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Fredericksburg, TX CFO Flyin


We can officially call the 2003 Texas Fly-in a success. We had a great weekend in a wonderful town in Central Texas, with some really nice folks. You just cannot beat the Gillespie County airport facilities and the accommodations at the remarkable Hangar Hotel.

Around 15 aircraft flew in Friday afternoon, October 3rd, in beautiful Texas CAVU conditions. Weather forecasts claimed a matching CAVU Saturday, with little weather until late Sunday.

Unfortunately we awoke Saturday morning to an 800` ceiling. Reports from NOAA were that it would burn off well before noon. But, this is Texas and the weather is ever changing. The IFR folks made it in fine all day, but several VFR folks ended up not attending, or flying in later than planned.

Eventually the ceiling managed to work its way up to 4000` in the early afternoon. FWIW - The average 2003 Texas Fly-In pilot flew 2.17 hours and 261.1 miles to get to the event this year (and that's with 4 Austin folks messing up the average with only a 68 mile hike!).

We delayed the festivities for any weather stragglers and set a start time for 1300CDT. It gave all of us time to try the terrific Airport Diner that is on the field. Like the hotel's proximity, you can literally park your aircraft at the ramp and walk under a 100 feet to the best cheeseburger you have ever had.

At 1300CDT we completed a briefing in the Officer's Club explaining the afternoon's plans, and then proceeded outside to do the aircraft walk-arounds. I won't say it was a mad rush, but this is Texas and there were bragging rights involved, so you get the picture! Each pilot had been given a talk-sheet to help initiate the call-out points on his/her aircraft's features, but I observed that few needed the form!

Ultimately we had 46 registered attendees and 28 aircraft - 23 being Cardinals. We all managed to have a great time and witnessed the complete lineage of Cessna's 177 Cardinal out on the ramp space.

The Cardinal discussions on the field kept us at a nice relaxing pace, giving all of the owners plenty of time to provide their Model/year, history of ownership and explain any modifications they had completed or planned. There were plenty of mods and ideas to talk about.

Marc Wiese teased everyone with some very interesting wingtips that happened to be on the ramp underneath his RG - Hmm! During the walk-around's we saw some great 177 hardware; 3-blade conversions, 180HP upgrades,VG's & Powerflow's. The aircraft ranged from stock 1968 177's up to several magnificently equipped RG's just to name a few - What a great way to spend an afternoon!

We rejoined for the awards back in the Hangar Hotel's Officers Club. Everyone who attended received a gift bag that included: an offer from BAS seatbelts ($910/pr), catalog order coupon from Chief, CFO offer from PartsLogistics.com (parts locator service for $99/yr), magazine article from Aviation Consumer (C177 FG), Cardinal service coupons specials from Dallas Air Repair, DVD of `The Run` (Nissan 350Z in Prague!), brochures on the Nissan Armada & Nissan Titan, matchbox 350Z collectable, a water bottle koozie with belt clip & two 2003 Texas Cardinal Fly-In decals. The decals seemed to be a hit!

As well, we had several raffles; a $25 gift certificate from Aircraft Spruce, 2 pairs of leather headset ear seals, and 2 pairs of Headset bags both from Chief. We also had 5 2003 Texas Cardinal Fly-in trophy winners:

Oldest Cardinal - Ted Burgdorf of Scroggins, TX, in a 1968 #597 (he flew it home new in `68!)

Youngest Cardinal - Jeff & Cheryl Addison of Abbeville, LA, in a 1978 Cardinal Classic #2744!

There was a 4-way tie for closest flight with 4 Austin-ites attending and flying the 68 miles - so with a little improv we decided the oldest ownership won the tie, which was Larry James who has had his 1977 FG since 1989.

The farthest flight was Dexter Lowell from Pauma, CA flying 940 miles!

Finally, from the walk-around judging came the votes for Jim & Sandy Honeycutt of Locust Grove, GA, to win Favorite Cardinal with N177BS,. Their bird is a 1976 RG that had been impeccably restored after damage from a hangar collapse. The panel out of 177BS would make even a 777 driver envious - ask Frank Wright!

At the closing of the Fly-In, the consensus was to have the 2004 Texas Fly-In back here in Fredericksburg, TX. Several aircraft departed immediately after the event, but the smart folks stayed another night in Fredericksburg to enjoy Oktoberfest in the downtown square.

I want to thank a few special CFO`ers for pitching in before and during the event - Ben & Heather Hodge (their attendance very much missed!), Ben & Roxanne Jones ( for the pics - but you forgot your great plane!), Charlie Corbin, and Marc & Linda Wiese helped out with the weather and registration. Thank you! For those who attended, please remember to drop the sponsors - Hangar Hotel, Aircraft Spruce & Chief - an email and thank them for their Fly-In support.

If you have any ideas for the 2004 Texas Fly-in please post them on the CFO website. Remember to display those 2003 Cardinal Fly-in stickers proudly! Hope everyone had a great time and we will see y'all back in Fredericksburg next year.

Rob & Dee Maas / N1246C


The following aircraft were in attendance. Click on any image for a (slightly) larger picture.

charliesandycorbins70.jpg danjanekoontzs78.jpg
davidjoycesheffields75.jpg frankkuhns78.jpg
frrankgaylewrights68.jpg jeffcheryladdisons78.jpg
jimhendersons78.jpg jimmysandyhoneycutts76rg.jpg
johnroberts76.jpg larryronajames77.jpg
lowelldexters76rg.jpg marclindawieses76rg.jpg
tedburgdorfs68.jpg olliesandycrinkelmeyers76.jpg
paulmemrickkeithwatsons76rg.jpg raypathoctors73rg.jpg
robdeemaas78.jpg



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