Well First off with all this praise I'm really ticked off that Chuck got rid of the reputation
. Seriously. Thank you all for comming. I really enjoy doing this kind of stuff and the greatest complement is that you all enjoyed yourselves.
Before I give my play by play I want to thank several folks First and foremost is Gary Shelby who not only was a huge help in putting this together but came up with some great ideas and kept me calm whcih was a task in and of itself. When I was worring about weather, parking where to have the event on the field, contests and how much food to buy Gary was great to be able to bounce thoughts and ideas off of.
Bob Ciotti, was an awesome help in collecting the money and keeping things financially under control and bringing that awesome cake his sister made. And for giving me updates from Flight Aware as to Ed Fred's progress on his flight to wings friday evening as I was running around Costco like a raving lunatic doing all the shopping.
Lee Kitson and Ed Fred ran here and there provided the needed man power for the contests.
Bob Bruneau, for manning the grill and feeding the hords
Jamie pujol made the awsome plaques and my friends the Singhs who bought the second course of Rice, Fritters and mac and cheese.
And a special thanks to those who traveled so far Ed Fred from MI, Michael Driggs from AZ and Nick Brennan from NM and Toby for driving RT from Long Island. Another thank you to Ed. For helping improve my computer while we waited for his and my photos to load into his slide show.
A huge thanks to MONTGOEMRY COUNTY AVIATION (MCA) The FBO at Wings for providing $100 in gift certificates, a 40 cent discount on fuel, waived overnight fees for those in for the weekend, coordinating parking and giving a free jump to a dead battery. please remember to give them a positive note on Airnav. They were a super help.
Last year at the Fly B Q we had about 20 people. This year we were expecting 100 ( due to a last minute notice from Angel flight) and we had about 60 show. Infact here are the numbers
Attendees : About 60
Aircraft: 17
bugers ate: 75
Hot Dogs ate :60
Sodas drank: 120
Chips consumed: 7 pounds
Cake eaten : Three layers
Grill Infernos : NONE
I can't even quatify the other food Rice w/ chicken, spinach fritters , mack and cheese
Fun Had by all: Imeasurable
Contest Winners of a plaque and $25 gift certificate to the pilot shop at Wings ( only 7 of 17 planes participated , come on folks it was a blast. a special salute to Missa and Kaye for being such good sports)
Precision Taxi: Bob McMath from the Red Board
Spot Parking: Joe Williams
Furthest Traveled in a GA plane: Ed Fred
Furthest Traveled over all: Michael Driggs
Newest Private Pilot to Attend: Andrew Morrison ( FlyersFan) got his ticket on 12/28/05
I guess the Fly B Q has officially become an event and it made me feel great that I heard folks saying things like "
At next years Fly B Q". To those that helped you are drafted for next year
.
The reason I started the Fly B Q was that this group is such a GREAT community and I wanted to provide an opportunity that we could meet face to face. I was very lucky to get to spend two days with Ed and Bob Ciotti and shared sometime with Michael and Nick as well after the Fly BQ.
After things calmed down later that evening ( Including the Wind) Ed and I headed back to Wings to pick up my weber grill. Ed suggested a flight and Not one to turn down a flight in Eds beautiful and I mean well kept and maitained Cherokee 180 I suggested a sightseeing loop tour around Philadelphia. So up we went to 2K and over to Philly Approach. Now I don't know if it was Eds friendly midwestern voice but I have NEVER gotten such friendly accomodating service from Philly ever before. This controller was practically pointing out the sights for us she even gave us hights of the Roxboro towers along our route. To encourage this behavior in the future I told Ed when we drop the sqwak code to thank her profusely .I mean this was unusual
The air was silky smooth and Ed handled his plane perfectly and I got to point out all the great landmarks to him from 2K. Later that evening around 9:45 we headed down town by car for dinnner and so I could show him the sights independece Hall, Liberty Bell yada yada yada. Had what Ed described as the best Nachos ever at a very trendy place full of 20 somethings and got back home around 1:00 A.M. which led me to ask myself 2 questions.
1) When the hell did I get so Old? And did I look that old to all the 25 year olds?
2) How come I still get up at 6-6:30 even when I'm out that late? I used to go out at 10 come home at 2-3 and sleep till noon. How do I do that again
I mean what the heck is up with that?
Anyway it was great and thanks again to all those that helps and attened.
and I am headed off to baseball. What a nice day......We can't wait until we are fling in vs driving in !!
