Winter Haven National Flyin
2011

It was a memorable year at Winter Haven for a number of reasons, not the least of which was our overall survival. Mother Nature tossed a couple of high hard ones at us, but the group found the path to a good time in spite of it all.

I'll let the pictures tell the story with a few notes. Thanks to Debbie and Peter Carter who both took a number of very nice photos.

The event started on Saturday evening with our usual social gathering at Faye and Palmer's house. A good crowd arrived and enjoyed the outstanding appetizers from Chef Todd which we have become accustomed to over the years. Evidently no one brought a camera, as I didn't get any pictures from this event, but it was a very nice evening to be out on the back porch enjoying a conversation about Cardinals.

Click on any image to load a larger version.

Our day trip this year was to the Kennedy Space Center, which was preparing for a shuttle launch. With the shuttle program shutting down and funding uncertain for NASA, there are a lot of changes expected in the near future, so this seemed like the perfect time to go visit.

The day started with an early morning bus at our hotel. The fog was heavy and the windows wet, but we had high hopes for a warm and sunny day.

As you can see, Palmer was hoping for a hot day to make his shorts the right choice. I guess when you live in Florida you know how the day will unfold.

The bus is loading and folks seem awake. It was a 90 minute drive over, during which we watch the first half of the movie "Amelia". Of course stopping in mid playback left a lot of suspense about how it would end...

Our tour started with a morning at the space center visitor center. Most folks walked around the rocket park, rode in the Shuttle simulator or enjoyed the various exhibits on a range of subjects.

At lunchtime we were scheduled for "lunch with an astronaut". The following pictures show the folks who attended as they sat down for lunch.

The astronaut we lunched with was Barbara Morgan, who told a number of interesting stories about becoming and being an astronaut, and how they all remain part of the program for all missions.

Lunch was excellent, as was the company!

The report continues below.

After lunch the private bus tour (guided by a pilot, by the way) took us to a number of viewing locations around the grounds, past some of the logistics and training areas and past several launch pads.

Eventually we arrived at this viewing platform from which the shuttle being prepared for launch was clearly visible. Here the whole group poses with the shuttle in the background.

Our tour ended at the Saturn V5 rocket, the largest rocket ever used, and the one that took us to the moon. It and the exhibits around it were a perfect end to our visit to Kennedy.

And Palmer was right... it did turn into a a warm day!

Afterward we all met up at the Outback which sits in front of our hotels to enjoy dinner and some conversation. A few folks had arrived during the day so we all got connected up here.

Monday was flyin day, where we spend the day at the airport, dawned with a problem: rain. Lots of rain. More rain coming. By breakfast time there was a pause, but there were reasons for continued concern.

There is nothing to do but give it a go, though, so we bundled up in our rain gear and headed for the field.

Luckily we found that the weather was really quite good! We had a cool but dry morning with light breezes, and plenty of time to look over the Cardinals in attendance.

As usual the quality of the attending aircraft had gone up again this year, with several very nice examples on display. We also had a good showing from past award winners, who are allowed to park up front.

We kept an eye on the weather as the morning unfolded, and from time to time a little shower crept in.

This picture was taken from the registration table about half way through the walk-around, when we were all reminded again why we appreciate having high wing airplanes.

These little showers only lasted a few minutes and we moved on to the next airplane down the row.

Of course where there's a river there is often a lake, and many of our birds found their feet wet within a few minutes.

Luckily the ground has good drainage, being mostly sand, so the water never got very high and didn't stay around very long. In some parts of the country this much water would mean you're not moving for a week.

Palmer must have said a little prayer that morning, because just as the rains arrived he was getting word of a hangar that we could use. The airport manager, Debbie Murphy, was able to get this hangar on very short notice.

Most people were able to get to the hangar without getting too wet, and those with cars circled the area picking up folks who were stranded in various hangars.

Within a few minutes were we all inside. Parking was, of course, at a premium.

It was the perfect vantage point from which to watch some of the natural wonders of Florida... spontaneous water falls.

But Debbie Murphy had more tricks up her sleeve. It seems she also knew of a set of tables and chairs which were already in a trailer and ready for use. With a phone call they were on their way.

Once the trailer arrived, the Flyers attacked the project as if they all knew what to do. Within a few minutes the tables and chairs were unloaded and set up in a workable pattern in the hangar.

Our boom box even had a place to sit on the shelf.

The whole thing was set up before the food was ready, and we fed 80 people without anyone having to eat standing up.

It was an impressive show of the can-do attitude of the Cardinal Flyers, and a fine example of making things work out at that last minute.

Thanks to all who pitched in and helped to make this part of the event not only memorable but also successful!

Here's Debbie Murphy, who had even more lined up for us than we knew! She had collected some door prizes from local merchants, and we drew numbers to hand them out.

There were gift certificates from local businesses, discount coupons and even a substantial donation of fuel from the FBO, all handed out to lucky Cardinal Flyers.

This was Debbie's first year as airport manager, and we found her to be outstandingly helpful and good to work with. We're already looking forward to next year!

With a good lunch behind us it was time to hear from our sponsors.

Darren Tillman from Powerflow started us off with an update on their exhaust system and company news. We learned that over 20% of the fixed gear Cardinal fleet now has a Powerflow, and the RG market is well on its way to a similar number.

There was some talk about the annual maintenance requirement and projects on other aircraft which Powerflow has in their shop.

Craig Barnett from Scheme Designers was next up. Rather than talking again about how his services work (he says he's told us that story too many times already) he talked about what to look for in a paint shop.

It was an interesting discussion and helped us see how his services blend nicely with those offered by a good shop to bring you the outstanding paint job you are hoping for.

We also discussed the difference between a fully designed and documented paint job and the kind of job you get when a shop just steals a design from someone else.

Then it was time for a big rollout... the first viewing of the LoPresti Speed Merchants Cardinal Cowl.

Arjay from LoPresti walked us through the history of the cowl and explained how they had worked with the Cardinal community to come up with not only the requirements for the cowl, but the measurements and some of the solutions.

Then it was time for the grand unveiling!

And here it is, the design for the Cardinal cowl. Arjay explained that it is a modular system, to allow for use on both RG and FG, with and without the turbo.

Testing and work toward completing this product continues, but it was very exciting to see a full sized example of the cowl in the flesh. It was very pretty, very pretty indeed.

In this picture the people involved in the design, including several CFO sponsors, are pictured with the cowl in this pre-announcement showing.

After cleaning up and drying off (thanks again to everyone for the help) we were off to a new destination for dinner. The Sundown Southern Eatery Restaurant was an excellent location for our event, with room for expansion.

As usual, we had a few awards for deserving members in attendance:

Mark Thompson received the 'Flew Furthest' award for his flight from the Seattle area.

To the right and below are a few pictures of the award winning airplane and the owners. It was a beauty in all respects, well appointed and nicely equipped.

Report continues below.

The start of the Sun 'n Fun show was not the end of Cardinal news! Here the team at LoPresti shared their press release event for the rollout of the Cardinal Cowl with Keith and Paul of the Cardinal Flyers.

Arjay was looking for a cute name for this product, along the lines of their existing Boom Beams and Hubba Hubba hub caps. I made a suggestion but we're not sure if it will 'fly' just yet... will let you know!

Unfortunately that was not the end of the excitement at Sun 'n Fun. Several of us were on the site when the storm rolled through on Thursday, a storm which was later determined to have been an F1 tornado.

Paul and Keith were near the museum, close to the tent which collapsed on the WASP's. They were able to duck into a building connected with the museum and watch the storm through the windows.

Debbie was walking toward Exhibit Hall A with an umbrella she had borrowed from Craig Barnett. She stopped to help some folks in a tent, but without success. She finally made it into Hall A. Craig's umbrella was turned inside out.

It was quite a shock to see how much damage had been done. As has been well reported, over 40 aircraft were damaged and many tents and exhibits were destroyed.

One Cardinal on the field had a close call, losing all of his antennas and getting some light damage from flying objects, as I recall.

Luckily most of the Cardinals were parked at Winter Haven, with no damage reported. Although at least two folks had voltage regulators go bad while parked there, which suggests that there may have been some electrical activity in our absence.

In all it was a memorable event in all respects. If you're interested in seeing some live video of the storm, you'll find excellent examples at these pages: from the media building, from the flight line, or watch the tents fly here.

Luckily all survived, and another memorable week was over. Thanks again to all who helped or participated, and we're already looking forward to next year. I promise the weather will be better! How could it be worse?

Keith Peterson