Santa Barbara Cirrus Fly-In Report

The April, 2001 Santa Barbara Cirrus Fly-In was a great success! We had one Cherokee (piloted by Dan Yates, SR20 #259), one Cheetah (piloted by David Raab, SR20 #264), one Ford Focus (piloted by Roger Freedman, SR20 #266), and a '74 Plymouth Valiant (piloted by me, SR20 #266). The big surprise attendee was Big Alan K. himself, who entertained questions from the audience after lunch. We grilled him with tough questions, such as “will SR20s really go back into production this summer?”…to which the surprise response was that due to SR24 production ramp-up, all SR22 production will stop until August, 2002. All SR20 positions holders from #259 through #266 were given a special pre-certification opportunity to convert our contracts to an SR24.

The weather was great, the food was great, and we look forward to the next event!

Glenn Beltz

Really sorry that for family, work, and weather-apprehension reasons I had to scrub the trip, but my disappointment is offset by admiration at seeing Glenn the Engineering Whiz display his comedic talents!

Glenn was trained in engineering at Harvard – but he was also in the same class as Conan O’Brien. Coincidence? I think not. (And think about it for a second-- have you ever seen Glenn and Conan together at the same time? Glenn was hoping no one would notice this pattern.) Congrats to all the attendees.

(Mighty Alan K was safe and snug in Duluth during the fly-in. I know because I talked with him to do some last minute fact-checks on the book.)

Gee, shame I missed it! I was fresh out of rides from the Bay area - Paul cancelled because of WX and because his SR22 appears to have a leaking fuel tank, Kevin had family commitments (though he did restore his IFR currency with me riding shotgun this morning), and Wimp Conley has already spoken! Geez, you guys, what’s a little ice between friends? Probably wouldn’t even see it on that white paint! Next time I come, how about ordering better weather?? (and for the humor-challenged, a great fat :slight_smile: to you)

Seriously, I had fun staying with Kevin and Tina, thanks guys! And Walt seems determined to fly me down to SoCal later in the week - you’d think he would have had enough of flying by now!

I really enjoyed the Santa Barbara meet

today. Thats the most SRs Ive seen at a

meet,and Ive been to most of the shows.

But the big surprise for me was seeing

Allen K. there with the other factory

pilot in that SR2? with the new factory

color option and stripes.It looks great!

Im glad to be able to get first in line to

upgrade to the new SR24.Allen didnt have

many details and no price yet for the upgrade

He promises details soon.Thanks again to all

those Cirrus’s that showed up for the show.

    dan SIERRA SKY PARK

The April, 2001 Santa Barbara Cirrus Fly-In was a great success! We had one Cherokee (piloted by Dan Yates, SR20 #259), one Cheetah (piloted by David Raab, SR20 #264), one Ford Focus (piloted by Roger Freedman, SR20 #266), and a '74 Plymouth Valiant (piloted by me, SR20 #266). The big surprise attendee was Big Alan K. himself, who entertained questions from the audience after lunch. We grilled him with tough questions, such as “will SR20s really go back into production this summer?”…to which the surprise response was that due to SR24 production ramp-up, all SR22 production will stop until August, 2002. All SR20 positions holders from #259 through #266 were given a special pre-certification opportunity to convert our contracts to an SR24.

The weather was great, the food was great, and we look forward to the next event!

Glenn Beltz

The weather was great, the food was great, and we look forward to the next event!

Glenn, your humor is a great example of the hidden talents among us! I hope I find mine sometime in the next 30 years…

I can confirm that WX did indeed close in up here with freezing levels around 4000 and plenty of wet (icy?) cumulus at 3000 and above. As I drove back home from PAO an impressive rain shower opened up too. Yup, we northern California types are indeed a bunch of wine-sipping wimps.

Special thanks to CLyde for going out early morning with me as safety pilot to help renew my IFR currency. Doubtless he’s still trying to figure out why the light-to-moderate turbulence occurred only when I had the hood on.

Sigh Let’s try for another one in May when the weather’s nice enough even for us fair-weather types up here…

KEVIN

May sounds like a great time for another

SBA get-together.

GLENN

To assure a big turnout for the May SBA meet,

lets invite the PLYMOUTH VALIANT club to show

all there rare Mopars.Arent you the president

of the club? We can ask David Raab to call the
Cheetah Group to see if they can drop by.And of

course Ill bring my great-great grandfather

Homer “Rowdy” Piper.

By the way is that a rare slant-six in your

restored 74 Plymouth Valiant?
dan

PS It was a gorgeous trip going home yesterday.

The April, 2001 Santa Barbara Cirrus Fly-In was a great success! We had one Cherokee (piloted by Dan Yates, SR20 #259), one Cheetah (piloted by David Raab, SR20 #264), one Ford Focus (piloted by Roger Freedman, SR20 #266), and a '74 Plymouth Valiant (piloted by me, SR20 #266). The big surprise attendee was Big Alan K. himself, who entertained questions from the audience after lunch. We grilled him with tough questions, such as “will SR20s really go back into production this summer?”…to which the surprise response was that due to SR24 production ramp-up, all SR22 production will stop until August, 2002. All SR20 positions holders from #259 through #266 were given a special pre-certification opportunity to convert our contracts to an SR24.

The weather was great, the food was great, and we look forward to the next event!

Glenn Beltz

(Mighty Alan K was safe and snug in Duluth during the fly-in. I know because I talked with him to do some last minute fact-checks on the book.)

Hmmm… it must have been an Alan K. clone that told us about the SR24. Quite a package, with the FADEC diesel engine that gives a Mach 0.80 cruise on only 4 gallons per hour. The Category III heads-up display is also a nice touch.

Passengers will appreciate that the cupholders in the SR24 have been enlarged to fit a 64-ounce “Big Gulp” cup. (Cirrus was clearly thinking ahead on this feature, since a relief tube is provided for each seat.)

Dave, Dan, Glenn and I are all delighted with our #1, #2, and #3 SR24 delivery positions.

Then again, it could have been the glue we sniffed before lunch.

Are you guys serious about K being there? Can’t tell if you’re pulling our legs or not about that. But I’ll bite: Does anyone have a link to the new color scheme? Can’t seem to find it on the CD site.

Joe Mazza

But the big surprise for me was seeing

Allen K. there with the other factory

pilot in that SR2? with the new factory

color option and stripes.It looks great!

Are you guys serious about K being there? Can’t tell if you’re pulling our legs or not about that. But I’ll bite: Does anyone have a link to the new color scheme? Can’t seem to find it on the CD site.

Joe Mazza

JOE

Sorry about the spoof.I guess we that showed up at the SBA meet sunday are a little

sinicle .The turnout consisted of exactly the

people and vehicles as the original posting

by Glenn (less Allen K.)We were totally SKUNKED

No Cirrus at all.Just a lot of "Corp.Jets "

Dubbed SR24s.But all the position holders there

did have one thing in common.That is that we are

all within 6 places on our positions.So watch out the 259-266 club has risen.Anyone who wants to
join must fly to Santa Barbara in a non Cirrus

for no good reason at all or he/she must own

a Plymouth Valiant Slant 6.
As far as I know White and White are still the only color choices.

                dan (club treasurer)

colo

But the big surprise for me was seeing

Allen K. there with the other factory

pilot in that SR2? with the new factory

color option and stripes.It looks great!

I’m chagrined to think that everyone in the Cirrus tribe stood you guys up. But, hey, as one of those who did, the icing charts got my attention (after my previous encounter with an instant half-inch coating of ice near the Lake Hughes VOR at about 7000 fee). Let’s have a May encounter on an ice-free day and gather the planes.

I’m sorry to hear how bad the weather was up in the bay area. With the cumulus buildups, and freezing levels down to 3-4K, ya’ll weren’t wimps - you made the appropriate choice (btw, there’ll be de-ice boots on the SR24).

I second Kevin’s motion for another west-coast event in May.

Sigh Let’s try for another one in May when the weather’s nice enough even for us fair-weather types up here…

One of the things that stopped me was this:

http://adds.awc-kc.noaa.gov/projects/adds/icing/iida_060.gif

I think this is live-update link, so by the time you click on it, its display may have changed. But through most today it showed a bright red, “high-intensity icing risk” zone at elevations between 6k and 9k for most of the way between the SF area and SBA.

Speaking for the bay area wimps, jf

Yes indeedy, I am the proud owner of a 225 cu. in. slant 6 – an engine that will live forever. I’d feel much safer with that under the cowl of my SR20 than a TCM IO-360-ES (are you listening, Bob Mehrabian?).

By the way is that a rare slant-six in your

restored 74 Plymouth Valiant?

Rowdy Dan Yates wrote:

To assure a big turnout for the May SBA meet,

lets invite the PLYMOUTH VALIANT club to show

all there rare Mopars…

If Glenn brings his mighty and majestic '74 Valiant, Caroline and I will bring our '55 and '60 Nash Metropolitans (http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~airboy/our_metro.htmlclick here). I wonder if the tower would let us drag race on Runway 7/25?

Cheers,

Roger

Yes indeedy, I am the proud owner of a 225 cu. in. slant 6 – an engine that will live forever. I’d feel much safer with that under the cowl of my SR20 than a TCM IO-360-ES (are you listening, Bob Mehrabian?).

Amen. I learned to drive in a '64 Fury with a slant six and a pushbutton automatic. I called it the ‘typewriter transmission’. A guy never forgets his first car…

-Mike

Rowdy Dan Yates wrote:

To assure a big turnout for the May SBA meet,

lets invite the PLYMOUTH VALIANT club to show

all there rare Mopars…

If Glenn brings his mighty and majestic '74 Valiant, Caroline and I will bring our '55 and '60 Nash Metropolitans (http://www.physics.ucsb.edu/~airboy/our_metro.htmlclick here). I wonder if the tower would let us drag race on Runway 7/25?

Cheers,

Roger

ROGER

OK its on!The first meeting of the

SBVM show is in May.Ive talked to the

tower and they’ve agreed to rope off

rwys 15R and 15L for the day.I could

not get 25. It seems some upstart Plastic

airplane group will require rwy 25 that

day.Glenn is pres.Rodger is club Historian

(no one will get that one!).Allen K. has
offered to be NTA (Nash Technical Advisor).

And I of course am treasurer.As treasurer

I need everyone reading this to send me

$5000.00 and that assures your “position”.

Rodger and Carolines Red Metro has been

designated “parade car”.

As purely a side line we could invite the

West Coast Cirrus Group and see if by chance

any of them show.But of course we would have

to guarentee the weather to be ‘Severe Clear’

        dan #259 and waiting