned: A 1939 Luscombe 8A.
How I got involved in flying: My father was an Army Air Corps pilot and owned a Stinson 108. That started it for me. Later, in the Air Force, I was a tail gunner on a B-52 and started learning to fly in the military aero clubs. After the military I finished my degree and my ratings at Southern Illinois University, which hired me as an instructor and then as a charter pilot. That was my first big break in aviation.
Ratings/flight experience: ATP with Types in the DC-3, ATR-42, and Boeing 737. I'm also an SEL/MEL CFII. I have about 17,500 hours.
Why I joined EAA: I’m interested in building a kit airplane or
doing a restoration, probably within the next year.
Other hobbies: Woodworking. I build furniture for the house. I thought
about developing a shop to do a wood plane, but I’ll probably just do a
kit.
Interesting factoid about you: From 1980-82 and 1984-86, I flew
DC-3s in Africa under contract to oil companies. I worked in places like
Somalia, Sudan and Central Africa. Once, while ferrying an airplane from
Malta to Chad, I was forced to land in Anaba, Algeria, because I didn’t
have a clearance. The chief of police took our passports and was going
to throw us all in jail. I managed to get on our side a couple young guys
in the flight service station who were aviation enthusiasts and pro-Western.
They got us the clearances we needed and got our passports back for us
and we were eventually allowed to take off.
Member Profile: Mike Braegger
Age: 53
Lives in: Gilbert
EAA Ch1217 member since: early 1999.
Employment: I’ve been a dentist for 23 years.
Aircraft owned: I’m restoring a 1940 Waco UPF-7 and I’m semi in the process of building a Lancair ES. I also own a Nieuport that I built between 1989 and 1993.
How I got involved in flying: I’ve always been interested in flying but never did anything about it until I moved to Arizona in 1984. That’s when a friend told me, “You’ll never be able to justify it, you’ll never have the time and you’ll never have the money. If you want to fly, you just have to fly.” The next day I went to the airport and signed up for ground school. I finished ground school in December 1984, started flying lessons on Feb. 12, 1985 and took my Private Pilot checkride on March 15, 1985.
Ratings/flight experience: Private Pilot. I’m restoring the Waco to be IFR certified, though, so I’ll do my Instrument rating one of these days.
Why I joined EAA: I’d always felt like I wanted to join a chapter but it seemed that all the meetings I went to in Chandler were pilot wanna-be’s. It seemed they’d rather talk about it than do it and I didn’t want to be associated with that. Someone then told me about the Scottsdale chapter and said there were lots of good guys there. I went to one meeting and realized they were right!
Other hobbies: I like woodworking and have built lots of furniture, including grandfather clocks and a piano. I’ve made most of the furniture in my house.
Interesting factoid about you: I used to
do a lot of community theater. Over a period of about five years, I did
14 different productions, mostly musicals, including Brigadoon, Kiss Me
Kate, Fiddler on the Roof, HMS Pinafore and Chicago. In my last performance,
I had the leading role in South Pacific.
Member Profile: Tom Weidlich
Age: 62
Lives in: Scottsdale
EAA Ch1217 member since: it started, in 1998.
Employment: I joined Allegheny Airlines in 1996. In the mid-80s, they became US Air. I retired from US Airways in 1994.
Aircraft owned: I’ve owned a Stearman since 1978. It took me 10 years to rebuild it and I flew it for the first time in 1988. I’ve put about 1500 hours on it.
How I got involved in flying: I can’t remember a time when I didn’t want to fly! My first flight was on – coincidentally – Allegheny Airlines from Philadelphia to Newark. I was five years old and remember sitting by the window amazed to see clouds from the top. Ten years later, I cut a bunch of lawns, earned $48 and went to the local airport for flying lessons. It cost $8 per hour for the plane and $3 for the instructor. I soloed in six hours and that was the end of my money. Funny enough, I wound up soloing when I was 15. My birthday is on Oct. 8th, but the flight school thought it was on the 1st, so they soloed me right after that. Of course I didn’t say anything! I finally did get my Private at 17 and my Commercial at 18.
Ratings/flight experience: I have an ATP and 27,240 hours total time. I’m qualified in the Convair 580, DC-9, 737-200/-300/-400 and 757/767.
Why I joined EAA: All the guys I knew were in it. Plus EAA does a lot for young kids. If you give 1,000 kids a ride and even one says, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life,” that’s worth it.
Other hobbies: My wife and I SCUBA dive, but other than that I eat and breathe airplanes.
Interesting factoid about you: I’m one of the few airline pilots that never had a high school diploma. I dropped out of high school at 17 to join the military and while I did get my GED, dropping out was a bad move. I’ve had to work twice as hard as everyone else to get ahead.
Member Profile: Fred Lloyd
Age: 47
Lives in: Scottsdale
EAA Ch1217 member since: Around April 2001.
Employment: I’ve been a systems architect for Sun Microsystems for 13 years.
Aircraft owned: None.
How I got involved in flying: In 1984 I worked in a computer store and the owner had a Bonanza he and I flew around a lot. One year for Christmas he got me flight lessons — a whole set to get my private, which I did in a Piper Tomahawk in Colorado Springs. I came to Scottsdale in 1989 and pretty much stopped flying until 1998. Then I started flying again at SDL but I got tired of the same old rental scene and thought maybe I should try to improve my skills. So I went for my instrument rating. After that, the commercial looked pretty easy, so I did that. After that, some of my friends were doing their CFI and I figured I might as well do that, too. Since then, I’ve been doing light duty instructing.
Ratings/flight experience: CFII, commercial
multi-engine and 500 hours.
Why I joined EAA: I met Curtis and he coerced…I
mean, encouraged me to come to the meetings. I also wanted to belong to
an organization that did something to further aviation.
Other hobbies: Ham radio. I also operate the #1 Ham radio web site (www.qrz.com) with 90,000 subscribed users. My other hobby is I’m a blues guitarist. I play around town at various local bars and on Wednesday nights at the Blue Note in Scottsdale.
Interesting factoid about you: As part
of my Ham radio website I publish a CD, which has the complete database
of all Ham radio operators with their name, call sign, etc. One of those
CDs flew on the Mir Space Station. So one of those sparks in the sky you
saw when Mir was destroyed was my CD going up in flames.
Member Profile: Ed Curtis
Age: 65
Lives in: Cave Creek
EAA Ch1217 member since: Early 1999, about two and a half years ago.
Employment: I work part time for Evans Aviation in Cave Creek. They do aircraft restoration and individual component manufacturing for experimental aircraft as well as manufacture fuel tanks. I primarily do the sheet metal and fabric work. Before I retired, I was president and CEO of a paper distribution company in Chicago.
Aircraft owned: I finished building a Skybolt about a year and a half ago. It was five years in the building and is my 13th airplane. I’ve owned planes since I was 22 years old. Other aircraft included a C-140, two Stinson station wagons, three Bonanzas, a C-182, a C-210, a Baron and a C-170. Every four or five years, I’d upgrade, which is how I’ve gone through so many.
How I got involved in flying: I’ve loved airplanes since I was 4 or 5 years old and started flying when I was 19. I always wanted to fly for the airlines, but my timing was wrong. When I was ready to apply, they were only taking Korean War pilots and didn’t want anyone without military jet time.
Ratings/flight experience: ATP with 4,500 hours and a commercial glider rating.
Why I joined EAA: For the learning experience and because I wanted to be with guys who were interested in airplanes.
Other hobbies/interests: None! I used to enjoy radio-controlled model airplanes. I’m in the process of building an RV-7 and between that and working part time for Evans, I’m booked seven days a week.
Interesting factoid about you: Thirteen years ago I married a woman who supports my aviation interests completely. Joan never complains about the money going out the door for aviation or the time I spend at the airport. She’s a saint!
Member Profile: Linc Turcotte
Age: 50
Lives in: Scottsdale
EAA Ch1217 member since: 1998. I joined two or three months after the Chapter started.
Employment: I’m a project engineer at Honeywell on the helicopter engine program—primarily the HH-65 Dolphin used by the Coast Guard. We work on the development and introduction of hardware improvements as well as do failure analysis—but I haven’t had to do a failure analysis for about a year.
Aircraft owned: About a year and a half ago I started building an RV-6, which is the first aircraft I’ve owned.
How I got involved in flying: Two weeks after I started working as an A&P my boss asked if I wanted to go flying. The bug bit me right there and I started taking flying lessons within a week. This was in April 1970 and I wasn’t able to finish my Private before I left for school at Embry-Riddle, but I joined the aero club at school and finished up my Private there.
Ratings/flight experience: Commercial/Multi/Instrument and about 1,650 hours total time. I built the hours flying mail sacks out of Evansville, Ind., for Providence Air Charter which had a contract with the postal service.
Why I joined EAA: When I started flying again after a 22-year hiatus, I wasn’t happy with the condition of the aircraft I was renting. So I decided I’d build my own.
Other hobbies/interests: I used to SCUBA dive off the coast of New Jersey. Landscaping also used to be a big hobby and I once owned my own backhoe.
Interesting factoid about you: I was once
arrested for the theft of compressed air. I got the whole treatment: two
detectives from the city of Bridgeport, Conn., ‘cuffed me and drove me
downtown, but the charges ultimately were dismissed.
Member Profile: Terry Emig
Age: 42
Lives in: Casa Grande
EAA Ch1217 member since: June 1998
Employment: I own a manufacturing shop called Valley Pump and Machine Works. I manufacture above-ground fuel tanks, water tanks, pressure vessels—anything people want us to build. I also do domestic water pump sales and service.
Aircraft owned: In the past I have been a partner in two V-tail Bonanzas. I currently own a 1939 Luscombe and a 1941 Boeing Stearman. I’m also a partner in a Cessna 185 that’s in pieces. We’ve been really busy so my partner and I have been working on it about four years. The airplane is ready to be put together and we’re down to it needing an engine, propeller and cowling. Someday I would like to own a Howard.
How I got involved in flying: My grandad used to own my business here in Casa Grande. Back in the 1940s, 50s, even the 60s, there was no easy way to get to Phoenix to get parts for the business so he’d get in his Baron, fly to Sky Harbor to pick up the parts and come back. He also owned a Super Cub and I remember flying in the back seat when I was young. He’d pile up cushions and strap me in with ropes. My dad flew F-89s in the Air Force, so aviation always has been in our family. I started flying at age 16 and got my license at 17.
Ratings/flight experience: Private pilot/multi engine land.
Why I joined EAA: I like EAA’s Antique Classics magazine.
Other hobbies/interests: Before I started flying I made model airplanes of all kinds. Flying is my first love and I’ll fly as long as I can.
Interesting factoid about you: I’ve been
SCUBA diving all around the U.S. and Australia
Name: Herb McWaters
Age: Turned 62 on May 3
Lives in: Scottsdale
EAA Ch1217 member since: October 1998
Employment: Worked as an automotive air conditioning specialist for 44 years.
Aircraft owned: Before I got my license I owned a 1942 Taylorcraft L2. I got it in 1964 and put about 80 hours on it learning to fly. But in 1965 it was stolen from Deer Valley. I later read in the newspaper that a California mental patient had escaped from the hospital, stole the plane and crashed it into the north side of the mountain at New River. He walked away from the crash, but the sheriff tracked him to the home of his father, who he was going to visit in New River. I finished my flight instruction in other aircraft at Deer Valley and got my Private in October 1965. In 1968 I bought a 1946 Luscombe, flew it about 20 times and then sold it later that year and quit flying for awhile because I was raising a family.
A couple years ago I got back into flying and a little over a year and a half ago I started building an RV-6A. I had done some research on the experimentals and felt the RV was something I could build and it looked like a very solid airplane. I’m working on it with Dick Fellers, who used to be in the Chapter, and so far we’ve finished the empennage and the wing and we’re waiting for the fuselage kit.
How I got involved in flying: I was raised in Tulsa, Okla., close to the airport where they were building bombers and fighters so they always flew overhead and got me excited about flying. However, I didn’t get involved in flying until I moved to Phoenix. I was talking to one of my neighbors about flying and we decided to start taking lessons together at Deer Valley. He eventually dropped out.
Ratings/flight experience: Private pilot license and about 240 hours of flight time.
Why I joined EAA: I was getting into the aircraft building end of things and felt this would be an opportunity to learn more. I also found the technical help was really beneficial and I met a lot of nice people also building RVs and other planes.
Other hobbies/interests: Fishing, hunting
and enjoying my four grandkids and three great-grandchildren.
Interesting factoid about you: A couple years
ago I took one of the two original Thunderbird pilots, William J. Fenton,
on an airplane ride. He was an acquaintance and when he found out I was
getting current again he said he’d like to go up with me. He was retired,
76 years old at the time, but he and his buddy Fitzgerald, who were AT-6
pilots, were the two guys who started the demonstration team. We went flying,
did some maneuvers and when we came back he said it was a very smooth flight.
He was quite a gentleman.
Name: Sy Salmirs
Age: 72
Lives in: Scottsdale
EAA Ch1217 member since: About three months after the chapter was started, in August of 1998
Employment: I was an aeronautical engineer for NASA for about 30 years. After that, I taught aeronautical engineering technology at Arizona State University for 10 years.
Aircraft owned: As befits an engineer, I am building a highly-modified Starduster. The biggest modification is the smaller, thinner Acroduster wing I’m putting on it. To accommodate that wing, I had to lengthen the fuselage and redesign the tail. This is my first building project.
How I got involved in flying: I’d wanted
to fly since I was a little boy but I couldn’t afford it. Over the years
I did a little flying here and there, and then got my license at age 50
when I finally had the time and money.
Ratings/flight experience: Private pilot license
and about 300 hours of flight time.
Why I joined EAA: I finally realized they
existed and did all sorts of wonderful things with airplanes. I wanted
to find out more about them and to build my own plane, so I joined.
Other hobbies/interests: Tennis and painting.
Interesting factoid about you: From 1963
to 1970, I was on the Scout project, what we called the poor man’s orbital
rocket, which sent objects into space. Our claim to fame was that we launched
100 in a row without an error. At the time, we ended up putting up Navy
transit satellites, which were a major source of navigation for submarines.
From 1969 until the time I left NASA in 1981, I worked on a NASA 737, creating
the precursor to the glass cockpit