October 26 at 8:00am

In-Person Speaker: Sidney Burks

Sid Burks is a student of desert, military and aviation history. He has given lectures to interested groups in and around the Coachella Valley for the last several years. He has over 40 years of experience as a private pilot. Sid retired from the community college system as a teacher and administrator and is currently a fulltime lecturer in Career Technical Subjects at Cal State San Bernardino.

Topic: Palm Desert Airpark and Desert Air Hotel

Located in what is now Rancho Mirage, these once popular desert destinations contributed heavily to the aviation history of the Coachella Valley. Their location may surprise you!

Past Meetings 2023-24 Season

November 30 at 8:00am

In-Person Speaker: Steve Garfein

Steve Garfein began his career in "Howard Hughes Hobby Shop," where he was a member of the team that developed today's Apache Helicopter, after which, in 1980, he went on to found RPM Systems Corporation, where he has assisted a wide range of organizations, including the City of New York, UBS, Microsoft, Intel, GSA, Johnson & Johnson, Amtrak, Lockheed Martin, Ford, Eli Lilly, and F Hoffman-La Roche.

Steve has been a visiting professor teaching masters-level courses at Oxford University, Stanford University, University of Technology Sydney, and Queensland University of Technology. He was a Captain in the Army Field Artillery before joining Hughes. Steve has business degrees from UCLA and USC.

Topic: Development of the Apache Helicopter

Fixed-wing pilots like to say, "A helicopter consists of ten-thousand parts trying to get way from each other." Steve will take us through the history of the Apache's development and tell us how much truth there is in that expression, if any.

December 28 at 8:00am

In-Person Speaker: Patrick Shannon

After majoring in mathematics in college, Patrick pursued a career in information technology, eventually retiring from Microsoft. Immediately following the retirement luncheon, he went directly to the local airport and signed up for flight training. He received his private pilot certificate at age 62, and his instrument rating at 71. He owned three airplanes: a Piper Archer, a Cirrus SR20 and later a Cirrus SR22. A few years later, the FAA revoked his medical certificate.

Since 2014 Patrick has been a regular at Old Bold Pilots and became a volunteer at the Palm Springs Air Museum a year later. He inherited the OBP website in 2021.

Topic: The Battle of Britain to D-Day; Through a Distant Lens

The monuments remain. The Imperial War Museum features three museums in London, including HMS Belfast, a WW II cruiser moored on the Thames. Patrick will take us to the Churchill War Rooms at Whitehall; to the historic airfield at Duxford, just outside Cambridge which has two renowned air museums – the RAF museum and the American air museum; then to The Eagle Pub in the center of Cambridge, where RAF pilots and later USAAF pilots, were regulars who decorated the ceiling. And just over the English Channel we will see the five invasion beaches in Normandy, each with it's own museum.

February 29 at 8:00am