Dear Members,
Happy New Year from the banks of the Limmat river in Zurich, Switzerland. Yes, our local club has gone international. This January I’m on a longer trip than usual, but making great use of hotel time, working hard every day towards a successful and fruitful 2023 for the JAC. I’d like to once again thank you all for the trust you’ve placed in me to guide our club forward this year. I am full of enthusiasm and energy as I pen this letter to our first edition of the 2023 Vortex digital newsletter.
This newsletter, with its storied history and enduring spirit is a perfect companion to our club. That whirling mass is sucking all that we have to say and recording it for posterity. A prospective member can read our history through the many years of Vortex publications and really get to know where we’ve come from. Only then, can we know which direction we
are heading. Please support this fine publication and let your voice be heard and recorded for all to see.
Submissions of any kind are always welcome to its Editor in Chief, Elias "Who Flias" Zwillenberg.
So, what’s to come in 2023 for the JAC? Quite simply, more of the good. The good is the varied fleet of aircraft available for pleasure flying or training alike. Many years ago, I took my first flight at Allaire Airport at age 13. Today, I am enjoying a career in aviation and wonder every
day, “How lucky I am that they pay us for this.”
Well, the JAC has surely been the beginning of many aviation careers. In the last few years alone, so many members have gone from Private pilot through Flight instructor and beyond. How valuable this club is and will forever be to those members! Other members have taken that
first flight and endeavor to share their love for flying with their families and friends. No matter your ultimate goals in aviation, the here and now is what I will address.
The hardest job in our club is that of Trustee. These keystone members are ever on the hook for the maintenance and upkeep of our aircraft. Our individual members may fly an aircraft once every few weeks, and possibly have one or no interactions with a Trustee. Meanwhile that same Trustee is interacting daily with your fellow members to ensure that even the most casual flyer has a safe and clean plane at the ready. The importance and difficulty of this job cannot be overstated. Organizing maintenance alone is a fulltime job. And so we are doubling upon Trustees in 2023 as many hands make light work.
In the past, I believe our Trustees have also worked in silos. My first order of business was to stand up a special maintenance committee at our Member meeting on January 5th . This committee is to be staffed with all of our Trustees and allow for a more organized approach to the maintenance of our fleet. More importantly our approach will be dynamic, nimble
forward thinking and flexible. We will keep what works and work on what to keep.
Without further ado: Schedule an aircraft! Seek a new rating or certificate! or simply reach out to one of our many instructors and enjoy this rare and beautiful privilege of flight that we lucky few share. I hope you enjoy this amazing club as much as I have these past couple of years.
Bill Stephenson
President JAC 2023