Anyone know what happened to Sky Life Flying Camp?

The real story behind the Club closing its doors. Lee G Barnes was arrested in the summer of 1992. He was originally arrested for possession of an unregistered hand gun. the abuse, I have no personal knowledge, I was a enrolled in the college flight program at FMCC in Johnstown. I was never bothered, I didn't fit the mold of a submissive skinny boy. The abuse was real and it was happening right in front of us and we were all oblivious. the abuse seemed to be towards the summer camp kids that would come. however, a Fed-Ex pilot who shall remain nameless was a victim in the 1980s. He however remained close with the camp and he even kept his planes at the airfield. he had a counselor approach him the summer of '92 explaining that Barnes gave him a list of weird items, small rope, a blindfold, ect and was to meet Barnes at the camp's motorhome. the FedEx pilot knew what that meant, this kid was going to be abused at the hands of this monster. That is when the cops were called, informing them of abuse and the handgun. the arrest was made, he got away with it because every man that came forward waited to long to report the crime. no knew witnesses came forward, the DA couldn't prosecute.

The real crime was what happened to the camp following the arrest. Barnes had convinced lenders to loan him money and he borrowed against anything that was available. The house and grounds, the airplanes, with the exception of the 1964 Cessna 172, it was too old to use as collateral, the camper, the Lincoln, the plow truck. that all went back to the bank. when the dust settled, 17 college students were left out in the cold, due thousands of dollars. We all sued in a class action case, we won and the only thing left was the 1964 Cessna, stored and later auctioned off at Brownell Lumber. it sold in Oct 1994 for $6000. as far as I know, no defendant ever received a dime. Which was not the goal, we know we unlocked the abuse case and hopefully taking those kids away from Barnes and exposing him as the monster he was. I felt bad for Jay Treat II and Bill Quegan( sorry if I spelled that wrong). the long time flight instructors who themselves were abused at the hands of Barnes. I have lost contact with both of them.

I attended the program at FMCC from Sept 1991-may 1993. I would like to hear from any of my sky life brothers and one sister that I flew with those years. my email-

hope to hear from you all soon

Chris Hyde