Poker run for flying club

DesertNomad

DesertNomad

Pattern Altitude
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DesertNomad
I'm working on organizing a poker run for our flying group. My thought it to have people fly to 6 local airports to collect one card at each place and they get the 7th card at the final airport where everyone meets at the end.

Does anyone who has done this before have any tips and suggestions on what worked well and what didn't?

I have read the AOPA article here, but there isn't any real detail:

https://www.aopa.org/community/flying-clubs/flying-club-newsletter/2017/june/18/event-spotlight

Thanks!
 
DesertNomad said:
I'm working on organizing a poker run for our flying group. My thought it to have people fly to 6 local airports to collect one card at each place and they get the 7th card at the final airport where everyone meets at the end.

Does anyone who has done this before have any tips and suggestions on what worked well and what didn't?

I have read the AOPA article here, but there isn't any real detail:

https://www.aopa.org/community/flying-clubs/flying-club-newsletter/2017/june/18/event-spotlight

Thanks!
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R u on mooneyspace? I think 201 did one, he might be a good one to ask.
 
Troy Whistman did one for the Gaston's event a while ago. But unfortunately he's no longer participating on this board.... but he is active on his Facebook page and Messenger.
 
We did it years ago here in Juneau. 2 cards when you sign in, 2 cards in Hoonah, 2 cards in Gustavus and 1 card back in Juneau. Also did a flower bomb contest, closest to a buoy from 3ooft. Buoy was between taxi way and runway 1000ft from the numbers. The final contest of the day was power off landing 1000ft from the numbers. Touch down before that and you were out, no power adjustments once you turn final.

It was a lot of fun. It was summer and there is always a lot of traffic. I think that's why they never did it again.
 
DesertNomad said:
I'm working on organizing a poker run for our flying group. My thought it to have people fly to 6 local airports to collect one card at each place and they get the 7th card at the final airport where everyone meets at the end.
Click to expand...

6 airports sounds like a lot. Figure it takes 30+ minutes to descend, enter the pattern, taxi in, shut down, get the card, fire up again, taxi out, depart the pattern and climb back into cruising altitude.

I suppose you could mount the cards on a stick and try to catch it with a wingtip on a low pass. :)
 
asicer said:
6 airports sounds like a lot. Figure it takes 30+ minutes to descend, enter the pattern, taxi in, shut down, get the card, fire up again, taxi out, depart the pattern and climb back into cruising altitude.

I suppose you could mount the cards on a stick and try to catch it with a wingtip on a low pass. :)
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I agree 6 airports seem like a lot, unless it's an all day event. Our poker run was about 2 hours and had about 20 aircraft participating. We separated everyone by 2 minutes at TO. We did have to shutdown and sign for the cards we received
edit: I did win the flower bomb contest. First prize was an Apollo Precedus GPS. Flower bombs were 1lb of flower in a brown paper bag with a red streamer. I was 9ft from the buoy..:)
 
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[QUOTE="AKBill, post: 2688239, member: 23774"I did win the flower bomb contest. First prize was an Apollo Precedus GPS. Flower bombs were 1lb of flower in a brown paper bag with a red streamer. I was 9ft from the buoy..:)[/QUOTE]
I heard two things about such a contest....

1) the safest place for the judges to stand was in the middle of the bullseye
2) A better idea than the bags of flower were rubber chickens with numbers marked on them and weighted with some lead shot. Allowed them to be used the next day and at the next event.
 
I’ve flown one organized by the 99s in Lake Havasu AZ. Stops were Bullhead City , Needles, and a few smaller airports north and south of Lake Havasu.

Works best if the person at each airport can bring cards in envelope to the airplane, may save shutting down and hot restarts. Each airport had different colored labels on the envelopes to show the different airports. The person distributing card at each stop should have a handheld radio and know the expected callsigns to keep up with the traffic. That person should also be able to report back to the final stop and report the tail numbers as they check in. Texting is great for that.

Also if more than one player in each airplane, the envelopes must stay sealed and opened at the turn in table at the final stop. This prevents multiple players in each airplane from opening the envelopes and trading cards to get the best hand.

Good luck!
 
AggieMike88 said:
[QUOTE="AKBill, post: 2688239, member: 23774"I did win the flower bomb contest. First prize was an Apollo Precedus GPS. Flower bombs were 1lb of flower in a brown paper bag with a red streamer. I was 9ft from the buoy..:)
Click to expand...
I heard two things about such a contest....

1) the safest place for the judges to stand was in the middle of the bullseye
2) A better idea than the bags of flower were rubber chickens with numbers marked on them and weighted with some lead shot. Allowed them to be used the next day and at the next event.[/QUOTE]

Great idea on the rubber chickens, but get some small rocks or sand. Lead is hazardous to wildlife if a rubber chicken breaks open.
 
DesertNomad said:
So the bouy is the safest place to stand? :)
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That is for sure. We had 3 passes to drop our flour bombs. I was the first to drop. Well the folks that measured distance from the buoy were about 100ft away in a white pick up. After my first pass tower says "NXX60R the white pick up is not the target"...:rolleyes:
edit: The wife as watching with a friend and said" why are those guys running". Meaning the folks in the white pick up..:)
 
I participated in one that had a central host airport and about 20 participating airports around the state. You needed 3 stops on the way to the host airport. It brought people from a wide area. And three stops was about perfect.
 
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