New Year's Letter 2025
Dear EMPOA-Mooniacs,
A happy, healthy and joyful New Year 2025
to all of you, your friends and partners!
The year 2024 has come to an end and we can all hopefully look back on exciting, impressive and enriching flights with our Mooneys.
Many individual trips - whether small or large - always provided enough material for discussion and for exchanging experiences at the joint EMPOA events: we can look back on a Midsummer with the best weather in Kalmar and Mariehamn, but also on an annual general meeting weekend in the far west of France in Fontenay-le-Comte, which spoiled us all with a lavish supporting program. At this point a big thank you to David Kromka, who has been giving us wonderful trips with great enthusiasm for many years - but also to my board colleague and Vice President Peter de Grove. 2024 was rounded off by our traditional Christmas meeting: Nicola Voss and Markus Balser threw themselves into it for us early in the year (thank you!) and put together a great, delicious, sociable program in Munich. Here we were also able to listen to the entertaining and impressive talk by Tina and Gunter Haug about their "Down to Oz" Mooney trip.
You can always find out more about this trip and our EMPOA events on our homepage under event and trip reports. Board colleague and spokeswoman Tina Haug (thank you for your commitment!) tirelessly keeps our homepage up to date; feel free to click on the links in this newsletter. Speaking of the latest: the latest technical exchange, (Mooney) photos from all corners of the world and the latest pilot talk can be found as always in the Telegram group, which is also maintained by Tina. (If you are not yet there: more information is available here).
What will 2025 bring?
One issue that we Mooniacs are constantly concerned with is the AVGAS supply, which is becoming increasingly difficult worldwide (and in Europe). Without going into too much detail at this point, there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon. Although EU legislation provides for a ban on the processing of TEL (Tetra Ethy Lead) from May 1, 2025, Shell has at least taken significant steps towards obtaining approval until a lead-free alternative to AVGAS is available in Europe.
This does not, of course, solve this problem in the long term - but at least we can and should look optimistically and happily to our flight plans in the next few years and in 2025.
This year our EMPOA trip will take us to Stockerau and Lake Balaton in western Hungary. Details will be announced by David in good time on the homepage and by email (planned for around June 12-15, 2025).
Before that, on May 17, 2025, we can look forward to a small, fine event in Gunzenhausen, Franconia: Claus Knopf invites us to his home base for a Bratwurst fly-in. We keep our fingers crossed that the weather will be kind in 2025 and that the event will work out this time.
Personally, I am also very much looking forward to our 2025 Annual General Meeting. At the 2024 Christmas party, Ingo Rösch spontaneously agreed to organize the AGM in Wroclaw - details and dates will follow for this too. I still have fond memories of Wroclaw as the place of origin of our Mooney - a beautiful, lively city.
A thank you to everyone who will continue to tirelessly organize trips and events for our great club in 2025 or who will also be working hard in the background. I would like to thank our treasurer and board colleague Ines Haselmann - she has created her own little report from the "treasure chest", which I am happy to attach to this newsletter.
We are still looking for ideas and organizational elves for our EMPOA Christmas party in 2025. If you can imagine this or have ideas for it - please get in touch with us or me!
Finally, all I can do is wish us all many wonderful trips and experiences in 2025, lots of luck, health, optimism and, above all, safe landings at all times!
Yours,
Markus Wagner
(President)
From the treasure chest: News from the treasurer
The quarter since the annual general meeting has passed so quickly - and even if we haven't yet reached the level I had hoped for, a lot has happened.
After handing over the documents, the first thing that began was the basic setup of the access data. Then I processed the treasurer's inbox, which had become quite full in the meantime - as some of you have noticed. New membership applications, which had also been received, also served as the first practical exercise with the "verein.cloud" (formerly S-Verein) administration software. The software is proving to be very suitable for our requirements, as it enables the creation of invoices and the management of contributions in addition to member administration.
In order to understand the software in detail, I completed an individual online training course. The decision not to rely on "trial and error" here was absolutely the right one: all questions were answered competently and I am confident that invoicing and automatic sending by email will work smoothly in the new year.
Access to the savings bank account has also been adjusted, and even the postal delivery of bank documents now works without any problems. At this point I would like to express my thanks to Dirk: his support, especially with regard to the unofficial forwarding order for EMPOA mail, is a great help.
An important topic at the moment is the change of tax office. Lothar Lucks has represented EMPOA reliably in tax matters so far - thank you very much for that! However, the new office offers me the advantage of being close to home and enables synergy effects, as I already know the contacts and processes from working with the office in another association. The transfer of data between the offices is currently underway.
I therefore ask for your understanding that some answers to open questions will still take some time - I have not forgotten you. The invoice for the 2025 membership fee is also likely to be delayed a little. It will take place after the data check has been completed and a validated overview of the outstanding amounts has been created.
But I can assure you of one thing: the cashier always wants your contribution for the EMPOA piggy bank - so the bills will come!
Ines Haselmann (Treasurer)
