CFO Flyins and Flyout reports
Flyin Reports
Bold are
National Events
2023
Winter Haven 2023
2022
Winter Haven 2022
Oshkosh 2022
Sporty's 2022
2020-21
Cancelled for Covid
2019
Ogden Utah convention 2019
2018
Texas STEC convention 2018
2017
2017 Piqua convention report
2015
Winter Haven
2014
Winter Haven
Melborne, FL convention
2013
Winter Haven
Bowling Green
2012
Batavia
Winter Haven
2011
Phoenix
Buffalo
Winter Haven
2010
Ada, OK
Oshkosh
Santa Maria
Winter Haven
Mittagon, Aus
2009
Williamsport PA
Oshkosh
Winter Haven
Hamm, Germany
2008
Winter Haven
Winslow, AZ
Wichita, KS
2007
Lancaster, PA
Batavia, Ohio
Winter Haven
2006
Rough River Ky.
Derbyshire, UK
Winter Haven
2005
Brenham, TX
7 Springs PA
Winter Haven
2004
Lake Geneva, WI
Lancaster, PA
Galviston Tx
Winter Haven
2003
Henstridge, UK
Lancaster, PA
Concord CA
Fredericksburg, TX
Boyne Mt, MI
Whitefield NH
Redcliffe, Australia
2002
Winter Haven
Baja Fly-out
Lancaster, TX
Dayton Ohio
Santa Maria, CA
Sky Acres, NY
Alaska report
Nanaimo BC
Winter Haven
2001
Concord, CA.
Belgium report
Cleveland report
Salisbury, NC
Fly-in Wedding
Winter Haven
Bahama Flyout
Baja Flyout
2000
Camarillo
North Carolina
Twin Oaks
Harris Ranch
Aurora IL
Sun & Fun
California City
1999
Solvang CA
Concord CA
Hawthorne, CA
Burlington NC
Plymouth, MA
Marina CA
Hollister CA
Sun & Fun
Plymouth MA
1998
Ocean City
|
|
|
| |
Rough River Eastern Convention
2006
|
The Cardinal Flyers gathered in Rough River, Kentucky in September of 2006, prepared to relax together and perhaps find a few Cardinal related things to talk about.
The weather was excellent, with a warm fall feel and a few trees thinking about turning colors. Rough River is a small resort, but we had plenty of room to move in and take over. This is a popular state park, known for good Kentucky food, so things got a little more active around mealtimes.
Arrivals found a few Cardinals already gracing the ramp, including one who seems to live there but never arrived to claim his bird. Most of us arrived on Wednesday night prepared
for the day trip in Thursday.
|
Our tour started with a visit to the Coke museum in Elizibethtown. While this may seem like an odd place for anything of any substantial interest related to Coca-Cola, it turns out that it was home to one of the earliest distributors, with a particular interest in the significance of Coke memorabilia.
The tour started with some of the oldest relics from the beginning of Coke, and included a collection of thousands of bottles, long lines of coke machines and several unique delivery vehicles.
This happened to be the Grand Opening day, and the staff were dressed in period costumes. We also had the opportunity to purchase nickel coke from the soda fountain, just like in the old days.
After a relaxing visit we were ready to move on to lunch. Alan Laslie had shared the secret of his favorite lunch spot, tucked away inside an old house full of antiques. We blocked traffic with the bus long enough to disembark and fill their back dinning room with hungry Flyers. It was an excellent lunch, and a good introduction to the Brown Betty and other local favorites.
|
Our next stop was the Maker's Mark bourbon refinery, although that description hardly seems to describe this interesting place.
Like so often seems to happen, we arrived to find some confusion. We were right on time, but a bus had pulled in a few minutes before us and was taken for us, as in 'Here's our 2:00 bus group!" But it was in fact their 12:30 bus group, an hour and a half late. So there was just a little milling around while they came to understand that this not only a new bus, this was the bus with a reservation! Such is the story behind the scenes at events like this... it will probably always be so.
|
However it turned out well for us, because the folks behind the desk tracked
down and engaged the guy they called their very best guide, and he was excellent!
He regaled us with tales of how things used to be before prohibition, what
that had done to the region and how the distillery had come back from those
difficult times.
He walked us through the process with equal servings of education and entertainment. The many steps required, and the subtle variations of method that makes their product unique.
Along the way we got to taste the mash at various stages, peek into the barns, and witness the trademarked sealing of the bottles. At the end of the tour a few of us got the chance to try our own skills at bottle 'dipping', as it's called. That an a sample of their bourbon chocolates pretty much made the day.
|
Our final stop of the day was at the house and grounds where 'My Old Kentucky Home' was written, a famous song which I believe is the state song of Kentucky. It was after closing time, but they were expecting us, and we had a personal tour of the home from a guide in period dress.
She had a fascinating story to tell as we walked through the house, hearing of the people who had occupied it, what their lives were like and how they lived the fine life long ago in Kentucky. After the tour we wandered the grounds and enjoyed the faint bells playing the famous song.
It seemed the perfect time for a group picture. Soon we were ready to head back, pondering how that lovely song must get into the heads of people who work there every day.
Our tours over, we met up with late arrivals at the resort and enjoyed a few evening snacks. And here is where one of the odd little themes of the event first raised its head.
|
We were warned early that Rough River was in a 'dry' county, where they are not allowed to sell alcoholic beverages. This seemed a small matter, since the principles of CFO (at least Keith, and I'm writing this!) are not really drinkers, per se.
We're led to understand, however, that others enjoy a beer at the end of a hot day, so we endeavored to bring in a suitable supply for those so inclined. Evidently this is legal as long as we stayed inside the room, a fact which was drilled into us early and often. Even our deck-side reception was moved indoors so we would not insult the local population with the decadent consumption of alcohol in public.
So, fine, we're indoors and have a few coolers for those who are interested. But wait! In all the discussion about beer, the resort failed to note our order for soft drinks! So not only did we have beer, we had *only* beer.
It was not exactly what we had planned, but we made do.
First thing Friday we rolled right into the show and tell, passing around broken airplane parts and discussing topics of interest. Although our digest time together stays pretty technical, we still find there to be great value in these discussions as a group, as well as the chance to see a broken part in person.
|
The afternoon event was at the airport, a short walk away. As usual the airplanes were in excellent condition and showed high levels of attention and care. There were many interesting variations on Cessna's original plans for the Cardinal.
The day ended with a Barbecue at the picnic shelter, overlooking the lake. There were sodas this time, but still plenty of cold beer.
Still suffering under the cautions against any form of public consumption, we held a little 'drinking briefing' where we covered the checklist for consumption, which included a nondescript paper cup. In hind site it all seems rather silly, but it was serious business in Grayson County!
|
As darkness fell we headed over to the fire pit and enjoyed an evening bonfire, complete with S'mores, just the ticket after a relaxing day at the airport.
Saturday dawned as another beautiful day and we spent much of it at the airport, reviewing several aircraft in depth. One had our attention for quite a while as one Flyer noticed it seemed to have a crack across the oil pan. After some discussion it was left as an item for the owner's A&P to check.
We heard later that it was indeed a crack, in a very unusual location.
The day seemed to slip by with relaxed airplane talk. A couple of Cardinals dropped in, seemingly surprised by our gathering, not to mention the number of experts swarming around their airplane and making comments. They seemed to recover, though, and we heard later that they enjoyed their visit.
|
Evening brought out banquet, with great food and excellent company. Perhaps because of the intimate group or the relaxing surroundings we flowed into an extended session of storytelling, with Flyers sharing tales of adventure and dismay well into the evening.
And as always, there was plenty of beer. It is ironic that it takes a visit
to a dry county for this to rise to visibility at all in our events. Luckily
the coolers had been borrowed from Alan Laslie's neighbor, who we came to
understand really likes beer. So in the end we finally found a home for our
excess libations.
It is always a little sad to see our new and renewed friends fly off in various
directions, but as often happens there was just a bit more drama. One of our
members found their battery completely dead. After checking connections and
mechanicals, it was determined to be a simple 'old battery' problem, and we
had jumper cables.
|
 However, this member had flown from California
to attend this event, and was very concerned about what would happen the next
time they turned the airplane off. So we sent our cables on a long cross-country
in support of this wounded bird.
As it turned out, we learned later that the very first airport they landed
at happened to have a fresh battery on the shelf and ready to install. The
cables were never needed but had a nice vacation of their own making the round
trip, and were returned in the company of even more broken aircraft parts
for show and tell. I suspect the view was not as good in the UPS box as it
had been in that Cross Country Cardinal, but we were once again prepared for
our own future old battery problems.
In summation, we spent a nice time with a great group of Flyers who had a
lot of fun, ate a lot of great Kentucky food, saw the local sights, relaxed
fully, learned and shared about Cardinals, and drank remarkably little beer.
What more could you ask for?
Keith Peterson
December 2006
|
The following public comments about the flyin have been entered:
|
|
| | Thanks for a great time; and a special thanks to all the volunteers. Keith; Debbie; Paul. |
|
| A great convention; and a lot of new (old) friends. Good to have y'all in Kentucky! This was a small; but high-quality group and I really enjoyed myself. Bob Pitchford |
|
|
|
|
The following aircraft were in attendance, as well as a few more: our photographers may not have caught them all. And it seems that multiple pictures were taken of the same aircraft, so there are probably duplicates in this set as well. Click on any image to load a larger one.
The following people registered their plans to attend this CFO Convention:
| Name | Departing
From | Aircraft
Year/Type | Registration
Number | Comments |
|---|
| Paul Millner | Berkeley, CA (OAK) | 1976 177 RG | N177SD | Will be a very good time! |
| Bruce & Betsy Hutchings | Lancaster, NM (HIE) | 1977 177 RG | N52061 | |
| Wally Johnson | LIttle Rock, AR (1M1) | 1968 177 | N3435T | Looking forward to my first CFO Convention. |
| Dean & Sue Cook | Elkhart, IN (3C1) | 1971 177B | N177XC | |
| Bob Pitchford | Bowling Green, KY (KBWG) | 1975 177B | | This is my stompin ground. Great airport and Lodge! So glad we've chosen Rough River! |
| John & Mary Anna | OXFORD, ME (81B) | 1973 177 RG | N1909Q | |
| Charlie & Sandy Corbin | Holly Lake Ranch, TX (F51) | 1970 177B | N177SV | Anxious to go to our first Convention |
| Mike Gallant | KBAK, IN (KBAK) | 1971 177 RG | N8039G | |
| Lowell Dexter | , (F70) | 1976 177 RG | N177R | |
| Keith and Debbie Peterson | Hampshire, IL (68IS) | 1976 177 RG | N33267 | Should be a great time; we're looking forward to trying out this new location! |
| Michel & Rosie DeGroot | San Diego, CA (KMYF) | 1971 177B | N177CF | Looking forward to it. |
| Mac & Sarah McKinley | Liberty, MO (0N0) | 1973 177B | N34427 | |
| George Hawkins | Sugar Land, TX (KARM) | 1974 177 RG | N2176Q | I am looking forward to my first CFO convention. |
| Richard & Michele Gulett | Covington, GA (9A1) | 1971 177 RG | N468LE | |
| Douglas Richardson | Springfield, TN (M91) | 1970 177B | N707DR | I will only fly in one day. |
| Winn & Phil Brown | Horn Lake, MS (AWM) | 1968 177 | N29563 | |
| Addison Davis | Warren, MI (Y47) | 1978 177 RG | N52854 | |
| Bill & Leanna Povilaitis | Aeroflex-Andover, NJ (12N) | 1971 177B | N30900 | We're Sooooooo Excited! Should be a blast. |
| Garth Goddard | Toronto, Canada (CYTZ) | 1971 177B | C-GPDW | |
| Ed Farrar | Mansfield, OH (GQQ) | 1971 177 RG | N8216G | |
| David Hill | Westerville, OH (KDLZ) | 1976 177 RG | N7623V | |
| Darren Carrier | Dayton, OH (MGY) | 1968 177 | N3495T | This is a really nice park and I am sure we will have a great time. |
| | , () | | | |
| Al & Katherine Van Lengen | Fayetteville, GA (FFC) | 1974 177 RG | 912GM | |
| Alan Laslie | Elizabethtown, KY (EKX) | 1974 177B | N2KG | I look forward to meeting everyone. Welcome to Kentucky! |
| Marla Lee | Louisville, KY (EKX) | 1974 177B | N2KG | I'm a student pilot; just starting my training in our Cardinal. I look forward to meeting everyone and learning as much as I can! |
| Jeff Addison | Lafayette, LA (0R3) | 1978 177B | N2169C | |
| Bruce & Sally Post | West Bend, WI (KETB) | 1968 177 | N3405F | |
| Jim Taylor | Ottawa Lake, MI (N/A) | 1974 177 RG | | |
|
Copyright Cardinal Flyers Online LLC 1997-2024
|
|
