Rotors Over the Rockies 2017 - 10th Anniversary Edition

Glenn_K

I'm Batman
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
588
Location
West Jordan, Utah
Aircraft
Butterfly "Super" Monarch, Butterfly Aurora, AutoGyro Calidus Piper Warrior, C150, C172
Total Flight Time
250+
I feel like people should be talking about this by now, so here goes.

The Utah Rotorcraft Association and PRA Chapter 2 Bonneville Gyro Flyers are having their annual rotorcraft event, Rotors Over the Rockies, in a new location this year.
It will he held on June 6-10, 2017 at the Nephi Municipal Airport (U14) in Nephi, Utah. It will be the 10th anniversary of the event. Chapter leaders and members are hoping for it to be the biggest ROTR yet.
Nephi Municipal Airport is the new home of Pegasus Aviation Group (https://www.facebook.com/PegasusAg/), a company run by CFI Michael Burton and business partner Marc Campbell. They have been kind enough to consent to host the event at their hangar on the airport.
There was much discussed at the one meeting I was able to attend, but I'm not sure what is actually slated to happen there. So I'll let those who know talk about that stuff.
Chapter 2 now has a Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/events/586678674860862/) that was put together to provide a place where information about the event could be easily communicated. There isn't much there yet, but I expect there will be soon, as the event won't be very big unless a lot of people are talking about it and planning to attend.
I'm excited to have it down there, as there are a lot of exciting flying areas down there that I've wanted to check out.
 
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Well, I'll have to see - If my wife is back to work by then, I'll try to come up and visit for a few days and see the ROTR event! It'll be nice to see a Fly-In without having to work the entire time! Putting in my vacation request now just in case I can swing it.
 
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At last year's ROTR (2016), five gyroplanes flew from Brigham City's airport to Ogden's airport, for a breakfast flight to the "Auger Inn" restaurant. One way is approximately 25 miles. These photos attached were taken by Ed Neff, of Utah, who had positioned himself at the north end of Ogden's runway to take these shots as the pilots were descending to land.

#1. Thomas Fernandez, of Colorado Springs, CO, flying his Gyrobee, which he built himself.

#2. Charlie Wakamatsu, of Utah, flying his Air Command.

#3. Gillan Bradley, of Portland, Oregon, piloting his Sport Copter Vortex.

#4. Kevin Richey, also of Portland, Oregon, flying his Sport Copter Lightning.

#5. Another shot of #1, because this unique photo shows off Thomas' lime-green tail so well, even being reflected in the rotorblades.
 

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The five gyroplanes in a line on the apron of Ogden's airport, where the pilots ate breakfast with other gyro enthusiasts who drove there. The red Cavalon gyro was flown by Gyro CFI Brandon Winters. The flight was a gaggle of five gyroplanes as Brandon communicated with Ogden's ATC in their airspace.

The following day, several gyros flew from Brigham City to Logan airport in order to participate in the EAA pancake breakfast there. I have no photos of that flight.

The last photo show Glenn Kerr coming into a landing in his Butterfly gyro at last year's event at the BC, UT airport.
 

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Here are a few pics of the arrival at Logan ... gosh that was a fun flight ... Jim's & my last one together :Cry: ... a few days later he no longer needed to shoehorn in the back seat ... he was good to solo! :rip:
 

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Whoohoo ... the upgrade has a LIKE button ... about bloody TIME !!!! ...and some cool new "smileys":biggrin::yo:
 
GyrOZprey;n1118276 said:
Whoohoo ... the upgrade has a LIKE button ... about bloody TIME !!!! ...and some cool new "smileys":biggrin::yo:

And you are the Queen of the Smileys! :hail:
 
***UPDATE***
As it turns out, the ROTR Event page on Facebook is private :noidea:
If you are a Facebook person, you can go to the Chapter 2 Group page ( https://www.facebook.com/groups/159926327845065/ ) and request to be added to the group. That way you'll be able to see the event page.
 
Sheri&I are planing to come, will there be camping on the airport? We like to be there a day or so early if that is ok.
Rick
 
Rick, I'm not certain about any of the details. But it is my understanding that there will be camping at the airport. I believe it will be outside the fence and it will be dry camping.
 
Rick,

I have already replied to you privately about this question, but for everyone else's sake, Yes there will be camping at the airport. It is without hookups for this year, but plenty of space available and there will be water available as well as bathrooms with running water and vending machines for emergency snacks and drinks. This year will have a plethora of new events since we will be at a new airport and there are lots of incredible places to fly for some of the most spectacular scenery ever. There will be some very exciting new announcements made at the event this year so you won't want to miss it. Our facility at Brigham City was pretty nice, but we have definitely upgraded this year with our new venue at the Nephi airport, so we hope to see you all there this year.
 
This is the next adventure. June the 6th - 10th 2017 Nephi Municipal Airport (U14) in Nephi, Utah

Come on down and meet the gang!!!

Fly an almost vertical decent down the face of a mountain valley pass to the city below.

Camping, or hotels, hangar space.

Beautiful scenery and people.

It's a PARTY, it's a PARTY, it's a PARTY.
 
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*** UPDATE 2***

Talked to Doug Barker last evening and he told me that the camping will be inside the fence, just like at Brigham City. It will be primitive, no hookups.
He was also excited about some special things that will be happening at the event. He was secretive and did not let on to me about what those things are.
Guess everybody will just have to show up to find out. :welcome:
Hotels are filling up fast for those dates. Hurry and get your room while they still have them.

(How's that font size for the people that don't like the small font?)
 
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Sounds good Glen I am going to try and make it .

p.s. I like the font size
 
Good to see some promo for 10th anniversary ROTR .... headed that way after a quick 10 days getting organized at home! 😁
 
I love the event and hope to be there Wednesday through Saturday without a gyroplane..
 
Well, I WANTED to come up to visit, and now i am! Used points for hotel (in Orem - closest I could get for free) and points for flight, so other than the car and food, it should be an inexpensive trip. Looking forward to seeing you all!
 
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There are some really cool things our new location makes possible this year, and it's not a matter of wanting to be secretive, it's just that we want to make sure they really happen before we talk about them, as some involve visits from specialized aircraft.

What we can tell you is that Nephi is a very small town, but big enough to have TWO competing aircraft parts stores (NAPA and Carquest). The town sits beneath Mt. Nebo, which at just shy of 12,000' is the highest peak in the Wasatch Range. There is a scenic loop byway which lies just outside the wilderness area, which means machines with adequate performance can access one of the most scenic mountain vistas you'll ever see. The flying near the airport is very remote and rural, with incredible mountain backdrops everywhere.

Nephi is within range of flights to the Little Sahara Dunes Recreation area, Goshen Canyon, and other spots where the flying scenery will be spectacular. We'll be getting a group together for a group flight into Provo, a Class-D airport, for those who'd like to earn the endorsement for their Sport Pilot certificates. We're hoping to fly to Spanish Fork, 26 nautical miles to the north, to visit Airgyro, which is now an authorized dealer for Xenon.

Euro-class two-place machines are within range of the famous scenic areas of southern Utah.

The Manti-Ephraim Airport is a beautiful scenic flight up a canyon in the Sanpete Valley, within range of two-stroke single-place machines, and the airport has welcomed us to visit.. We'll have support vehciles for these flights to bring fuel cans when necessary.

Perhaps the neatest aspect of this airport is that gyros represent, by far, the majority of the airport operations there, not seen as a nuisance. The town is thrilled to have us there.

Regarding motels, there's a pretty decent Motel 6 with rooms for about $50/night, a National 9 which is a little nicer in the $70 class, and a Best Western which is very nice at about $100, but which is already sold out of rooms with two beds. These rates are based on my inquiries a couple weeks ago and may be subject to change as things fill up. There is also a Super 8 which I haven't seen, and an Economy Inn which appears to have a limited number of smoking rooms available.

It appears we'll have catered meals served right at the airport for at least some days. Again, first year there, we're not sure how early in the week they'll start, but there are some good options to eat in town. There is a skydive school at Nephi with a winch launcher I'm excited to see operate - it can supposedly get a sailplane to 3.000' AGL in the length of the 6,300' runway!

Come this year and help us discover all the fun flight opportunities we DON'T know about yet!
 
Terry_Smith;n1120271 said:
Well, I WANTED to come up to visit, and now i am! Used points for hotel (in Orem - closest I could get for free) and points for flight, so other than the car and food, it should be an inexpensive trip. Looking forward to seeing you all!

Terry: All of us @ ROTR will get to see what you look like without a BBQ grill attached to your waist!
 
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