Just in from the Homecoming Banquet...

[DeltaRomeo]

It's pushing midnight on my body clock so the real writeup will probably be tomorrow.

Great fun, great fellowship and great atmosphere. Tom gave a nice speech peppered with his comedic take on things and both Ken Krueger and Van talked for awhile.

I really liked the Independence setting...this part of the country, which I don't see very often, is a real treat to soak in for a few days. It had a real LOE type feel - mountains off in the distance, wonderful temps and clean, dust-free air. Looking forward to next year already.

Spent a big chunk of the day in the back of the -8A doing A2A shots....hopefully some calendar material in there. Starting the post processing tomorrow I guess.

OK, me need sleepies.

I'll type up more while I'm at the airport tomorrow and on the Boeing trip home.

Wish you could have made it.

b,
dr

PS: Rosie says 'hey'.

[Bob Brown]

I'll follow up Doug's post with some numbers...

Arrivals began on Thursday, with aircraft arriving from Florida, Louisiana and Canada. There were many examples of every RV type, including several RV3's.

By 5PM Friday, over 50 people had arrived from out of the area and were warmly greeted by their airpark hosts and had taxi'd their aircraft into the airpark. Some were put inside hangars, others were tied down in lawns and on aprons in front of houses. Many other (transient) RV's were parked on the ramp at the airport. People hung out at the Chapter hangar and talked RV's all day long. Many people flew up to McMinnville to check out the NW Antique Aircraft Fly-In. They had a roped off area for RV parking and reports were that over 25 RV's were parked there on mid-day Saturday.

We served 187 people at the Friday nite banquet, which started at 5PM, with Amanda Richards Band playing homebrewed Oregon music until about 7:30. The beer drinking and lie telling crowd hung out till about 10PM. It appeared everyone had a great time.

Chapter volunteers from EAA292 started cooking breakfast at 0730 on Saturday morning. By 1100, about 225 people had been fed. The ramp was active all day, with transient arrivals and departures, as well as activity from locally based RV's. Doug Reeves flew with Joe Blank of Van's Aircraft and did several photo flights. I believe Doug took over 700 air to air photos. I was lucky enough to get to fly with "Duck" and participate in this.

The EAA Hangar was the center of activity most of the day, with groups of people walking the taxiways and spending time with builders. Every hangar I rode my bike past had groups of people huddled around airplanes...it was exactly as we had envisioned it...RV people meeting RV people.

As Tom Green said...I sure hope we can do this again next year!!

[RV6_flyer]

Originally Posted by Bob Brown

I'll follow up Doug's post with some numbers...

SNIP

As Tom Green said...I sure hope we can do this again next year!!

I hope a better weekend can be picked. Those of us with FULL TIME jobs can only take so much time off. A two week Oshkosh AirVenture and visit the parents vacation then to have a LONG weekend off in less than a month from the vacation will not work for many of us.

Last year may have been my LAST Homecoming till I get a new job or retire if the Homecoming is going to occur between AirVenture and Labor Day.

[LettersFromFlyoverCountry]

Love the pictures. In my next life I'm coming back as an airpark owner. Oh, and a wealthy person!

[Bob Brown]

Gary, it's hard to find a date that makes everyone happy. There were a lot of complaints about Labor Day weekend because it's more of a "family holiday" weekend...Van's says a couple of weeks before OSH is no good and a couple of weeks after OSH is no good...there are weather constraints that start to build in September and there's Arlington in July...LOE starts to be a factor later on and once it starts raining here, well, there goes another summer...

We'll try to find a date next year that fits well, but for the most part, if a person could take Friday off, you could fly to Independence from a long way off and still make it here for the evening BBQ, the Saturday group hug session and banquet...and still be home by Monday morning. I realize that's planning in a perfect world, but I'm you realize all the different directions we get pulled to and from.

There were many people who liked the fact that the McMinnville Antique Fly-In was the same weekend, and many RV's flew to that.

There were many naysayers this year who stayed away...but as we predicted, those who showed up had one of the most unique Fly-In experiences to be had...this one definitely has possibilities. Try to find someone who attended and see what they say...

We missed you Gary, as we missed a lot of other SoCal'ers, but we sure hope you can make it next year!

[Gary Bricker]

I am looking for a place to stay for LOE. Where is everyone staying. The LOE site is out of date I think. Fill me in as this will be our 1st. What is going on on fri and sat. I think we are going to the balloon fiest after.

[frankh]

You guys obviously did a lot of work and from what I saw it all worked out great.

Thanks for hosting and I was glad to be there albeit briefly on Sunday afternoon.

Cheers

Frank 7a

[frankh]

I must be getting old...

Frank