EAA Copperstate visit

Brian Austin

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Feb 14, 2005
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Phoenix, AZ
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Brian Austin
Well, it didn't suck but it wasn't as good as the last two years I've visited.

First, the good stuff.

It's closer to Phoenix for those of us driving. Now hosted at CGZ (Casa Grande), it's a nicer airport with more potential. Nothing wrong with Phoenix Regional, where it has been, but it's an extra 30 minutes from CGZ.

Definitely more plane vendors. I talked to Diamond, Lancair, and a few others. I'm most impressed with the Bearhawk. I spoke with Budd Davisson for a few minutes about the plane. I've watched him fly his Pitts out of Scottsdale for years. Nice guy. I could see myself building one of those.

There seemed to be less of the component/services vendors this year, though. Maybe it was my perception. Not sure.

The bad stuff:

Who the heck laid this thing out, anyway? CGZ is fairly big as far as the grounds are concerned. The organizers had stuff spread out all over the place. Nothing was even close to the runway or taxiway, where people gathered to watch the airshows. Planes were parked in different sections, making it very difficult to see different types of planes without walking five to ten minutes between parking areas. EAA, if you're reading: take some notes from the CGZ Cactus Fly-in in March. Nice tight organization with everything close enough to make it convenient without being on top of each other.

Oh, and put more vendors closer to the action. I had to walk a LONG way to just buy some overpriced water. It shouldn't be that difficult.

What is with the cheap clothing? I buy a new Copperstate golf/Polo-style shirt every year. The first year's shirt (2003) was good quality and lasted two years before I finally stained it with something this summer. Last year's shirts were crap, with poor cuts and lousy fabric. This year's wasn't much better. We'll see how it works out but I'm not impressed. Some of us are willing to pay $35-40 for a really nice shirt while contributing to the organization. It doesn't ALL have to be bargain basement crap.

Break the airshows up if you could. I realize there is a NOTAM involved here (although a couple of guys managed to get takeoff clearance for some reason) but one can only watch so much of guys zooming back and forth doing essentially the same manuevers. How about an hour in the morning, one around noon and one in the afternoon?

And this was hardly the fault of the organizers but boy was it windy. Very, very windy, probably 25-30kts. Tents were blowing over, planes rocking on their tiedowns, hats flying everywhere. Just not a good time when there is wind and driving sand involved. The pilots did a good job flying in it, though.

Every year I've been there (admittedly few), it's been at or very close to 100 degrees. Bumping it to the end of the month would give much better chances at nicer weather. Traffic would probably increase, too, as snowbirds come into town.

Just my thoughts.
 
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