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From: Tom Elam <thomas.e.elam@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: For those of you breathlessly awaiting news of my recent flying
 activities
Date: Tue, 17 Sep 2024 12:05:40 -0400
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
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Well, it was a pretty quiet summer for flying, normally a very busy 
Civil Air Patrol season. This year we have some new pilots in the state 
so I stepped back to let them get some experience. That also freed up 
more time to pursue my RC hobby and travel to Canada and Europe. The new 
pilots took advantage, and we never missed an opportunity to fly cadets 
due to lack of pilots.

This month I took over as the Assistant Operations Director for the 
state CAP Cadet O-Flight program. My predecessor decided to step down 
after 6 years on the job. And a great job he did, too

Measured by flights and hours flown this is the single most important 
Indiana CAP flying program. Including responsibility for all Indiana CAP 
flying, I have held similar, even more intense, jobs in the past, so 
stepping in was not a problem.

We already have requests in hand for 112 October O-Flights, so it's 
going to be a very busy month for me. My predecessor set up a shared 
tracking Excel spreadsheet that helps keep track of requests and what is 
actually flown. Thanks Ralph! CAP NHQ has an excellent budget tracking 
system as well.

I passed my 2024 checkride with flying colors and looking forward to 
next year. Still in great health, a January FAA physical should not be a 
barrier.

I also have enjoyed several 2024 trips in my flying club's aircraft.

In a few hours I am going down to a southern Indiana airport for some 
O-Flights and looking forward to a night flight back home. Also looking 
forward to a busy October.

At age 78 well aware my flying days ahead are numbered, but I'm going to 
enjoy what has been part of my life for almost 58 years as long as I 
can. When it's over I'll have a library of memories spread across 5 
logbooks totaling over 4,000 flying hours that I can take off the shelf 
and remember with great fondness. It's been quite a ride.