The Gastons Thank you Thread!

SkyHog

SkyHog

Touchdown! Greaser!
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So many people were amazing this year. I just can't believe that with as many people as we had at Gastons this year, every single one of them was a stand up, amazing person!

First off, Sheri is one hell of a pilot, and she made some amazingly smart decisions this weekend. She really knows her stuff, and she's a great stick. Thank you for taking me with you!

I would like to thank those that took my fat behind up, despite the weight and balance issues I probably posed. Jesse convinced me that the Diamond DA20C is actually a decent plane, and a hell of a lot of fun to fly. Chip let me fly his Bonanza, and even though I tried to kill him by botching a stall, he didn't look down on me (at least, not on the outside....sign of a good CFI right there). Tim, from the J3 Cub board took me up in his beautiful Piper J3 Cub, and completely changed my mind about taildraggers. I realize now that flying fast ain't the only way to fly. Low and slow is just as good! Spike took me up for a ride in his Bonanza as well, and even in the backseat, I could tell he is one hell of a pilot.

Diana stuck with us during the weather crisis, and gave some much needed and well placed advice concerning departure into low overcast into mountains (*ahem* WE don't call them mountains when they go to 2500ft, but they're still obstructions :D)

The weathered out crew: Kent, Kate, Jesse, Tristan, Greg, Sharon, Tom and Diana (and Sheri and me). Thanks for helping make a crappy situation into a more pleasant one by hanging out and discussing airplane stuff, even after the lucky ones got to go.

A special thanks to Scott Keyes for giving me a place to sleep and showing me his beautiful Columbia. That is one nice, nice plane!

Chip - you da freakin' man. You saved us so much heartache by putting us up on Thursday night, and you couldn't have picked a better restaurant to eat a 1.5 pound steak. Oh, and the beer was great too! Doe's was the name I believe.

Lemme tell you guys about Chip's airport setup: We are on final, and he comes on CTAF to offer us a beer! We taxi up and shut down to find him and a few friends just sitting at the edge of the hangar, overlooking the entire runway. Perfect setup to watch planes come and go.

KVBT is a hell of an airport, I'll tell you what, you'd all do well to visit.

I will see y'all next year, that's for sure. For now, i gotta hit the sack and pray for decent morning weather to get back to AZ.
 
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i guess i didnt make the weathered out crew ;)

ive privately sent several thank you's but in general - anyone who allowed me to be in their aircraft this weekend, THANK YOU. I had a good time, yes Kent, even with you :D

Grant and Leslie for the room

Matt for the ride

Everyone else for being there!
 
First I'd like to thank the Academy!

Hey come on people what is your problem. You Thank Diana she put it together yea big deal so what. You Thank Sheri she hauled Nick out there , thank Spike he gave me a ride whoopee. Thank Jess he stuck it out in the rain with me, so what.

Lets all thank the one that really Matters. ANTHONY
Have any of you noticed he has not posted a single not one NOT ANY Gastons Bashing threads.:D And that my friends is why Gastons was so great this year and thats comming from someone who couldn't even go. :rolleyes: Glad ya all had fun!!! Hope to see ya next year.
 
true adam. although until the last moment he was planning on coming, which explains the lack of "not another gastons thread" threads...
 
Big thanks to Diana and Chip!

Unless you've put things like this together, you can't possibly know how much attention it takes. For the small issues anyone had and not bigger ones (which sounds mainly like restaurant stuff), we can thank them. I know a lot of other folks contributed and I'd also like to thank them. There just aren't a lot of places like this which is one of the big reasons it was chosen originally. Even if there are, it's the hard work and effort of the organizers that makes it go smoothly.

Lookin forward to next year!

Best,

Dave
 
SkyHog said:
Diana stuck with us during the weather crisis, and gave some much needed and well placed advice concerning departure into low overcast into mountains (*ahem* WE don't call them mountains when they go to 2500ft, but they're still obstructions :D)
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:D We don't want to let the people in Arkansas know those are only hills...I hear they are kinda touchy. :D
 
I want to thank Bruce and susan for the ride from St. Louis to Gastons and back. Dr. Bruce is indead a great pilot. For those worker bees Chip and Diana and I don't know who else thanks a lot.
 
Great thanks go out to Diana and Chip for putting it all together. Your work is very much appreciated.

Thanks, as well, to Lance for giving me a lift in his Baron. Ya'll should have seen us shoot a tiny gap in that huge line of thunderstorms on the way home. He has all the fun little doo-dads that made it feel like not big deal.
 
Hmmm, where to begin. I'm hesitant to start, because I know I'll forget someone!

First and foremost, thanks to Diana for being, as always, the most wonderfulest hostess ever! She truly gives the event it's character. Thanks to Chip for the website and the T-Shirts! Thanks to Dave S. for bringing Hayden! Nick and Mike for the BBQ on Friday. I think I still owe you guys some $$ for that. Thanks to Steve and all his helpers for making the traffic pattern a little safer with their announcements. Thanks to those who were willing to go up with me as their pilot - Diana, Javier, and a couple of the girls in the restaurant. Thanks to Kevin for the loan of his headset that allowed me to do that! Thanks to Mike for organizing the webcams, but Kent told me to tell you don't spend time editing the results until after you have some Pilotcast episodes out the door! :) Thanks to Spike and Steve for Movie Night. Thanks to Jason for the help getting the WinNoWork working (sometimes) with the wireless!
 
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gprellwitz said:
Hmmm, where to begin. I'm hesitant to start, because I know I'll forget someone!
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Me too! And I second what everyone else said, and add on thanks to Mike for the BBQ and bringing all of his audio gear, and Spike for the movies (and Mike again for providing the "Magic of Flight" I think it was that we watched, featuring the Blue Angels.)

a couple of the girls in the restaurant.
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Hah! I think you took ALL of the girls in the restaurant. Next year, leave some for our resident single guy, Ed. ;) :rofl:
 
SkyHog said:
So many people were amazing this year. I just can't believe that with as many people as we had at Gastons this year, every single one of them was a stand up, amazing guy!

First off, Sheri
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Uh, Nick? We gotta talk. ;) :rofl:
 
First, a HUGE thank you to Diana and Chip. Without you two I'm afraid this past weekend wouldn't have been as much fun as it was.

Thanks to J.T. for getting the poker game up and running (even if I did lose all my money).

Thanks to Mike for the killer Polish sausage and the live cam. At least my wife saw where I was :)

Thanks to Steve for keeping us all safe in the pattern.

Thanks to Joe for helping me get there and back in some very marginal wx.

But mostly, thanks to each and everyone of you who took the time to come and share your stories, planes, experience and conversation with the rest of us. It is gatherings like this that remind me of the reason I started flying in the first place.

Looking forward to next year!
​
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Me too! And I second what everyone else said, and add on thanks to Mike for the BBQ and bringing all of his audio gear, and Spike for the movies (and Mike again for providing the "Magic of Flight" I think it was that we watched, featuring the Blue Angels.)



Hah! I think you took ALL of the girls in the restaurant. Next year, leave some for our resident single guy, Ed. ;) :rofl:
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Um, I only took two. Dr. Bill, IIRC, spoke for at least another two. Don't go trying to get me in trouble here!

I could well be mistaken, but I thought that Steve provided The Magic of Flight. (Though I had my copy with too :))
 
gprellwitz said:
Um, I only took two. Dr. Bill, IIRC, spoke for at least another two. Don't go trying to get me in trouble here!

I could well be mistaken, but I thought that Steve provided The Magic of Flight. (Though I had my copy with too :))
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Nope. It was my copy. It was the only DVD I grabbed. I glad Spike found it of use.

I thought that "Dark Blue World" required too much time invested to watch...but I can bring that next year.

With the 2.25 hour Gaston's dinner crew, movie night ends up being too late for a full feature.
 
As thanks go, I have lots also. Nick thanked me for the ride, but I need to thank him for coming with. He was a tremendous help and taught me an awful lot this weekend. It would have been a horribly long ride by myself. Chip, thanks so much for everything. (the hanger, the Porsche ride, the fabulous dinner and lodging) You're a fun guy and truly a class act. Diana, thanks for all the work you put into the event and for being.......... well......... just delightful to be around. Ed, thanks for babysitting me through my first flight w/o an AI and my first grass landing. Greg, thanks for riding along on the SOFT field departure. But I really want to thank everyone that attended for making this new girl feel so welcome. I feel honored to be a part of your community. :)
 
I’m still coming up with people to thank, so I’d better do it before I forget someone:

Thank you to Joe Areeda, for setting up our photo site, for taking Tom flying (in the Citabria as well as the Cirrus) and for the kumquats…we had them in oatmeal this morning and it was good!

Thanks to Chip for our Gaston’s web site, for the shirts, for bringing chairs for us, for the PIREP from the Bo about the bad weather coming, and for offering various ways to help us get home. It was also very nice of you to call and check about the status of my wrist. :yes:

Thanks to Mike Andrews for setting up the Wiki site. It especially helped to have the final list of attendees for the final numbers.

Thanks to Dean for bringing all the extra water for the flight line.

Thanks to Grant for taking me flying! It was very pleasant being able to relax and be flown around (for a change). I forgot how great a 182 is! I wanted to beg more rides with people, but there didn’t seem to be enough time. Maybe some day, I will get a ride in a Cirrus. :)

Thanks to Jesse for taking Tom flying in the Diamond…he really enjoyed it.

Thanks to all the doctors who looked at my wrist. The X-ray was negative, and it sure feels a LOT better being immobilized in a splint.

Thanks to all of you for being such a great community of pilots. :yes:
 
Diana said:
Thanks to all the doctors who looked at my wrist. The X-ray was negative, and it sure feels a LOT better being immobilized in a splint.
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thats wonderful diana!
 
I had "Magic of Flight" in the stack of IMAX DVDs I was planning to bring to Gaston's, and it was right there on the bookcase where I left it when I got home....next year I'll pack them first...sans MoF...

And I'd like to thank Spike for commandeering a white sheet to use as a screen for movie night...:yes:

Thanks, Diana, Kathleen had a great ride in the Citabria.

Dave T, thanks alot, Kathleen will be wanting her own plane now!:)

Greg, mondo 195!

Jesse, thanks for the pie...

Grant, I still owe you an IAR ride...just speak up next year, I need reminding often (just ask Mary).

gprellwitz said:
Um, I only took two. Dr. Bill, IIRC, spoke for at least another two. Don't go trying to get me in trouble here!

I could well be mistaken, but I thought that Steve provided The Magic of Flight. (Though I had my copy with too :))
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Thanks to all that make this fly-in such a success and to all that came. A special thanks to Jesse for the flight time in the Diamond. And like Nick, the stick time in Tim Crain's J3 was great, my next airplane will be a Cub. :yes:
 
mikea said:
Nope. It was my copy. It was the only DVD I grabbed. I glad Spike found it of use.

I thought that "Dark Blue World" required too much time invested to watch...but I can bring that next year.

With the 2.25 hour Gaston's dinner crew, movie night ends up being too late for a full feature.
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Thanks for the correction. I remember Steve commenting that a particular scene was the last one, so I leapt to the conclusion that he was the one who brought it.

I had it, Dark Blue World, 16 Right, the John Wayne aviation flicks, and a bunch of others with me.
 
I want to give my formal and official and heartfelt thanks to: 1)Diana for the great event in general and specifically for the ride, the spin and the roll in her Citabria, 2)Tony C for the excellent introduction to lazy eights and eights on pylons, 3)Bruce C for the excellent introduction to chandelles and further refinement to my lazy eights and 4) to everyone in general for being such a great group to hang with. (I also thank my SO Sue for her indulgence of my little passion for aviation.)
 
Thanks very much to everyone who made this fly-in possible! It's a really fun group of people and I had a great time. :yes:

I hope next year will be as successful. Maybe I'll see some of you at Oshkosh this year. Do we have a thread yet?

-Felix
 
my pleasure lance. i had just as much fun flying your mooney as you had trying to learn anything from me. i particularly liked bruce's theory of "comatose eights" though. i may have to try that.
 
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