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2022 Fly-In?

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N4843W

N4843W

New member
SE MI
Aircraft Year
1977
Aircraft Type
114
Reg Number
N4843W
Serial Number
14173
Anything on the 2022 Fly-In. Being a transplant recipient, prudence dictated I skip the past two, due to COVID, but I am optimistic that better times will soon be here. Omicron seems to have peaked. Anyway, I am already booking things in September and I'd like to get to the even this year. Perhaps it was posted by my search did not turn it up. Any news?
 
Something in the West would be great!
 
Yes, it was East last year. Time for the eastern folks --- Go West!
Where we went in Colorado would be awesome as the people that planned that event did an outstanding job in picking that place.
Close to the airport lots of shuttle service, outstanding food, and the hotel was great.
 
Nothing for 2022 as of yet, but yes - the plan would call for us being in the western third of the U.S. for our next fly-in.

We're still looking for volunteers for the Fly-in Coordinator role so drop me a note here if you'd like to talk more about it.
 
Those in the West are usually experienced with mountain flying. Those from the east, not so much. How about Santa Fe? Easy to get into by swinging south just a bit. Or even Angel Fire. That valley is just stunning.
 
I'm assuming you do know that Angel fire is at 8,379 ft. Not sure how comfortable Flatlanders and normally aspirated 112's would be with that choice. Santa Fe is it good choice and is a bunch easier but Routes from the East Will put you over higher terrain.
 
Commander91gm said:
I'm assuming you do know that Angel fire is at 8,379 ft. Not sure how comfortable Flatlanders and normally aspirated 112's would be with that choice. Santa Fe is it good choice and is a bunch easier but Routes from the East Will put you over higher terrain.
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Hot Springs, AR it is! :D KHOT. Two nice runways. Great resort/spa type town. Wife's (and husbands) would love it as well. Great food, Horse Racing, a casino, plenty of lodging, and a national park to boot. And, it located in the middle of this great Country. Just sayin.......
 
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Dustinholley said:
Hot Springs, AR it is! :D KORK. Two nice runways. Great resort/spa type town. Wife's (and husbands) would love it as well. Great food, Horse Racing, a casino, plenty of lodging, and a national park to boot. And, it located in the middle of this great Country. Just sayin.......
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Dustin Hot Springs is a great place to fly into. My wife and I flew in last year for the first time. Great airport too.

All you got to do to get a good shot at getting a Hot Springs fly in is to volunteer to put it on!

Sante Fe is great too, and is not hard to fly into for NA airplanes.
 
I always thought Page AZ might be a good choice and there is always Palm Springs. There is an excellent air museum in Palm Springs, Cassinos and lots of stuff to do in the immediate area. There are other airports besides Palm Springs (probably expensive); Thermal and Bermuda Dunes (Private) which may be available.

Just a thought...
 
Golfers love Arizona.
 
Palm Springs wound be sweet. I’ll be out there in September for the Beech Aero Club annual event. How nice to double up with COG if it’s in the same general area. Looking forward to planning our trip west.
 
If Palm springs rises to the top of the list then someone needs to take a close look at the FBO ramp fees, fuel costs and any other impose fees. I used to go there pretty regularly years ago but stopped going because the costs there got out of hand and it sure seemed like they didn't want to deal with general aviation.
If I need to go there these days I go to thermal. Haven't been there in a bit and don't know what the current situation is there in terms of FBO and ramp space. When I used to go there it was pretty limited. Thermal self-serve was typically the most reasonable fuel in the area but they lack any amount of parking space.
 
Laughlin is another interesting place that might have some potential. Plenty of hotel rooms across the river. Unfortunately it's another airport where the FBO had imposed landing, ramp, and security fees. They may be willing to negotiate some of that for a larger group.
 
Laughlin definitely counts as affordable hotels (although I don't know about the airport fees).
 
We have a set of criteria for a fly-in location and some of you have already mentioned a few of the items. Here's a quick list - might have missed a couple but this is just off the top of my head with only 1 cup of coffee:

Airport
  • Host airport has to be in the area of the hotel
  • Airport needs to be GA friendly (OK with us walking the ramp & socializing)
  • Airport needs parking for potentially 50 Commanders
  • Fuel at airport is a big plus
  • We want an IFR approach available at the airport
  • Airport and routes to airport from all directions needs to work for a NA 112
  • Area weather has to be workable for September - elevation shouldn't be so high that arrivals will have to deal with icing
  • Rental cars available
Host hotel
  • should be a resort with amenities for non-pilots
  • We need to be able to reserve a block of 40-50 rooms
  • needs catering and banquet room that can seat 125
  • we need conference rooms for presentations and breakout sessions
  • shuttle service from airport
  • onsite restaurant/bars
As you can see, it isn't easy to check all the boxes.

Out west in the past Sedona has worked out well as has Fort Collins and Osage Beach. West Baden was also very nice although more central.
 
It was actually a better place in 1999. Back then you could still taxi your plane down the hill, Park, walk down to the river and take the shuttle across. I do miss those days.
 
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