Sat, Oct 15, 2005
New Facility, Large Hall And Air Conditioning
The 2005 Copperstate
Regional EAA Fly-In occurred for the first time ever at Casa Grande
Municipal Airport, Arizona, in its 33rd annual event October 6-9.
Organizers and attendees settled into the new facility, which
features a large, air-conditioned exhibit hall, large, clean
camping area, a new shower facility, and is ideally situated midway
between Phoenix and Tucson just a few miles west of Interstate
10.
The new location is much closer to essential facilities like
hotels and restaurants than past venues. Saturday and Sunday events
were somewhat hampered by windy weather, but spirits were not
dampened based on the many positive comments of pilots and
attendees. Planes and people came from all over the region and
beyond, with the furthest confirmed from Southern Florida.
EAA headquarters' presence was seen throughout the grounds,
including the EAA Member Village welcoming friends old and new.
EAA's Ron Wagner conducted four well-attended and well-received
sport pilot/light-sport aircraft forums-one each day.
On Friday night Wagner and Lesley Barkham of the EAA Membership
Department hosted a chapter leaders get-together on Friday that
featured an appearance by Mary Senft, a charter member of the EAA
Homebuilt Aircraft Council. She also recently led the formation of
EAA Chapter 1406 in San Manuel, AZ.
Wagner praised the new location for its visitor convenience. "We
certainly viewed it as an improvement with the new indoor exhibit
facility and the close proximity to the city of Casa Grande,"
Wagner said. "The plans they have for site improvement in coming
years will make it even better."
Aircraft awards were announced at the awards banquet held
Saturday evening at the Holiday Inn Casa Grande. Cory Bird's
Symmetry, which won EAA AirVenture 2004Grand Champion, was
Copperstate's Grand Champion this year. Reserve Grand Champion is
Neal Obert for his Lionheart N110N. Complete judging results can be
found on the Copperstate website.
Mark down October 12-15, 2006, dates for next year's fly-in.
More News
Hazardous Weather Information Summary of significant meteorological information (SIGMET/WS), convective significant meteorological information (convective SIGMET/WST), urgent pilot>[...]
Aero Linx: The T-6 Racing Association The T-6 Racing Association is all about T-6‘s and racing. Our mission is to bring great racing to our fans in Reno and other venues wher>[...]
Also: Electra Aero, AMO-CBP v Smugglers, Naval King Airs, Boeing Deal To the surprise of everyone involved, Waco Kitchen shut down both airport operations with little warning and h>[...]
Also: WACO Kitchen Bails, French SportPlane Mfr to FL, Dynon-Advance Flight Systems, Innovation Preview Bobby Bailey, a bit of a fixture in sport aviation circles for his work with>[...]
Also: Virgin Galactic, B-29 Doc to Allentown, Erickson Fire-Fighters Bought, FAA Reauthorization After dealing with a big letdown after the unexpected decision by Skyreach to disco>[...]