EAA Chapter 1361, Inc is a Nevada Non-Profit Corporation with IRS 501(c)(3) status as a public charity, established in 2002 and located at the Reno-Stead Airport (KRTS) in Reno, NV.
As a chartered chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter 1361 promotes recreational aviation in all its forms.
Chapter 1361 is active in youth aviation activities by promoting aviation and aerospace education through STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) presentations at local schools and conducting Young Eagles Events introducing young people to general aviation flying.
Chapter 1361 meets at 9 AM on the first Saturday of each month in the Reno-Stead Airport Freedom Terminal (4895 Texas Avenue, Reno, NV), Room 207.
Join us at one of our monthly meetings and meet some of the aviation enthusiasts in our area. Our next general meeting is show to the right and our next scheduled IMC Club and VMC Club meetings are shown below
Chapter History
In 2002 a group of aviation enthusiasts at the Reno-Stead Airport decided that is was about time that the area’s premier general aviation airport had its own EAA chapter. The effort was led by Fred Johnson who then became President of the Chapter. Initial help was received from what was then the Reno Air Racing Foundation, the educational arm of the Reno Air Racing Association who put on the National Championship Air Races at the Reno-Stead Airport each year.
The Charter Members of the chapter were Fred, Doug Martin, Dave Wilburn, Ben Bruce, “Mo” Bessier, Ralph Aalletta, Ken Willrich, Greg Howe, R.C. Hinton, John Parker, Bill Barrett and Bruce Meinking.
The Chapter was incorporated with the State of Nevada as EAA Chapter 1361, Inc. on September 10, 2002 and received their charter as an official EAA Chapter on the same date.
Chapter 1361 held regular meetings and held Chapter events for several years, then entered a period of relative inactivity as original members moved from the area or became inactive in aviation due to age or illness.
Through the period of inactivity a stalwart group of individuals kept the Corporation and Chapter Charter active and sought additional members to invigorate the Chapter. Those of us in the Chapter hold a debt of gratitude to Mike Burris, Sandy Munns, Bill Barrett, Rich Buddetti, Greg Howe, Alex Filatov and Fred Twigge for keeping the Chapter alive.
By January of 2016 the membership roster and Chapter enthusiasm had grown to the point that the Chapter could emerge from its public inactivity and both promote its activities and recruit new members.
The Chapter received tax exempt status with the IRS in September of 2016, retroactive to May 15, 2010.
In September for the past few years the Reno Air Racing Association (RARA) has invited the Chapter to manage the RARA volunteers who operate the people-mover trams during the Air Races. The Chapter is compensated for the time and effort spend rounding up and scheduling the volunteers. This has been a consistent fund-raising opportunity for the Chapter.
In October 2016 Chapter 1361 held it’s first IMC Club meeting with 15 participants. The monthly discussions have continued to draw new participants and generate lively discussions of the instrument scenario presentations.
In November 2016 the Chapter hosted a very successful EAA Ford Trimotor Tour stop at the Reno-Stead Airport and followed that with and even more successful tour stop of EAA’s Boeing B-17G “Aluminum Overcast” in March 2017.
In May of 2019 we were again selected to host the EAA Ford Trimotor Tour. This time hangar space for the Ford was not available at the Reno-Stead Airport (KRTS) so we reached out to Patrick Wink, the general manager of Atlantic Aviation at Reno-Tahoe International Airport (KRNO). He was happy to help us and permitted the Chapter to host the event from the south side of their facility and put the Trimotor in their huge corporate hangar each night. The event was a huge success, everyone had a great time and Patrick was nice enough to invite us back to the Atlantic Facility for future events. You can see coverage of the event here.
In July of 2019 Chapter 1361 was selected one of 9 EAA Chapters to host the morning Pancake Breakfast in the Chapter Pavilion at AirVenture 2019. We scraped together 12 members attending AirVenture and served 214 sets of pancakes and sausage to AirVenture attendees. You can see coverage of the event here.
EAA Chapter 1361 continues to be one of the most active aviation groups at the Reno-Stead Airport, promoting youth STEM education and all forms of recreational aviation.