TMGA Fly-In West - Minden, NV - Sept 8 thru 12

[Steve Sliwa]

2016 USA Fly-In (West) – September 8th thru 12th - Minden NV

For 2016, it's back to Minden, Nevada, our “home base”. Start thinking about this event, scheduled for Thursday, September 8th thru Sunday September 12th.  They call Minden the “Diamond Mine” of soaring for a reason…so prepare for world-class flying in terms of altitude achievements and distance flying. All this, with LAKE TAHOE just 20 miles away. 

Weather permitting, we’ll try for a San Francisco Bay Tour with a lunch at Half Moon Bay. Flying over the Sierra crest at 12,000 MSL it’s a straight shot to the Sacramento valley and then on to San Francisco with a pass over the Golden Gate Bridge.

For our international group, why not combine aerial pleasure with land pleasure, i.e. a family holiday to San Francisco AND the fly-in. Minden is only hours away via from the City By The Bay via the interstate. More on the fly-in in later newsletters – but mark the dates now!

Oh, and for those who love speed, the incomparable Reno Air Races are scheduled for September 16 – 20, 2016. Come to the TMGA fly-in, enjoy Lake Tahoe or San Francisco for a few days, then enjoy the Air Races for some or all of the days (guaranteed action every day).   [ Minden Sign-Up Sheet ]

  

[Steve Sliwa]

Let's use this thread to correspond with each other on planning for event.  Formal news will be posted in the newsletters section under the Events newsletter.  Be sure to sign-up under the events tab.  [ link ]

[Gino Cavicchioli]

Let me know if anybody is coming from the Toronto Canada area or NY state. 

I am interested to explore joining a group that is flying across ...

Many thanks

Gino Cavicchioli

[Eric Greenwell]

Jim Lee, the Phoenix dealer, is moving to Minden in June. He'll have a hangar or two for the business on the airport. Us West Coast Phoenix owners are excited about the move, as it will be great to have him so much closer to us.

When you go looking for speakers, you should ask him to present something during the Fly-in. He is a long time hang glider, sailplane, and airplane pilot and soaring competitor, so can talk about numerous thing about using touring motorgliders as airplanes and gliders.

Another good choice for a speaker is Russ Owens, who uses his Phoenix routinely as glider, flying at Torrey Pines, Elsinore, and wave flights along the Sierras, all from his home base in San Diego. He's done a 500K triangle in the Phoenix, and taken it to 27,000' during a wave flight. Very inspirational!

[Richard Pearl]

TMGA 2016 Annual Fly-In Update – July 22, 2016:

We’re now 2.5 months away from the fly-in and our attendance list is starting to grow. The event will start Thursday, September 8^th and conclude Sunday September 11th. If you haven’t signed up yet, please go to the Event’s Tab in the website > 2016 Minden Fly-In).

News Flash: Our featured speaker on Saturday night will be Frank Murphy, and you won’t want to miss his talk. Frank was selected by the CIA to be a Project Pilot in the secret A-12 aircraft program, the precursor of the SR-71 Blackbird. Frank also flew 67 combat missions in the A-1 Skyraider, in Vietnam theatre of action. In all, he has 6,000 military aircraft hours and another 1,000 civilian flight hours. He’s a marvelous speaker and he’ll have you on the edge of your seats.

We’ve made arrangement with the Carson Valley Inn for accommodations. We’ll be in their motel section as the entire Minden Valley has been booked for a long time with many events. The rate is $75 for Thursday and $89 on Friday and Saturday (plus $13% TOT). Ask for the TMGA room block rate. The rate is guaranteed only through August 18^th, so you need to sign up soon.  You need to book with them directly. Contact the CVI at: 775.783.6629 or 1.800.321.6983, ext 1. Our block number is:  504778.

The scheduled agenda is:

Wednesday (optional) fly-in arrival. Local flying. Talk to the SoaringNV staff (1.775.782.9595) for some ideas if you’re not familiar with the area.  Dinner is on your own. There’s a restaurant at the Airport (Tail Dragger), one on the entry road (Flight), and many others in Minden and Gardnerville.

Thursday – Official start of the fly-in.  We’ll have coffee and donuts/fruit available for arriving pilots. Depending on who arrives when, we can set out some tasks, or just fun fly.

We have a scheduled dinner that night at the Carson Valley Country Club – which is a Basque restaurant. If you haven’t been to a dinner like this, the food just doesn’t stop, and is served family style. The price is $40 per person total, including Basque wine.

Friday –

8:30    Coffee at SoaringNV hangar

9:00    Welcoming by R. Pearl (TMGA), Laurie Harden (SoaringNV), Bobbi Thompson (Minden Airport).

9:10    Airport Operations (basic orientation) – Thompson/Harden

9:30    Weather Briefing – SoaringNV

9:45    Local soaring orientation – SoaringNV

10:15  Break 

10:30 – 4:00  Poker Run contest to local airports; lunch at one of the stops

     Dinner – Options:

(a) Lake Tahoe diner cruise - Delta Queen. The price is $75per person, all-inclusive (but excluding alcohol). This is a great trip that we’ve done before. The closeout on reservation is August 25th. We will leave for the Delta Queen about 5 PM.

(b) Tail Dragger or Flight, or other restaurant on your own.

Saturday –

8:30    Coffee at SoaringNV hangar

9:00    Group introductions

9:30    Weather Briefing – SoaringNV

9:45    San Francisco Bay tour briefing  

10:30  San Francisco departure – lunch at Half Moon Bay   (to get a sense of what we might see - weather permitting - check out a video made by one of our group (Sebastien Belanger:  link 

6:00    Presentation – Frank Murphy, A-12 pilot

7:00    Dinner – Tail Dragger (on Airport grounds), or Carson Valley Inn. Details to follow.

Sunday –

8:30    Coffee at SoaringNV

9:00    Grand Re-telling of HAF and Bishop flights

9:30    Weather Briefing – SoaringNV

10:00  Photo op/group picture

10:45  Fly-In conclusion

Logistics and Payments – Go to the Payments tab of the website, Events Pre-Payment tab. Here is where you’ll pay via PayPal or direct credit card for the registration fee and dinners.  Our dinners need to be pre-paid in advance. As noted above, the Lake Tahoe Dinner Cruise has a August 25th hard date; the Basque dinner has a September 5^th hard date.

Arrival Information - Minden can be a challenging airport, with many different types of aircraft movements (GA, corporate jets, gliders, helicopters). Check the airport directory for details. Once landed, please come to the SoaringNV office located facing the main runway (1138 Airport Road). Contact SoaringNV with any questions:  1.775.782.9595.

You will probably be met during your taxing by the friendly airport staff. We’re trying to get all our aircraft in one general location. Be sure to bring your own tie down rope/chains – just in case.

Special Notes:

1.  Registration fee is $20 per aircraft (including one pilot); $10 per additional pilot/participant. All fees to cover hard costs associated with the Fly-In.

2.    Aerial photo opportunity with Andy Robinson. Just picture your TMG set against the Lake Tahoe backdrop. This requires an early launch. Contact Andy at:    andy@bidandy.com. Cost is approximately $100, depending on the number of participants.

3.     When you arrive you will be given a Welcoming packet, including the Airport tie down form ($8/day).

4.     If you are interested in a BFR, or specialized training, i.e. thermaling in gliders (your ship or a pure sailplane), contact SoaringNV directly. Optimally this would be done before Friday so we can all enjoy the group fly-outs.

5.     Rental cars – this can be arranged through Hutt Aviation. They use both Hertz and Enterprise. They will have special rates, and you need to book directly with them:  1.775.782.8277.

6.     The Reno Air Races are September 14 – 18. Think about staying over to see some of the world’s best racers ply their trade. Thursday and Friday are the primary practice days, and the crowds are less, as is the pricing.

Finally, if you’re one of the TMGA’s non-USA members, consider coming to this slice of soaring paradise for a holiday. I’d be happy to help you plan your time with us for other area explorations.

Please contact me with any questions.

Richard Pearl
Fly-In Coordinator
1.916.715.9666

[Eric Greenwell]

On 7/22/2016 at 1:21 PM, Richard Pearl said:

Go to the Payments tab of the website, Events Pre-Payment tab.

 

On 7/22/2016 at 1:21 PM, Richard Pearl said:

Go to the Payments tab of the website, Events Pre-Payment tab. Here is where you’ll pay via PayPal or direct credit card for the registration fee and dinners

What I can find is Payments > Store > Events Pre-payments; unfortunately, there isn't anything to select in Pre-payments 

OK, if I click on Payments twice, I do go Events Pre-Payments, but still nothing to select.

[Steve Sliwa]

Yes, the payments part has not been loaded yet.  We are working to get credit card integration and we are a week or two away.  I will post when we can received credit cards.

[Steve Sliwa]

Hey team, payments is up!  The pre-registration (plane + pilot), attendance (other than registered pilots), Basque Dinner Thursday night, and Dinner Cruise Friday night have been loaded.  

Additionally, we finally got it worked to receive credit card payments.  Hoorah!

BTW if anyone would like to renew their memberships, that would be appreciated.   Thanks.

[Steve Sliwa]

The tickets for the Banquet with Speaker on Saturday Night has been added to the store.  We need a headcount no later than I week before (Sept 1).