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Copperstate flyin

awmuhs

Well Known Member
Has anyone read the arrival Notam for the flyin? Or does anyone have any insight into where i should park my beautiful RV10 that I would like judged but don't plan to stay overnight.

the notam seems to say that if you are transient you should land and park on the Western side of the airport. It also seems to say that the only way to get judged is to land/park on the East side but they don't want transients in the judging area.

I live in Tucson and only plan to go to the flyin on Friday.
 
No problem ...

Has anyone read the arrival Notam for the flyin? Or does anyone have any insight into where i should park my beautiful RV10 that I would like judged but don't plan to stay overnight.

the notam seems to say that if you are transient you should land and park on the Western side of the airport. It also seems to say that the only way to get judged is to land/park on the East side but they don't want transients in the judging area.

I live in Tucson and only plan to go to the flyin on Friday.

I'm working the Camp Ground check-ins and member of EAA228 (we meet at FFZ). I think you'll find that upon arrival you can tell Ground that you need parking in the Judging area and will be directed to the appropriate Follow-Me cart. All of the 'normal' transient and camp ground parking is on the North side, but the Judging area on the South side is significant and will be available.

This is NOT official but from seeing/reading/hearing the comments and maps. I doubt you'll find any difficulty. In fact, advising Tower may avoid a misdirection on exiting the wrong side of the runway.

Stop by and say hello in the Chap 228 booth in exhibits.
 
...is to land/park on the East side but they don't want transients in the judging area.

Not all aircraft in the judging area stays the night...... I believe they just want to make sure those aircraft are parked in the morning, staying all day and then leaving late afternoon when the show ends for the day.
 
copperstate parking

I am surprised they don't want all of experimentals/aircraft of interest parked in the show area regardless of how long they will be there. Maybe it is safety issues in that they don't want any aircraft movement in the show area durng show hours. Of course they don't seem to restrict movements at other flyins unless their is an airshow going on.

I guess what all this means to me is that I will park my RV10 in the transient area
 
I heard it was very underwhelming at FFZ this year.

Didn't get to go myself this year but feedback was not good.
 
Good Report

Scrabo said:
I heard it was very underwhelming at FFZ this year. Didn't get to go myself this year but feedback was not good.

I just heard the opposite from a pilot friend who attended Copperstate yesterday: ?Seemed like better attendance to me. Lots of homebuilts flew in.?
 
Friday was quiet, but Saturday picked up nicely to almost crowded around lunch time. Weather was hot which dampened down the late afternoon a bit, but the vendor area seemed easier to keep cool and was packed.
According to the President at the awards assembly, gate receipts were over twice of last year. He spoke of some "issues" but seemed pleased overall with Falcon. I would guess that fly in visitors were down a bit, but local public was way up from year's past. The ATC fears were overblown, most importantly, nobody got hurt.
 
That differs a lot from what others are saying elsewhere..

"I thought moving to Falcon Field would have some improvement on the airshow. ...... It was a waste. I was done with the show in about 3 1/2 hours. This year was a 3rd rate experience, the same as last year, except it was a PITA to get there."

AND

"Yes, It was a disappointing experience ."
 
Just an opinion of someone who was there both days and went to the banquet, but someone who only went Friday would have a much different impression than someone who only went Saturday or both days. If you want quality face time with the vendors, the slow times are preferrable.
 
I flew in both days. I live at the very nearby Stellar Airpark. I thought the show was pretty decent. I have not missed many Copperstates in the last ten years. The NOTAM procedures did scare some off. There are many beautiful classic aircraft in the local area that are regular attendees that did not show this year. Concerns over complex airspace, mode C, and contacting TRACON were likely factors in their decisions not to attend. I suspect that it did not discourage many folks from out of town, as they are in cross country mode anyway. The uncontrolled fields on the outskirts of town draw more display aircraft and encourage more flying. Having it at KFFZ resulted in folks arriving and not flying again until departure. The tower and ground folks were very accommodating and helpful. KFFZ is a normally a very busy flight training environment, so normal tower operations result in a little briefer (harsher, less helpful) service at times (it is a tough job, no judgment!).

It was still a good show, but a little different, my preference is more fly in traffic and more demo flying during the event. We have lots of good fields just South of Phoenix that work good for that type of event. Thanks to all that volunteer their time to make the show a success!
 
I volunteered and worked both days. Being moved to Mesa I feel brought in more public foot traffic but I was disappointed in the low count of fly-in aircrafts. I dont have any official count but I could tell those were down from last year.
 
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Arrivals

Increasing the number of flyins will require an easier approach procedure.

I flew in Early Friday. It was relatively easy but talking to Class B ATC does scare some people off.

Instead of trying to accomodate arrivals from all over the compass why not do like Oshkosh. Everyone comes in from the Southwest, forms a line, and follow the tracks.

Florence Junction is a prominent landmark Southeast of Falcon and would be an easy place to start the arrival while staying easily under the Class B. it would not require talking to Phoenix approach.
 
My 02 cents

I flew in Friday, parked on the W side. I didn't care for the split side parking/shuttle arrangement.

The shuttle was inconvenient (to me) and it looked like the E side had plenty of room for the planes parked on the W side to come over.

I would have much rather had my plane parked E so the general crowd had more planes to view.

I arrived from the South. Flying in Friday was no problem, going out late Sat was much busier for me. Tower instruction after TO was to fly rwy heading. Can't do that very long without a class B clearance. Made for some assertive radio comms to get a needed turn in time.

I enjoyed the forums and vendors. The heat was not quite what I would like to see in late Oct, but this is AZ after all.
 
I flew in on Friday and had to circle West of Coolidge for a few minutes to get a word in with ATC. It just happened that a bunch of planes had arrived at the San Tan checkpoint before me. Really not that much traffic behind me.
I parked in the North and that was probably a mistake. The shuttle connection was slow and had long waits between runs. It took me 30 minutes to get back to my plane at the end of the day which was annoying.
Once I arrived at the show area, I saw that there were hardly any planes parked. Certainly less than you would expect even at a local Fly-In but it was embarrassing for something like Copperstate. I'm a homebuilder and I go to the show for the homebuilding part of it. I was done walking the flight line in about 30 minutes. If hadn't spent hours talking with a good friend I met at the show this would not have been worth anything to me.
I will certainly not go back next year unless they move this to a place that doesn't scare people off and allows Ultralights to attend the show again. What's wrong with Buckeye (KBXK) just West of the Mode C veil, for instance?
 
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