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Petit Jean 2016 KMPJ -- The Gathering is ON again!

PJ

Had a great time at PJ fly in our first time stayed at the Mathes lodge next time looking forward to camping.Great time looking at planes on Sat and hiking on Sunday came back to the airport from hiking on Sunday and I was the last one to leave airport was locked up.Nice meet everyone hope to see ya again.
Bob
 
So that was you :) Sorry'bout that!

Bob, we looked at all the stuff piled around the airplane and assumed you had gone to lunch at Mather Lodge. :confused: We checked to see that no one was in the campground or restrooms and we had no pick up calls so Oops :eek: our bad :eek:

Thought that the airport gate was chained but soft locked when we left. It's pretty amazing how quickly we get everything packed up and hauled out. Sure wish it went up as quick as it comes down.

Hope it wasn't a problem :)

Bill
 
I was honored to attend the Petit Jean fly-in. It was spur of the moment decision and it was better than I had imagined when I heard rooms opened up and jumped in.

I have to say I was completely impressed by the organizers and volunteers. Gosh. Just Gosh. I made it a point to tell the volunteer driver to take a tip and give it to the fly-in fund. He said I didn't have to do that as they had perfec great weather for the prior 6 years for this one weathered-out event. Shows the positive spirit of the fantastic folks who did all the heavy lifting this year. Yeah right. Put it in the kitty anyway.

No complaints about anything here. Unique and stunning.

Jim
 
And something really needs to be said. The Petit Jean Air Boss. Whoever he is. Was in a word, "cool". This guy was beyond on the ball. He was not only cool, and collected, his confident demeanor projected over the radio his true interest in helping and maintaining the highest level of safety. It really was the best air boss/temporary tower experience I have ever experienced. Even when the weather, winds and type A personalities came together all at the same time, Air Boss kept it good. Kept it safe. And worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk.

Thanks Petit Jean 2016 Air Boss. You have instilled confidence that the whole safe arrival procedure concept does work. Look forward to hearing your voice on freq. again soon.

Jim
 
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And something really needs to be said. The Petit Jean Air Boss. Whoever he is. Was in a word, "cool". This guy was beyond on the ball. He was not only cool, and collected, his confident demeanor projected over the radio his true interest in helping and maintaining the highest level of safety. It really was the best air boss/temporary tower experience I have ever experienced. Even when the weather, winds and type A personalities came together all at the same time, Air Boss kept it good. Kept it safe. And worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk.

Thanks Petit Jean 2016 Air Boss. You have instilled confidence that the whole safe arrival procedure concept does work. Look forward to hearing your voice on Unicorn again soon.

Jim

Ahh, yes, Bob (and don't forget his sidekick) are professionals. With this event, they just might know who you are at 50mi out if you registered. He does have the advantage of doing zero knots while we all descend into the pattern at once, but you are so right, he has that radio voice that would never waver.

There is no need for Bob to just be a voice next year. Go take him and his wife a water (I assure you, they've planned ahead). Check out their rig. Ask them how they do it, "what does this button do?". It is part of the weekend.

Thanks Bob for herding us cats. See ya' next year hopefully. Tanya and I WILL consume at least a half hour of your time on station as usual if you're there and we have more than a few hundred feet ceilings!
 
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Bob & Linda Connor

And something really needs to be said. The Petit Jean Air Boss. Whoever he is. Was in a word, "cool". This guy was beyond on the ball. He was not only cool, and collected, his confident demeanor projected over the radio his true interest in helping and maintaining the highest level of safety. It really was the best air boss/temporary tower experience I have ever experienced. Even when the weather, winds and type A personalities came together all at the same time, Air Boss kept it good. Kept it safe. And worked tirelessly from dawn to dusk.

Thanks Petit Jean 2016 Air Boss. You have instilled confidence that the whole safe arrival procedure concept does work. Look forward to hearing your voice on Unicorn again soon.

Jim

Jim, thanks for pointing that out. :) Bob & Linda Connor are an indispensable part of the PJ Team as well as our Bulldog Formation Group. Bob recently graduated from the Air Boss Academy at Miramar and played a large role in our dealings with the FAA concerning safety and process as the Gathering has grown. Air Boss and Bossette(Linda) insure that we do it right at Petit Jean and everywhere else we fly as a team.

As most know, weather was 300 OVC for all of Friday and part of Saturday. Bob was the calm voice on the freg giving "advisories" and weather to those on instrument approaches as well as MVFR approaches. I was listening a lot and he was always cool and helpful but never encouraged anyone to push their limits. He always had suggested alternates and local weather all around us. He always left the decisions to the pilots but he always slowed them down, helped them think, and provided options. He and Linda have played a big part in establishing a reputation for safety and organization at Petit Jean. This was a great example of how important the voice on the radio can be.

The other thing you will notice is that he usually knows not just the type of aircraft but actually who is in it. Like everything else on the Mountain, Bob is just a little over the top ;) Just ask how many are surprised when they call in to have him actually acknowledge and call them by name! :D

It's always good on The RV Mountain and that usually starts with Bob & Linda! :)

img_2016_10_23_174506_01-19345707.jpg
 
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I absolutely agree,the Air Boss was the best ever (as is the PJ fly-in). Very impressed with everything about the fly-in as it was my first time there.
Look forward to next year and much thanks to all the hard working volunteers.

Keith
 
Pictures and Video are finally up!

PICTURE UPDATE 11/3/2016 ... 2016 Picture's and Video are up ... :)... and they are really nice. If you were there, you probably have a wall hangar in this bunch. You can find them on the Petit Jean Fly In website in the Videos and Photo sections ... www.PetitJeanFlyIn.com

Direct Links below:

Check out Kent Officers PJ 2016 Video … it’s the first one on the page and the best PJ Video of the year ! Give it a few seconds to load.... it'd definitely worth the wait! :D http://petitjeanflyin.com/videos/

Also take a look at the Video Adam and Sterling from Vans Aircraft made while they were at Petit Jean …. It’s called “Start Building” and filmed on site with our own favorite actors ... that would be you! :p It’s the second video on the Petit Jean website or you can go to the direct link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=glB2...yx1zoOXxWADrT-

Check out the 2016 Photo's section as well! Some great shots from Dan Valovich, Paul Brown, and Sara Works! http://petitjeanflyin.com/photos/

On behalf of EAA165 and our whole Petit Jean Team….. A BIG THANKS !
 
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