I must confess at the outset that this Debriefing suffers from at least two things. First, it is inexcusably late. And, second, your intrepid reporter was not at the meeting, an unpardonable lapse, I know, in loyalty, diligence, and dependability. Instead of flying and taking notes at the same time - - something akin to driving while talking on a cell phone - - I was off hiking around the mountains in the Sawtooth National Forest around Sun Valley, Idaho. If it had not been for the thick, acrid smoke from the forest fires, the nearest of which was just twenty-five miles north of us, it would have been absolutely spectacular. But, I digress, a common practice when one knows not of what he speaks.

Here is what I have gleaned about the meeting. After some initial concerns about the weather - - what’s new? - - the evening of Thursday, September 7, 2006, turned out to be very nice and conducive to some good late summer flying.

The business portion of the meeting was relatively brief. There were, of course, the Minutes by the Secretary and the Treasurer’s Report. There was discussion about a fall picnic, but no one in attendance seemed willing to take on that responsibility. Accordingly, discussion of the picnic was shelved. However, Warren Clark and Ray Yirga volunteered to be the Coffee Guys for the next year and they should know that their efforts will be greatly appreciated.

Two Junior Members were introduced. One of these Junior Members, Matt Miller, flew the Club’s trainer and it is reported that he did quite well. (Since the October meeting has already occurred as this is being written, those of you who were at that meeting know that a Junior Members program is being discussed.)

The disappointment of having to cancel the IMAA Mini-Fest was expressed and there was discussion of the impact of the cancellation and of the prospects for holding the event in 2007. Especially since he could not experience the gratification of coordinating another very successful IMAA event, Chris DeConti deserves our special thanks for managing it for the second year. He does a great job and we can only hope that he will be willing to do it yet again in 2007. Putting together such an event together takes a great deal of work and it is never too soon to start thinking about next year’s. So, even if Chris is willing to do it one more time, he should have a second-in-command, someone who will gain experience in putting it together and provide continuity into 2008. Whether or not you fly IMAA aircraft, please give serious thought to talking with Chris about this now, rather than next August when a lot of the work will already have been done.

Finally, the unofficial end of summer was implicitly declared when Tim announced that, because of the ever earlier loss of daylight, the October meeting would be held at the “Club House”.

THINK SAFETY – FLY SAFELY