VOLUME IX, June 21, 2016. Membership is now at 737 in 18 countries. We had a member join yesterday from Switzerland.
Bowling Green, National Gathering 2016
Final details are being put into place for the big event. Our hotel block of rooms ends on the 25th of June so you have 4 days to book a room.
Be sure and buy your tickets in the ‘Store’ and make your booking reservations on the Event page. See you there next month!
Header Images
Thanks to all of you who sent pictures for us to use. Hopefully you have seen you plane in one of the headers. Then again, maybe not. Last April Fools Day (2015) I turned the header image upside down. No one noticed for 2 weeks. This teaches one humility.
Technical Director
The ORIGINAL GRUMMAN GURU
So what, exactly, is a “GURU”? Mr. Webster gives us several descriptions of the term, of which one is a pretty close fit to the people who get referred to as the “GURUs”.
The first one is; “A personal religious and spiritual teacher in Hinduism”. NAH, that don’t fit. The next is; “A teacher in matters of fundamental concern”. Then it says “expert” and lists several examples. I think that better fits with the way we use “Guru”.
In recent years the term has become more popular in about any area that someone may be considered an “expert”. In our particular situation, being that of owners of Grumman American airplanes, it has been the common moniker hung on mechanics and instructors who really know the ins and outs of our rather unique aircraft. Let us “rewind” the tape a number of years and find a time when this was not necessarily a “term of endearment” and even had negative connotations in some cases. As in the particular case of an expert on Grumman American piston airplanes being called a “Grumman Guru” let’s look back to the origin of the term and the “original Grumman Guru”.
In the late 1970s I was the co-owner of a large Grumman American Dealership with two locations and flight schools using Grumman American aircraft. The American Yankee Assoc. had been formed in 1976 and was growing. Aviation Consumer Magazine had published several “less than complementary” articles about our airplanes and I was very quick to “take them to task” on any miss-represented point. The Editor of Av. Con., Rich Weighman, had felt the blast from my verbal cannon on several occasions and came to the conclusion he should pass information passed me before it was published. In [yet another] article, on the “safety” of our airplanes, he mentioned that the data they were using had been “reviewed by Grumman Guru, Ken Blackman” and that title stuck. I did [kind of] capitalize on the “handle” and used it as the title of a column I “ghost wrote” in the American Star in1984 & ‘85. It was entitled “Talkin’ to the Guru” and it ran for a year or so as sort of a “Dear Abby of Grummyland” theme which I did have quite a lot of fun with. (During this time there was a “self proclaimed Guru that headed up a cult in central Oregon named “Baghwan Shihe Rajisnish” (or close) who got booted out of the commune and the country which “tainted” the term of “Guru”. Some of the leaders in the AYA who really would have liked to see me “go away” raised the issue that I should not use the term as the Editor of the organization’s publication. I did a closing issue to bring an end to the column that was very “tongue in cheek” and worth a read if you happen to have access to the Nov/Dec, 1985 issue of the American Star. I replaced the column with one called “Ken’s Korner” that ran until my resignation as Editor. Although the column would be forever absent from the STAR, the “moniker remained with me and, to this day, many still call me “The Grumman Guru”.
I recently accepted the position of “Technical Director” for the Grumman Pilots Association and plan to revisit the idea of such a column on the Website (GPA) to put some “light on some questions” members ask. Watch for this to evolve in the coming months on “grummanpilotsassiciation.com”.
Ken Blackman
Website Changes
We have something new for you on the website this month and we will be adding to it as we find more. If you look under the ‘Info’ tab you will see a new selection, ‘Magazine Articles’. We have 38 there right now for you to read and enjoy.
Yes, we know they are not perfect. The scanning software does a great job correcting color, compressing for delivery, straightening text and lines, but occasionally it flip a page for no reason. Will have to edit those and removed the extra pages when Adobe Acrobat arrives.
Shop Monkey News
Matt and Lynn celebrated 30 years of bliss this last weekend.
Congratulations to them both. Here is a picture of Matt as I met him over 10 years ago.
New Items in the Store
We have two new Items now in stock in the store. We have the ‘need flight’ shirts now at hand and have sold a few. Thanks to all who ordered prior to their arrival.
We also have some nice bling for your plane. SS (solid) tie down rings.
Finally we still have a few of the extra bearing sizing tools and the aileron bullet.
Editor’s Note
Last month I dropped an email into the technical director column that was a private email. Sometimes when one chats with a customer trying to help them decide what plane to buy, we sometimes have to graphically describe some faults. This was totally my fault, image as I was introducing Ken as Technical Director and an email arrives, I give it a quick scan, drop it in, and away the newsletter goes. Can I chalk it up to youthful exuberance?
I had a gentleman call me a few weeks ago, asking about the Yankee. In a few minutes we were up to the Cougar, he is probably trying to buy a DC-3 as we speak!