2008 SOAPA Fly-In.

[rick bell]

ok !! it's at larry's house. plenty of grass
for camping. he's got six banos and an acre frontroom w/5 flat screens tv's.
two side by side fridges(fully stocked), a hangar for shop talk. what a guy!! think i'll show up a week early, just to ease into
this michigan lifestyle.

I look forward to MI, but wow, Canada may be a great adventure for 2009, eh?
________
BMW M73

[WebMaster]

Originally posted by rick bell
ok !! it's at larry's house. plenty of grass
for camping. he's got six banos and an acre frontroom w/5 flat screens tv's.
two side by side fridges(fully stocked), a hangar for shop talk. what a guy!! think i'll show up a week early, just to ease into
this michigan lifestyle.

Okay, some misconceptions are afoot.
Yes, I do have lots of grass for camping, but only 5 banos, the living room isn't THAT large. We also have some nice hotels in the area, in case you didn't really want to camp out. Rick, you forgot to mention the 18 hole golf course. It's across the street, not actually at my house. Should we plan a golf outing, as well?

If you show up a week early, you are more than welcome.

Keven, if we went to CA NA DA, we could fly over the Snake river on the way, eh?

[WebMaster]

The fly-in in Kalamazoo will be fabulous.
We are working hard to make it a memorable event.

We look forward to seeing lots of old friends and making lots of new friends.

[walt]

Great location. Jean and I will be there early if you need help
Walt

[Jerry De Santis]

Walt, your 336 is sure going to look pretty on the Kalamazoo ramp. Looking forward to seeing you folks again. We think this meeting is really going to bring a lot of Skymasters to Michigan and those that come will surely have a great time. The Air Zoo at Kalamazoo airport is one of the best air museums in the country. Get to fly an F-14 full 3D simulator. Fly it off a carrier and if your good land back on it. As for my experience evertime I flew it off I can never find the carrier again.Can't wait to see how you guys do.

Jerry

[WebMaster]

Registration is now open. It took a while to put it together, and get it on the web.
Please let us know as early as possible if you think you might be coming. If you think you would like to come, let us know so we can plan accordingly.

[hharney]

If you haven’t already registered please start the process so that we can see action from the members. It’s going to be a great event and you won’t want to miss it.



Our Keynote speaker, Thomas Van Hare, will knock your socks off. He has just finished his book about the real story of the “Brothers of Rescue” shot down over Cuban waters in Skymasters. This story that he has will raise the hair on your arms. It’s amazing!



We also have been in touch with the Director of the film “Shootdown”. This is the movie about the “Brothers of Rescue” and we will have the opportunity to have a special pre-release viewing of the film.

It’s all starting to come together, seminars and events like never before. SOAPA 2008, brought to you by your Michigan Flyers.

I really want to encourage folks to just relax about attending this event. For me the long distance to fly out to Las Vegas a few years ago for SOAPA just added stress to the agenda. Weather, fuel cost, etc. So I decided to just book a ticket on Northwest Airlines and forget about it. It made it so easy and I totally enjoyed the event without bringing the plane. This is completely OK. We all know what a Skymaster looks like but we don't know you as well as we could. That's the important part, getting to know each other. Learning together about our mutual interests. So don't be afraid to just book that flight and relax.



Sign Up Now!

[hharney]

Well as SOAPA 2008 continues to draw closer, the host Michigan Flyers have been hard working to bring you a great event. We have taken the 337 registration list and started to put phone numbers to each owner. I made over 20 calls last night to owners in WI and MN. I was really surprised that 8 of the calls, that I got through to someone without leaving a message, had not really heard of SOAPA and did not actively use the website. WOW! They were really excited about the idea of getting together with other 337 owners. I just assumed everyone was aware of the website and that we have completed 7 of the flyins.

So, if anyone wants to help in their area by finding phone numbers and calling these 337 owners please let me or Larry know. We really want to get the word out. Thanks

And if you are already joining us in Kzoo please send in your registration. It's going to be a blast!!!

[WebMaster]

The list of guest speakers is growing.
If you would like to talk about something, let us know. Adventures, maintenance, fuel management. Are you happy with your GAMI injectors?

This is who we tentatively have lined up to speak.
Don Nieser, Commodore Aerospace and The Prop Shop
Delta Hawk, diesel engine Skymaster.
L-3 will talk about StormScope and Skywatch.
Cristina Khuhly will show us the movie "The Shootdown".
Airwolf will talk about filters, air-oil seperators, and vacuum pumps.
SkyOx will talk about Oxygen systems.
C&D will talk about aircraft heaters
Thomas Van Hare

[WebMaster]

Our latest confirmed speaker is Grand Rapids Technologies, who, oddly enough are here in Michigan

They make stuff for experimental airplanes, but their equipment has been installed in certified aircraft as "Entertainment Systems". Now, personally, I'd rather have one of these in front of my wife to watch. She has quietly told me she doesn't like watching the fuel gages. This would help answer the age old question of "Where ARE WE".

And, incase my old wet vacuum pumps fail, it might also be handy. Of course, it's a bit more than a portable DVD player, but a lot more functional.

[WebMaster]

You know, we should have really made it for 3 days. Maurice Hovic, down at HovAir, wanted to show us his paint shop. They used to specialize in Piper Mirages, but now they are painting all kinds of things, including a Jet Ranger.

Anyway, the latest speaker to sign up, (boy the schedule is getting full), is Xerion. They make the Xerion AuRicle engine monitoring device. It's a fully electronic replacement for all the steam gages.

[WebMaster]

The attendee list is an excel file. I made one called attendee.xls, and one called attendees.xls. I have been updating attendees, while the website says attendee. It's fixed. I'll continue to update it.

[hharney]

Well with just 10 days until SOAPA 2008 starts, the Michigan Flyers are ready to host a fantastic meeting. If you haven't looked at the agenda recently you really should because we have a full menu of great information, entertainment and speakers like never before. Get your suitcases packed and we'll see you in Kalamazoo.

Come early and join us for the Mackinac Island (pre SOAPA event) on Wednesday morning June 11. We will be departing AZO promptly at 0800. If you want you can meet us in the air, Freq. 123.40.