Southwest
Utah Squadron Conducts Its First Meeting
October 4, 2025
Midvale, UT
In the absence of flight clearance, the inaugural get-together of the Utah UFO Squadron had to settle for a "taxi to the ramp" instruction to meet at Golden Corral restaurant in Salt Lake City (Midvale, actually) on October 4.
Of the 14 Utah UFOs, seven (and four wives) braved the rain to exchange stories of past acts of derring do, planes flown, planes built, insurance denials, long-ago first flights in heavier-than-air craft, and foggy, past personal connections.
Submitted by: Gary Sackett, Utah UFO
Above, left to right: Dennis Bleazard, Hal Christiansen, Gary Kopecky, Gary Sackett, John Phillips, Steve Smith, Bruce Spratt.
At left, left to right: John Phillips, Gary Sackett, Gary and Maureen Kopecky, Dennis Bleazard, Hal Christiansen, Bruce and Carolyn Spratt, Helen and Steve Smith. Photographer: Toni Sutliiff, Gary Sackett's wife.
Breakfast in Sequim, WA
Eight smiling UFO members at the January breakfast are all active fliers. Gerry is a Swift driver; Barry a one-of-a-kind-designed-and-built owner; Bill is a Yak III / Swift driver; Brendon has an RV-12; Dave just sold his Mooney; Brownie flies an RV-9A; Collett is building a Sonex and finishing a rebuild on a RV-4; and Dan flies a Murphy Rebel. Always lots of aviation history going around the table.
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East Coast
Click below to read the full article in the Cape Gazette
Delaware UFOs featured in Cape Gazette
September 2025
Milton, DE
Photo credit: Cape Gazette article, September 2025. Link show,
Southwest
Northern Nevada UFO Luncheon
September 26, 2025
Reno, NV
The Northern Nevada UFO had a lunch meeting on September 26 and had the very good looking group in the picture attend. Our member, Terry Matter, who is a member of the Air Race Board (used to be the Reno Air Races) gave us a rundown on how the Air Races turned out the first year they were held in their new home, Roswell, New Mexico. Although there were some airplanes that flew in Reno that were not able to make it to Roswell, Terry reported that the races all went well with good attendance and in addition to the races there was also the airshow the crowd enjoyed.
Next year the plan is to have some or maybe all of the missing race airplanes and the display airplanes in Roswell. Also, the ex Pan Am Pilot/
Navigator, Lew Gage, brought a Kollsman Sextant for the pilots in the group to inspect. This was the same sextant that Pan Am used in the 707 airplanes until about 1967 or 68. All Lew had to say about it all was, "I never got lost." Of course the satellites used with the sextant were a little farther away from Earth than the satellites used in the present day GPS aircraft navigation units, but if you knew how to use that sextant you could still find out where you were 20 minutes ago. And so ended another congenial luncheon by the older and able pilots and the fair ladies taking care of them.
Best regards,
Lew Gage
Northern Nevada UFO Representative
East Coast
UFO Meeting Report
September 17, 2025
Milton, DE
When you plan a UFO meeting for Members and Guests, you hold your breath and hope for a good weather day. Well the weather gods didn't work for us this year, which makes it two years in a row that rain has held our attendance to a minimum. Notwithstanding, we still had 10 UFO members and 13 guests join together at John Chirtea's Hangar (DE25) in Milton, Delaware. Plans had been underway to have 46 attendees, which included 9 planes flying in and robbed us of over 18 additional attendees. But that doesn't mean we didn't have a great time by all!
The meeting started promptly at 11:00 am and introductions were made of all present. After a lunch with sandwiches, salad, desert and beverages we had a short meeting where members wowed guests with great stories of their aviation adventures. The main topics of insurance, medicals and aging were discussed, with the only conclusion being "We are all getting older (and better)".
The main topic of the meeting was a discussion by John and Heather Chirtea about their all electric eVTOL BlackFly. The intent was to take it out of the hangar and do a couple of demonstration flights. However, additional rain prevented the planned flights. So we just proceeded to enjoy each others company until we parted at around 2:30pm. Maybe we'll have better success next year, and we look forward to your suggestions for a meeting place.
Respectfully submitted by,
John Chirtea, Host and Delaware Area UFO Representative
302-382-5917
Attendees, left to right: (m = UFO member; a = Auxiliary Wing member; g =guest)
Heather Chirtea (g), Dan O'donnell (a); Angie Seely (g); Dwayne (a); Meghan Chisholm (m); Diane Chisholm (g); Rod Accetta (m); Bob Mench (m); Ken Roeberg (g); David Roeberg (m); John Chirtea (m); Cindy Chirtea (g); John Sullivan (m); Dana Wheeler (g); Libby Williamson (g); Patrick Wheeler (g); Ron Smith (m); Joe Larrimore (g); Ginny Vahlberg (g); Nancy Smith (g); Julian Vahlberg (m); Merle Starer (m); Drew Mugno (g)
East Coast
Danbury 2025 Update
June 18, 2025
The weather God must have been in a bad mood, since the entire Northeast was covered with extremely low ceilings, rain, mist and fog. I do not believe there was a VFR airport open from Maryland to Maine. In fact, Danbury Airport was below minimum for IFR arrivals. This did not stop 37 UFOs and guests from showing up on time at the Danbury Airport. Due to the weather, 17 aircraft cancelled, which accounted for about 40 souls who understandably could not attend. Art Falk drove the longest distance, 5.5 hours from Maine.
Prior to lunch Ken “Brownie” Brown our President who flew in from Washington State (commercial), gave us an update on what the National membership is attempting to do. The big part which has plagued some of our pilots, is insurance, and this is being addressed by the Board.
Ken Johnson was able to arrange for “Tugboat Manny”, a comedian from Long Island, NY who did about a 20-minute routine, which was very entertaining. Lunch was at the Olive Garden, and I believe everyone was satisfied with the quality this year. About 2:30 PM everyone was ready to depart, and Danbury airport reported VFR conditions.
In closing I would thank all who did make it to Danbury. I know some of you spent more hours driving than at the function. Hope you had a good time.
Lastly, I want to thank “Team Danbury” for their valued assistance in making the event happen. They are Ken Johnson, Richard Klein, Peter Welch, Fred Forst and Vince Calio, plus their wives.
Southwest
Northern Nevada Luncheon
June 12, 2025
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The picture is of the small group attending our June 12th lunch. A fair percentage of the local UFO were on vacation, had something else taking place or had head colds going on. But we had a nice lunch and listened to some flying stories from those that attended.
Suddenly, that rainy Spring and snowy Winter weather is gone and the days are now around 90F+ here in Reno. We discussed a fly out and back to the McClellan Airport in Sacramento, Ca. and a visit to a very good aeronautical museum close to the airport. The main consideration is when we go since the Sacramento area is so hot in July and August. We will see what happens and might make it a Fall trip in late September or November.
~ Lew Gage
Northern Nevada UFO representative
East Coast
The First Annual UFO Carolina Fly-in
May 10, 2025
On May 10th we held the first UFO Carolina Fly-in at the Cape Fear Jetport (KSUT) in Oak Island, NC. In spite of questionable weather we had 14 pilots and guests, with a majority from North and South Carolina. However two were from California who were in the east visiting relatives in the area. This was especially good since it meant Susie Newman Harrison and Rob Harrison came to the event. Susie is an event planner and was a tremendous help in setting up the event and Rob was one of our two speakers. Rob is 84 and still flying Airshows. He is known as the Tumbling Bear. He talked about the effects of age on flying aerobatics and what he did to accommodate for this and keep performing.
The other speaker was more local, Howie Franklin Director of the Cape Fear Jetport. Howie served in the US Air Force and became the Chief Steward for Air Force One. He was the first to serve under 5 Presidents including Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George Bush, and Bill Clinton.
We then all shared on our aviation experience and discussed topics relative to UFOs such as insurance and the handling of hearing loss. Going forward we decided to hold Zoom meetings to stay connected and plan future events. In that vein we discussed changing the name from Carolina Fly-in to the mid-East Coast and expand the attendance. I want to thank everyone who came and helped with the event.
~ Art Falk
West Coast
UFOs Gather in Coastal California
April 23, 2025
April 23 started out with low stratus ceilings that promised to hang on through the mid-day. The Central Coast has been having a lot of foggy mornings, and sometimes the fog is slow to burn off.
We had been looking forward to sharing lunch at Jerry Long’s hangar at Santa Ynez. By 11:30 my home base, KSBP, was VFR, but the ceiling was still 2200 feet, about the same at Santa Ynez, but not much terrain between. It was a short flight in my Cessna 172 with two passengers, Liz Dinan and Jan Dungan who is new to the UFO. We arrived just in time for lunch. The flight was a little bumpy under the clouds. The view was lovely and the hills were lush and green. There not many wild flowers to see this year, and I did not knock over any cows on the way.
Paul Trent drove in from Santa Barbara. The clouds were too low to get through the San Marcos Pass. Bill Krauch and Mike Makowski both locals joined the fun. We enjoyed our lunch and had some time for hangar talk. By that time the sky was blue without a cloud in sight. It was a lovely flight home and we skimmed over the hills marveling at the spring hillsides.
We decided that the next meeting at noon on Wednesday, July 23, should be at Santa Paula KSZP. It is a fun place to land, the restaurant is great, and maybe more UFO members from south of Santa Barbara can attend. More good times and opportunities to fly ahead!
~ Grace Crittenden
January UFO Gathering in Paso Robles
January 22, 2025
West Coast
Another beautiful day for flying and a good excuse to start the engines, we met in Paso Robles January 22 for a winter fly-out.
Darrel Radfod, a local Paso pilot, was waiting at the One Niner Diner when Jerry Long and Bill Krauch flew in from Santa Ynez. A few minutes later, Grace Crittenden landed with Liz Dinan, coming in from San Luis Obispo. We were happy to see Dan Bailey and his wife Barbara when they arrived from Camarillo. It was a nice lunch, seasoned with hangar talk and fun stories.
We are looking forward to getting together again for our next fly-out, Wednesday, April 23, this time for lunch at Jerry Long’s hangar in Santa Ynez. Here’s hoping for a beautiful spring day!
Pacific NW
Earth-Rounders invade Tacoma, WA
September 9, 2024
Read their blog
The organization is a social club for senior pilots who are defying the conventional rules of aging.
By: Marissa Alter Jun 19, 2024, 6:51 PM Connecticut news12.
https://connecticut.news12.com/ufos-invade-danbury-airport-for-annual-meetup
“UFOs descended on Danbury Airport Wednesday, but the invasion was a welcome one—the United Flying Octogenarians’ annual meetup in the Northeast.
“We're a bunch of kids who never grew up who are still flying airplanes after our 80th birthday,” explained UFO President Ken “Brownie” Brown. “To qualify to be a UFO, you have to be a pilot in command of your own aircraft with a certified pilot’s license.”
The organization is a social club for senior pilots who are defying the conventional rules of aging.
Just ask Jack Rosen who arrived from New Bedford in a plane he built. Rosen’s shirt could be the group's slogan: “It's weird being the same age as old people.”
Rosen, who’s 87 years old, said he feels like he’s still 18, “but the aches and the pains remind you.” He’s one of 1,800 UFOs worldwide who refuse to let their age keep them grounded. The organization started in 1982 with half a dozen members.
“We are the aviation history that is still flying,” Brownie told News 12. The 84-year-old made the trip to Connecticut from Seattle, Washington. “Our oldest member right now is 104. We have four centurions.”
It was Brownie’s first time at what’s become a yearly reunion in Danbury. The gathering began over a decade ago, organized by President Emeritus Bob Barker.
“I first discovered this organization when I was 78, and I couldn't wait to be 80 to join,” Barker recalled, adding that he flew on his 80th birthday and promptly put the application in the mail. “The purpose of our organization is to provide camaraderie and improve the life experience of elder pilots, and this does it in spades.” For those who think age 80 and up shouldn’t soar through the skies, “We say we are living proof that that is not the case,” Brownie countered. “Our pilots work at a higher standard than the FAA requirements. We evaluate before we go on every flight. Is today a day I should be flying or is today a day I shouldn't be flying? Brave and bold is not one of our mottos.”
To maintain their licenses, they complete a flight review with a certified instructor every two years and undergo regular medical checks. But one thing is clear for this crew: flying never gets old.
“What is there not to love about flying? First of all, you're in command of your own space and time. You get to go where you want, when you want, how you want,” Brownie stated.
“It keeps your mind working, and that's what I do—just keep the mind working,” added Rosen.”
West Coast
Paso Robles
May 2024
The skies over Delmarva witnessed a historic moment today as one of the world's first "flying cars", the BlackFly, took flight. This state-of-the-art single-pilot electric aircraft, which takes off vertically like a drone and flies similarly, is pushing the boundaries of modern aviation.