Rhinebeck Museum trouble

[Curtiss Jenny]

Expecting some feedback next week after offices return from Holidays.

Your letters are very important! Thank you to all who have sent letters already. If you have not sent one in, please refer to the previous postings on Page 8 of this forum. If you are new to this forum, please read through all the previous postings, it will answer a lot of questions.

Thank you, and have a Happy New Year!

Originally posted by Brian Coughlin@Dec 30 2003, 10:56 PM
[b] Why are so many of you afraid to use your real names? What do you have to hide?
...
Not hiding behind any silly pseudonym...Brian T. Coughlin, Cazenovia, N.Y.

Brian,

Welcome to the forum. Your name and city suggest you are the owner of a construction company (Chamber of Commerce listing.) Some of us, and I'm not naming names, might be employees of a construction company, not that I would be or anything like that, who dabble with messages such as this on company time, which of course is horribly, horribly wrong.

Leaving one's real name all over the internet with date and time stamps as well as service provider numbers could leave one, not me, of course, open to discovery of such behavior.

vonLemming (who really, really doesn't have anything to hide)

how do i join? how can i support Cole's dream (abet modestly)...we go back to Stormville Airport and Vassar rd. days. Thanks, Happy New Year, John Pierce

[Tailspin]

Brian,

Now that someone's asked, I chose my pseudonym in memory of the stories my dad told me when I was a little boy, which were in turn inspired by the saturday morning serials that he remembered. There was a character named Tailspin Tommy Tompkins, and his sidekick, Skeeter. They were barnstormers and WWI vets. That's where my interest in open cockpit biplanes comes from. My real name is Tom McConnell. I live in Brick NJ and I've been to Rhinebeck twice. I love the place and hope to get back there this summer. Hope everything works out in this crisis they've got on their hands.

Tom

[Curtiss Jenny]

Has any museum member received their winter issue of Rotary Ramblings? It used to always arrive before the holidays.

[greenknight]

Coverage of the ORA situation continues in the January Atlantic Flyer:

http://www.aflyer.com/features/Untitled6.html

Atlantic Flyer, January 2004:

NEW YORK STATE AUTHORITIES
ASKED TO LOOK INTO THE
OLD RHINEBECK AERODROME
by Lu Ann Reeb
A grass roots group comprised of charter museum members, former employees and volunteers is expressing serious concern about the current operations and the future of the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome and Museum and is asking the state of New York to launch an investigation. A 47-page report has been sent to New York State authorities that oversee non-profit organizations, citing "concerns of fiduciary failure, questionable board behavior and concerns about how the aircraft collection is being maintained." The report consists of accounts gathered from Aerodrome workers, volunteers, museum members and former trustees. In the report, the State is asked to investigate and to install an independent, interim Board "to set the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome Air Shows and Rhinebeck Aerodrome Museum in the right direction to insure its future in the way Cole Palen had intended."
So let's back up a bit, for those who may be unfamiliar. Cole Palen was a visionary pilot and preservationist whose passion was to create a flying museum of antique airplanes spanning decades of the history of flight from the Pioneer to Lindbergh eras. And in that spirit, Palen created the Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome in upstate New York. There, you can see the Bleriot - the oldest flying aircraft in the U-S and second oldest in the world, a Sopwith Camel, a Curtiss Jenny, a Fokker Triplane, the 1917 Albatross and much, much more. These airplanes actually fly every summer at the tiny field, nestled in the Hudson River Valley in Rhinebeck, New York. You can talk to the pilots - those who fly these relics are true masters of the machine and the sky. And you can see the weekend air shows that dazzle imaginations of those young and old over and over again! A unique experience!
But recent events, that include the resignations of three key ORA Board members, the firing of long-time employees, two consecutive ORA Directors resigning in the past six months and the disenfranchisement of dozens of loyal volunteers, raise many questions. Former trustees disagree with actions taken by their colleagues, the fired employees don't know why they were fired and volunteers contend that they have been mistreated or harassed. The field itself is pad-locked and patrolled by the Duchess County Sheriff's department. And work on the nearly-completed flying replica of the Spirit of St. Louis - a project funded by a state grant and private donations - has stopped for now. These are just some of the reasons for the request to have the state look into the matters.
The frustrations of this group, loyal to the ORA and Cole Palen's vision have now captured worldwide attention among pilots and enthusiasts via internet forums and letter-writing campaigns. And this recent inquiry and report to New York State authorities about the ORA is sure to get a response, as copies were distributed to the State Attorney General, Governor Pataki and Senators Clinton and Schumer.
When asked about issues in the report and why it seems that so many people close to the Aerodrome are concerned, ORA Board member, Jim Kick, says he believes "it is a few irresponsible people spreading rumors and innuendo." He says, "A lot of people don't like change." Kick says the ORA is not in any financial trouble and he claims the resignations of three recent Board members was because they no longer had enough time to devote to the ORA. Kick claims there are no major changes in the direction of the ORA. When asked specifically about the work on the Spirit of St. Louis replica, Kick guarantees that it will be completed. He says there is $10-thousand dollars remaining in the Spirit fund and the ORA Board is committed to finishing the Spirit project in '04.
It is the time of year for reflecting on the year past and looking toward the future of 2004 and what lies ahead. Perhaps no one captured the real "spirit" of early aviation better than Cole Palen at this grass strip in upstate New York when air shows began there in 1960. Since then, the skies over Rhinebeck have never been the same. It is the sound of the hand-prop, the trip back in aviation time and the sheer wonder of how these aeroplanes fly - THAT is the "spirit" of what is now the world-renowned Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome. Hopefully the clouds of controversy over the ORA will clear and the "spirit" of what has endeared so many flyers there will prevail in '04.

For those of you paying attention to the score here, it's good to see LuAnn Reeb trying to cover both sides of the issue,.It gives the current board an opportunity to contradict itself.

Mr. Kick and the board stopped the Spirit project earlier in the year. The reason ? No funds left in the Spirit account. Those who were employees and helped collect the grant money knew better and now we have Mr. Kick confirming that. He confirms there is about $10,000 left in the Spirit fund.

I am no math major, but do know there is a world of difference between 0 and $10,000.

If you have not yet written to the various state agencies, please do so. The 47 page report LuAnNn mentions in her Atlantic Flyer article is chock full of detail. It should raise some eyebrows. We cannot print the text here - we don't want the board to know what they are up against and what kind of defense they might need to raise, but you will have to take it on faith at this point that we were scrupulously careful about documenting the various points of fact. There is no innuendo or rumour in the report - only facts.

What we need is support from the rest of us - and our friends who are concerened about ORA - in the form of inquiries and letters.

For those who are concerened the letter writing campaign is based on what the board terms innuendo and irresponsible opinion, I can only say, write your letter and allow the proper authorities to determine what is "innuendo and opinion" and what is "fact".

There is more being done behind the scenes, but your letters are important. Please support the Aerodrome. Write, write, write......

Sleep well tonight America, those Homeland Security experts at the Aerodrome are at it again. Reports are that they've barricaded Dick's Ercoupe into its hangar so that no evil-doers can steal it to use for their nefarious purposes. Imagine the havoc a terrorist could cause with an Ercoupe (Well, hardly any actually, eh?). It is also reported that they haven't blocked in Gene's Howard DGA or the Aerodrome New Standard, both of which can carry 4 or 5 times the load of an Ercoupe. I wonder why. Perhaps Tom "Homeland Security" Daly can come on and clarify this situation.

[ONEALM]

This from Brian Coughlin - also concerned about the Aerodrome....

Having worked full time at the Aerodrome for a few years and part time for more than a decade I know how thinds can get. Gene and I used to say that the Aerodrome should close down and not allow anybody [employee or volunteer} to enter the grounds for two months after closing. This would force the hard core folks to take a break and would help them to keep the whole thing in perspective. Being immersed in such a provincial setting 24 *7 year after year tends to drive even the the old salts crazy. Hopefully this can be figured out and remedied before the first show. As we all know, if it fails there will never be a place like it again and the loss will be for the world not just a few freaks [myself included]. This notion should be paramount in the minds of all the people who are writing letters that will make the state of N.Y. want to close it down because it is too much trouble. Think about it .......You all could be shitting in your own beds.