EAA IMC Clubs Continue to Grow

June 30, 2016 - Last week more 20 pilots gathered at Santa Monica Airport on Monday, June 20th in Barker Hangar to inaugurate EAA Chapter 11’s IMC Club. This is just one of the many IMC clubs being started by EAA/IMC.  At the meeting, which was initiated and sponsored by Chapter 11’s new president, Dominic Cerniglio, prospective members were given the opportunity to interact with IMC Club founder and EAA’s manager of flight proficiency, Radek Wyrzykowski. EAA/IMC Club is designed to promote safety and proficiency among its instrument-rated members.

Eric Shalov, who is just joining EAA, will host the new chapter as an IMC Club program coordinator.  Shalov is a certificated ground instructor and he is a member of CalPilots, the Santa Monica Airport Association (SMAA), the Catalina Island Aero Club, and the A&E (KHHR) and AACIT (KEMT) flying clubs.

 “I fly out of Hawthorne and El Monte airports, and so I have a large audience to whom I can spread the word about IMC Club SMO, and I expect that it’ll be easy to develop a healthy base of pilots to attend future meetings,” Shalov said. “I also know people at KVNY and KTOA and will spread the word at those airports. I am very excited to be a part of this organization.”

On Tuesday, the members of the longest continually operating original IMC Club chapter in Las Vegas, Nevada met with Wyrzykowski to hear about the integration process. They call themselves “Musketeers” and for 5 initial years they were meeting every week in the same group under the leadership of Mike Radomsky. Radomsky was a founding member, and president, of the Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association (COPA). Today he is president emeritus of that organization, a proud member of the Permanent Editorial Board of the Aviators Model Code of Conduct. The IMC Club Las Vegas chapter was awarded in the past by the IMC Club International – they were recognized as the most active chapter in the nation and as of last week they are integrating with the local EAA chapter in Las Vegas.

“Thank you Mike and all ‘Musketeers’ for your ongoing commitment to aviation safety and your invitation. You were able to create a really unique comradery for proficiency and safety. It was a pleasure be here,” Wyrzykowski said after the meeting

One of the primary goals of IMC Club is to increase pilot confidence and proficiency. The club was established as a learning resource for instrument-rated pilots, and for students pursuing their instrument ratings. To accomplish this, monthly meetings are held at local chapters around the country to help pilots and students build and maintain their IFR skills, and to share stories and tips from their fellow pilots.

Please visit the IMC Club website to find a Club near you or for information on how to establish one in your EAA chapter.