A Sacramento chapter of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) is reviving its poker run, an event the chapter hasn’t held for years.

Tenley Ong, president of EAA Vintage Chapter 25, organized the poker run with cooperation from five other regional chapters, according to the organization’s website. There were about 40 people participating in the event, Ong said, with about 20 different general aviation aircraft. More than 100 people in all turned out for the Oktoberfest at the Sacramento Executive Airport (SAC) that marked the completion of the event.

“I’m super stoked,” Ong said of the turnout. “I’m just really happy everybody came through and it’s really cool to see everybody in one place. Flying around the airport, I see a friend or two every now and then, but to bring everybody together and for them to meet each other is really, really special.”

It has been two years since the chapter’s last aviation poker run, with the one before that occurring another five years earlier, Ong said. The event involves pilots flying to various airports in the area to pick up an envelope with a playing card. Aviators gather an envelope from each of at least five participating airports before arriving at Executive. Organizers then determine who has the highest hand.

Ong took the helm of Vintage Chapter 25 last December, she said, with the goal of increasing involvement and expanding its scholarship program. 

Pilot Todd Fulton said this was his first poker run and that he has been flying since he became a private pilot about a year ago. 

“I think the important thing about it is just being involved in the flying community one way or the other, getting out there, staying proficient, and just enjoying it,” Fulton said. 

It took Fulton about three hours to complete the event in his Glasair GlaStar, a kit plane that was completed by another owner in 2005, he said. 

Richard Schendel flew the run with his 17-year-old son. Schendel owns the aircraft that his son flies, but is not a pilot himself, he said. 

“We have a pretty good partnership, I bought the plane and he chauffeurs me around,” Schendel said. “He gets his hours, and I have fun with my son.”

Schendel’s son was able to get his pilot’s license through a $12,000 Ray Aviation Scholarship, a nationally funded EAA program administered by local chapters like Vintage Chapter 25. His son is now working toward higher ratings with plans for a career in aviation, Schendel said. 

For Ong, the event is another step in developing a successful Vintage Chapter 25 for the future.

“My personal vision as president is to make sure that it’s going to live on past me, so I try to create programs and set them up for success moving forward,” Ong said, naming other fundraisers, events, and scholarship programs the chapter is involved with. “The more people you have that are enthused about it then the more successful the organization is.”

In addition to Chapter 25’s home airport of Sacramento Executive, other participating airports included Lincoln (LHM), Sutter County (O52), McClellan (MCC), Yolo County (DWA), and Auburn (AUN).

“​​I’m just really thankful to be surrounded by a lot of amazing and wonderful people,” Ong said of the turnout. “There’s so much passion and talent and just good vibes all around. It wouldn’t happen if people didn’t show up, so I’m just really thankful everybody came today.”