AR Dave wrote:Now I remember that we've discussed this ideal many times before. Convention, Reklaw, Lee Bottom, cabin fever, are all factors. I'm just mulling this over in my mind. I'd definitely have to seek council with Gar & Ole Pokey. My work schedule dictates that I'm home, Aug 19-31, Sept 16-28, Oct 14-26, this year. Tom, Oct 15/16th is thur/fri. We usually have it on weekends. I guess Reklaw is the 24/25th..
Dave, you're right. It was a typo. It seems like Friday is usually the arrive day, Saturday is the main day, and Sunday is the departure day, if I remember right. I'd like to keep the same format that you have used in the past. That being said, I guess the campground would need reserved for the Friday and Saturday nights of the selected week.
I would also like to understand your schedule. You stated that your work schedule dictates that you're home Oct. 14-26. Does that mean AR or AK? And, if it's AR, does that mean that you could possibly be available to join us Oct 16-18?
Now let's see if I can get a few more 170 folks to buy-in to the idea of an October fly-in at Petit Jean this year. We'll hang on to a Friday, Oct 16 arrival, a Saturday play day, and a Sunday Oct 18 departure. I think that it would be grand if us attendees could pull this off, without all of the preparations that you and Traci wind up with every year. No doubt, it will not be as elaborate, nor planned as well as you folk, but I'll just bet that it will be a whole lot of fun!
Any suggestions from the potential attendees will be greatly appreciated. It would be nice to hear from the campers, so that I can be reasonably assured that we will use the campground, and I'll make the reservations.
Mid-October is simply too close to Reklaw for my tastes. And it's too early for all the real FALL COLORS.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention. An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
gahorn wrote:Mid-October is simply too close to Reklaw for my tastes. And it's too early for all the real FALL COLORS.
Thanks for your thoughts. One of my concerns about making it much later was, whether the campground would still be open.
I think that I will give them a call and verify. I'll post the response.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention. An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
A check of the Notams shows:
NOTAMS
JBR 02/021 MPJ RWY 3/22 LGTS PCL CMSND KEY 122.9 7 TIMES HIGH/5
TIMES MED/3 TIMES LOW INTST
(i.e. nothing about a clsd rwy, only about rwy lighting)
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention. An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
The runway has re-opened and now has runway lights!
Don't call Petit Jean State Park, because they have nothing to do with the airport anymore. The airport is open all year round and dead most of the time. If we really planned this, I'd call Chris (Airport Manager), and he'd be happy to save it for us. I'm sure he'd leave the water on, if he knew we were coming. Instead of renting all 5 pads ($20 each), we could probably just rent a couple. I've been planning on taking the 10 min flight up on Petit Jean to eat at the new Restaurant. Wish I could remember to do that this next time I'm home, just to familiarize myself with the Rockefellar Resort.
A lot of the reason we like the spring, is because the northern folks love to fly down about NOW to escape Cabin Fever. Just don't know how much interest there would be in the fall.
I'll be glad to call Chris, the airport manager, just to touch base, but it really sounds like, between the Lee Bottom and Reklaw event, we are not going to get much interest in Petit Jean. I, personally, have not attended either of these events, merely for the lack of knowing about them. Both of these are within striking distance of our place on Kentucky Lake, and I'm putting them on my calendar for this year. We will try to make them both. They both sound well organized and belong on the "can't miss" list. Any excuse to fly, and to mingle with fellow pilots can't be all bad.
Since you're in the area, how about resurrecting the old Kentucky Dam fly-in? That one was a no-miss when I was based in Tullahoma. We got 170's from everywhere between Georgia, Texas and Michigan for that one. (I WILL be back in God's Country someday... )
Miles
Miles
“I envy no man that knows more than myself, but pity them that know less.”
— Thomas Browne
Since you're in the area, how about resurrecting the old Kentucky Dam fly-in? That one was a no-miss when I was based in Tullahoma. We got 170's from everywhere between Georgia, Texas and Michigan for that one. (I WILL be back in God's Country someday... )
Miles
Hey Miles!!
Kentucky Dam is just 10 miles north of me. Pass on a little info to me and I would be glad to try to resurrect it. That is one of the most under utilized facilities around. As you probably know, there is a nice lodge with lots of accommodations and pretty good food. just 1 1/2 miles up the road. In fact, the wife and I will fly over there, on occasion, and walk to the lodge for their breakfast, even though they offer pick-up service. Let me know what time of year it was held and whether there were airplane campers in the crowd. The only negative may be fuel. There were talking about doing away with fuel, but then, Murray (CEY) is just 20 miles South of there, and I can probably talk Johnny over there into providing us with a little discount. That's close enough to me that I could haul over a few things, like coolers and BBQ grills. I guess all of that took place before my time.
Well the thoughts are here and I'd like to converse with the Petit Jean Faithful about it's future. One of these days, I'm going to call the Missouri bunch to meet us at Gastons, at least for brunch. Sure appreciate you enthusiasm Tom!
Please don't be disappointed in me, but I'm just not a Reklaw Fan! I'm a 170 Fan and I love the camaraderie of 170 Fly-ins! Maybe it was the dust bowl we parked in or the dominance of the Super Cub Club, but I just couldn't wait to get the heck out of there. Just not my cup-of-tea or whatever George was drinking.
To repeat myself, Petit Jean is one of the really FUN flyin's & Dave, you and Traci have done yoeman's service each year. We all hate to miss it this year, but understand completely that you have family committments that must come first. Unless something does work out for 2009, 2010 would be a super time to do PJ again. I think we could enjoy being up there anytime, but a lot of folks would rather have to put on a jacket & hover around a fire up there than to be miserable with high humidity & heat that would likely get us much past May until late in the fall. Just my $.02 worth.
Thanks for your comments Dave. I must say, the 170 folks are my kind of people. Of all of the fly-ins the I have attended, Petit Jean takes first place. The size is right; our own campground, with facilities, and the welcome greeting to us newbies was wonderful. I also agree that a little cooler weather isn't all bad, even for us tent campers. If I could get a commitment from 10 or so, I would still try to get something going for this fall. Anyway, thanks for all you have done in the past, and be assured, we will do our best to never miss another opportunity for a PJ get-together.
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