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Friday, April 13, 2007

Lakeathon II! (Midday Friday)

Friday, noonish:

Well, setup is well under way, and check-in has begun.

I finally got to meet Marc Rodstein (left), our fearless leader, in person, after months of working with him on the LAFC website.

Marc was busy setting up the meeting hall, while his lovely wife Jill, along with Judy Staber and Barb Fioravanti are checking people in as they arrive.

John Staber is set up to sell Lake paraphernalia in the hotel lobby; I couldn't resist a t-shirt, tote bag, and a copy of his new "History of the Lake Amphibian, 1946-2006". There is some tremendous stuff on it, and the $60 suggested donation goes to the project to restore Skimmer One, the original XC-1 Skimmer prototype that started the legacy.

I'm heading off to the airport to practice some more today, before the festivities begin tonight. Winds seem light and the sky is a beautiful clear blue. Tomorrow's looking good, too, tho' Sunday forecasts cooler temps, isolated t-storms and high winds. I'm hoping it'll give me a chance to practice the "high seas" techniques I haven't had a chance to experience yet.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Lakeathon III! (Friday evening)

Lakeathon 2007 officially kicked off tonight with the Welcome Buffet Dinner, co-sponsored by AirSure Limited, Phoenix Aviation Managers, and Amphibians Plus in Bartow, FL.

Prior to that, I got in some more water practice time, mostly near Winter Haven, before heading the 10 miles or so down to the Bartow, FL airport--sort of the aerial center of gravity for Lakeathon. On one lake, I found myself on a parallel approach with a bright yellow Super Cub from Jack Brown's Seaplane Base, located adjacent to the Winter Haven airport. I've spent a little time doing recurrent training at Brown's, and highly recommend it for a basic SES rating--very organized and professional. Of course, "floats ain't boats", so learning the Lake has been an expanded education.

I tied down at Bartow, in front of Harry and Cathy Shannon's Amphibians Plus. The ramp is really starting to fill up with Lakes (above); I expect even more may show up by tomorrow. It's kind of like coming to your native land after living in a foreign country. At most airports a Lake is a curiosity. Here, it's the majority.

[Note: In an attempt to avoid conflicts with Sun 'n Fun traffic, some of the tiedowns have "reserved for Lake Amphibian Flyers Club" signs in them. If you're coming for Lakeathon, find any of these spots for tying down, but stay away from the easternmost 3 rows (on your right as you face the tower from the runways); they're reserved for the maintenance shops at that end of the field.]

After a Holiday Inn shuttle ride back over to Winter Haven to retrieve my rental car, I headed back to the hotel for a quick dip in the pool before the dinner.

During the cocktail hour I got a chance to meet a number of other Lake owners, including fellow "newbie" owners Rick and Diane Williams, from Bloomington, MN. They bought their LA-4-180 last summer, only a couple of months before Barb and I, and have been enjoying it a lot (tho' they, too complain of heater troubles...must be a northerner thing.) Rather than fly all the way from MN with a balky heater, they decided to let the pros do the flying. Rick's hopeful of getting to fly with others who have an aircraft down here at Lakeathon. I offered ours, but the back seat is out for the trip, so one of them would have to stay behind. Anyone else here who might have space, give Rick a shout.

Dinner was fine, but the highlight was Ed McNeil's video chronicle of his flight to Alaska with the Tuxills, Tom & Sue. Set to classical music, it was majestic, with expansive vistas and some really cool formation flying shots. (Someone said Ed was actually flying formation while doing the filming...I've done formation flying and I find it hard to believe. It takes enormous concentration to stay in position...I'd be hard pressed to handle a camera at the same time.)

The schedule has Ed telling more about his Alaska adventure, including a Q&A session tomorrow night. We're seeing if there's a way we can post his presentation on the blog for those who can't be here...if this isn't inspiring to Lake pilots, nothing is.

Sun 'n Fun Seaplane Changes for '07

After the presentation, Sue Stewart introduced me to Bill Gillespie and his wife, P.J. Together, they volunteer to run the seaplane operation at Sun 'n Fun. Bill asked me to make mention of the fact that the plans for the seaplane Splash-In are different this year than in past years.

In particular, the factory-built seaplane splash-in--formerly held on Friday--has been moved to Thursday, April 19, so that the Seaplane Dinner won't conflict with the Sun 'n Fun night airshow, Friday evening. Also, the specific location on Lake Parker has been moved.

Pilots must register and get a pre-flight briefing to participate. Details are available on the Sun 'n Fun website at: http://www.sun-n-fun.org/content/interior.asp?section=flyin&body=convsch/seaplanes

Bill also asked me to pass along the document below: Info for driving to the Splash-In at Lake Parker:

That's it for tonight. Big day tomorrow...first full day of seminars and LAFC flying. (Also, Marc R.'s got me making a noontime presentation on the new website. Guess I'd better get my stuff together before turning in.)

Below: Official program from Lakeathon 2007, for those who can't make it: (Sorry for the quality...I don't have a scanner here, only my digital camera.)

1 comments:

Kathy Duda said...

Steve, again, thank you soooo much!!! You are doing a fantastic job w/ this site. I was so excited when talking to Jim because as he's describing things, I'm saying, Yeah, yeah, I see Sharon and Bob and the Ol' Puddle Jumper himself!

Then just as Jim was describing the beautiful presentation and what a great job Ed did with the choreography and telling me how much he wished I could have been there to see it because he knows I would have loved it, I read that you're trying to get it posted for us less-fortunates.

It's so much fun being able to see the airplanes as Jim's describing to me how nice Cathy and Harry have everything arranged w/ the designated parking signs. I repeatedly found myself going, Yeah, yeah, I know! I read about it! I see it! You're doing such a good job that I think I can ALMOST make out Jim in the background waving at me! Or, wait; maybe that's Pete?

ALMOST LIVE, the next best thing to being there, almost!

Please keep up the good work, and the next time Chicago weather prevents you from landing on water, come on down to Baton Rouge. We've got lots of water, and we owe you one fine meal!

Kathy Duda a/k/a Jim Little's favorite co-pilot!

April 14, 2007 2:15 AM
 

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