Anyone flying to Arlington Air Show, July 10-12?

[Gunther]

Anyone flying their Sonex/Waiex/Xenos/Onex to Arlington this year? I haven't been to the show for many years, hope to see some of you there.

Gunther

[LarryEWaiex121]

Gunther,

I'm off to Arlington from Coeur d Alene, ID first thing in the morning on Friday. Should be on the show ground no later than 9 AM if plans go off smoothly. Two hour direct flight.

Larry
Waiex 121YX, 3300 Jabiru, Dynon Skyview, 388 hrs

[Sonex1462]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1405111496.134543.jpg (159.46 KiB) Viewed 4921 times

Larry, thanks for bring your beautiful Waiex to Arlington!


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[LarryEWaiex121]

Attended Arlington as scheduled and all in all I was pretty disappointed with the show. :(
I've been attending Arlington since waaaaay before I ever had a plane to fly in with. This show used to be a fantastic representation of what was interesting and exciting with aviation. Not so much anymore.
I used to be a "foamer" when it came to the Ultralight section. I couldn't wait to get over there and see what was new and exciting.
The answer today is nothing. Only dealers was one powered parachute guy, Highlander represented by Wild West , and Earthstar's Mark Bierle. Sorry if I misspelled the guys name. That was it!
On the main line, there was Vans with the RVs, Kit Fox with one airplane, Piper with a Meridian. That was it for the airplane guys. A couple of guys had their private planes representing kit manufacturers that didn't actually have a presence. Heli-cycle was there with their turbine single place helicopter kit.
In the area of vendors I was particularly dismayed. Lockwood had a Rotax 912 on display and handing out catalogs. Wicks didn't show at all and Aircraft Spruce had a display of goods that would fit in the back of a full size pickup truck. Hmmmmm?
The normal vendors for stuff like hardware, drill bits and specialty tools like micro-stops, etc, were no where to be seen. No Miller or Lincoln welder guys.
Food vendors. Oh boy! If your not into deep fried everything or mediocre Bar b que then there was nothing to eat.
My original intention was to stay for both Friday and Saturday. After the heat and lack of satisfactory eats, I was completely ready to bail out on Saturday morning.
I needed fuel and called ground to get the fuel truck. NO fuelers until 9AM. Being somewhat in disbelief I launched to Harvey some 15 miles south. After a quick 12 gallon fillup, I was airborne and headed back to Coeur d Alene by 8:30. and landed in Coeur d Alene some 1hr and 56 min. later.
My final thoughts about Arlington are less than ecstatic. I've been attending this show for the better part of 30 yrs and this is the worst I've ever seen for attendance both airplanes and crowd through the gate. I'm certain heat was a factor but that's not the whole answer. I don't have the answer. All in all a pretty sad turnout and being the only Sonex in attendance spoke volumes about how little organization there is for the Sonex design in the Pacific Northwest. No get together, no nothing.
I apologize for the "Debbie Downer" report, but to put any other spin on this would be blowing smoke.
Ever since the EAA and the present management of the fly-in went separate ways, the fly-in has been declining. I don't see where things can continue to decline much further and still have a viable fly-in.
So much emphasis has been put on Airadventure, that the outlying fly-ins seem to be in decline. Good for the national fly-in but many of us don't have the time to attend a fly-in 1,800 miles away. Again I wish I had the answer but I don't.
This report pains me as much as it probably pains everyone to read it. I look forward every year to this Fly-In and I came back pretty downbeat as a result of what took place or more importantly, what didn't take place.

Larry

[N111YX]

Thanks for the report, Larry. I have never been to Arlington (because of the distance) but it's sad to hear of the decline. I often think that 100 years was all the time man needed to discount the fascination or, more so novelty of flight from his curious mind. There will always be us 1%r's though but it's probably not a large enough number to keep the gates open at all of the old places.

[MichaelFarley56]

Sorry to read the report Larry. I've noticed the exact same thing at the Mid-East Regional Fly Inn (MERFI) which is normally held at one of several airports within 50 miles from my home base. The last few years, it's been held at Grimes Field (I74) which takes me around 14 minutes to reach by air from my home airport.

Back when it was an EAA event it was much larger. In recent years, you can walk around for an hour or two and you're pretty much ready to leave. Like you, I'm not sure what the answer is, but hopefully the powers that be can figure something out eventually!

Thanks for the report!

[Gunther]

I was at the show for Thursday only, sorry to miss you Larry. There was a nicely built Sonex at the Dynon booth that was owned by an employee. Of course, it had two 7" SkyViews, autopilot, all the goodies.

Gunther