West Coast Touring Motor Glider Fly-In

Twelve motor gliders and twenty spectators attended the First Annual
Touring Motor Glider Fly-In at Minden Airport, August 21-23, 2009. The
event’s goals were to have fun, learn from each other, see other motor
gliders, and to have fun. The goals were accomplished, and then some.

Organizers were Richard Pearl and Ray Buhr. Logistical support
(meeting space, facilities, and a Saturday night BBQ) was provided by
SoaringNV, a fixed-based operator on the field. Participating aircraft
we Grob 109 (2), Ximango (2), Pipistral (4), Taifun (2), Lambada
(1), and a ASH26E. Pilots arrived from Washington state, southern
California, and Nevada. There were several last minute cancellations,
primarily due to equipment issues. Additional “spectators” included
pilots who were looking to enter the motor glider arena (one from
Colorado) or just had an interest in the motor glider concept.

For Minden in the late summer, the weather was definitely
uncooperative on both Saturday and Sunday. This didn’t stop the two
Ximango’s, however, from launching and hitting 16,000 feet.

Friday saw everyone arrive at various times. Dinner that night was at
a Basque restaurant. If you haven’t been to this type of restaurant,
it’s family-style seating accompanied by food that seems never to end.
Lots of fun!

Saturday began with presentations on mountain weather by Doug
Armstrong (the local NWS weather expert), John (Bumper) Morgan
discussing mountain flying techniques, and Fred LaSor of SoaringNV
educating us on wave flying. After that, it was a “show & tell” as we
inspected the individual aircraft. The Pipistral dealer opened up his
box trailer to display his two aircraft. One of the attendee’s
Pipistral won the EAA CAFÉ Foundation’s efficiency prize; second place
was won by the Lambada attendee. A few of the aircraft launched but
for several of us locals it was just a day to hang out (hey, we cal
always get to 16,000 feet around here).

Saturday night saw the SoaringNV-hosted BBQ. Owner Laurie Harden,
partner and Chief Pilot Fred LaSor, and the flight and office crew
cooked up a storm. They run an outstanding shop offering a full range
of flight instruction (basic, X-C, wave) and equipment rental.

Sunday morning opened with a combination of overcast with occasional
rain. It cleared about 11 AM and the aircraft started departing. The
intended fly-over was cancelled.

Everyone certainly appeared to have a great time extolling the virtues
of their aircraft, and telling the usual pilot lies. The fly-in
originated as a Grob 109 gathering, but quickly evolved into a more
inclusive event. We are, therefore, recasting it as the “Touring Motor
Glider Fly-In” in preparation for the Second Annual event (check out
the Yahoo group site: ),
exact time and place unknown at this point. Perhaps we can use Minden
as a staging point and then move onto another location…suggestions
welcome.

See you next year!

Richard Pearl, Ray Buhr