Soliciting Gaston's anecdotes

Ken Ibold

Ken Ibold

Final Approach
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Ken Ibold
Please send me (or post) your stories/anecdotes about Gaston's. Why you went, what you expected, whether it met or fell short of your expectations. Especially those of you who had never met many of the other participants in person before. (email to ken.ibold @ yahoo.com)

I'm doing an article for EAA Sport Aviation on the "virtual community fly in." and Gaston's is the prototypical event. Be advised that by sending me stuff you are acknowledging that it may be published.

Also, anyone who has posted pix on www.gastonsflyin.com from either this year's event or last, please let me know if Sport Aviation can publish them.

Thanks!!
 
I think my favorite, and others, was "This airport is so safe, its dangerous" by none other than Greg Bockelman. My weekend highlights were:

Extra ride with Chip. This was my first acro experience and i cant wait to do more. I think everyone else who rode with him feels the same way. Chip was great and let us fly as much as he could, It was very humbling, so sensitive on the controls, just do your best to not move the stick, you just have to think about where you want the plane to go and there it is.

The trip home was a blast, on top of an Undercast from Southern Missouri until home. Layer was 3000 feet thick with nice visibility and good VFR below. Often I feel like i never use my IR because I never have anywhere to go. Its nice to get a little validation for the hard work and money every now and then.

Spending time with all the people was the best. Being greeted by Edfred and Diana on our trip in was awesome and meeting Spike, Tommy, Rudy, Jim, Mark, Nick, Dave, and everyone else was the whole reason for coming. Its great to put faces and personalities to the posts gives the boards an entire new dimension.

My pictures are currently here:
www.jesseangell.com/gallery

Tony's Gastons Gallery or something like that. I am working on getting them put up on the gastons site in the next couple days. Feel free to use them, I would be honored!
 
First off, feel free to use any of my pics at the fly-in site, Ken.

2nd off - anyone hear ed's response to that idiot on the radio saying: "Any traffic in the area, please advise?" Man was that funny. I didn't even realize that Ed had pressed the PTT, I thought he was making an inside joke. But he did. Awesomeness.

Edit: Oh....also at work, I'll send ya some stuff about why I went and what I did.
 
SkyHog said:
2nd off - anyone hear ed's response to that idiot on the radio saying: "Any traffic in the area, please advise?" Man was that funny. I didn't even realize that Ed had pressed the PTT, I thought he was making an inside joke. But he did. Awesomeness.
Click to expand...

I didn't hear it. What did he say?
 
tonycondon said:
I think my favorite, and others, was "This airport is so safe, its dangerous" by none other than Greg Bockelman.
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In the interests of accuracy, the quote is "This airport is so dangerous, it is safe".

It is in reference to all the traffic involved, the one way in and one way out, and the trees. One has to have his head on the proverbial swivil in order to keep out of major trouble. On an ordinary weekend, there probably aren't any issues, but on these weekends, it can be a zoo.
 
Greg Bockelman said:
I didn't hear it. What did he say?
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I believe his exact wording was "I advise you to read the AIM." Priceless.
 
Gaston's isn't defined by any single moment, or any single comment. It is about all of the moments, the entire experience, and the atmosphere of the weekend. We have a community, a far reaching one, but a community that we all belong to. It is not exclusionary on who can be a part of it, only that you share a common interest - aviation. Even though Gaston's was invaded by those who had wings in the wrong spot, too many wings, not enough wings, wings that didn't stay put, we were all welcomed. We even opened ourselves up to those that were wingless, or at least had not been given a chance to grow them yet.

It is a community where our status in society is left behind when our radios crackle with the first call of "Gaston's traffic" and our wheels or skids are greeted by the turf runway. It doesn't matter who you are, or what you do, outside of Gaston's. It doesn't matter how many hours you have, or what ratings you hold, or if your avionics upgrade cost more than someone else's entire plane. It is a place where we all enjoy ourselves, and it doesn't matter where you are from, or what you do there. It is a place where we are all welcome. It is a place where we are all equal. It is a place where we are all pilots, and more importantly it is a place where we are all family.
 
Gosh, Ed ... I'm getting all choked up and teary-eyed reading that... ;)
 
gkainz said:
Gosh, Ed ... I'm getting all choked up and teary-eyed reading that... ;)
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Maybe I should have added, "except for Anthony" at the end? :rofl:
 
ya thats what i meant, got a little lysdexic there...

Greg Bockelman said:
In the interests of accuracy, the quote is "This airport is so dangerous, it is safe".

It is in reference to all the traffic involved, the one way in and one way out, and the trees. One has to have his head on the proverbial swivil in order to keep out of major trouble. On an ordinary weekend, there probably aren't any issues, but on these weekends, it can be a zoo.
Click to expand...
 
N2212R said:
Maybe I should have added, "except for Anthony" at the end? :rofl:
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I'd rather be flying a Grumman in H*LL, than a Cherokee at Gastons.

:rofl: :D
 
I glanced at the header again this morning and thought "Hmmm, you need an antidote for Gaston's?" :)
 
Fine comment Ed! I'm really stoked after reading it! As a matter of fact, I feel more like I do now than I ever did!!

Best,

Dave
 
Gaston's numbers

Ken Ibold said:
Also, anyone who has posted pix on www.gastonsflyin.com from either this year's event or last, please let me know if Sport Aviation can publish them.
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Ken, you can use any photos we took from this year or last year.

Here are some numbers (not counting the dogs :D) that I came up with for Gaston's:

Friday dinner-43
Saturday dinner-63
Sunday Brunch-50

Several people flew out early Sunday morning to beat the weather.

There were over 40 airplanes. Someone from Oklahoma just emailed me and said he flew into Gaston's in a blue and white Top Cub to join us. Did anyone talk with him? Several people from the Oklahoma Pilots Assoc. were planning to come.
 
Re: Gaston's numbers

Diana said:
Someone from Oklahoma just emailed me and said he flew into Gaston's in a blue and white Top Cub to join us. Did anyone talk with him?
Click to expand...

I saw the Cub. Didn't see the pilot.
 
Re: Gaston's numbers

Greg Bockelman said:
I saw the Cub. Didn't see the pilot.
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Here are some comments and pictures that Mike just sent me:

"We came in to Gastons Sat about 1:00, talked to a few people, had a nice lunch, met some more people, hung around for an hour or two, then back to Oklahoma."

He said to let him know anytime there's anything going on in this part of the country.
 

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Ed, you're a poet!

Ken, feel free to use any of my photos for the article. Just ask that you give proper attribution!
(I'm vain enough to like seeing my name in print :))
 
gprellwitz said:
Ed, you're a poet!

Ken, feel free to use any of my photos for the article. Just ask that you give proper attribution!
(I'm vain enough to like seeing my name in print :))
Click to expand...

Me too. But it was enough for my airplane to get noticed in last year's article. :D
 
Re: Gaston's numbers

I met the two gentlemen who arrived in the Top Cub right after they parked. I had commented on the radio as they rolled out that their plane looked like it flew right out of the paint shop..the pilot responded "yea, the paint is still wet"... I believe it was a metallic flake dark blue on that plane. Again, I don't recall their names, but it was two older gentleman and they mentioned they had flown the plane from Yakima (the "factory") about 2 months ago. It took me a while to step away from it.


Diana said:
There were over 40 airplanes. Someone from Oklahoma just emailed me and said he flew into Gaston's in a blue and white Top Cub to join us. Did anyone talk with him? Several people from the Oklahoma Pilots Assoc. were planning to come.
Click to expand...
 
Just the usual "Glam shot" and "Hero shot" will do, I'm sure.:rofl:

gibbons said:
So should I send you a full length photo of me or will a candid do?
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I can't top Ed's response or come close to it.
It was another great year at Gastons.
Feel free to use the pics I posted on the site Ken.

Mark B.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Please send me (or post) your stories/anecdotes about Gaston's. Why you went, what you expected, whether it met or fell short of your expectations. Especially those of you who had never met many of the other participants in person before. (email to ken.ibold @ yahoo.com)

I'm doing an article for EAA Sport Aviation on the "virtual community fly in." and Gaston's is the prototypical event. Be advised that by sending me stuff you are acknowledging that it may be published.

Also, anyone who has posted pix on www.gastonsflyin.com from either this year's event or last, please let me know if Sport Aviation can publish them.

Thanks!!
Click to expand...

Ken, I sent in some pictures last year and I wouldn't mind if you use any of them. However I did send a little video to Michael and I would like for you to get his ok for the famous Michael bump video. ( just kidding ) Bob
 
Ken,

There was the Gaston's maintenance guy who fixed the curtian rod on our kitchen windows who said, "What did you want to look out that side for? The river is on the other side. All you'll see out that window is a bunch of airplanes!"
 
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