The first National CFO fly-in was a
great time for everyone.
In the end 128 Cardinal Flyers and 43 Cardinals arrived in Winter
Haven for the big event. They were treated to a technical session
by Paul Millner, an explanation and demonstration of the Powerflow
exhaust system (including the first Cardinal, a '68 that flew in
under an Experimental permit) and a full afternoon of wandering
around admiring Cardinals.
The most important part of any CFO flyin is the people who attend it. You'll find the table of attendees on this page. Please note that CFO policy is to keep all member specific information, including email addresses, inside the CFO membership firewall, so you must be a member to view this list.
If you'd like to review the plans you can see them on the invitation and pre-registration page.
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Palmer and Faye Gehring were our hosts for this first ever National
CFO event, held on the eve of Sun & Fun EAA fly-in. The CFO event
was at Winter Haven airport, just a few miles East of Lakeland.
We tracked Palmer down for this picture, but Faye was moving too
fast for photos, they're all just blurs!
Many other people pitched in, both before the event and during, as they
noticed jobs that needed doing. Thanks to everyone who helped out!
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It was a cool and breezy day, perfect for Cardinal browsing.
The usual CFO welcoming committee was there, greeting arrivals
and, once they had wandered off to register, reviewing and analyzing their aircraft. They found unusual and creative solutions everywhere.
This was actually the very early crew, toward the end we had a
group of about 50 interested Cardinal owners pouring over a
few aircraft in depth. It was an interesting experience for
all.
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Formal events started with a technical presentation by Paul Millner. He
reviewed the many ways to improve power and performance in the Cardinal.
CFO members Jeff Kaufman and Howard (?) talked about their modifications
and speed improvements.
Even as Paul was talking more Cardinals and Cardinal Flyers
were arriving. One member had headwinds all the way from the
northeast, reporting groundspeeds below 100 knots in his
RG, but he did eventually make it. Others had been there since
as early as noon the day before.
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The Technical session ended with a presentation by the Power Flow
people who talked about and demonstrated their new exhaust system.
They had been hoping to report the completion of the '68 Cardinal
system, but it's been delayed a bit in the FAA office.
They had brought identical 172s, one with and one without their
system, and demonstrated the difference in sound. The we listened
to the Cardinal, which presented a smooth and powerful sound. A
very interesting system!
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Next was a session of walking around and checking out the details of
the various aircraft in attendance. For instance we spotted this
set of VGs on the gear of a FG.
And the crew surrounded Jeff
Kaufman's RG to talk about the various issues and concerns of
Cardinal ownership, as well as Jeff's special modifications.
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Finally came the meal, a great feast of BBQ ribs and various fix'ins.
It was a great meal, and great conversations with the Cardinal Flyers
in attendance.
In all we had four rows like the group pictured above, and barely had enough chairs for all. We actually ran a couple of 'shifts' on the tables as the meal progressed.
A few comments, the answers to the Scavenger Hunt, and trophies for a
few notable people (including 'flew furthest' and 'most recent
Cardinal owner') and the formal events were complete.
It was a great time for all, and a wonderful start to the national
CFO organization. Thanks again to all who came and helped put this
event on.
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In fact it was so much fun that we had a few others sneak in. When
one fellow was told by Palmer that he had to own a Cardinal to
attend, he came up with this proof that he was worthy of attending.
We'll have to be the judge of whether this approach meets the
criteria!
In the end a general show of hands come to a singular conclusion...
we need to do this again! If you missed this year, it looks like
you will have a chance to join us next year at the second annual
CFO Winter Haven Fly-in!
If you attended this event, we want your feedback! What worked well for you, what didn't work well? Let us know and we'll do better even next time!
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Let's start with some of the interesting things we saw at the flyin:
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Paul borrowed my camera to get this picture of a neat tool for pulling the cowl in a hurry. It's interesting, but I'll bet Vince doesn't use a tool like this for his record setting cowl pulls..
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If you missed the event you may be interested just to see the grove where most of the events were held. This is a nice little area with picnic tables and grills, just across the taxiway from all the airplanes. It was an ideal setting, even with the breeze that was blowing all day.
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Jeff showed us his latest invention, a low drag belly vent. His experiments have shown that this vent is an important part of keeping the belly clear of exhaust gasses. We are very priviliged to have a member in CFO who goes to the trouble to pop into experimental mode to run tests like these.
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The '68 with the powerflow exhaust was also sporting a nice looking panel, with the latest in portable GPS and a noise cancelling headset. Perhaps he won't need those once the Powerflow exhaust paperwork comes through.. ?
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From time to time we came across little details like this. We found this on a beautiful airplane, the owner said it was just a simple little bit of aluminum that he keeps polished up. Looked very nice!
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The whole crowd (almost) gathered around to hear the powerflow exhaust run on the '68.. it was a sound you have to hear to believe. Very smooth and quiet.
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Then we all dug into Jeff's airplane, finding many things to comment about and suggest to Jeff. He held up well under the scrutiny of so many eyes. Can you see what's strange about this photo?
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One member (Rich Eggelston?) had a great sense of humor and put these props on after landing. Paul mentioned that the eyes are in just the right place to cover the baffle seal rivit hole that some aircraft have.. this one did not.
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If you made it over to Sun & Fun you would have found us in this tent, the Type Club Tent. A number of members did, we had a good time cooling our hoofs in the shade and talking about Cardinals.
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One member had made these yoke covers out of bicycle grips, he simply trimmed them down to this shape. It really looked nice, and he said it was a nice feel for those hot bumpy days when the yoke would usually get slippery with sweat.
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One of the aircraft on the ramp had the Larry Wokral style fuse tank, although this one was behind the hump rather than in front if it.
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Here are the aircraft that attended the Winter Haven CFO fly-in: