June 2002 - American Bonanza Society

ABS President shares his memoriesReminiscences by past presidents of the Society have been printed in recent issues of this magazine. Here ,Past Presidel1l Charlie Gibbs describes the mid-80s.Charlie Gibbs (1986-1987)Fernandina, FloridaII 's with great humility that I takethis moment to share with the currentABS membership my thoughts regardingthose eight wonderful years I spentas a member of your board of directorsand especially the year from 1986 to1987 when I was honored to serve asyour president.At the time I was elected to theboard in 1980, I was probably theyoungest board member ever at 39 yearsold. Little did I know what awaited meespeciallyduring my tenn as president.When I was elected to the board, fonnerpresident Dave Barton called me to theside and told me, "No one will rememberyou when your term is over, so just dothe best job you can for this organizationand your own memories will suffice formany years of happiness." I certainlydidn't realize at the time how true thosewords would be!Over the years 1've owned fourBonanzas as well as a 58 Baron.By attending some 20 conventions,a dozen BPPPs and at leastping my beginning tenn on the board in1981 with my last year as president ofthe Southeast group. The leadership ofthe ABS during those years was outstanding.Each person served diligentlyand each was a pleasure to work with.In 1984, at the insistence ofPresident Don Monday, the ABS fonnal­Iy petitioned the FAA to inspect thestructural integrity of the Bonanza. Toomany planes and too many friends weresuffering from "structural failures."Although we were a voice to be reckonedwith, the real voice of concerncame from Aviation ConslImer magazine,which in retrospect accomplishedmore in their expose articles to wake upboth Beech and the FAA than we couldever do. We did our best though.Although little was known aboutwhat was happening, an FAA report in1985 got the proverbial ball rolling. IIwas at that time, somewhat unbeknownstto us, that Beech began retestingthe integrity of the V-tail. In themeantime, in the summer of 1986, I hadthe pleasure of being elected ABS presasmany Service Clinics, I met aplethora of knowledgeable peopleand always learned somethingJ bought my first Bonanza in 1974, a new at each event.1949 "A" model, for $8,200. Boy, did Ilove that plane! I attended my first ABS convention that sameyear in Louisville, Kentucky, and from then on was hookednotonly by the plane but also by the wonderful people I cameto know who had the same love experience with theirBonanzas.Over the years I owned three other Bonanzas as well as a58 Baron. By attending some 20 conventions, a dozen BPPPsand at least as many Service Clinics, I met a plethora ofknowledgeable people and always learned something new ateach event.During my time on the board, I helped hire Cliff Soneswho served as one of our best executive directors. We as agroup developed the Training Program (now called the BPPP),moved the headquarters to Wichita, built our headquartersbuilding, fonnaJized service clinics, and grew the organizationfrom 4,000 to 9,000 members. We implemented quality in ourprograms and publications that all of us who served are proudto acknowledge.J was happy to serve as president of the Southeast chapter(as we called ourselves then) for close to six years, overlap-ident. Little did I know what would lie ahead.On Friday, October 5, 1986, I received a call from BeechPresident Jim Walsh asking me to meet with him in Wichitathe next day. Jim said, "Don 't worry about a flight; we've gota plane on the way to pick you up." By four that afternoon, Jwas on my way in a new King Air from Jacksonville, Florida,to Wichita.Early the next morning, Cliff Sones and I met in Jim 'soffice and the first shoe dropped. Chief Engineer and BeechVice President Max Bleck told us that there was indeed astructural problem that didn't fit into any FAA test criteria. Hesaid it basically had to do with lack of support for the leadingedge of the V-tail on most of the models built from the 50s on.The other shoe then dropped when he said that an emergencyAD was on the way requiring the planes to be slowed until thefIX they were already testing was ready for implementation.The purpose of the meeting was to allow us time (threedays) to notify our membership prior to the news hitting thepress and prior to FAA and Beech Service Letters beingreceived.Page 7316ABS June 2002