We got to visit the factory!!

Amanda and I finally made to the Factory!! I thought it would be a lot longer before we made it to Oregon. Amanda and I had planned a trip to Seattle for business. We thought it would be a nice opportunity to go see the Spruce Goose located in McMinnville, Oregon. For some reason I thought Aurora was located a lot further south than it actually is, so I didn't even think of going to see Vans Headquarters. However, Amanda double checked and discovered it is right around the corner!! So we dropped in for a nice visit. Joe was there demonstrating the 14 to a nice couple from Denver. So we got a nice walk around of the facilities. Here a few pictures.













Here is a link to the rest of the pictures...
https://plus.google.com/photos/105240281710557224797/albums/5928456792208564129?authkey=CJ-X-ffR_dj4PA

Thanks for showing your tour. I was there two weeks ago and ready for the afternoon tour, but they were closed. Rats! Maybe some day. I did get to visit with Classic Aero, Oregon Aero, and Russ McCutchen. All some very nice people that make products for the RV world.

Great post John. Did not realize it was you until I saw Amanda in the pictures. Looks like a great place to visit. Would love to hear more about over pizza! Planning on second visit to Naval Aviation Museum in Pensalcola next week with my 14 year old son. He was 6 the first time we visited.

Frank

Check the Blue's Schedule

jfrank71 said:

Great post John. Did not realize it was you until I saw Amanda in the pictures. Looks like a great place to visit. Would love to hear more about over pizza! Planning on second visit to Naval Aviation Museum in Pensalcola next week with my 14 year old son. He was 6 the first time we visited.

Frank

Click to expand...

Frank, I live/work at Pensacola. Sorry for the thread creep, but be sure you check the Blue's practice schedule (http://www.blueangels.navy.mil/show/). If you hit the museum on a practice day, prepare for hoards of people and terrible parking in the grass hundreds of yards away. Any other day/time makes for a much more accessible museum, IMHO.

If you want to see the Blues practice, though, it's a good show and you can still see the museum, just lotta more people.

Back in 2008 before I moved from NorCal to MI, I made a day of visiting the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum and Van's Aircraft Factory, since they're relatively close to each other. The weather was bad, so no demo flights... but I did get to sit in their RV-8A. I had planned on an RV-8 for many years before that, but seeing how comfortably I fit in that aircraft sealed the deal for me. Finally started on my empennage last month... and hoping for a homecoming flight in the not-too-distant future.

that sounds great!

jfrank71 said:

Great post John. Did not realize it was you until I saw Amanda in the pictures. Looks like a great place to visit. Would love to hear more about over pizza! Planning on second visit to Naval Aviation Museum in Pensalcola next week with my 14 year old son. He was 6 the first time we visited.

Frank

Click to expand...

Frank..that was a fun time for Amanda and myself. The factory was a must see item for us. We had to go all the way to OSH to meet Van in person. He is a fine gentleman. We will talk some more...over a slice of pizza!