Q-talk 51 - May/Jun 1995 - index

MAY/JUN 1995
ISSUE NUMBER 51

QUICKIE BUILDERS ASSOCIATION

IT'S SUMM, SUMM, SUMMERTIME

by Jim Masal

 

Interesting numbers published in a trade paper reporting on Sun 'N Fun. Attendance was down 12% at this year's bash. Some 652,500 bodies passed through the turnstiles as compared to 741,700 in '94 while "only" 2,083 show planes were on hand compared to the 2,231 of last year. It's not like anybody there was gonna die of loneliness or anything with an average daily attendance of 81,000 or so.

While down in Lakeland, I was invited to motor on over to Winter Haven, about an hour away, to slobber over John and Cathy Touchet's ready-to-fly Q-2. It is a typical victory of persistence. Long time readers will remember a long ago photo of John and Cathy wrestling a wing out of the basement window of their former Fond du Lac home. And over the years a number of QBAers made side visits to the Touchet home during Oshkosh pilgrimages. These will be delighted to know that John is finally taxi testing (and may have even lifted off by now). The aircraft, mostly complete, got beat up in the moving van from WI to FL, but it is finished up nicely. While I OOOhhh and AAAAaaah over the Category II i.f.r. panels in the high dollar birds, I liked the clean simplicity of John's strictly VFR panel.

John and Cathy live in a development that is butted up against the mature Winter Haven airport. While not on airport property, the community is only 100 yds. away from access to several rows of suitable hangars. What a life. John and Cathy were surprised to learn that their new neighbor was Les Hildebrand and wife. Les has recently flown his Q-200 in the Kansas City area (I saw the video.)

John reported that there was another Q-2 based on the field as well. All this and Sun 'N Fun practically in the backyard too!

Yikes! I thought summer just started and I'm already slipping behind. After putzing around for almost a year on my hangar without slab I have recently been working 12-14 hour days trying to get ready for the reasonably priced concrete crew we've been looking for. Suddenly I had to put in the plumbing and sewage lines starting from zero knowledge. You may discover right here in these pages that I can make crap run UP hill. I'll keep you posted.

Meanwhile, Oshkosh is coming ready or not. These events are planned:

 

QUICKIE/DRAGONFLY DINNER: You asked for it so now let's have your support. Our dinner will be at the Oshkosh Downtown Hilton. Cash bar starts at 7:30 pm followed by dinner at 8:00. It will be buffet style, 2 meats, salad, veggies, fruits, dessert and liquids. Prepayment of $13.25 will be required at the Great Plains Aircraft Booth K209 in the Central Exhibit Building no later than 1:00 pm Thursday. We will have the banquet room to ourselves for the entire evening and will have a podium and P.A. system. This will be fun.

 

DRAGONFLY/QUICKIE BUILDERS FORUM: After a couple of years laying down on this, Spud (with an almost inexhaustible supply of enthusiasm) has graciously weaseled me into joining him and inviting you to this 8:00 pm Friday evening hootenanny of equal span canards. You know this conglomeration works well at Ottawa and the evening schedule gives us quite a bit of extra time without the competition of departing aircraft noise.

 

HOMEBUILDER'S HEADQUARTERS BACK PORCH MEETING: This runs from 9:00 until 10:00 am on Saturday morning. As usual we will catch up on everyone's progress and discuss the burning questions, experiences and opinions that you have.

 

CAMP DRAGONFLY: Spud invited all Q pilots and builders who value the economics of camping and/or who have limited baggage space to camp under the trees in a gorgeous area behind a private residence only a brief walk west of the airport toward the EAA Museum. Camping fees are shared and Spud drags along a couple of enormous Army tents to accommodate those without other shelter. Bring clothes and sleeping bag and you're all set. Spud Spornitz, 1112 Layton Drive, Olathe, KS 66061 (call directory assistance for his phone #) if you can give him any advance notice or catch him on the flightline.

 

OTTAWA QUICKIE/DRAGONFLY FLY-IN: It's not too early for preliminary planning for this one. September 1, 2 & 3, 1995. Labor Day Weekend. We'll have all the planes, fly-bys, rides and technical forums. We are planning a ladies shopping trip to one of the big outlet malls or maybe the famous Kansas City Plaza.

This event continues to grow ever year. There were 125 builders registered last year with 103 attending our wild and crazy awards banquet on Saturday night. You will have a great time and still have Sunday afternoon and Monday to get home! If you wanna talk Quickies, this is where you'll want to be.

Registration Notes: Many people wait until the last minute, so the registration forms will not appear until the next issue. Severely organized people, anal retentives or those rarin to go may send a SASE to Spud for an early registration form or just send him on scratch paper your name, address, phone, state flying or driving, how many attending and $10 a head for the overall event plus an additional $16 a head for the Saturday evening awards banquet at Ottawa University. Pre-registration is important for us to have an accurate count for the University ladies to whomp up adequate food. And nobody's ever yet left with room for more.

Other Articles In This Issue

LETTERS - by Tom Moore
CLASSIFIEDS - by Tom Moore
QUICKPIX - by Tom Moore

 


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