All, the fly out last Sunday was an outstanding success. 10 aeroclub aircraft and 4 private owner aircraft comprising a total of 35 people flew over and enjoyed an excellent brunch, excellent company, and as far as I could tell an excellent time flying out to Fair Hope, AL. Just enough weather to make it interesting for the pilots but safe and smooth enough for the less experienced passengers to enjoy. The Grand Hotel, what can I say, It lived up to its name. Beautiful scenery, delicious food, ice skulptures and a live jazz band that entertained the entire time. After eating, some of the folks enjoyed a nice walk along the bay, others enjoyed some time under an old tree relaxing in hammocks and I think I saw a few people on the beach. After about an hour of letting our food settle we headed back to the airport for our return trip. Watching all the aircraft get loaded up and launching out was a site to see. The return flight was just as interesting as the flight over. We all had to deal with several large build ups that sent our return leg about a mile south of the beach. It was very entertaining hearing all the radio calls come in to approach one after another. I listened to Pensacola radar identify each aircraft and give the exact same instruction over and over as each member checked in. Later, I heard from one of the controllers that vicinity alerts nearly drove them crazy as the mob of aeroclub aircraft made their way back to base. Again, an awesome site as the aircraft lined up at the fuel pit with pilots anxious to find out who was the top gun in the fuel burn calculation contest.
I would like to congratulate Clayton Starwalt, Dave Howard and Dan Nowers. They are our contest winers. Clayton received the Garmin 96 GPS, Dave a aviation flashlight and Dan a wonderful throw (blanket) that I'm sure he will enjoy many nights snuggled up to. LOL... They calculated their fuel burn rates down to 1.2, 1.3 and 1.7 gallons. This is amazing considering none of us factored in the weather diviations, perhaps alittle luck was a factor here. I'm curious to see if they win again next month.
As a result of all your supprt the fly out generated approx 23 flying hours and approx $2,100. This is outstanding and very much appreciated by the club.
As the trip was concluding I had numerous people approach me inquiring as to when the next trip was going to occur and where would it be too. Since then I have given this alot of thought. So, I will plan one fly out per month to different locations and for different activities. I think the next one should be a little less expensive for the meal. So, for September, the fly out will be to KMVC and we will enjoy Dave's Cat Fish. If you are one of my previous students then you will know exactly where this is as you have flown me there and have bought me dinner before. If you are not one of my previous students then the meal I enjoy is the all you can eat cat fish with coleslaw, hush puppies and french fries. LOL... Within the next few days I will send out a tentative schedule listing the activities scheduled for next 6 months. I am open to suggestions, so if there is a place you would like to see on the list then please email it to me. See you all this Thursday at the safety meeting.
Jim Nelson
Chief Pilot/Chief Party Coordinator