Even though LOE is advertised as a 3-day event, here's how it goes for us flying ~600nm to the
LOE fly-in from SoCAL.
DAY 1
We meet up, several RVs, airborne near the Banning pass around 8am PST on Friday morning, first day of LOE.
It's so great to be flying with your RV friends! It's a 2hr 'gaggle' flight to Chandler (CHD), south side of Phoenix for fuel and lunch.
We depart CHD around 12pm arriving LOE about 2 hours later, now 2pm PST...but wait...they are on Mountain time, so it's now 3pm local. Get the planes secured, register for LOE, get your rental car, and get your bags from the plane to the car...all the while visiting with others who've just arrived.
It's now 4pm (at best)...and the real hangar flying begins! On the ramp, have a beer, visit with friends from near and far...hey, haven't seen that RV before, let's go check it out...time flies...it's great being there visiting with friends...haven't seen them in a few years...ah, I see you
finally got your plane flying....when you get home you're selling it?!?...What?? You built
ANOTHER one!!!
It's 6-7pm now and wifey is saying "I'm hungry", and you're saying "We just got here!" Somebody in the group was smart enough to count friends early on, call, and get a big table reservation at a local eatery.
So off you all go, MAYBE sitting down to eat by 8pm if you are lucky.
Eat, drink and be merry...along with all your RV friends who came from near and far...Have another beer then head to the motel. Figure out times for getting up in the morning, arrange rides then call it a night.
DAY 2
Get up, shower, dress, have a continental breakfast then head out to the airport at around 9am. Here's the part you know all about....an entire day of hanging out at the airport with a bunch of folks who came from near and far, to be there, and share their
LOVE OF RVs!!!!!
The night before, some of the spouses got together and decided that they'd be taking the rental cars and going...shopping, sight-seeing, or whatever...off they go. And some spouses stay as they LOVE to be there with you on the ramp! They can 'talk RVs' all day long good as you!
Check out the planes, give an RV builder (or spouse) their
FIRST RV ride (my favorite thing to do!). Visit with the folks from Van's, people you may have never met but have talked with numerous times...maybe meet Van himself for the first time, or Ken, or Scott or Gus...Sit in the RV-10...heck, maybe you are yet to even
SEE an RV-10 for real. And my favorites:
You meet Doug Reeves and/or Dan Checkoway for the first time 
It's now around noontime so go find you some lunch and relax in the shade (you did bring your big floppy hat for the ramp, eh?!?). Introduce yourself to the folks you don't know at the table, make some new RV friends. During your lunch, you can watch Stu McCurdy leading some precision formation flights around the airport for a few passes...
eat, drink and be merry...
The time goes by so fast that before you know it, folks are heading back to the motels at around 4pm to get cleaned up for the banquet. Some stay and keep visiting because they look 'good enough'. The spouses return from their day of fun and shopping.
Next thing you know, you are in line for food, enjoying all the warbirds that surround you at the dinner table. Listen to the great speech that Red Marron gives every year (I love that guy!). Listen to the music and eagerly listen for you number to be called for the raffle prizes (or possibly bid at the silent auction) Watch the awards as they are given to some very deserving RVers...and all the while, you
...Eat, drink and be merry!
Before you know it, the day is over as the banquet ends. You say your good-byes to folks who are staying at other motels and are leaving at O'dark-thirty. You stay to thank George & Becky Orndorff for
helping you build your plane
You thank Larry Vetterman for his part in putting on this show and the great exhaust systems he puts out. You thank Bob Brashear and Red Marron for all the work they too put into this event...then it's back to the motel. Figure out times for getting up in the morning, arrange rides then call it a night.
DAY 3
Get up, shower, dress, have a continental breakfast then head out to the airport around 9am (I don't do mornings well!). Fill the rental car with gas on the way (or you already did it the night before).
Upon arriving to the airport, you note that many RVs have already departed and the ramp is maybe half as full as it was the day before. You drive the rental car to your plane, unload your bags, and then get the car back to the airport office and checked in. There is a steady stream of RVs departing...
You say your good-byes to your friends who may only see again at next year's LOE. You coordinate with your fellow fliers the 'lineup' for takeoff then load-up and taxi out to the departure end of the runway in use.
Lead takes off around 10am if we are lucky...We all follow and head home for Southern California, again stopping for fuel and lunch in Chandler. We usually arrive home around 4-5pm...but,
wait...we gained an hour, hooray!
And you put the plane away and look forward to flying to next year's LOE, wherever in New Mexico that may be...
Three days...that wasn't no 3 days...I don't think we were there more 3 hours!
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Have a safe flight, and I'll see you on the ramp at LOE '05 in less than a month!
Rosie
