HOPS Party Wednesday in the N40...

Jay Honeck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
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Jay Honeck
As many of you know, we (formerly the rec.aviation groups, and subsequently a group of former rec.aviation mavens, along with our motels) have hosted a Wednesday night party in the North 40 for years. "Admission" has always been a 6-pack of GOOD beer from your home town/state for all of us to enjoy. (HOPS stood for "Homebuilt, Owning, Piloting, and Student", by the way...the four big rec.aviation groups.)

The plan is for this to still occur on Wednesday, after the air show. We are still PLANNING to lead the group out of Iowa City later this morning (we have 7 aircraft that I know of) through the FISK approach, and on into the N40.

However, everything depends on the 9 AM update from EAA. If they are still unable to accommodate us due to the flooded grounds, we are not sure where we will end up, or what we will do. :cryin:

So, hope for the best, plan for the worst. At this point the party is ON, and we still hope to see you after the airshow on Wednesday! The easiest way to find us is to give our tail number -- N56993 -- to the friendly EAA volunteer at the entrance to the N40. They will give you vectors to our campsite. (Remember to do this earlier in the day, though -- they shut down the check-in booths around supper time.)

The show must go on, come hell or high water! Hope to see y'all soon...
 
Jay and Mary made it to OSH this morning (Tues) and will be there Wednesday. They are currently parked in row 537 by the red shower building.
 
Had a great time at the party, despite the unwelcome guests (i.e. mosquitoes ). Thanks Jay and Mary. You pulled it off with extremely short notice!
 
gprellwitz said:
Had a great time at the party, despite the unwelcome guests (i.e. mosquitoes ). Thanks Jay and Mary. You pulled it off with extremely short notice!
Click to expand...

Thanks, Grant. It was an impromptu affair in every way, but we had a lot of fun meeting people from all over the country.

And your beer was by FAR the best! :thumbsup:
 
Jay Honeck said:
Thanks, Grant. It was an impromptu affair in every way, but we had a lot of fun meeting people from all over the country.

And your beer was by FAR the best! :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

Well, it was at least the hardest to open!:)
 
Hi Jay,

We are very sorry to miss the party. We lugged some good beer all the way from New York to Oshkosh with full intention to attend your party but ended up not making it.

We arrived at Osh late Tuesday and could only find a high ground good tenting spot at the far end of Camp Scholler. Rick decided to use a tall 6-person tent instead of a storm proof 3-person tent (for more room!) and it was a big mistake with the storm Tuesday night. The tent was not blown away but the strong wind blew the sidewalls right down to the sleeping bags. We had to move all wettable stuffs and took refuge in the car for few hours until the wind died down.

Wednesday was a very hectic day with us walking around checking out all the LSA and experimental planes both at the display booths and parking areas, talking to salesmen etc. We had only planned to check out the planes to narrow down our options to maybe two or three planes then test flight them later before making the final purchase decision next spring.

There was nothing like seeing all the planes on the same day, checking them out and asking lots of questions. It did not take us long to realize that it was not realistic to get an LSA which had big baggage area and IFR capable. I was intrigued by LSA mainly for low fuel consumption and possibility of using Mogas. We switched our focus to experimental planes like an already built Glastar since Rick was not keen on the idea of building a plane ourselves. However, after talking to a Glasair salesman about the Sportsman 2+2 quick build, 2-weeks to taxi program, Rick changed his mind and thought that it was doable.

I checked out the prices and learned that there was something like $16K show special discount + free inspection/paperwork + paint (which I was told worth another $12K). I filled out the inquiry form, took the price sheet and mulled over different options while watching the air show. It was definitely a huge mistake to watch pilots having fun in the sky (after not having flown over a month) while contemplating buying a plane. After walking around checking out a dozen or so Glastar and Sportsman parking near the air show area, we walked back to the Glasair booth and made an offer. I got another $6K off on the total price after adding the IFR package and a constant speed prop for the fuel injected Lycoming 0-360 package. I made a deposit refundable after our test flight in the next few weeks. To get that deal, we have to sign up for the next available production slot on September 20.

It was very exhausting to shop for a plane and made a somewhat impromptu or some would say impulsive huge purchase decision. We staggered out of the Glasair booth finding our ways back to the gate where we left our bikes but got lost and walked for a mile or so in the wrong direction. We were lucky to get a free ride later to drive looking for our bikes and found them. By the time we were back to our campsite, Rick said his angle gave out and there was no way that he would bike several miles to the party.

So we missed your party this year. Unless we change our mind after the test flight, there is a good possibility that we would be camping at North 40 next year under the wings of our Sportsman and joining next year party.

Regards,

Hai Longworth

 
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