If the power is gone…or out…Dennis wants to know…will smoke signals work?[:P]
Sure. If we get invaded , I want Dennis on our team anyway. 
Tim,
Thanks for the very gracious offer. I will probably just come and watch. As someone who was paid to shoot, it is not that fun to me anymore. Now if you have some artillery pieces I could shoot, then I am all in. Would love to teach some COPA’s the Canoneer Gun Bunny Hop.
One war story for the group. Each year, you have to qualify on your assigned weapon in the military. For most officers that is a pistol. Until the 1990s it was a 45 cal M1911 Pistol. I was the operations officer of an Artillery Battalion at Fort Hood, TX. Each unit each year got an allotment of ammunition for training. A units readiness was determined by many criteria to the JCS every quarter. One factor was the % of assigned personnel qualified.
So here I was with all my officers on the range. Everything was going fine. The Young Officers were all doing well and their was great competition for who could shoot the best. The NCOs were our safety personnel and holding us to high standards. Then the Battalion Commander comes to qualify. It was towards the end of the day and ammo was getting low. There was enough for 4 rounds so I felt very safe. Surely the “Old Man” would nail it on the first try and also beat the young bucks. But no, he went through all the ammo and did not qualify. I quickly sent my Ammo Officer to the MP Company and got them to give him some more Ammo. They were the only ones that had AMMO not in bunkers far away. It cost me several cases of Lone Star Long-necks. “The National Bear of Texas” and the motto of my Firing Battery when I was their Commander.
Long story short, he qualified on the last attempt. I had to put all the Officers and NCOs under threat of death if they ever revealed this to the men. They never did. I guess some are born to shoot, some are taught, and some just can’t.
Thank you for your service
Thanks Jim.
Tom Hunse
I have been off COPA for about a month now so I just seen this morning that M13 will be held at KADS, my opinion this is a mistake due to how difficult and timely it is to get out of there. I agree about all the restaurants and hotels around the airport but this is my least favorite airport to fly into that I have been to across the US. Every time I have flown out of there I have been in a line behind 4+ airplanes trying to take off which has always taken 5 to 15 minutes for my turn. I can’t image having 300 additional Cirrus at the field. Take a look yourself on comments other people that have posted about KADS on other websites. How many planes normally fly into a migration event? Looking at google maps I don’t see where you could possible put over 100 Cirrus without stacking them together making it impossible to get to airplanes located in the back. Take my two cents how you want, but I would fly into KRBD, KTKI,KHQZ or KGPM before I flew into Addison.
Chad Ferrell
Chad Thank you for your comments.
We fly I an out of Addison 42 times a year on average since 2006.
Addison is a busy airport. Addison hosted the Bonanza Society convention with 160 planes and it went off without a hitch. The City and the FBO have secured ample parking for our event.
You will identify yourself as a " here for COPA" and they will lead you to your special parking.
There were 160 planes at Henderson NV at M12. Yes we had to wait a few minutes to depart #8 behind all the other Cirrus in line. We enjoyed that part as we checked out the planes next to us. ot emoclew era uoY
This new software is so odd. It locks up and the words you type come in backwards.
All of the other airports you mentioned are great and we have landed at them all. You still have the same busy Dallas airspace.
If you would you rather land their and then rent a car and drive to the Hotel, that is your choice. The way we have it set up, you land at Addison, Million air drives you to the Hotel. You save a drive in Dallas traffic. You save the time to rent a car. You save the time of returning the car after you drive back to your airport of choice.
Your first choice, RBD is in a less than affluent part of town. I have a friend who was robbed at gun point at a gas station near the airport.
Life is full of trade offs. ADS is 1 mile away from the Hotel. Addison is an upscale area of Dallas.
We did our best to find a place that would meet the needs of all of our members.
We apologize for not meeting your expectations. We hope that you will come anyway and enjoy the convention.
We are always looking for people to be on the planning committee. Maybe next year you can help.
Our Best, Always.
Tim Valentine
Chad: We just noticed that you are based at KGPM. That is a great airport. You realize that by recommending that airport to our members , that it is a 45 minute drive from the Hotel?
Chad,
IMO, this boat has sailed. Hotel contracts have to be made months/years in advance for large groups. I would recommend we save all our comments, criticisms, and raves for the post migration survey. I can tell you the entire migration committee reads every comment. (Hope all filled out their M12 surveys). It was very interesting reading all the surveys from M12. Many comments of the same topic were quite diverse. One attendee would say they had a great experience. The next not so great. While it is great to hear the positive comments, it hurts everyone on the committee to read a less than great as the whole committee strives to have everyone have the best experience of their lives.
This year is somewhat unique in that the Migration Chairman had to rally to find a whole new location when Nashville was not able to handle our criteria.
The vast requirements and criteria for a migration site are very complex. Airspace management is just one of a larger number.
It is now time for the committee to put together the best migration possible. I think having the logistics and venue we have this year will be great. The shortest runway to hotel distance of any migration. A hotel that can handle all our needs: convention, exhibition, dinners, fun, socialization, etc. A FBO and city that want us there.
Each migration site is unique. All come with their pros and cons. For me it is less about the time I have to sit on a runway for departure, than all the positive experiences I will have while there. If you don’t want to stand in a conga line on Sunday Morning at 08:00 AM. Wait an hour or two.
Hope to see you there and I look forward to reading your post event survey.
I know a few have already booked a room. I haven’t seen any info yet on package deals, or any sign up links yet. Did I miss it? I wanna make sure I’m there! [:D]
No Jeff, you have not missed anything. The RegOnline set up is just beginning. Migration is our most complex RegOnline event and it takes time to get it set up. Lots of data also has to be gathered. Migration Committee will post here when it is ready for registrations. Early registrations really help the migration team properly size the logistics. Hope COPA members will register earlier than M12. Good news looks like buses will be minimized. No 1.5 hour buss rides. [:D]
Our thanks to the committee for all of their efforts! If you have never organized something like this, you may not appreciate how much time it takes.
Linda and I look forward to meeting everyone there.
One question from someone who will be attending their first: What sort of activities are usually part of a Migration? Will there be courses and flying similar to a CPPP? We did our first of these at Houston/Conroe and thought it was geat!
Can I make a bbq recommendation?
There is a great bbq place nearby that caters big events. They are open to the public on Thursday and Friday at lunch time (10:30 to 2pm). The line is out the door and the wait can be 25 minutes or more. Sometimes they run out of meat. Lots of good reviews on yelp.
All I can say is it is the best bbq I’ve tasted.
I asked them about costs on catering a big event. Rough number was $20 per person. Any day except Thursday and Friday.
Just a proposal in case anyone is interested.
Paul : Thank you for the heads up. We have a minimum dollar figure we have to hit to get the conference space. Right now we are running all meals through the hotel to make our number.
If that changes we will consider your idea. We have to have BBQ at some point
Our Best, Always!
Tim Valentine
I knew I would ruffle some feathers with my comments so maybe I need to better explain myself. I joined COPA for mainly one reason and that is to learn from more experienced Cirrus and Non-Cirrus pilots from everything from hot starts to making cross country flights. I realized the ship as sailed and M13 is going to be at Addison when I posted my comments, but if anyone was on the fence about either flying themselves to the event or flying the airlines maybe I could have given them a little inside info that they would not have since they are not based around here. To me thats what this site is all about. Here is what I base my comments on.
First, I flew into Addison a few weeks ago on a Tuesday at around 2pm to drop of my SR22 with Clearstar ( New DOM Kevin May has been good to work with, returns calls and emails quickly) for my annual inspection, I had one of my school aircraft follow me over for the return trip back to KGPM and we had to wait for at least 20mins to take off, this was a Tuesday afternoon. I have had the same results every time I fly into that airport, granted I have only flown in there about 10 times over the past three years. I know at my airport early afternoon is slower than after 4 or 5pm when people that take flight lessons after work get started flying.
Second, I flew into Mobile, AL during the COPO event held there a few years ago on my way back from the Bahamas and the FBO told me that over 250 Cirrus flew in for the event. It was Saturday evening when I was there, I walked around checking out the other Cirrus as mine was being refueled and I could not believe all of the Cirrus aircraft being in one place. I was told some had already departed and I did not count them but there were still 100’s of Cirrus when I was there. After seeing all those Cirrus at Mobile, I can’t imagine where Million Air would park those numbers at Addison without having all of the Jet guys screaming.
Tim, If traffic is like I have seen it every time I go into Addison, you will not be 8th in line, it will be more like 28th in line if 200+ Cirrus aircraft show up.
Chad
We look forward to meeting you In Addison.
Our Best Always!
Tim Valentine
Am I? Is there a group code for the hotel reservation?
Don
Tim, same to you I look forward to meeting you again, I enjoyed the stories about your flying experiences you told when you came out to KGPM last year and meet with Isaiah and myself. Maybe we can grab some lunch one day, you will have to fly over here, hahaha.
Chad Ferrell
No, when the RegOnline is set up. It will contain all the hotel info as well as all the other info you will need to plan.