gooseF22

For those who left early, the event was capped off at the last 30 min by the flight of Jeff's big Lightning, and Frosty's F-100. It was a beautiful site. more pics to follow later. all went well.

Gary, Bob, and crew. It was a spectacular event!! the landing strip was long but ever now an again, a challenge due to the taxi lights. I think guys got better. by sat evening, most were nailing the centerline over and over. I know for myself, it made me alot better, and I had a blast.

Get your date for next year out early and we will be there, and thanks to the FBO owner for his superb hospitality, it was cool to just be immersed in aviation for a few days, RC, Jets, Heli's, and such, including the full scale jets, heli's, and the T-28!!

It was really nice to see the teamwork going on all over the place. everyone was helping everyone when needed.

thanks again Thunder crew!!

F-16 Skywalker

Looks like everyone had a great time, couldnt make it as planned this year but count me in for next year.

Gary Jefferson

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Goose, since you mentioned the taxi lights we want to let everyone know now that they will NOT be there next year. The airport manager, Rich Bevis, who I think almost everyone met throughout the weekend discovered that they can be removed without much problem.

Rich has only taken over the airport as the manager recently and has never had the occasion to remove one of the taxi lights so he just assumed they could not be removed when I asked sometime back and I knew nothing about taxi lights. Unfortunately, one of the guys hit one over the weekend and it broke away but when Rich looked at it last night he realized they can be removed.

So, anyone who was worried about the taxi lights can come on out next year and be comfortable on landings. We feel bad about the few guys who had the misfortune of hitting one of the lights but be assured they will NOT be there next year!!

We will get some of our pictures posted ASAP...Gary

Jet Lag

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Gary, I posted earlier what a great time I and everyone else had,but forgot to thank one person who never stopped running all three days and that person is your wife Sandy.She deserves a lot of credit for this event being what it was

Gary Jefferson

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You are absolutely correct, we could not have done it w/o Sandy. She spent all day Thursday just pre-cooking the food for the dinner on Saturday evening and all of the other things she did to help keep us organized throughout the event. You are not the only one that noticed how hard she was working, I had many comments.

The last day of the event on Sunday I surprised her when she got to ride in the second seat on the full scale T-28 that made a few passes down the runway for us. I told her that we were going to go look at the T-28 and then when she got down there the pilot asked her if she wanted to sit in the seat to check it out; it wasn't until he started buckling her seat belt that she realized she was going for a ride. She got to do loops, rolls, stalls, and even fly a little bit I think.

She didn't quit smiling for the rest of the day!! Gary

Wren Turbines USA

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Gary, Sandy and the whole Thunder group.....THANK YOU!

It was so refreshing to attend an event that had ZERO politics.

The hospitality and thoughtfulness to the pilots:
Golf carts
Porta potties clean and close by
RV provisions
Food concessions
Airport managers cooperation
Greg Poppel on the PA

Sandy, make Gary take you out to dinner every night for a week, you've cooked enough!
To the airport manager...dude...you are a hoot!
To all of my friends that I hung out with...it sure was fun.
Goose, thanks for the room at the "no tell motel"

Gary, my offer stands for next year buddy....

Thanks again

Bob_B

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I want to thank everyone who participated and worked in the event!
It was a huge success.
The airport management bent over backwards to ensure we had a good time.
They even extended the flying hours until dark to make sure everyone had the opportunity to fly as much as they wished.
These guys love aviation!

Thanks to all of the HAWKS members that gave up four days of their personal time.
Sandy and Gary you are a great team.

I had a great time working the flight line, the pilots and spotters made it easy.
I'm exhausted but will bounce back.
See you next year.

Bob_B

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Now Rich, you know that is not me in post but Terry Jacobs who did an awesome job of flying his F-16 and had the most flights of any pilot.
Bob

Bob_B

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Dom you and Rich are just too funny YOU missed a great event and the only sleeping I did was in the hotel room.
See you at the DOGS show.
Bob

Gary Jefferson

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We are looking for the owners of a couple of items left at the jet meet.

1) We found what appears to be a PST ground support unit (a box with a cable attached that says PST on it).

2) While recovering parts from a crash we found parts from a previous crash which we believe to be the nose wheel/strut for the electric BVM F-80 that crashed. I don't remember the pilots name but if anyone knows him please let him know we have his parts.

We just need to know who the owners are and we will ship these parts to you guys.

Thanks, Gary

rcguy!

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Gary AND crew:
GREAT JOB! Good food, good site, good weather, good times!
Thank You and all the staff for a never to forget weekend.
Did I mention the great pilots prizes? Everything from a DX7 radio, receivers, Electrodynamics jet goodies, Jetronics valves, to very generous discount gift certificates for Wren turbines. The seized up JJ turbine pilot really made out on that one!

Is a turbine a 4 cycle engine? The Hawks do a great job closer to home too!

Dave Rigotti

jet76

My Feedback: (33)

Ron, You said it......Zero politics. Gary, Sandy, Bob and the whole Hawks crew did a great job. And the airport manager.....Come on, someone please tell me where else are you going to go where the manager is as laid back as this guy. Hey.... Besides a couple scuffs on the wing tips I had a great time. With out a dout this event is here to stay!

Ben

causeitflies

Great job guys!!
I didn't know what to expect for the first year, but after that, WOW! Now what's next year gouing to be like? I don't know how it could be any better but I'm sure it will be

speed run

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Bob, Gary, Sandy, and forsure the thunder crew,
Hats off ,great event and great airport crew to allow us to use this site. Guys with $ 4.00 a gallon gas, Gary and crew did a first class job and managed to keep the cost way down for the pilots. Lets see two meals and 10 gallons of jet- A for a $30.00 pilot fee. AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YOU GUYS HAVE RAISED THE BAR EVEN HIGHER for events. Oh yea i got plenty of FLASH time also . Bob great job on the flight line and the ride Terry and yourself provided for me Friday so Andrea and Garrett could go to the Zoo.
Top Notch

Mike Kirby
Blue Grass Jet Jam

Patrick Frost

My Feedback: (88)

Thank you Gary and Sandy for Hosting one of the best 'no nonsense' Event's I have attended yet!!! Where else do you get 10 Gallons of FREE Jet-A, a Free dinner on Friday night and a Free dinner on Saturday night, tons of Prizes, no crybabies, awesome flight Boss, Full RV hookup park, Children's Park, Full use of Hangar for overnight storage, awesome announcing by Greg Poppel, excellent Club to back the CD up, and the MOST IMPORTANT THING.................The Airport Manager (Rich) and Assistant Manager (Tom) were right there with us EACH day asking us constantly if we needed anything and asking us what they could do next year to help Gary and Sandy make it better!!! How do you make a perfect Event better???? Was this whole thing a dream?

Saturday Evening Rich and Tom (Airport Manager and Assistant Manager) asked us if we would like to fly later than the posted times each day and we said, "Yes"............. The next thing I knew we were flying until almost dark. (I got 6 flights Saturday). Rich was so pumped up he asked us to do a couple more flights and we agreed. After hours was a blast with Tom and Rich and all the "late night bros" as we sat around our imaginary campfire and put down the brewskies and told some jokes. As always our boy Paul Blanchard aka "Big Daddy Long Stroke" kept us entertained with jokes and stories. (that's worth the trip alone)


Sunday late afternoon Rich and Tom let Jeff Holsinger and I fly on the full scale runway and I decided to take the F-100D for it's first flight with the new 12X system installed. The Hun flew like a dream on 2.4 Ghz with no comparison to the ole 10X radio and doesnt get much more real as it flew by with the fully functional lighting system shining brightly in the late afternoon sky.................as she landed I popped the canopy switch and it was all smiles for me. Once I landed the Airport Dudes gave me a high five and it was time to sip a couple more brewskies and put away the birds. (I managed 9 flights Sunday with the BobCat as well as the F-100 flight and pulled off a whopping 13 Bomb drop runs with the Camo Bobcat all weekend) [&:]


Guys..........................this is the kind of "connection" we can all learn from as Gary and Sandy have hit a home run with this one! They have set the bar high and made a good repoir with the Community and Airport Personel. We even got front page of the local newspaper with a huge article to boot! The good ole days of co-existing with Full Scale runways can happen once again. I truly felt that I was dreaming all weekend and I WILL RETURN next year with the family!

Thanks again to Gary, Sandy, Rich and Tom and the Club! You guys are most certainly Family to me.


-Frosty

rcpete347

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Well said Frosty.
Rcpete

eardoc

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OK, here we go, in the order taken. Starting with Friday

eardoc

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and...

eardoc

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and then...

eardoc

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Still from day 1, Friday

eardoc

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A preview of day 2 Pat Frost and his Bombin' Bobcat

smooth sailing

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Wow!!!! What an event!! I wasn't sure whether or not Patty and I would be able to make it but I'm glad we did. An awesome flying site, free fuel, dinner and all the fun you could stand... definately on the calender for next year. And to top it off, I got a chance to maiden my new Fei Bao F-5. A big thanks to Gary, Sandy and everyone involve for making this such a great event.

Paul

Gary Szetlak

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Although everything that can be said about the event seems to have already been said I also wanted to say thank you to Bob, Gary and Sandy and all of the Hawks members for putting on a great event. Gary, also PLEASE convey my appreciation to Rich and Jack for all they did to make our weekend so enjoyable. The facilities were perfect and everyone went out of there way to make us feel at home.
Thanks again for a great event!
Gary Szetlak

Roger Shipley

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Don't you just love it when a plan comes together especially when it brings a new event to our growing hobby. Congrats Gary and Sandy for establishing another opporunity for us to enjoy our RC Jet Community. Roger

ghost_rider

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Gary


Would you mind posting the airport manager's e-mail addy here so we can write and personally thank him for all he did to make this event successful?