January 2003

January 22, 2003: It's time to start planning for Sun-N'-Fun. ISPA member (& our unofficial social director) Tom Saccio is helping us plan an informal get together during the event. For those of you who may not be members of ISPA, but are interested in learning more about the Seawind, the ISPA, and meeting some of our members, we would like to see you there. We will all most likely be hovering around the Seawinds. We'll look forward to meeting you.
A trip to Alaska is being planned for sometime in 2004. For information about this event, or if you would like to participate or make suggestions, please email the ISPA editor.
Even more has been added to the Aviation Humor page (it seems this page is pretty popular).
We now have 60 members. If you have not yet renewed your membership but want to, please do it right away. It's never too late. Thank you all for your continuing participation and ongoing support.

January 16, 2003: Several additions (even pictures) from our members have been sent in and added to our aviation humor page. You may find them amusing. Thank you.

January 15, 2003: There are now about 57 new and renewing ISPA members. Please review your information in the "Membership Directory" and let me know if corrections or deletions are needed.

January 7, 2003: "Turbo-charging makes sense for the Seawind..." That's how our new page about "Turbocharged Seawinds" starts out. ISPA member Scott Devlin has sent in several photos of his Devlin Aviation shop, and some of the Seawinds he is building. While not all of the aircraft Scott is building are turbocharged, he is one of the prominent leaders in developing turbo-charging for Seawinds. Therefore, Scott's photos can be seen on the turbocharged Seawind page. Below, and on that page as well, is a link to a dedicated page showing some other interesting photos from Devlin Aviation. The ISPA is seeking information from those of you who are building or flying turbocharged Seawinds. If you can share some photos and stories about your experience, please send them in. Thank you Scott (and all) for your participation and support.

January 6, 2003: About 50 memberships have now been renewed. If you have not yet renewed your membership, I urge you to do it now. During the next couple of weeks, I will be deleting the logins for non-renewing members. I expect to have this done by the end of January, 2003. Our "Membership Directory" in the members only pages has been updated with the latest information I have. Because some would rather not make their contact information public, this directory is only a partial listing. Both current and past members are included. Please check your listing there. If you see errors, or want your information modified, or deleted from the directory, please email me immediately.
Our site is getting quite large. It is best viewed by MS-Internet Explorer 5 or later. Here are a couple of things I've learned that you may find helpful. In your task bar there should be a button labeled "size." When you select this button, it gives you several choices. In order to see some of the small text on the site, the "medium" or "smaller" selection may be necessary. For easier viewing by those of us whose eyes may have lost some close focusing acuity, selecting one of the "larger" sizes can reduce eye strain. Choosing "smallest" before printing can sometimes save paper. Pages can be viewed "full screen" by hitting your F11 key. This key minimizes the tool bars at the top of your screen. It toggles, so if you want the tool bars to appear larger, hit the F11 key again. You can try it now. It is especially helpful when viewing the large tables on our site, like the membership directory. (Other browsers, i.e., Netscape, have the same features but they may be selected in different ways.) Of course, these features work on other sites as well. Thank you for your participation and support.

January 3, 2003: Arguably, one of the best Seawind photos we have is of ISPA member Philip de Ridder's partially submerged Seawind C-GAKA. It not only appears on our web-site (see the piloting page) but several others as well. Philip has shared this spectacular photo in order that we may all learn from his costly misfortune. To briefly answer your many inquiries about the photo of C-GAKA being prepared for towing, it was towed to a seaplane ramp, dried out and repaired. A real testament to the toughness of the Seawind. Philip has now sent us several photos of C-GAKA in better times. C-GAKA can be seen on our home page, and on Philip's page in the "letters" section of the site along with the complete story. Thank you Philip.
You will notice that the membership renewal banners have been removed from the site. Including new and renewing memberships, we now have 48 members. Some of you have asked about, or sent information to be included in the "Membership Directory." The membership directory is NOT current. It will take a couple of weeks to reconcile the new and renewing members list and revise the directory accordingly. Part of the effort to reconcile the list will include revising member log-ins to include only those who have renewed or purchased new memberships. If by chance your log-in stops working and you have renewed your membership, please notify me immediately so I can reinstate it. Thank you for your continuing support and patience.