HISTORY

The Frenchman Bay Flying Club

This “work in progress”

transcribed from club minutes and notes by Dick Fleming Dec 28, 2003

The Frenchman Bay Flying Club was formed in 1962 and purchased their first airplane in the Spring of 1962. The club was originally brought together by members of the Civil Air Patrol’s Downeast Squadron. They wanted to have a plane to fly so they could take non-members of CAPS flying (Civil Air Patrol regulations prohibit non-members from using the plane in any manner). Several of the charter members had floatplanes of their own and desired a land based plane.

The club was charted to promote flying and related activities, and allow an opportunity for people to fly without the expense of owning aircraft themselves. Dues were set to cover the expenses of the plane, while charges for each flight covered the operating costs.

The fledgling club modified the Portland Flying Clubs plans and bylaws.

The first club aircraft was a red and white 1962 Cessna Skyhawk with a 6 cylinder 145 HP Continental engine. The club records do no include the purchase price, but the insurance value was $14,000. The plane’s tail number was N1608Y

At the start of the club, all charter members paid an initiation fee of $175.00. Monthly dues at that time were $10.00 and the rate charged to members for flying time was $7.00 per tach hour. 80 Octane aviation gas could be purchased for a mere 42 cents per gallon.

The first president of the club was Dr. Gordon Rand. Other charter members were as follows; Earl Ashmore, Club Secretary, Harvey Bellatty, Richard T. Davis, Lyle Ford, Lawrence Gross, Hollis Hamilton, Richard Harding, Malcolm Hinckley, Stanley Johnson, Vernon Jorda, ray lane, Johne Linnehan, Roger McFarland, Clifford Pulis, Charles Richards, Raymond Sargent, Viola Sargent, and Henry Whitmore. Viola Sargent was the first secretary of the club. Earl Ashmore was the first operations manager. The clubs original documentation limited membership to 15 pilots.

In October 1963, the plane was fitted with an ADF, at a cost of $225.00. This work was done at Folsom’s Air Service in Greenville, Maine. The ADF was the only radio navigation available at the time for instrument flying as widespread VOR availability was many years away.

As of May 1, 1964, the club added five new members, Lawrence Collier, Clif Pulis, Roland Severance, Robert Thompson and John Webber, these members were charged a $200 initiation fee and the club raised its flying charge to $8.00 per hour.

In the spring of 1965 a new plane was purchased. This aircraft was a blue and white 1965 Cessna Skyhawk with a 6 cylinder 145 HP Continental engine. There is no records of the purchase price. The tail number of this aircraft was N5369R. The price of 80 octane in these days was 40 cents per gallon. New members that joined since 1964 included Robert Hylander and Richard Merrill.

By the spring of 196y the club had raised its flying rates to $10 per hour. Monthly dues were still $10/month. By this time, David Allen, George Allen, Harlow Cameron, Hoyt Hamor, Raymond Hodgkins, Charlie Sargent, Rogert Sargent, Steve Sargent and Wayne Joy had joined the flying club. Total membership was approximately 17 members.

On February 27, 1069 the club purchased a new aircraft. This was a 1969 cessna 172K Skyhawk. Under the cowling was again, a 6 cylinder Continental engine, and the tail number was N78796. At this time, Dr. Gordon Rand was president and Earl Ashmore was secretary. The club dues were now $15/month. Flying time was $10/hour and the membership fee was still $200.

During the early to mid 1970’s, the club records are thin at best. Club membership however was fairly steady during he time period. By 1977 new members were Mark Allen, Mike Allen, John Bosco Jr, William Bowen, Jim Dennison, Peter Dow, Bob Dunton, Daiel Falco, Marshall Field, Rick Foster, William Haefele, George Hopkins, Carroll Leland, Joseph Thomas and Donald West.

It was not until November 14, 1977 that the club purchased another aircraft. Under club president Roger Sargent, the members purchased a 1977 Cessna 172N Skyhawk - tail number N75830. The purchase price of this plane was $32,889. The club was allowed a trade in price of $12,500 for the old aircraft.

At this time, the club raised its monthly dues to $20 and set the flying rate to $14 per hour.

In the spring of 1979 the club was in need of another aircraft. Richard Davis was involved in an accident with the club plane. With the effort of club president Jom Dennison, the club purchased a 1979 Cessnam 172N Skyhawk, tail number N2899E on May 9, 1979. The club purchased this plane at a cost of $29, 879. Dues were raised to $25 a month. Flying costs remained at $14/hour. On January 11, 1981 flying rates were raised to $25/hour. The initiation fee was also raised to $500.

In the early 1980’s, the club inducted several new members They were Colby Ashmore, Wells Bacon, Ann Bright, Robert Foster, Spencer Murphy, Spencer Murphy III, Mitchell Small, and Jennifer Trowbridge. At this time cub membership consisted of 15 people. By the end of the decade Roger Chipman, Hugh Donnell, Stetson Everett, Stephen Salisbury and John White had entered the club.

During the Spring of 1990, N2899E was in need of a new engine after a trip to florida. During this time Richard Davis was the club president. On May 3, 1990 the members voted to replace the 160 HP Lycoming engine with a 180 HP Lycoming engine at a cost of $16,000. The club also voted to raise the flying charge to $35/hour.

Not long after the engine was replaced the plane was involved in an accident. On March 30, 1991 Richard Davis crash landed the plane in Western Bay, about two miles outh of the airport. This incident would mark the beginning of a few tenuous years for the club.as membership shrunk to a low of 12 members during this time

After several meetings and heated debate during the Sping of 1991 the club elected Hugh Donnel as president and Steve Salisbury as club secretary. The club also completed a substantial revision to the by-laws. An honorary board of directors was created and charter member Viola Sargent was elected to this position. Viola helped the club during this period and refocused the membership. She was not afraid to voice her opinion or offer suggestions. At two meetings that spring, specific motions were made to honor Viola for all her help during the years. Also honored at the imte was Earl Ashmore for all his years of service to the club.

Most of the discussion of these meetings revolved around the purchase and direction of the club. Different planes were discussed, and the club even tried out a Cessna 150, but this aircraft was rejected because of space limitations and of slow cross country speeds.

On July 30, 1991 a 1977 Cessna 182N Skyhawk with a 160 HP Lycoming engine and full IFR panel was purchased ffrom Telford aviation for a cost of $27,000. The plane was brown and yellow and had a tail number of N5753E.

During 1992 and 1993 very little action took place with the club other than flying and normal business activities. Jim Dennison returned as president and Ed Hatch joined the club along with former member David Allen.

In December 1993 bad luck struck the club once again. The plane had been taken in for a service problem and the carburetor removed for repair. The plane was returned to the ramp with an open fuel line unmarked by service personnel. During a startup operation by Ed Hatch, the plane caught fire and burned on the ramp. Neither Ed, nor his wife, the other occupant, were injured. An investigation by the FAA found no fault or rule infractions.

The club spent the winter in search of new aircraft. Several Cessna 172’s were reviewed and three were test flown at the airport an a beautiful spring morning with all members in attendance. The consensus was to purchase a brown and white 1979 Cessna 172N from Pittsfield Moror Company for a price of $32,500. The club refurbrished the interior front seats and had the plane inspected by Telford aviation. The tail registration was the club’s third “E”, N3166E.

On April 20, 1994, under the direction of the new club president Mitchell Small, the club officially voted to purchase the lane. After much discussion during the winter, the club made several changes in the structure of the club. It was decided to cut the initiation fee in half to $250 to encourage more membership in the club. Where the previous fee of $500 gave the member 2 membership shares, the new amended by-laws made it possible for members to sell shares. The idea was to double the membership, with the incentive of being able to sell the shares. Monthly dues were raised at the meeting to $35/month.

In the early summer of 1994 a reporter from the Ellsworth American was invited to take a ride in the club plane and do an article about the flying club. The article had a positive effect on recruiting new members and by the end of the summer, the club had about 20 members.

During the fall of 1994 the Hancock County Bar Harbor Airport stared on a rehabilitation project on runway 4/22. Although this reconstruction did impact the large planes, it did little to affect the club. The project was completed in May 1995.

By the end of the year in 1995 several new members had joined the club. These included Jilaine Butler, Albert Carver, Walter Carver, Merle Copper, Jessie Deer, Brian Dunn, Billy Dunn, Tom Dunn, Nat Fenton, Spencer Fulwiler, Robert King, Martin Koeppl, Chadd Linnehan, Charlie Sidman, Herbert Ware and Steven Weisberger. At the end of 1995 club membership stood at 22 members.

NOTE MISSING YEARS. 1996-2002

In 2002 the number two navcom was replaced with a new unit.

The club’s aircraft suffered a minor accident in 2002. Landing on 35 in gusty conditions Dan Herrick veered off the runway into the grass on rollout. Attempting to get back on the runway the nosewheel dug into the soft dirt and the prop hit the ground. No one was injured. The engine was taken out and sent back to the manufacturer for analysis. No major problems were found.

In the fall of 2002 Steven Salisbury asked to be relieved of the secretarial duties and Richard Fleming took over the position. Mitch Small was President and Nat Fenton Vice President. Andrew Peterson took over the position of operations officer.

A club web site was set up in early 2002 at the following address: http://www.fbfclub.org. The site contained an online scheduling system, printed material for prospective members and a list of active members. Invoices and statements were set up on the QuickBooks accounting system so that financial information could be E-mailed to club members.

In the 2003 Nat Fenton and Peter Shertenlieb purchased their own plane and resigned from the club. Robert King took over Nat’s position as Vice President. Acadia Air sold their FBO to Columbia Air. Fortunately the club was able to keep their heated hangar space.

In 2003 club membership reached 23 pilots. The cost of a membership was $250. Flight time was $46/hour. Monthly dues were $35/month. In 2004 the annual was fairly expensive, a break housing was replaced and numerous smaller problems were identified and corrected. The #1 Com unit was serviced in Portland and the annoying difficulties with this unit were finally fixed.