|
HISTORY
OF THE AMERICAN NAVION SOCIETY
The
American Navion Society was founded in the fall of 1960 by the late S. Dan Brodie.
He enjoyed the Navion so much that he wished to bring the owners together in an
organization where the members could participate in social events and share
maintenance and technical information. The headquarters were first based
in San Leandro, California, and in 1961 moved to Oakland, California. Later
regional Navion clubs were formed with support from the American Navion Society.
Prior to the foundation of the ANS, one regional club, Imperial Valley Navion
Club had been up and running since 1955, so it was actually the first owner organized
Navion group. Through the years, the organization would move around several
times for logistical and management purposes.
Dan was the first ANS President, published the first Navioneer newsletter,
and wrote the technical articles. Dan was affectionately referred to as
"Big Daddy." The first issue of the Navioneer is dated December
1960 and was a very informative two-page publication. You may view it on
another page of the HISTORY tab. The lone classified ad in this issue was
from two members looking for a Navion to buy in the $4500 range. Multiply
that by 10 times and you have today's market for an original small engine Navion.
The feature article in this first newsletter was the NAVION OF THE MONTH, owned
by "Big Daddy" Dan Brody, which for its day was highly modified and
heavily equipped. In 1966, while visiting the Navion Rangemaster factory
in Texas, Dan learned that it was for sale. A group of ANS members pooled
their resources and purchased the factory and moved it to Seguin, Texas.
It was during the ownership by the ANS that the Model "H" Rangemaster
was introduced; with N2500T being the first IO-520-B powered Navion. The
Rangemasters produced at Seguin by the ANS were considered to have the highest
quality workmanship of any of the Rangemasters. "Built in Sequin"
still means quality to a lot of long time Rangemaster owners. It
was the involvement of the ANS with the Navion factory that led to approval of
the IO-470-H and IO-520-B engines in the canopy Navion and such data being placed
in the Type Certificate Data Sheet. Present day owners can be eternally
grateful to these pioneers for having the foresight to obtain these approvals,
or we would have very difficult times with the FAA today on every engine conversion. In
1972, the Navion factory was in financial difficulty again and was sold to Lou
Bishop, who in turn sold it to Ced Kotowicz. Ced moved the factory to Wharton,
Texas, and produced about 7 or 8 model "H" Rangemasters in the mid-1970s
before it was closed permanently. Ced's widow is living in Arizona and still
active in attending Navion fly-ins. In 1965 Dan wrote, published, and distributed
a booklet titled, "WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A NAVION." This
was an effort to educate potential owners about the Navion maintenance requirements,
modifications, performance, and weaknesses. This booklet has been revised
many times and lived through many printing runs. It is still a valuable
source of information. It was just recently revised in 2001. In 1966, Dan
proclaimed the second Saturday in June, "Navion Day" to be celebrated
by running a National Proficiency Race at the Bakersfield, CA, fly-in and other
chapter fly-ins across the country. Dan wanted 1000 Navions in the air on
that day. The heritage of this event was upheld by the chapters up through
the years until just in the last decade. The Navioneer progressed in quality
from the early issues and by the late 1960's was printed on slick paper with a
two-color masthead. It was very attractive indeed. In 1968 Dan announced
that he had run out of anything to write about and wished for someone else to
assume command. The torch was passed to Andy Cardona that year and the headquarters
were moved to Torrance, California and later to Banning, California where it would
remain for the longest period of its 40 year existence. During the stay
in Banning, the present corporation was formed in 1970 for the purpose of entering
into the Navion parts business. A full time parts manager and full time
secretary have been employed almost continuously from that period forward. The
organization was kept on course by a board of directors, who for the most part
lived within easy commuting distance of Banning to facilitate attendance at board
meetings. Andy remained as President of the ANS until 1987 when Raleigh
Morrow assumed the helm. Raleigh pursued a course that brought the election
of directors from other areas of the United States, giving the organization more
of a national flavor rather than that of a regional club. In 1990 Raleigh
turned the Presidency over to Frank Jenkins who was President until late 1990
when Raleigh again assumed command.
In late 1990 the administration and
parts warehouse were moved from Banning to Lodi, California. In 1993 Hugh
Smith was elected President and served until 1996 when Jerry Feather was elected
President. In 1999 the administration and parts warehouse were moved from
Lodi to Grand Junction, CO. In January 2001 Jerry Feather resigned the Presidency
and the Vice President, Gary Rankin, assumed the Presidency. At that time
the administration office was moved to Vancouver, Washington, with the parts warehouse
and Parts Manager, Chuck Brown, remaining in Colorado. Under Gary's leadership,
the American Navion Society has become a non-profit corporation with IRS 501C3
status.
The American Navion Society publishes a newsletter bi-monthly and
is a major source of Navion parts, publications, and technical information.
It maintains a current membership of over 800 and from the inception in 1960,
over 8000 Navion enthusiasts have passed through the ranks. The membership
numbers started with #150, except for #1 that was issued to Leo Childs, the manager
of the Rangemaster factory. Membership number 8410 has just been issued.
An Annual Convention and Fly-in is held each summer in a different part
of the United States. A list of former Convention sites is listed below
which shows the scope of area the ANS covers. The Society has a table set
up at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh every year in the Vintage Aircraft Type Club Tent.
This is a major source of information for new members or those interested in learning
more about the Navion. PRESENT
BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND OFFICERS OF THE ANS
Gary Rankin, President
Camas, Washington Jim Waldron, Vice-President
Fallston, Maryland Ken Whittall-Scherfee, Secretary-Treasurer
Carmichael,
California Ron Judy
Gate, Oklahoma Dick McSpadden
Royston,
GA
Terri Polley
Upland, CA
J.T McMahon
Horseshoe Bay, TX
Rusty Herrington
Portal, GA John Yohey
Bloomsburg, PA
CONVENTION
LOCATIONS FROM 1960 THROUGH 2010
1961 - Las Vegas,
Nevada 1962 - Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 1963 - Pueblo, Colorado 1964
- Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin 1965 - Coos Bay, Oregon 1966 - Boyne Mountain,
Michigan 1967 - Pueblo, Colorado 1968 - Kentucky Dam, Kentucky 1969
- Boise, Idaho 1970 - Jekyll Island, Georgia 1971 - Carson City, Nevada 1972
- El Paso, Texas 1973 - Grand Rapids, Michigan 1974 - Sun River, Oregon 1975
- Grand Prairie, Texas 1976 - Concord, California 1977 - Warwick,
Rhode Island 1978 - El Paso, Texas 1979 - West Yellowstone, Montana 1980
- Land O'Lakes, Wisconsin 1981 - Kalispell, Montana 1982 - Horseshoe
Bend, Arkansas 1983 - Kansas City, Missouri 1984 - Apple Valley, California 1985
- River Ranch, Florida 1986 - Calgary, Alberta 1987 - El Paso, Texas 1988
- Santa Maria, California 1989 - Murfreesboro, Tennessee 1990 - Grand
Junction, Colorado 1991 - Appleton, Wisconsin 1992 - Spokane, Washington 1993
- Visalia, California 1994 - Luddington, Michigan 1995 - Muskogee,
Oklahoma 1996 - Concord, California 1997 - Grand Junction, Colorado 1998
- St. Joseph, Missouri 1999 - Cody, Wyoming 2000 - Santa Maria, California 2001
- St. Simon, Georgia 2002 - Spearfish, South Dakota 2003 - Caldwell,
Idaho 2004 - Glens Falls (Lake George), New York 2005 - N. Platte,
Nebraska 2006 - Sedona, Arizona 2007 - Southport, North Carolina 2008
- Dayton, Ohio
2009 - Cedar City, Utah
2010 - Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
2011 - Cody, Wyoming
|
