Convention Attendance

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

I did not understand what the request was.

Here is a link for RunwayFinder which will set a 10, 100, 200 and 300 nm circles around KLMO. This is an interactive map so you can zoom in and out to your hearts content and click on different airports for info or what ever including viewing a Google street map and of course low and high altitude IFR charts for George's flight on top.

In the link I'm driving the web site in a way that was not imagined by it's designer (I know, I've talked to him). Once set the rings should remain unless cleared by some command which, in our case would be not be what we want but that is just the way it is. If this happens just reclick on the link and they will be reset.

http://runwayfinder.com/?loc=KLMO:10;40 ... 0&view=vfr

[edbooth]

Mary and myself have attended every convention but two since 1978. We missed Portland and Fresno. Have flown to all except for Anchorage (commercial flight) and Tehachapi (camper). We have always found that flying to the convention, especially with a couple other planes is normally half the fun of going. We have a lot of memorable experiences of strange places we have had to land or detour to, including wierd courtesy cars and rest rooms. And for those folks out there who have not been on a long flight, it is a no brainer. Don't look at it as a whole. Take it from one fuel stop to the next. Kinda like how do you eat an elehant...one bite at a time. Make sure you allot enough time so you'r not affected by get-there-itis. If you get stuck somewhere for a day or two, take in the local sights and enjoy it. As far as traveling in the summer, The 170 will go high.. It's usually cool up at 9-10K. There were 100 degree temps on the trip to San Diego last summer, but up high was very pleasant.

For those coming from the east, Emporia, Kansas (emp)is an excellent stop. Friendly, courtesy cars and plenty of restaurants and reasonable motels in town.

[170C]

There is a good aviation museum located at the airport in Pubelo, CO. I have forgotten the name, but we stopped there on one of our trips to Castle Rock and it is a good one if you like military (primarily) aircraft. There are 2 large hangars full of them including a B-29. Well worth the time to stop IMHO.

[W.J.Langholz]

Thanks Bruce.
I like this link, the sectional shows all the airport but click on the map feature and it show the towns and cities as well. If I were travelling at 100mph and get close to that 200 mile out mark to get in by 10-1030 the next morning, there is alot of places to stay.

Good planning tool

W.

[GAHorn]

There are excellent stops in SW Colorado/Four-Corners area. Enroute to/from previous conventions, Jamie and I spent two days at Mesa Verde Nat'l Park. We landed at Cortez, CO and rented a car for about $30/day (call ahead to the airport terminal) from the local rental agency. We made reservations at the accomodations at the Park itself which is run by the Park Service. If you're someone who seems to always hear people gripe about the gov't....be ready for a surprise with the well-run lodging and restaraunt, complete with roof-top cocktail lounge with 100+ mile views all the way to Shiprock! Buffalo (excuse me...BISON) steaks, quail, and other wonderful menu items, all well prepared and reasonable.
Great views from the balcony of your cabin, and super guided tours of the cliff-dwellings. Reasonably priced, too!
http://www.nps.gov/meve/index.htm

Just to the west is Durango, CO, as well as the Monument Valley to the west of Four Corners is an incredible tour to make by air while enroute elsewhere.

A website which will assist you in finding Nat'l Parks to visit while travelling is: http://www.nps.gov/findapark/index.htm

Simply find a park with an interest for you, call that Park Headquarters for tips and visitors info, and locate a small, nearby airport with small airline service (they will have rental cars available) and call ahead for discount rates. Don't forget to ask for the annual Nat'l Park Pass. Here's the website for FAQs: http://www.nps.gov/faqs.htm

Santa Fe, NM is one of the oldest towns in No. America and has excellent B&Bs, restarants and historical attractions like the Old Gov't Square (ca. 1640) where Native Americans sell their handmade jewelry/etc., not to mention nearby Los Alamos (site of development of the Atomic bomb). Art Galleries and fantastic Old West hotels still open for business right on the square.

Passing thru Oklahoma should include the Cowboy Hall of FAme (see Gene Autry's guns and gunleather). Ft. Smith, AR where "hangin' Judge Parker dealt out justice on the frontier, and Hot Springs, AR Nat'l Park and stay in the old Arlington Hotel and enjoy a hot mineral bath and massage. Buy the lady a pedicure and maybe you'll get lucky with her! (And take a walk around the old town center to see where Al Capone visited the now-closed casinos and got treatments for his ailments. While you're at it, visit my birthplace, the old St. Joseph Hospital, now known as the "Bill Clinton School of Mathmatics"
Take a drive through the Ozark mountains and try the local smoked hams (send one back home via UPS) and don't forget the "Duck Rides" on Lake Hamilton and the Horse Races at the Downs. Fish nearby at Gaston's resort after landing on their grass runway and staying in their lodges, while the ladies and kids take the guided bird-watching tours. http://www.gastons.com/airstrip.php


Coming from the N.E., stop at Springfield, IL to visit the Abraham Lincoln Museum and memorial/tomb. (See his law offices where his legal assitant George, admitted to the future president that he really did not enjoy law...that he really just wanted a military career and would do anything for an apointment to West Point...so Mr. Lincoln talked with his law partner who had congressional contacts and got the young assistant his much-desired appointment to the U.S. Military Academy where he graduated last in his class...then resigned his commission to become a General in the Confederate Army, leading a division which made his name forever memorable in their failed effort known as "Picketts Charge" at Gettysburg.

On your return, land at the Gettysburg airport and hike 1 mile toward town to stay at "Herr Tavern Inn" http://www.innatherrridge.com/ a B&B which has stood since before the Confederates under Maj. Gen Henry Heth arrived on the Chambersburg Pike right beside that Inn, and opened up their cannons against the Union forces under Gen John Buford directly in front of them, virtually in the front yard of that Tavern, and within sight of McPhersons Farm (Confederate field hospital) and the Lutheran Seminary where Gen. Buford directed his defenses from the cupola. Sleep in Civil War era beds and furnishings of the Tavern, which served as a field headquarters during the engagement. Enjoy the champagne and cheeses and fruit awaiting you in your room, and the fantastic menu (and cold Beck's beer in the "barn" lounge.) Take the guided bus-tour of the battleground. (Watch the Ted Turner movie "Gettysburg" before visiting, as it is historically accurate and filmed ON location.) See Lee's headquarters, and stand where Lincoln delivered his "Gettysburg Address" in the Oak Ridge Cemetery where union cannon defended the heights. And take a moment to reflect upon the names of the sacrificed on the gravestones.
Stand on "little Round Top" and see the "Devils Den" where the ground became littered and soaked with the human carnage of a misguided war against ourselves. And visit the little town which is much like it was at the time, including the small hotel where Lincoln stayed and put the finishing touches on his speech.
(BTW: the fuel at the Gettysburg airport is by private membership, so arrive with sufficient fuel to leave. I got lucky...the president of the Lutheran Seminary is a pilot and happened to be at the airport when I was facing a non-responsive fuel pump. He loaned me his membership number so I could purchase fuel.) If I had it to do over again, I'd buy a pair of those little fold-up bicycles and spend a week there. The Inn can arrange for bicycle rentals if you call in advance.
This can all be discovered on Google. Get Imaginative! Take photos. Write about it and send it in for the 170 News! MAKE MEMORIES WITH YOUR LOVED ONES!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Write about it and send it in for the 170 News!

George, I think you just did. Expect to see this in print as well as others ideas where to stop. Keep the ideas coming guys.

[DaveF]

From the east, visit Pioneer Village Airport in Minden NE. http://www.pioneervillage.org/ It'll take all day to see all the reconstructed historical buildings, cars, tractors, airplanes, and old appliances in the museum. Minden has a motel, restaurant, and camping.

To the northeast is Alliance, NE, home of Carhenge, http://www.carhenge.com/. It's a short drive north of town in the courtesy car.

About an hour plus 20 northwest is Saratoga, WY. The free public hot springs are about a mile walk from the airport.

[GAHorn]

For you folks travelling thru the mid-west, don't forget about the Fly In B&B known as the Beaumont Hotel, in Kansas:

http://beaumonthotelks.com/

[pojawis]

On your return, land at the Gettysburg airport

If anyone is planning on putting George's suggestion into action, they may contact an Association member (me) for anything they might need. My 170 is based at W05; I have a gas card and can get you fuel (It's $5.50/gal currently). I might also be available for some transportation needs. I also know of other establishments that serve up good food and great beer. I might even have a little homebrew left that I might share...