Frontiers - Space-Library

flying. A nonprofit corporation, the association allows members
to purchase shares, making them co-owners of the club.
Members are also volunteers, who lend a hand to support the
Seattle-area flight community, including the Future Aviators
program and Women in Aviation. Limited membership is available
to non-Boeing personnel who pass a background check.
A background check is not required for Boeing badge holders.
Rearick is one of the volunteers.
A 787 flight-line mechanic, he became a field service representative
at Boeing last year. He and several other club members
volunteer every Thursday, performing oil changes and minor
preventive maintenance on the aircraft fleet. That helps Rearick
remain current on his Airframe & Powerplant mechanic’s license
and U.S. Federal Aviation Administration Inspection Authorization.
“This is a small, tightknit community,” he said, acknowledging
the value in teaching the people of Boeing about civil aviation.
“Volunteering with the club helps foster a brotherhood and
helps pilots understand the airplane from the mechanical
side of the house, and association members get educated
across the board.”
It was the association’s volunteers who helped Price when
the FAA denied his request for a pilot’s license under a Class 3
medical certificate. At that point, Price had recovered from his
successful lung transplant surgery and was running marathons.
“To prove I was healthy enough to fly, I even challenged
the Federal Aviation Administration inspector to beat me at
tennis,” Price said.
A year later, with guidance from one of the club’s instructors,
Price finally achieved his dream.
That was 13 years ago. Today, like Dalby, Klug, Rearick
and nearly 500 others, Price, now a Commercial Airplanes
regional marketing director, is still with the Boeing Employees
Flying Association.
And he’s working on his instrument rating. •
teresa.m.kuhn@boeing.com
Want to join?
The Boeing Employees Flying Association
is looking for new members. Membership
is open to current Boeing employees
and to retirees, customers, vendors and
government representatives who hold
a Boeing badge.
Employee flying groups are in Puget Sound
(www.befa.org), Philadelphia (www.flybefa.
com), Mesa (http://bears.club.tripod.com)
and St. Louis (www.heilmannpub.com/
BEFCSTL), and another is being formed
in South Carolina.
For a listing of other Boeing recreation
clubs, visit the Boeing Enterprise
Recreation website (www.boeing.com/
companyoffices/aboutus/recreation).
BOEING FRONTIERS / SEPTEMBER 2012
21