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Thread : 2010 West Coast Touring Motorglider Fly-In [Heads-Up!]
Started at 28th-December-2009 03:57 AM by Webmaster
Visit at http://forum.xopa.org/showthread.php?t=61
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Date : 28th-December-2009 03:57 AM
Thread Title : 2010 West Coast Touring Motorglider Fly-In [Heads-Up!]
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Date : 25th-January-2010 04:56 AM
Thread Title : Updated Information for Fly-In
Touring Motor Glider 2010 Fly-In
The Second Annual West Coast Fly-In will be held June 25 ñ 27 at Minden, Nevada. Activities will include flying, technical discussions, a show and tell, Friday night Basque dinner, Saturday night BBQ, and flying. SoaringNV at Minden will again be the on-site host. SoaringNV will just be finishing up a glider cross-country camp so there will be a lot of glider activity out there.
This year we are planning an optional fly-out after the main event to Cedar City/Parawon, Utah, where the Auxiliary Sailplane Association will be holding their annual Camp & Contest (June 28 though July 8). We plan on staging our group at the Cedar City airport. Everyone weíve talked to says that the Utah area is spectacular to fly in.
Last year we had 10 ships and 20 pilot/spectators at the event. A great time was had by all, although the weather could have been more cooperative. Pilots came from north and south California, the southwest, and the northwest.
Contact Richard Pearl (pennyrich@aol.com) or Ray Buhr (jb92563@yahoo.com) for details, comments, and suggestions. Updated information will be posted in the Yahoo group site: Touring_Motor_Glider Fly-In. Join if youíre not already a member. You need not have a glider to participate in the event, and I expect that glider flights with participants can be arranged. Ray and I will make basic arrangements with hotels, restaurants, and the airports. Obviously, everyone is responsible for their own tie down fees, hotel, and meal costs.
Here is the website information: link (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Touring_Motor_Glider_Fly-in/)
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Date : 25th-January-2010 04:59 AM
Also, where did you stay in Cedar City? Would you recommend it for the group?
Although the experts are Ron Snedecor and Tom Muller, who have open invitations to stay at Victoria's Bed & Breakfast - the spot at Parowan, I replied with the following:
I will get this going on the website and will announce it to the group as well.
BTW I think you meant July 8th below, not August 8th.
A list of hotels is at: AirNav: KCDC - Cedar City Regional Airport (http://www.airnav.com/airport/KCDC)
I have stayed at the Hampton Inn twice and think it is fine with several restaurants right near by.
Note that the pilots recommend the Bed & Breakfast in Parowan Victoria's Bed & Breakfast (http://www.utahretreat.com/) but I suspect the rooms will be taken before we can sign up. But for people who go other times it would be good to know.
Rental cars at Cedar City can be arranged through the FBO: Cedar City Airport :: Sphere One Aviation (http://www.cedarcityairport.com/)
I am planning to come with Ximango and Cirrus. Besides me I plan to bring my brother and wife, both are glider pilots. My brother has a diamond. We all plan to head to Cedar City and stay through about July 3. I have contacted Ron Snedecor and Tom Mulller, the attendees from last year to get it on their calendar. We shall see if we can get more attendees.
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Date : 25th-January-2010 05:02 AM
Thread Title : Current Intentions
I am hoping to bring my family to the Fly-In at Minden and off to Parowan. My wife will fly our Cirrus and bring my brother's family. He and I will fly the motorglider.
I think Tom Muller is hoping to make it and Ron Snedecor is likely. I hope others will start planning to overlap with us. It could be fun.
Last year at Parowan we had 3 Ximangos in several thermals over 2 hours and got up to almost 18,000 feet (in thermals). Ron and Tom got some wave soaring in before I got there.
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Date : 29th-January-2010 01:00 AM
Parowan sounds great. I would love to join the group, but can't commit yet.
Minden is not possible for me.
I am going on April 18 thru 24 to the soaring/wave camp in Marfa, Tx.
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Date : 31st-January-2010 02:14 PM
Thread Title : Any Eastern Ximangophiles interested in heading west?
Anybody on the east side of town interested in forming up and heading west to attend the motorglider event at Minden? I'm thinking seriously about going.
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Date : 31st-January-2010 05:10 PM
Thread Title : Easterners Heading West
It would be great to host you. Tom Muller will be coming East and he starts near Thomasville, GA as I recall. I think this will be his 4th trip West with his Ximango.
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Date : 1st-February-2010 08:50 AM
Thread Title : West Coast Fly In
I just read the thread on the idea of a west coast fly in at Minden in late June. I don't know how fixed everyone is on going to Minden, but I personally believe Bishop to be the better destination for soaring conditions around the first part of July. I personally intend to head to Bishop around the 3rd or 4th of July and plan to stay for about a week. I've been flying the Sierras for about 25 years now and have flown Minden, Tuckee, Air Sailing, Bishop, Lone Pine, Inyokern, Tehachapi, and California City from Memorial Day to Labor Day during many of these past years. Though Minden offers beautiful views of Lake Tahoe, I believe soaring conditions are generally more consistent and favorable at Bishop. The furthest distance I've traveled in my Ximango with the engine out has been out of Bishop....275 statute miles. Bishop (like Minden) offers multiple runways. Bishop also offers closer restuarants and hotels to the airport. I'd bet if you ask people who have flown from Minden to get their 1000K flights, at least 80% will tell you they headed to the White mountains between Boundary Peak and Lone Pine. Well, Bishop is located in the Owens valley with the White Mountains running north to south just a few miles to the east of Bishop.
If flying from Minden or from Bishop, come prepared with oxygen. This is a must! It's not uncommon to fly well above 10,000 ft. Being able to soar between 15,000 to 17,999 is a very real possibility.
BTW....there is usually a really good 4th of July fireworks show put on at the Bishop airport every year. It's usually a big hit with pilots and families alike. If anyone would like to chat about flying the Sierras or Whites, you are welcome to give me a call at 858-442-6194.
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Date : 1st-February-2010 01:19 PM
Thread Title : Minden and/or the Owens Valley
I swapped emails with Tom over the past couple of days. He's in New Zealand now on a soaring trip, but said he does indeed plan to attend the meet at Minden again. Tom and I are going to compare notes when he gets back from New Zealand and try to formulate a plan.
I'm open for wherever the flying is good. I don't care at all about attending the ASA meet at Parowan. In fact, I'd much rather avoid that crowd entirely. I'm just wanting to soar somewhere with different scenery and big lift. June and July aren't the best months for soaring here in the Sequatchie.
It'd be nice to have a couple of eastern Ximango's to form up with to make the journey for safety reasons, but I've flown back and forth across the country several times and have no qualms about doing it alone again if need be. The biggest deal for me is finding someone to keep my runway mowed while I'm gone. That time of year I need to mow every 4 days or so to keep it from turning into a jungle. The real difficulty for me is finding someone that I can trust to run a 65 hp diesel tractor and $30,000 mower and not tear it up or mow down my runway lights!
Rob, I'd LOVE to fly in the Owens Valley! I've always heard great stuff about that area and I've been wanting to do some flying out that way since the early 80's, but just never had a chance to. I would prefer to go with someone experienced in the area, though. I've read that conditions can get pretty strong there in the summer.
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Date : 2nd-February-2010 04:21 AM
Thread Title : West Coast Fly In
I didn't intend to mess up anyones plans to go to Minden. Minden is a nice place and fun to fly, but I personnally think Bishop is more consistent and favorable around the early July timeframe. I'll be glad to help anyone who might like to come to Bishop and learn and fly the Owens Valley, Sierras and the Whites. The Whites on a good day are the closest thing we have to a glider freeway out here in the west.
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Date : 4th-February-2010 03:59 PM
Thread Title : Touring Motorgliders
The best thing about having touring motorgliders is that we can adjust our tours. Tom and Ron are famous for getting up in the morning and deciding it's time to head on to the next location and then change as the weather and conditions dictate.
The goal is to rendezvous at Minden with the other touring motorgliders for the weekend event - flying, sharing, and socializing. Currently the plan was to head to Parowan/Ceder City to overlap with the ASA meet. They have socials about every other evening, but they do up the weather in the morning.
However, we can always fly down to Bishop, on the way there or the way back. If Rob isn't getting there until July 3 we could consider heading there for 4th of July weekend.
Planning will be good for me as I am bringing family so I need to do some coordination on ground activities, reservations, and etc.
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Date : 4th-February-2010 04:10 PM
My intention is not to be a fly in the ointment. I would be traveling over 1600 nm one way to attend. I want to see and take in as much as I can. The Owens is high on my list and has been for many years. I'd also like to fly at Minden and SW Utah (probably SW Colorado, too). It really depends on what area is working best while I'm out there.
Thanks for the offer of tutelage regarding the Whites and the Owens. I would feel much more comfortable flying with locals who are familiar with the conditions as opposed to wandering around on my own.
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Date : 4th-February-2010 04:45 PM
Thread Title : Possible Touring
One thought is those who can rendezvous at Minden for the weekend June 25 with the Touring Guys and then head to Parowan/Cedar City. Perhaps we head to Bishop over the 4th of July. Let's keep the options open.
Cliff - Can you join us? Seems like the flight up from your neck of the woods to Cedar City would be about 4 hours or something like that ...
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Date : 7th-February-2010 01:07 AM
Thread Title : So much soaring so little time.
Wow, the soaring calendar is filling rapidly. I am definitely doing the Minden meet and the Parowan meet. I'd also like to fly with Rob Morgan and any others at Bishop. But Rob's dates fall right in the middle of the Parowan meet. Maybe I could catch up around July 8th or 9th? And King Mountain is having their safari again August 14th to 22nd. Just a thought on Bishop. Around July 4th Bishop is very popular with vacationers and tourists. May be some difficulty getting last minute rooms.
Thinking about Steve Sliwa's January 24th post in this thread regarding 3 Ximango's thermaling together at Parowan. I was one of the three along with Tom Muller and Steve Sliwa. My friend Mark Weatherup was doing the flying in my plane. For about 10 minutes all three of us were absolutely nose to tail in a thermal climbing through 14,000. I wish my video camera had been out. It was one of those great moments in life. A picture of the intrepid crews that participated is on the July page of Steve's calendar.
Steve, I thought I remembered seeing a video you made of some of the action? I can't find it in the gallery.
Some links about the Parowan area courtesy of Region 9 Soaring:
Parowan - Places to stay (http://parowan.soaringweb.net/Accomodations.html)
Parowan - Places to visit during your stay in the Parowan, Utah area (http://parowan.soaringweb.net/Sights.html)
Parowan - Photo Album for the Parowan soaring area (http://parowan.soaringweb.net/Photo.html)
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Date : 19th-March-2010 03:30 AM
My husband Bill and I will be attending the west coast fly in, and are very interested in getting a chance to get a flight in a Ximango. It is on our short list of motor gliders as we consider what to purchase. We looked at one that was for sale, was very impressed, but it was out of annual and we could not fly it. Any help from those going to Minden would really be appreciated. Bill has his commercial glider rating. I am a student. We currently own a Grob 103 Twin Astir, and have been flying for about 5 years.
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Date : 20th-March-2010 05:30 PM
I would love to show you a Ximango. I am based in Austin, Texas.
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Date : 22nd-March-2010 02:37 AM
We live near Portland, Oregon, and fly out of Willamette Valley Soaring Club in North Plains. Will you be at the motorglider fly-in?
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Date : 27th-March-2010 11:07 PM
I was planning on it, then discovered that Sharen's school in southeastern Colorado is having one of their every-5-year reunions that weekend so looks like it'll be motorhome to Lamar instead of Ximango to Parawan this year. Maybe next year.
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Date : 5th-April-2010 10:29 PM
Actually I used to be a member and have my Ximango based at KDLS (Dallesport). I would be happy to get you a flight before the trip to the Fly-In. I will contact you via e-mail.
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All systems are go here. Is everyone still planning to meet up in Minden and/or Parowan in 3 weeks?
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I will not be able to join the group this year.
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Assuming my bird makes it out of annual on schedule I will be there for both Minden and Parowan. If not, I will fly up Commercial to Minden.
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Date : 28th-June-2010 07:18 PM
Thread Title : Touring Motorglider Fly-In Update
I flew my Cirrus down to Minden with my brother as my Ximango was in the shop for its annual and waiting for parts. So here is the initial report:
Ron Snedecor (currently keeps his Ximango in Minden)
Tom Muller (flew in from Thomasville, GA)
We also had (about) 2 Taifuns, 3 Grobs, 3 Lambadas, and 2 Carats. In all, about 25 people came.
We had a dinner at JT's Bar and Basque restaurant on Friday night and barbecue hosted by Soaring NV on Saturday night. Presentations included soaring brief each morning, safety brief, maintenance hints for motorgliders, battery maintenance hints, and a description of a world record distance flight about about 2500 km in New Zealand (across multiple islands).
The group's initial plan was spend 3 days in Minden and then several days in Cedar City UT, but the weather may change the plan.
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Date : 28th-June-2010 07:29 PM
On Sunday 2 Ximangos and 1 Cirrus departed for Bridgeport NV to get lunch and get closer to the Whites for soaring. Ron had to turn back due to a maintenance issue. I landed the Cirrus first and was followed by John and Tom. My brother, Dave, flew with Tom.
We had terrific fish tacos and shakes. My brother and flew home to White Salmon, WA from there in the Cirrus. Tom and John continued down the Whites to Bishop and returned back to Minden.
Here is a link to some pictures that John posted in the gallery. He uses a tail mounted camera to get great pictures.
Picture 1 with caption: link (http://gallery.xopa.org/showphoto.php?photo=471)
Picture 2 with caption: link (http://gallery.xopa.org/showphoto.php?photo=472)
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Date : 22nd-July-2010 03:43 PM
Thread Title : Post Event Summary
2010 Motor Glider Fly-In: Minden, NV
http://gallery.xopa.org/data/500/TMG_pic01.png
The 2010 Touring Motor Glider Fly-In, held again at Minden Nevada, was an unqualified success. Sixteen different touring motor gliders, including seven different manufacturers, arrived June 25 and departed June 28. Between pilots, friends, and spectators, the gathering totaled twenty-five MG enthusiasts. Shown above are five of the types of aircraft and their enthusiastic owners. On hand were aircraft representing: Grob, Ximango, Taifun, Lambada, Samba, Carat, and Pipistral.
The winner of the award for the pilot flying the longest distance to the event went to Steven Chase, who over a three-week flying odyssey from his home base in South Carolina covered a total of 6,593 miles over 62 hours (including side trips). Steven was flying his newly purchased Lambada, and reported that it performed flawlessly. Another participant (Tom Muller, Ximango) flew in from Georgia via Texas; other pilots came from California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
The on-site host again this year was SoaringNV, who once more opened up their hangar, operations, staff, and hearts to the group. THANK YOU, Laurie Harden, Fred LaSor, and your great team. Laurie and Fred are the driving force behind SoaringNV and if you ever want to learn the REALLY fine points of glider flying, go fly with their team. World-class experience in a phenomenal setting!
After flying in on Friday night we all went to a Basque restaurant for one of their gut-busting, family-oriented dinners. Great fun. Saturday morning we had group introductions, weather and safety briefings (Fred LaSor), and an aircraft maintenance discussion by Michael Haisten of Auburn Aircraft Works about all those pesky FAA regulations, plus maintenance tips. The afternoon was devoted to area flying, in generally good conditions. SoaringNV put on a chicken and tri-tip BBQ that night, washed down with lots of cold libations.
Sunday morning was another excellent weather briefing, some general lying about how far and high we flew the previous day, and staging of the aircraft for the photo above (thank you Laurie for climbing up on the motor home to get the shot.). Many of us departed after lunch, some for home and some to Parowan to link up with the Auxiliary Sailplane Association’s contest and fly-in.
If you missed this year’s event, start planning now for next year. We’ll be posting pictures on the site. If you have any photo’s, please send them in. Members of the special aircraft groups (Grob, Ximango, Taifun, Lambada, and Pipistral) please feel free to join the Touring motor glider group (Touring_Motor_Glider_Fly-In@yahoogroups). If anyone wants to organize an East Coast, etc. fly-in, please feel free to use the site to explore that potential, or contact Ray Buhr or myself (Richard Pearl) for advice.
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Date : 22nd-July-2010 09:53 PM
Thread Title : What an awesome trip!
other pilots came from California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington.
Don't forget the Tennessee contingent! My trip was just over 5000 miles in 13 days. 61.4 hours TT, flying over 10 states, stopping in 8 and soaring in 3.
Any chance I could get a copy of that group picture?
BTW, I'm working on a summary of my trip. I'll post it in the forum category about touring trips in the next few days. Still going through the 5000+ pictures I took on this trip. I've posted a few to my gallery if anyone is interested. The soaring was nothing short of spectacular. For the most part the weather cooperated except for a brief diversion on the way out in northeast New Mexico and on the trip home in Texas and Arkansas where I had to do a little "scud running" around T-storms. There was also one day at Parowan where we decided to not fly due to wind. Otherwise, we could not have had much better weather. I was calling this "the trip of a lifetime" but I know I'll be going back, hopefully next time with my co-pilot, Susan.
Enjoyed meeting you and Dave. Thanks for all your hospitality and for carting my arse around in Minden.
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Date : 27th-July-2010 12:28 AM
Finally joined your site. Very nice.
Thanks for the calander and hope your bird gets airborne soon.
Enjoyed flying with yall -your brothers a good stick and hope to fly together again soon.
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Date : 8th-August-2010 04:15 PM
Thanks for getting my brother in the air. He talks about soaring a lot now. If I could just get my motorglider out of maintenance I could probably get him soaring again.
They finally found the problem with the engine. I had a broken part in the gearbox. Factory (Rotax) was shocked as it had never had that failure mode before. Parts are on the way (under warranty) and should be flying soon. Of course, I didn't know anything was wrong ... it was just uncovered in the annual process.
Looking forward to rendezvousing for next year's sojourn west.
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