2015
Canards West
Event and Program Schedule

• 3:00 P.M. Participants begin arriving
• 5:00 P.M. Meet in airport terminal parking lot
• 5:15 P.M. Walk to town for a no-host dinner

• Wandering around the planes & talking to Canard enthusiasts

• 1:00 P.M. Presentation:
  • "X-C to OSHKOSH or Anywhere"

    by Jim Price

• 2:30 P.M. Presentation:
  • Poor Judgment

    by Marc Zeitlin

• 4:00 P.M. Presentation:
  • "A Better Propeller"

    by Craig Catto



• 6:00 P.M. Dinner

• 8:20 P.M. Movie:
• Aces High (Click on picture for the movie trailer)


Maj. Gresham (Malcolm McDowell) is a flying ace who oversees a group of English pilots during World War I. His latest recruit is Lt. Croft (Peter Firth), who happens to have been only a few years behind Gresham at Eton. Croft idolizes Gresham at first, but the image of his hero is tarnished when he learns of Gresham's private habits, especially his predilection for alcohol. It's only after Croft himself has endured the crucible of war that he comes to fully appreciate his commanding officer.

• Morning: Wandering around the planes and talking to Canard enthusiasts


• 9:00 A.M. Meet at club house to help clean up (Please help out.)


• Noon: End of the 2015 Canards West

"X-C to OSHKOSH or Anywhere"

By Jim Price

Flying X-C in an ‘Experimental’ has it’s own set of challenges ; fuel, food, sleep, repairs, weather … Jim Price will work with us in an ‘interactive presentation’ about the perils and solutions. Bring your own stories.

"Poor Judgment"

By Marc Zeitlin

Hints for recognizing it when it's biting you in the ass. Marc J. Zeitlin's experiences with poor decision making in stressful situations. Even when you KNOW that what you're doing is stupid, you sometimes continue the stupid path. How to recognize & prevent such situations.

"A Better Propeller

by Craig Catto

Video of props both on the RV and LongEZ aircraft showing visual propeller surface flows. See how Craig Catto, owner of Catto Propellers, uses these visuals to perfect his propellers.

A little about Jim Price:

Jim is a retired automotive engineer. He has worked in electrical & mechanical engineering as well as quality control. He has also done stints of assistant teaching at MIT (Mechanical Engineering cap-stone course) and University of Michigan Aeronautical Space Engineering. Jim is also an EAA Technical Counselor.

A little about Marc Zeitlin:

For 6.5 years, Marc worked on cutting edge (and some not-so-cutting edge) aeronautical engineering projects for Scaled Composites. For three of those years, he managed rocket motor development for the Spaceship 2 program, which has led to the first powered flight in April of this year. Marc later worked for a year at Icon Aircraft as Lead Systems Engineer, with responsibility for all non-structural aircraft systems on the A5 LSA aircraft, currently under development. He currently is the president of Burnside Aerospace and is affiliated with Freeflight Composites, and performs engineering consulting as well as A&P services for composite aircraft. Marc has built two experimental aircraft (a Quickie Q2 and a COZY MKIV, currently with over 1128 hours) and is a:

• Licensed A&P mechanic
• EAA Flight Advisor
• EAA Technical Counselor

A little about Craig Catto:

Craig started flying sailplanes at age 13 and soloed at age 14, going on to getting his private pilots license and while also flying hang gliders from age 14.

Craig and his brother Chuck were amongst the first to put an engine on a hang glider that further evolved into the ultra light aviation industry. It was then that Craig made his first propellers back in 1974. Since then thousands of his propellers were made for ultra lights and since 1989 propellers for the homebuilt industry.

Craig's propellers have set world altitude records in excess of 82,000 feet and also dominate the Bi-plane Race Class, and his carbon fiber racing wings and tails dominate the Formula 1 Class at the Reno Air Races.

In the past 2-1/2 years Craig has moved his company into automated manufacturing with CNC's and design with full 3D Laser Scanners and CAD systems.