UK Cirrus Fly-in 21st September EGBT

Over the last week or so I’ve been trying to contact all the UK cirrus owners to see if everyone wants to get together for a fly-in and a natter.

I’ve also spoken to Turweston, where we get most of our engineering done, and the view from the Owners and the Airfield is that we are ON!

So initial arrangements are:

Saturday September 21st, 10am to 4pm at Turweston.
Canteen will be open, but they will also lay on a special lunch for us if we want and arrange it with them.

The airfield may also be having an “open day” which will add to the fun!

Normal landing fees are £7 or free if you re-fuel.

I’m starting this thread to help get the word out, as I know I have not yet contacted everyone. I’d also like suggestions as to activities or accomplishments for the day.

If anyone has any ideas or contributions to make please reply, UK/Near Europe guys can you come? What do you want from the day?

US guys - any ideas from what you have done before “over the pond”?

Cheers

Ian

Hi Ian,

Some things that I’ve seen go on at other UK fly-ins are:

A prize for the best presented aircraft (decided upon and awarded by someone independent, but who knows about aircraft) - or you give each owner one vote (but not his/her own).
A award for the ) Owner who has flown the farthest.
Normally a certificate of attendance is handed out.
Establish a do’s and don’t list for all things Cirrus UK (e.g. there might be some things that you can or cannot do in the UK with a Cirrus in the UK, that is different from in the States.
Generate a list of good places to go for accessories (e.g. headsets, and cleaners for upholstery!).
Any of the UK/Near Europe Pilots able to perform aerobatics? (long shot… the field might not be happy!).
Offer flights to potential UK buyers? (or SR 22 owners demonstrate to SR 20 Owners and vv).
An equivalent of a car boot sale.

How’s that as a starter for ten? If I think of any more I’ll let you know.

Regards,

In reply to:


US guys - any ideas from what you have done before “over the pond”?


Ian,

Some random ideas - things we did or wished we did (and some we wished we hadn’t done):

  • Name tags are useful. I’ll email you a sample.

  • If possible, have a sign telling people on landing where to gather, whom to call, or just say “Info in the Office” or similar.

  • Have someone act as central coordinator; publish their mobile phone number.

  • Sounds as though you have a canteen lunch; other group activities are nice if you can swing one.

Wish I could join you!

Mike.

Mike and I met up today at Turweston and had the opportunity to have a quick chat about the day.
I met another Cirrus owner for the first time!

One thing seems to be clear to me, the event will be of value to us even without much planning.

Without effort the conversation flowed with issues like:

  1. Squawk List comparisons on our aircraft
  2. Avionics Setups
  3. Accessories (Music, Bug removing, Sun Screens, Tyre pump up gadgets, headset storage, ground start equipment, upgrade options etc)
  4. Safety, (how many engine failures do you think have happened in UK airspace in Cirrus aircraft and what were their causes?)
  5. Sharing experiences, routes, places to visit, mistakes, etc.

We will not agree on everything however, after a flight together Mike was insistant that my good landings were attributed to the design of the aircraft, while I was insisting it was pilot skill and practice, and the result of bashing out nearly 130 hours in 5 months. We failed to resolve this issue! [;)].

Given more notice, Turweston said that we would have got a brass band and a marquee, however we are catching them at short notice, so we can expect a section of grass to line up the planes for the photo.

It will be a fun day.

Ian

The best laid plans of mice and men…

We now have some confirmed attendees namely:

Paul Rushton - Cirrus Historian and Logistics Organiser for the event
Graham Barnes - Position Holder UK SR22
Mike Glazer - SR20 N184CD
Andrew Cummins - SR22 N741CD
John Prichard - SR22 N7UK
Ian Valentine - SR20 N147CD
Bill Middendorp - Cirrus Enthusiast, Importer, Friend of us All. (General Enterprises)
Joe Kuttappa - Owner of Akki Aviation Services, for our UK maint questions and answers, and Judge of “Best Turned Out Aircraft”

Mike Glazer will act as our local liason with the EGBT crew, Paul will organise logistics. It is likely that:

o We will get the cafe to organise a Buffet for us over lunch, for which there will be a fixed each. Please let Paul know if you are bringing guests for lunch in your planes.
o We will probably meet under Paul’s Gazebo, which will be put up near the Cirrus parking area, you might want to bring a “fishing style” dech chair to sit on, so we don’t steal all the plastic chairs from the cafe.
o Joe will judge “best aircraft”
o We may ask Bill to be the “Anne Robinson” and ask us questions about our own aircraft, quiz style, to work out which of us is “The Weakest Link”

Unfortunately there is a possibility that I may drop out. Its a long story, but although I have lived in London for nearly two years now, I still have wife and kids in Scotland. Normally I try to visit every weekend, and I thought this weekend I wouldn’t need to go because she was taking them to her father’s 70th birthday. But - She now wants to go alone and I will need to look after the kids in Scotland for the weekend. If the kids are up for it and the weather okay I may make a day trip from Scotland. I hope so.

Mike and Paul are okay to carry on with the event even if I don’t turn up.

Invite other Cirrus owners & pilots that you know that may not yet have heard!

Ian

Paul

Great ideas, so where do I pick up up so you can come along and organise it all???

:wink:

Ian

Ian,

Funny that… I thought you might say something on those lines whilst I was typing the message!

I’ll give it a go if you like!

The nearest airport is Hurn, next is Compton Abbas, both are a bit out of your way. Otherwise I could hop in the car and meet you at Turweston!

Regards,

OK Ian, I’ll have a go at organising the fly-in…

As Mike Radomsky has suggested, I’ll be the central contact point, I will e-mail you my telephone numbers. I’ll need to know who has been contacted so far including a contact at Turweston.

I’ve got a green and white striped Gazebo that we could take along to act as the contact point (assuming the folk at Turweston say it’s OK).

I’ll mail Mike and see if we can get some brochures and ‘extras’ catalogues from Cirrus to hand around.

Next I’ll start to design a certificate for all that are going to attend.

Can you find the e-mail address/Contact details for General Enterprises in Eelde, as they might be able to help with some of the contact details of European owners. We could also do with ‘borrowing’ or designing a large-ish sign to attach to the aforementioned gazebo.

Do you have a contact in Turweston who might be persuaded to judge the best turned out aircraft on the day? A problem with this will be what do we give as a prize and how do we fund it?

Do we want to publicise this event outside COPA? Do we want to get non Cirrus owners along to have a look (my commission rate on sales is very reasonable!!!)?

What do we do if the weather makes a mess of things?

There must be bags more things that need to be sorted, but that will do for starters!

Regards,

Paul

I should have added a [;)] to my last post, I was genuinely offering you a lift up, but not fishing for you to organise it all!

However you are a very welcome helper, as I really do not have much time to do too much except send out a few emails (and fly) …

Will your Gazebo fold up and fit in the back of my plane? Great idea!

I’ll be guarenteed to loose the best turned out aircraft competition, as I have real problems with all the insects I keep running into… I’ve just ordered some special stuff that may allow me to wipe them off after every flight, but is sure hard with just a sponge and bucket.

Mike Glazer has an unfair advantage, as his SR20 is hangered at Turweston, and he doesn’t have to fly it there.

I suggest Joe from Akki Aviation could be a good judge, if he doesn’t want to come in on a Saturday, then perhaps Chris or one of the EGBT crew would help.

I’ve told General Enterprises about it and they have suggested Eelde for a European wide version in the spring. I’ll send you the contact details privately. Although there is an “arms length” relationship between COPA and Cirrus (inc GE in Europe) they may suprise us.

I don’t have a problem with Cirrus non-owner fans turning up, thats why I posted this on the “public” section. I don’t think we need to advertise more than the COPA site, hey, if they don’t check in here, they can’t be that interestested!

Lets talk soon.

Ian

I’ll be guaranteed to lose the best turned out aircraft competition, as I have real problems with all the insects I keep running into… I’ve just ordered some special stuff that may allow me to wipe them off after every flight, but is sure hard with just a sponge and bucket.

Ian,

The bugs in southern California seem to come off pretty easily with just water and a cotton cloth. Are British bugs made of more tenacious stuff?

My guess is that it’s your mosquitoes that are the problem. Since they feed on human blood, they’re more robust and harder to remove as a result of the British diet (see below)…

Cheers,
Roger



Roger, You may be right, in Scotland the diet is as shown plus “deep fried mars bars” (A mars bar is a chocolate and caramel candy bar!).

We have little “midges” small biting insects that annoy the tourists in the Summer. However all insects seem hard to get off, a sponge and water certainly does not work, they are spattered and dried on flat!

I’ve resorted to using a used scouring pad from the house, and the slight abrasiveness works once the bugs have been soaked. I’ve also ordered a bunch of “washwax” after reading previous posts here on the forums. (www.washwax.com) however the Shipping to the UK is more that the product costs (nearly!)

It might be something to do with the fact my plane is 2 years old, do you think that as the aircraft gets old, the surface may be more suceptible to things sticking to it?

Anyway, I’ll add US/UK squashed bug comparison to my list of things to learn at CPPP next month… [;)]

Ian

Ian,

I can’t imagine the UK bugs being worse than the Indiana bugs. I keep a bucket of water/car-wash mix in the hanger and use a terry covered sponge right after every flight. Since I don’t have water at the hanger to rinse, I just let it dry. The bugs come off with slight rubbing, never had to come even close to using any kind of scrubber. Do you clean it immediately after flying?

Paul

Ian

When you are down at Turweston speak to Mick Allen. He has some special white pads for cleaning insects off. It is slightly abrasive but not enough to do harm to the paint surface. I forget what it is called . I am presently in France on holiday (this is just to make all you Yankees jealous) but will check next week when I get back. I have been using it for some time and bugs come off almost without any rubbing. I even use to to polish the spinner.

Paul

That might be my problem, I tend to clean before a flight, and am normally in a rush afterwards…

BTW what is a “terry” that you cover your sponge with. Is it a babies nappy (diaper)?

Ian

Mike

I’ll do that. (Who is Mick Alan?)

The weather is fantastic this weekend, all across the UK and France. Not to mention the US guys, I’m jealous of you sunning your self in France, are you at the Vendee air park?

I’m stuck in scotland with my plane in London, (had to go BMI this weekend, as the Scottish weather was poo on Friday!). Still I’m off now to take a Tomahawk up. Any plane is a good plane on a day like today…

In case anyone wants to see the local Flying area to the west of scotland, I enclose a picture, Taken from Largs looking towards Arran.

Ian

Hi Ian,

We carry a spray bottle of distilled water and a stack of terry cloth rags. Giving a quick once-over to the leading edges after a flight works well. If I’m feeling enthusiastic, I also do the cowl, wheel pants, and the flap track covers.

“Terry” refers to terry cloth, the nubby stuff that’s used for hand towels (wash cloths). It has a texture as shown to the right. A nappy works as well, though the terry cloth has a bit more “tooth” which seems to facilitate removing insects, bits of Mars bars, etc.

Cheers,
Roger

Ian
Mick Allen runs the paint shop at Turweston. Excellent person if you ever need a repaint. Yes, I am at the Vendee Air Park. Outside it is beautiful weather and we were due to return to the UK today, but very tempted to stay another day!

Roger - thanks,
Even if the mars bars are deep fried? [;)] I’ll give it a go…

Ian,

Whilst on the subject of “toothy” cloths, I couldn’t resist sharing a poem by the late, lamented http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,3604,659215,00.htmlSpike Milligan:

English Teeth, English Teeth!
Shining in the sun
A part of British heritage
Aye, each and every one.

English Teeth, Happy Teeth!
Always having fun
Clamping down on bits of fish
And sausages half done.

English Teeth! HEROES’ Teeth!
Hear them click! and clack!
Let’s sing a song of praise to them -
Three Cheers for the Brown Grey and Black.

Cheers,
Roger

Roger,
Thank you so much for reminding me of one of my favorite poets and authors. How could anyone NOT like someone crazy enough to write things like:
Knees
Always keep your knees in front!
Don’t let them slide behind!
Knees that get behind you
Are difficult to find!
(You can read the whole poem here.)
Or…
Bump
Things that go ‘bump’ in the night
Should not really give one a fright.
It’s the hole in each ear
That lets in the fear,
That, and the absence of light!
Or…
Pigeons

Tis due to pigeons
That alight
On Nelson’s hat
That makes it white.

(You can read these and more at here.)

Wow… you’ve got me started… time to go and dig out my old Milligan books!

Mike.