6Y9 2025 Fly in/camp out- and memories from the past

Dizaster

Pre-takeoff checklist
Joined
Sep 3, 2008
Messages
322
Location
Michigan
Display Name
Diz
Home Airfield
9D9
So..... a few of us PoA-ers met up today and we went down memory lane with 6Y9. Since this will be our 20th fly in...I would like to start a list of all of those who have made it...and with that any memories, one liners, things that happened that you don't want to remember but can't forget, etc. (eman you can't play along yet because we have yet to see you there). It doesn't have to be explained to the masses either. What happens in Sidnaw stays in Sidnaw.

From our first humble fly in with Grant, Leslie, Nick, Jesse, Richard, Barb, Ed, Bruce,(...and have I forgotten anyone else?) ...to this upcoming fly in that will mark our 20th, the memories that we have are priceless.

PM me or post it here...as long as it's suitable to be posted...because, well, it's been 20 years of all kinds of stuffs. LOL
 
So..... a few of us PoA-ers met up today and we went down memory lane with 6Y9. Since this will be our 20th fly in...I would like to start a list of all of those who have made it...and with that any memories, one liners, things that happened that you don't want to remember but can't forget, etc. (eman you can't play along yet because we have yet to see you there). It doesn't have to be explained to the masses either. What happens in Sidnaw stays in Sidnaw.

From our first humble fly in with Grant, Leslie, Nick, Jesse, Richard, Barb, Ed, Bruce,(...and have I forgotten anyone else?) ...to this upcoming fly in that will mark our 20th, the memories that we have are priceless.
Me!!! I was there for the "grand reopening" August 5-6, 2006 and the first Labor Day fly-in about a month later. Looking at my logbook, I've been there 8 times by air, and one by truck. ;)

Some fond memories:
* Crashing in the "second cabin" with @SkyHog and a couple others at one of the first fly-ins, and freezing my @$$ off in a tent for some others.
* @One Short completing her goal of landing at every airport in Michigan at 6Y9 on her birthday. I wonder how she's doing these days.
* One of my favorite flights ever: We'd been flying earlier in the day so the planes were all preflighted, and without cell service there's no way to call FSS for a briefing. We'd been tearing around the woods on the ATVs for a while, and it was getting to be "the golden hour" before sunset when we got back into town. We were trying to figure out what to do next - Eat, or something else - And I said "Well, the sun's still up, we could fly" half-jokingly. We looked at one another for a few seconds, somebody said "Let's go!" and 5 minutes later we were in the air, which by this point in the day was smooth and still and the sun being low in the sky just made everything beautiful.
* Lady in Red. 'nuff said. :rofl:
* Helping Tony taxi the Citabria to the local gas station to fill it up. Didn't we end up on the front page of the L'Anse Sentinel for that?
* Quote of the weekend from 2009: "If the pilot's lit, does the runway need to be?" :rofl:
* Singing in the school late into the night
* Seeing some absolutely spectacular auroras in 2016, that prompted me to write this:

"Everyone needs to experience this.

I'm in the UP, spending the weekend with friends at a little grass airstrip in the tiny town of Sidnaw, Michigan, and I got to watch a spectacular display of nature and mankind tonight. No camera can capture this, you have to come out into nature and see it for yourself.

The northern sky glows with aurora borealis. It's greenish and alien. It moves around eerily, not really moving perceptibly most of the time you're looking at it, yet somehow managing to change and move constantly. Towers of light streak skyward while the horizon just glows, silhouetteing the trees at the other side of the strip.

Up above, billions of stars light the sky. The Milky Way is plainly visible. The tail end of the Perseid meteor shower adds streaks to the sky, while an occasional satellite races around its orbit. Closer to the horizon, stars twinkle so much they look like non-moving airplanes, complete with red and white flashes. Dozens of jets flicker as they cross the sky on their way to everywhere. It's so quiet that you can sometimes hear the far-off roar despite the distance. When it's gone, even the bugs seem to be sleeping. Or maybe they're as awed by the stars and aurorae as I am.

I feel small."
 
YES!!! I am so sorry ! I had you on the list and I even sent Ed a picture of you by your plane. About midnight last night it occurred to me that I didn't put your name down as being there. Ugh. SO sorry!

I had forgotten about the "lady in red" SMH....
Yes, Tony's plane was front page news with a great picture! Someone later tried to taxi their plane over to get ice cream (?) and hit a big hole and had a prop strike. That plane was on the field for a long time. As I recall it was a group effort helping Tony navigate the hazards to get it from the field to the alley.
Barb being interviewed about her birthday also made the news.
Nine times...wow...I wish I would have kept better track of things, but I don't think I realized that it would go on for as many years as it has. Many years we flew by the seat of our pants, pun intended, and here we are looking at the 20th!
It would be awesome to see some more, or all, of the original gang from the early years. (hint, hint)
Thanks for posting!
 
I'm not nearly eloquent as Kent, and I've only been three times, but each year made some great memories. The peace and quiet of that place is unreal. Camping in the back of my plane. @gprellwitz & Leslie's incredible breakfasts. Drinking @kaiser 's keg in a couple hours under the wing of that yellow 170. Being asked where Sidnaw, MI is when I wear my 6Y9 shirt out in public. Above all, Diz treating me like an old friend or member of her family from the first time she met me.

Departing in the rain into a 500' ceiling. Forgetting my flaps...

It's on my calendar. Maybe my new engine will help me climb out of the hole :biggrin:
 
Red Leader to Gold Leader
Comanche + RV runway inspection at sunset
Losing a wheel bearing on the hay rack deep in "grizzly bear territory" enroute to Hoppy's
Consuming all of Hoppy's supply of Crown
"Let me show you where the old road went"
Breakfast cooked over the campfire at the cabin
Dusty four-wheeler rides
Four wheeler visit to the ?family? cabin where I literally couldn't stand up straight anywhere in the building
Tony and Rachel karaoke
Sweating trying to get to sleep in the tent one year and waking up to frost on the tent the next year
 
When is this?

That’s somewhat local to me
 
When is this?

That’s somewhat local to me
Wow! That's not true of very many people. Labor Day weekend - People usually show up on Friday and depart late morning/early afternoon Sunday, which gives you time to get home and still have a day off. Well, unless you're a pro pilot. ;) But you should probably stop ejecting...

YES!!! I am so sorry ! I had you on the list and I even sent Ed a picture of you by your plane. About midnight last night it occurred to me that I didn't put your name down as being there. Ugh. SO sorry!
No worries!

I had forgotten about the "lady in red" SMH....
How many times has she gotten her first ever airplane ride now? :rofl:

As I recall it was a group effort helping Tony navigate the hazards to get it from the field to the alley.
For sure! I remember walking a wing, I think Tristan was on the other side. We took down a couple of sign posts along the way. It was not a trivial exercise, but definitely worth it.
 
Having been a modest two times, my most memorable experiences:
- All good memories.
- Trying to sleep in the Arrow in '23 while some drunk incoherent, imbecile from town is poorly singing on max loud-speaker volume, before abandoning singing all together and instead just yelling random obscenities at 2am! Hilarious.
- @Jim K and I getting a solid half-hour, multi-point sales pitch from @kaiser on not only the practicality, but the sheer, undeniable inherent value of doing a partnership on a Citation :)
- A mad scramble team effort during '24 fly-in to try and decorate Sidnaw Station as fast as humanly possible for Diz's birthday
- Having an unexpected, borderline therapeutic, deep cleanse of my GI track by taking a gamble with one of Hoppy's more exotic meal options
- Waking up feeling a little rugged from festivities, but slamming coffee and having breakfast and conversation with good people, then looking out the front door of the school house and knowing it was going to be a good day :cool:. Hard to beat!

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putting all the womenfolk (and Grant) in the back of some strange Rube(n)'s pick-up truck after the haywagon broke down

using the phone booth in the yard of Camp Frederick

schoolhouse piano karaoke

spotting a bear in L'Anse
 
Sadly we have only made it once so far. My kiddo loves the place and we’ve been there half dozen times in our own

It’s hard to place all the memories. Talking around the fire. Watching the commotion in the cabin with whatever game the spouses were playing. Putting names and faces together.
 
Sadly we have only made it once so far. My kiddo loves the place and we’ve been there half dozen times in our own

It’s hard to place all the memories. Talking around the fire. Watching the commotion in the cabin with whatever game the spouses were playing. Putting names and faces together.
Refresh my brain...what year were you there?
 
In no particular order, some teasers:
Frost on the tent in the morning with a bunch of locals walking around
“Where is Clark?”
“We don’t have anything to start a fire with. - Hey, how about 100LL?”
Honkytonk man at Hoppy’s
Trips to the falls
Liz leaving the cabin and running (literally) to Kenton at dawn as just light exercise
Toasted marshmallows at the compound
Getting boots covered in mud four wheeling
Sending a drone up to capture Liz’s departure
Helping Leslie put on a kick-assed breakfast
Hanging out talking late (early) into the morning about anything
Talking politics civilly with Oliver and Brad, despite differences
X on the runway
Ed bringing Kimberley Ann (?) one year
Cougar & Diz
The state of the dishes at Hardwood
Fighting to get any sort of cell service
The Labor Day street fair in town. We still have a salad bowl we bought there.
A few takeoffs and arrivals that had me fearful. Some of them were mine!
Speeding ticket driving home one year
Driving down to pick up Mike Andrews when his small RV broke down.
Helicopter rides
Model T driving around the field with the DuPuis kids driving
Leslie picking fruit
Lots and lots of friends!
 
The X!!! I've never seen a better coordinated impromptu maneuver.

That Very Expensive helicopter ride with Leslie.

Opening a bottle of wine with the screwdriver end of fuel sampler. (aka the reason a corkscrew came to live in my headset bag)
And, how did we get a bottle of wine in Sidnaw?
 
Wasn't that X made of people?


Drank them out of Crown. :rofl:
...and I didn't even notice the "X" until it was pointed out to me later! I think BrYan saw it.

Last week, EAA 1088 meeting here in Fredericksburg, Texas, was chatting with a guy - somehow (think because he's from Michigan?), I mentioned I had flown to MI only once, he asked where and I told him, "Sidnaw." He instantly said, "Oh, Prickett-Grooms Field."

Seriously?

Turns out the 6Y9er hats were the inspiration for the T82 hats we have here, now.

Small - tiny - world, sometimes!
 
Spike you gotta make it up there, this fall. I know, it's a long trip from where all you are.....we are planning to be there....(!)
Arrg. Will NOT be there.....because of some good news....Youngest daughter is tying the knot on the west coast.....
 
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Arrg. Will NOT be there.....because of some good news....Youngest daughter is tying the knot on the west coast.....
Alan Klapmeier's daughter got married during Oshkosh.

She also almost got disowned for it. ;)

This is not nearly so bad, though... Congratulations! We'll see you next year.

@SCCutler does not get a pass for @bbchien's daughter's wedding, however. :nono:
 
Alan Klapmeier's daughter got married during Oshkosh.

She also almost got disowned for it. ;)

This is not nearly so bad, though... Congratulations! We'll see you next year.

@SCCutler does not get a pass for @bbchien's daughter's wedding, however. :nono:
What better place could there be to get married than oshkosh? Actually, now that I think about it, 6y9 would be a pretty good spot, too :biggrin:
 
What better place could there be to get married than oshkosh? Actually, now that I think about it, 6y9 would be a pretty good spot, too :biggrin:
She got married *during* Oshkosh, but not AT Oshkosh. He had to leave on Wednesday IIRC, hence the disowning comment.
 
She got married *during* Oshkosh, but not AT Oshkosh. He had to leave on Wednesday IIRC, hence the disowning comment.
I'm with you... I'm saying that just like dr Bruce's situation, there's a perfect solution that allows attendance at both events :biggrin:
 
@bbchien you could always leave your better half in our care for the weekend while you went to the wedding and we could drive her home! That way you could cover both events. For in marriage the two become one! :D. And @SCCutler, we do expect to see you there!
 
So many good memories are connected with the 6Y9 fly-ins… :)

I really love the rides in the back of the trucks to dinner and back.
 

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Wow,how do you top the previous comments, well lets try.

Having high landing scores on my very first 6Y9 Landing
Meeting Diz in 2013, and thinking she was Ed's Sister
Being the first to sleep in the school
Setting up telescopes with Leslie and seeing how wide her eyes got when we heard coyotes
Seeing the Northern Lights while enjoying a camp fire at Camp Frederick
Bryan using the fence mounted urinal at Hoppies
Who could forget Human X, and the multiple lawsuits between Yellow X, Inc and Prelwitz/Myers Inc.
Oliver yelling "Bring the Choppa"
Making a kick ass margarita for Mark (WI), and watching him melt into one of the pilot room chairs
Any and all great conversations with Dr Bruce and his lovely wife Sue
Making life long friends at each and all of the fly-ins
Pete cleaning the grass stains off the wheel pants of the Diamond after some low wildlife inspection passes
Impromptu concerts from the upstairs music room
Watching Tim Winters mow the field with one of his low, very low, wildlife inspection passes
Seeing the smile on Liz's face playing her Ukulele
Working with the Fredericks each year whether cooking, acting as cashier or all around gopher.

We flew up in the Arrow in 2013 after meeting Ed on POA, have been back each year since except 2. One after my double knee replacement and one after Jeannette's double arthroscopy knee surgery.

If you have never been, put it on the calendar, and do what ever you have to do to get there.
 
I *think* the 2025 signup is working. It at least notifies me someone signed up.

One of you has signed up. We expect MOAR!
 
Thanks for the reminder. There are now three parties registered! (Yeah, we grabbed a cabin. May chance coming up with an electric vehicle!)
I *think* the 2025 signup is working. It at least notifies me someone signed up.

One of you has signed up. We expect MOAR!
 
Thanks for the reminder. There are now three parties registered! (Yeah, we grabbed a cabin. May chance coming up with an electric vehicle! I wonder if the electricity for the RV hookups could be used?)
I *think* the 2025 signup is working. It at least notifies me someone signed up.

One of you has signed up. We expect MOAR!
 
Thanks for the reminder. There are now three parties registered! (Yeah, we grabbed a cabin. May chance coming up with an electric vehicle! I wonder if the electricity for the RV hookups could be used?)
Last I knew the RV hookups were not working....I will check in to that.
 
Introducing my friend (Chintan - a student pilot) to grassroots flying and convincing him to NOT buy a Cirrus and buy a 182 instead for flamping in the backcountry. Mildly awesome success story ;)
 
Last I knew the RV hookups were not working....I will check in to that.
Thanks! Looks like there are a couple chargers in Crystal Falls now, though the one at the Crystal Fresh Market / Ace Hardware may be out of service due to a bankruptcy.
 
At this point, I've been 4 times, 3 times with the family. Memories, trying not to repeat any previously mentioned:

2008: I had a pretty wet instrument ticket at the time (I want to say I got it in August 2008) and this was my first solo IFR XC with hard IFR in the club Archer. I had all my flight planning done, and then in FlashChat the night before, @Juliett asked who was going to pick her up. So I redid my flight planning to stop and grab her in Antigo, WI. Took off out of Williamsport (KIPT) with it something around 800 OVC, which meant the clouds were below the mountain tops. I was in IFR for the first couple of hours as I recall until the cloud tops went down and I broke out on top, followed by an ILS to near mins in Pontiac, MI and then on. I ended up on TV that year, taking up the reporter who came to cover the event. Had a great time, although not sure how I remember any of it since I "earned" a Crown bag at Hoppy's. Got home and realized that I should've stayed another day to go 4-wheeling with everybody else who'd stayed. I can't remember why I went back the day I did.

Then I started Cloud Nine and didn't come again until I more or less stopped flying. So fast forward a long ways...

2022: First year with the family in the RV40. Lost a wheel on the Land Rover we were towing behind the RV40. Got reserved parking in front of the guard tower. Ed took the kids flying, which they all still remember, and we got a picture of our dog at the time (now deceased) named Comanche with Ed's Comanche.

2023: Didn't bring the Land Rover this time, just the RV40. The kids were bummed we didn't let them ride in the back of Brad's pickup truck to Hoppy's.

2024: Upgraded to the RV45, and showed up with one vehicle that weighed as much as the rest of the flight line combined and also probably won the award for worst fuel economy.

Really the most memorable the past few years? The fact that when we're done and back home our kids all say they can't way to go back to "the grass runway", and that it's something they look forward to every year. Sunday morning breakfast with everyone. The kids driving the Model T (I forget which year(s) that was in the past 3). Generally getting to see, chat, and catch up with wonderful folks, many of whom are friends I've known for nearly 20 years at this point.

Unfortunately Laurie won't be able to make it this year as her work schedule doesn't line up, but the kids and I are hoping to! Once again in the RV45.
 
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