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Hard to believe it's been 13 years. Date has been set at May 14, 2016. Aircraft start arriving as early as the hanger doors open (some are on the field) and continue till everyone arrives. I haven't been too active on the board of late, but been getting pinged so it was way past time to post. Our traditional fare of fabulous BBQ ribs will be served for a nominal donation along with an array of fixen's and some burgers and dogs. Rumor is we should get to see a full compliment of the Sonex fleet models (san's the Jet and B models) this year, so come out and see your favorite Sonex, Waiex, Zenos, Onex with a variety of powerplants, some of which even have the turning wheel on the correct end. Weather should be nice and cooler which is why this was moved up a couple of weeks.

Any questions feel free to email "jeffrylite@comcast.net".

Despite a low turnout for Sonex airplanes, due mostly to the short notice on the schedule, approximately 125-150 people came, saw and enjoyed the fantastic small town airport atmosphere. For those of you planning on hosting such an event, this is living proof that the amount of work you don’t put it is directly proportional to the amount of aircraft that show. This was the 13th annual event at Rio Linda and myself and Eric just seemed to have one thing after another on our plates and this just kept getting pushed back. We finally made a decision about 30 days prior and apparently changing the date forward by a couple of weeks put a crimp into multiple Sonex owners plans. Several were down for annual, several were constricted by that pesky “job” thing and all and all, it was just too little planning on too short of schedule.

That being said, there were 3 Sonex on the field along with more than a dozen other birds of which a large contingent were RV’s, a few GA classics, the sleek Glasair and an assortment of trikes and sport planes. A plethora of rides was given and this is where the charm of Rio Linda really started to show. One of the rides was given to a 72 year old retired dentist, whom was a 1400 hour pilot himself. His flight career had covered mostly Tri Pacers, 172’s and an occasional 182. His ride of the day was a recently finished (100+ hours fight time) and as yet unpainted RV-7 with a hefty power plant. He was given the stick (his first experience without a yoke) and flew more than half the time on the lengthy demo ride. He came back shaking with excitement and blabbering non-stop about the thrill, the performance, the climbing and the nimbleness of the airplane. While he was talking his palm went from his side to over his head accompanied with ZOOOOOM on multiple occasions. It was a true delight to hear the unbridled excitement and enthusiasm in his voice. His pilot sat smugly smiling as appreciative as the rest of us. He later confided that was by far the most fun ride he had ever given. That’s what this is really all about, sharing that joy and satisfaction.

The attendee’s scarfed up every rib, salad, chip and dog available along with the vast assortment of cookies and pies. There was still plenty of Sonex discussions but the winner of the day was that it was people enjoying flying, airplanes and the things associated with it. Rio Linda #14 will have much better planning. Mark your calendars, mid to late May 2017.

Hi jeff,
Just wanted to say thanks for all your work to set up this fly in. Thanks to eric scheppers also, he was the original organizer. I've been to every one of the rio linda fly ins. The local aviation community is obviously a fun and tight group. Always a fun time. Looking forward to next year!
WaiexN143NM
Michael