by Greg Kochersperger
On the weekend of October 18th, several Chapter 168 members participated in the 23rd Annual Safety Seminar and Splash-In at Cedar Mills Resort on Lake Texoma. Bruce and Mary Ann Fuller with their daughter and granddaughter, Brad Roberts and his granddaughter Claire, Carl Walker, David Cheek, Russel and Amanda Neeper, Don and Linda Christensen, Jay and Carol Pratt, and myself were all in attendance. It was a good crowd of Splash-In veterans and a few newcomers. Brad and Russel flew in on Friday in their respective RV7s. Bruce and Mary Ann arrived in their motor home which served as good home base for all of us. Carl and I both drove in and tent camped on adjacent sites.
I arrived on Friday afternoon in time to set up my tent and make it over to the flight line to see some of the afternoon arrivals. A pleasant mix of high wing Cessnas, a couple Cherokees and Bonanzas, a few RVs and at least one RANS. Walking up to the hangar to register, I ran into a familiar face – it was one of my camping neighbors from the Ranger Fly-in just a couple weeks ago. You quickly realize that these events pull a lot of the same people together which is what really makes them so much fun as you get to see your extended family aviation family. After watching a few more arrivals, it was time to head back to the hangar for a nice Mexican dinner with good fajitas and even better frozen margaritas.
I got an early morning start thanks to the local roosters that started crowing at about 4am and seemed to repeat on a 10-20 minute cycle, like a snooze button – it was tough to sleep in. I caught the sunrise, made some coffee and headed to the safety seminars in the heart of the campgrounds. The seminars are presented by the FAA Safety Team (FAAST) and covered some informative topics. Most sessions were standing room only. Most of the material was familiar to me, but I realize that I only recently got my private and the topics were in line with modern private pilot syllabus. For the numerous folks in the room that have been flying for 30, 40, or even 50 years though, the concepts of risk management, single pilot resource management, and angle of attack stall mechanics might deserve a little refresher. I suppose that is the mission of the FAA team – to keep spreading the word and keep us all up to date with the latest theories and techniques to keep us safe. All the material was very well received and good discussion typically filled the formal presentations.
Bruce and Mary Ann hosted lunch as they have done in years past. Mary Ann made her delicious “West Virginia” chili along with some brats and hotdogs. After lunch, I went back out to the flightline, and it had really filled in. The south side of the runway was packed with planes and about a third of the north side was parked with planes too. New arrivals included a very nice Howard, a Beech 18, and a very interesting little green ultralight turned some heads.
Following the afternoon FAA sessions, we had a little down time to just socialize and enjoy the wonderful weather. The Neepers departed along with a good number of the other airplanes in the afternoon. Those of us that stayed headed over to the Pelican Landing for dinner. German style dinner with more brats, some chicken, potatoes and cobbler. Brian Schiff gave a talk recalling an inflight emergency he had in a 727. After his talk, they raffled off several items including some nice baskets and several fishing trips. For the second year in a row, Don Christensen cleaned up with multiple raffle wins.
What a wonderful weekend. A good gathering of airplanes and great people. And most importantly, the weather was just perfect everyday. For those of you who have not camped with your plane, or not camped at all, this is a really easy event since most of your meals are provided. You just need a tent, a sleeping bag, and a sky full of stars. I hope to see more Chapter 168 folks at the next one.
