32 People attended, and 2 more flew over! EAA
FLY & DRIVE OUT a great success..
On Saturday, the 20th, under a gray breezy
ceiling, Squadron CX had a fabulous fly-in! The cloud cover was a challenge, and
yet the event was a roaring success. Instructional flights were provided by John
Feemster, Malcolm Chance, and Brian Vickery.
We are still gathering statistics (it is hard to keep
track when you are having so much fun) on who and how many people flew during
the day. Here’s what we know so far:
Hats off to Field Marshall McIlrath who
coordinated lessons on the field and relayed info to aircraft in the 5 county
area by cell phone. At 9:00 am, he
had three aircraft at Hollister and two aircraft at Los Banos waiting for the
weather to lift enough to slip into the Salinas Valley. Nine
airplanes made it into the airport and a tenth was close. Two of these aircraft
provided flying intro lessons for a total of about 7 flying hours. (please see
attached spread sheet of the info presented below).
We even had one pilot on his first cross country solo
4 Challengers
2 Cessna 152’s
1 Cessna 172
1 Piper Cherokee
One flew over the field, above the overcast, for an honorable mention and departed for sunnier climes:
1 Lancair (too bad we couldn’t see that one!)
The overcast worked for us, we were able to conduct flights with out much other traffic. General Aviation people, for the most part, were elsewhere enjoying sunnier patterns, so it was a little like having the field to ourselves.
Hal established operational headquarters at the
Sky’s Edge, our rendezvous for those who drove plus providing shelter and
sustenance for guests and members. Bill Lee, owner of the Sky’s Edge
Restaurant, made us feel very welcome. It
was a busy day for him because a Model A Ford owners’ club also chose the day
to gather. He loved it. At one moment he pointed at the airplanes parked in
front of his restaurant and remarked that this is what this airport needs –
more events like this. We made his day and ate his big burgers!
We had some first time lady flyers who really got excited about Ultralights. We set a new record with 5 women taking intro flights. It could be that we will start to see some husband and wife flyers in the club soon. So, do you suppose there’s much interest out there in Ultralight and Sport flying? It looks like it to me.
It was decided that we were having to much fun to
have a regular club meeting and none was conducted.
Thanks to all who brought guests and participated
to make it a great fun event. There was a major team effort of many people. The
word is that all made it back to home base safely.
Vaughn
took some great pictures Check them out on our web under the fly in link.
Vaughn
and Hal