By By EMILY DREITZLER / Niles Daily Star
NILES - It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the 19th Annual Fly-In Breakfast on Sunday, June 26. From 7 a.m. until noon, Chapter 865 of the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) will be hosting a fly-in/drive-in feast of pancakes and sausage or biscuits and gravy, orange juice, and coffee at the Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport, in Niles.
Chapter 865 fully sponsors the breakfast at no cost to the public. In addition to the breakfast, door prizes will also be awarded.
Chapter 865 of the EAA, located in Niles, has been chartered since 1986. Members are now currently working on a number of various projects.
The EAA was founded in 1953 in Milwaukee, Wis. by a group of individuals who expressed a great interest in aviation and wanted to build their own airplanes. It is not required that a member of EAA be a pilot of aircraft owner.
The EAA welcomes people who are interested in aviation and want to share their knowledge, stories, and enthusiasm with their fellow members.
Through the years, the EAA has expanded its mission to include antiques, classics, warbirds, aerobatic aircrafts, ultralights, helicopters, and contemporary manufactured aircrafts. The international headquarters for the EAA is located in Oshkosh, Wis.
Aviation projects that members in Niles have worked on or are actively working on include: Dyke Delta, Fisher Horizon, Bede 4, RV-6A, VP-1, Acro Sport, Hatz, Europa, and Veri-Eze.
Each member specializes in building their own airplane but if assistance is needed, fellow members are more than willing to help each other.
The mission statement that Chapter 865 abides by is to promote and encourage the sport and hobby of recreational aviation; to cooperate with and assist governmental agencies in the development of programs relating to aviation activities; to promote and encourage aviation safety in the design, construction, and operation of all types of aircraft; to encourage and engage in research for the improvement and better understanding of aviation and the science of aeronautics; and to promote and encourage grass roots efforts relating to aviation research and development.
Chapter 865 of the EAA is located at the Jerry Tyler Memorial Airport, 2018 Lake Street, in Niles. The pancake breakfast will be held in the Chapter 865 hanger, at the east end of the airport grounds on Lake St.