We had another great event at the Colorado "Mile-High Sonex Fly-In"!
Our second annual even went extremely smoothly with a great turnout of flying Sonex aircraft, numerous active builders in the greater Colorado area, and a few interested individuals who wanted to see Sonex aircraft up close and learn more about them.
By my count (admittedly incomplete), attendance included 5 flying Sonex aircraft, 1 Sonex project (with Turbo-AeroVee), approximately a dozen various other aircraft (T-28, L-4, Vari-eze, 5 RV's, and a few other GA types) and approximately 40 people. The furthest traveled award once again went to Ron Sipple from Kansas City who made the trip via Southwest to attend, with a close second to Robert Lennon of Sante Fe, NM who drove in.
The presentations were interesting and well received. Gary Motley gave a terrific talk on assembling and rebuilding the AeroVee, and fielded lots of questions for future Aero-Vee pilots eager for tips. John Gillis talked about his "Speed Cowl" mods, which may not have made his plane any faster but it sure looked fast sitting there! Carl Benda rand his Turbo-AeroVee to the delight of the crowd, and showed off how neat the installation is, and how great the turbo sounds.
The weather held out for us until after lunch, when clouds started building and people started heading out to beat the coming rain. Carl Benda once again brought his original VW Minibus with mobile BBQ stand and party wagon to cook lunch, and aside from a ceramic pot of baked beans that exploded on the grill, lunch was great.
I'd like to extend my thanks to everyone who helped put on the event, including special thanks to Sonex pilots John Gillis in his Red and Yellow "Speed Cowl" Waiex, Gary Motley who flew his well-traveled AeroVee Sonex "Hound Dog", John Lingwall is his highly polished Jab-powered Sonex, Mike Niedenthal in his vinyl-wrapped Sonex still in Phase I flight test, and Carl Benda who towed his wing-less Sonex fuselage to show off his newly installed Turbo-AeroVee. My Sonex "Checkmate" rounded out the stable.
Next year's event looks to continue the great turnout and include several other Sonex projects that might make the switch from project to airplane by then. I hope to see everyone back again in 2016, and look forward to meeting some new faces and future Sonex builders as well!
More details, pictures and videos can be found on my website.
http://www.sonex604.com/mile_high2015.htmlJeff Shultz
Colorado Springs, CO
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