The Air Force Association Cape Fear Chapter 366, Wilmington, North Carolina, a port city near the mouth of the Cape Fear River, located on the lower eastern seaboard and a city with a long history in aviation and played a major role during WWII.

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Our chapter meetings are held the first Thursday of each quarter (March, June, September and December) for dinner and some "story telling". We have a guest speaker at each meeting except December, which is our annual Christmas Party when we all share a few gifts and laughs.

We invite all our military families to join us. Just send an email to the one listed on the left of your screen and all the details will be forwarded to you.

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This area is a primary military retirement location with close connections with the Marines at Camp Lejeune in Jacksonville, Army at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville,  Navy at Charleston, SC, Coast Guard here in Wilmington, and the Air Force at Pope AFB also in Fayetteville.

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The picture above is the AFJROTC Staff members at Laney High School located in Wilmington. Each year AFA Cape Fear Chapter presents an award and scholarship money to the outstanding cadet of the year. This year the award will be presented on May 13th.

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The picture above was taken during the most recent Veterans Day ceremonies. The participants are from the Cape Fear Squadron of the local Civil Air Patrol, a unit we support. These young men and women cadets are dedicated to high standards of personal excellence and leadership which are so critical for the future of our nation.

The squadron has a meeting each Tuesday night at 7:00 for 2 hours for some serious fun. There are many different exercises throughout the year to pratice the skills needed to advance in grade.

The Cape Fear Civil Air Patrol Squadron has a website where many of the past activities, such as Homeland Security exercises at Sunny Point, a local Army facility is located.  Find the web site link at the top of the page.

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The picture below is from a recent event that celebrated accomplishments of many of these young members of the Civil Air Patrol and our local AFJROTC cadets at Laney High School.

  

This is a group picture taken during a AFA Chapter dinner for the "end of school year" where several CAP and AFJROTC cadets were awarded scholarships to universities and summer flight schools as well as advancements in grade and leadership roles. A night to remember for us all. Miss Hall, the one in the white dress, also AFJROTC 2007 Cadet Commander, received a full 4 year scholarship from the Air Force to attend North Carolina State College, and her major is aerospace engineering.

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The picture below is not a fake, it's hand built two place tandem seating RV4 and done with lots of love. It has a cruising speed of about 180 mph.

 

In the sprit of aviation, the Wilmington area has an EAA chapter where some of our AFA members and CAP cadets are also EAA members. The EAA is the organization where you literally build your own airplane and then fly it.

In addition, the local EAA chapter is very active in the "Young Eagles" program which provides free rides to kids in an effort to interest them in aviation. This includes the Boy & Girl Scouts troops in the area that are working on their aviation merit badges. Also, there are several church groups in the area that bring their kids out to have a little flying fun too.

The chapter meetings are held the first Saturday of each month at Stagg Park, near Burgaw, from 10:00 am until you are tired of flying or the sun goes down. There are no runway lights. There is a big hot lunch cooked and served at each meeting, a meal you will not believe. That alone should be enough to perk up your interest to see what's it all about. For more info send an email or visit the web site.

Also, this chapter sponsors a free trip for the lucky winner to go to Oshkosh, Wisconsin each year for a whole week of fun and flying. This trip is strictly for the young 14 to 15 (only). You big kids need not apply.

There is a web site for the EAA chapter and can be viewed using the link at the top of the page.

"Where your wings hit the skies"