NOTE:  These minutes are preliminary and will not be final until approved by member vote at the next club meeting. Please notify the club secretary John Russcher, via email (planeaddicted@gmail.com) of any corrections and/or errors as soon as possible. 

Call meeting to order: 6:33pm

Secretary’s Report: John Russcher

• The June 11^th 2025 meeting minutes were posted on the club website for review. A motion was made, seconded and the June 11^th meeting minutes were approved by member vote.    

Treasure’s Report: Mike VanAanhold

• Club expenditures and account balances were reviewed. This includes the general fund, field improvement fund, mower fund and geotex replacement funds. If you have any questions about any of the finances, contact treasurer Mike VanAanhold. 
• A motion was made, seconded and the treasurer’s report was approved by member vote.
• We have two savings accounts one with field improvement funds and the other with the geotex and mower funds. The geotex and mower fund is under $1,000 so the bank has been charging us a service fee. They refunded the fee that has been charged for the last few months but we would have to pay the fee going forward if the account stays below the $1,000 minimum. We don’t see a reason to have two separate savings accounts so we want to combine these two savings accounts into one. After a brief discussion a motion was made, seconded and the it was approved by member vote to combine the two savings accounts.

Safety/Field Report – Noel Miller

•  It has been a safe year without any indicants at the field. Thank you for flying safely!
• The grass at the field will be mowed a few more times then the mowers will be put away for the winter. The Wheel Horse will be going to Steve Kastens barn and the Toro will be going to Mike VanAanhold’s barn.
• Eric from the Wolverine Skyhawks club told us about an adhesive that he has started using to make repairs to their geotex runway. We purchased a couple tubes of it and it is working great for adhering patches and sealing small holes.

Visitors and/or New Members:

•  New member Rod Tanis was present and introduced himself. 

Old Business

• The existing board members are all willing to continue for another year. There weren’t any other volunteers or other nominations for any of the positions. A motion was made, seconded and the following board members were approved by member vote. President – Dave Jamrog, Vice President – Steve Kastens, Secretary – John Russcher, Treasure – Mike VanAahold, Safety/Field Maintenance – Noel Miller

New Business

• The cement has been poured and looks awesome! The next step is the shelter that we talked about at the June 11^th meeting. The shelter cost is around $5,000 plus other items for inside the shelter (electrical, countertop, ext.) and we have just over $2,000 left in the field fund. After some conversation it was decided to created a information flier explaining the project and asking for donations towards it. John Russcher and Mike VanAanhold will work on the flier and email it out to the membership. A motion was made, seconded and this was approved by member vote.    

Announcements and Events – John Russcher

• There are still a few events left yet this year.
  • Black Friday Indoor Fly at Zeeland Christian School, November 29^th, 10am-1:30pm
  • Winter Fly at the end of December, date and time TBD

Next Meeting

• January, date, time and location to be determined.

Adjourn: 7:02pm

Attendees: John Russcher, Mike VanAanhold, Steve Kastens, Noel Miller, Dave Jamrog, Tom Heetderks, Tom Cudney, Allen Hatfield, Dan Wamboldt, Russ Verbrugge, Brian Carpenter, John Winstanley, Bob Kovacs and Rod Tanis. 

Call meeting to order: 7:00pm by Steve Kastens

Secretary’s Report: John Russcher

• The January 13^th 2025 meeting minutes were posted on the club website for review. A motion was made, seconded and the January 13^th meeting minutes were approved by member vote.    

Treasure’s Report: Mike VanAanhold

• Club expenditures and account balances were reviewed. This includes the general fund, field improvement fund, mower fund and geotex replacement funds. If you have any questions about any of the finances, contact treasurer Mike VanAanhold. 
• A motion was made, seconded and the treasurer’s report was approved by member vote.

Safety/Field Report – Noel Miller

• Reminder: The rope at the entrance can be taken down and put back up as you enter then taken down and put back up as you exit. If you have any questions about this please contact any of the club officers.
• A new metal bucket is under the charging table for damaged lipo batteries. Noel will dispose of the damaged batteries as they accumulate. If you have a battery that is smoking or on fire there is also a plastic bucket with sand in it that can be used to cover the battery and smother the smoking or on fire battery.
• There is also a new fire extinguisher mounted to the charging table and a well-stocked first aid kit under the charging table.
• Lost and found box on the table

Visitors and/or New Members:

• New members Dan Wamboldt and Easton Tayler introduced themselves.

Old Business

• We discussed Rust-n-Dust and what we can do to prevent the same situation that happened in 2024.

New Business

• Mower – The old mower died. We looked into options for fixing it and none of them made any sense. The plan was to purchase a new mower next spring so we decided to move ahead with purchasing a new mower now and not spend money on repairing our existing mower. We used $3,533.98 from the mower fund, $500 donation and $1,166 from the Geotex fund to pay for the new mower. Moving forward we will put additional funds in the Geotex fund to build up that fund. If you have any questions, please contact any of the club officers.
• Shelter – We discussed a new shelter and its location.
  • Cement pad – 25’ x 28’, 3” thick with a perimeter rat wall. They will remove the top soil, bring in sand, form and pour the cement. Total $4,500
  • Building Frame and Roof – Metal tube frame with metal roof panels that wrap around the two-side wall slightly. Side wall height is 9’ – $3,873
  • Building Back Wall – Back wall enclosure kit which includes tube frame pieces and metal sheeting to enclose the back wall. – $939
  • Total $9,312. We have $5,985.57 in the field improvement fund which leaves a deficit of $3,326.43. We discussed fundraising for what we need yet, AMA site improvement grant. A motion was made and was approved by the membership to move ahead with the cement pad this year and do the building frame, roof and rear wall next year.  If you have any questions about the shelter plan, please contact any of the club officers.

Announcements and Events – John

• Review the events for 2025. You should have received an email with a complete list of 2025 event dates. If you did not receive this, please email tulipcityairforce@gmail.com to request one.

Next Meeting

• In August at the field; date and time to be determined.

Adjourn: 7:47pm by Steve Kastens

Attendees: John Russcher, Mike VanAanhold, Steve Kastens, Noel Miller, Tom Heetderks, Scott Storteboom, Bob Kovacs, Kenny Ly, Tom Cudney, Allen Hatfield, Jim Tibbitts, Matt Helms, Dan Wamboldt, Braydon Alofs, Dennis Delo, Russ Verbrugge, Brian Carpenter, Easton Taylor, Larry Weller, Bill Rowlle, John Winstanley and Ray Weller.  

Call meeting to order: 7:03pm by Dave Jamrog

Secretary’s Report: John Russcher

• The September 18^th 2024 meeting minutes were posted on the club website for review. A motion was made, seconded and the September 18^th meeting minutes were approved by member vote.
• Membership report; we ended 2024 with 69 member which is down from 2023’s 74 members.   

Treasure’s Report: Mike VanAanhold

• Club expenditures and account balances were reviewed. This includes the general fund, field improvement fund, mower and geotex replacement funds. If you have any questions, feel free to contact treasurer Mike VanAanhold. 
• A motion was made, seconded and the treasurer’s report was approved by member vote.
• Mike presented the 2025 budget. After review a motion was made, seconded and the budget for 2025 was approved by member vote.

Safety/Field Report – Noel Miller

• Noel discussed some safety tips for lipo battery usage.
  • Discharge batteries at temperatures between 50-122 degrees Fahrenheit.
  • Lipo batteries don’t preform as well in cold weather. Keep your batteries warm until you are ready to use them.
  • Store batteries between 3.7 and 3.85 volts, away from flammable objects and store and charge your lipo batteries in a non-flammable case or Lipo bag.
  • The voltage of a discharged cell is 3.2 volts. If the cell voltage drops below 2.5 volts it may be irreparably damaged. Do not charge damaged or inflated batteries.
•  Field maintenance. Were ware looking for several members to help with the mowing this summer. The grass will need to be cut once a week on average. Contact Noel Miller if you are able to help with the mowing.

Visitors and/or New Members:

• None

Old Business

• We discussed Rust-n-Dust and what we can do to prevent the same situation that happened in 2024.
• Moles – we will be treating for moles in the early spring to kill the grubs then apply a second treatment about two months later. We will also continue to set out traps for moles.

New Business

• Dues increase for 2026. The board suggested the following dues increase Full member $80($83 by PayPal). Youth membership will stay at $10 ($12 by PayPal)
• After a brief discussion of support a motion was made, seconded and the dues increase was approved.

Announcements and Events – John

• Review some of the events that are being planned for 2025
  • New club vs Club Combat event in July. West Michigan Radio Aircraft Flyers will host the first event. 
  • EDF jet event on September 20^th, 2025
  • 3 member cookouts
  • Rust-n-Dust August 8^th / 9^th, 2025

Next Meeting

• In May at the field; date and time to be determined.

Adjourn: 7:47 by Dave Jamrog

Attendees: John Russcher, Dave Jamrog, Mike VanAanhold, Tom Heetderks, Scott Storteboom, Bob Kovacs, Dave VerHoef, Randy Houtman, Kenny Ly and Rob Wetterholt.  

Call meeting to order: 7:02pm by Dave Jamrog

Secretary’s Report: John Russcher

• One correction was made to the May 6th 2024 meeting minutes. In the secretary’s it said, A motion was made, seconded and the treasures report was approved by member vote. This was corrected online to read, A motion was made, seconded and the secretary’s report was approved by member vote.
• A motion was made, seconded and the secretary’s report was approved by member vote.

Treasure’s Report: Mike VanAanhold

• The clubs expenditures and account balances were reviewed. This includes the general fund, field improvement fund, mower and geotex replacement funds. If you have any questions, feel free to contact treasurer Mike VanAanhold.
• A motion was made, seconded and the treasurer’s report was approved by member vote.

Safety/Field Report: Noel Miller

• A couple of our club rules were reviewed.
  • Don’t fly behind the flight line. The fence along the east/west runway is the flight line. The north/south runway is where the drone course is set up.
  • Your FAA number should be visible on the outside of your aircraft. The AMA suggest that you have your AMA number, name and phone number in your airplane.
  • When arming your electric aircraft or starting a glow/gas aircraft point the aircraft towards the flight line. If the aircraft gets away from the pilot it would be heading for the fence instead of the pits or parking lot. 
• Mole update. 3 moles have been caught so far. There will be a white stake wherever the mole trap is placed.
• The edges of the runway and taxiways were weed whipped and sprayed with weed killer.
• The first aid kit is under the charging table in a clear plastic bin.
• If you have any questions, feel free to contact Safety/Field Officer Noel Miller.
• A motion was made, seconded and the safety and field report was approved by member vote.

Visitors and/or New Members:

• None        

Old Business

• · Dave Jamrog has talked with Emily Ferwerda about our lease renewal and they have reached a tentative agreement.  

New Business

• Board Member nominations.
  All the current club officers are willing to continue in their current positions again for the next year. If anybody would like to run for any of the club office positions, please send an email to tulipcityairforce@gmail.com. We will add you to the nominations list for the election at the September 18th meeting.
  • President – Dave Jamrog
  • Vice President – Steve Kastens
  • Secretary – John Russcher
  • Treasure – Mike VanAahold
  • Safety/Field Maintenance – Noel Miller

Announcements and Events – John Russcher

• ·There are still a few events left yet this year.
  • Our last Streamer Combat event is on Monday, September 9th, hotdog at 5:50-6;20, streamer combat at 6:30. 
  • Our 4th Annual Autumn EDF Jet Rally is on Saturday, September 21st, 10am to 4pm.
  • Drone races are scheduled for September 7th, 22nd and October 5th at 11am-3pm
  • Black Friday Indoor Fly at Zeeland Christian School, November 29th, 9:30am-1:30pm

Comments and Questions

• None

Next Meeting

• · September 18th at 7pm at the club field.

Adjourn: 7:27pm by Dave Jamrog

Attendees

• Members present: John Russcher, Dave Jamrog, Mike VanAanhold, Steve Kastens, Noel Miller, John Winstanley, Ray Weller, Ben Riemersma, Brian Carpenter, Russ Verbrugge and David VerHoef.