KBFFI El Mirage September 2022 Ken Brock Fly - In

The wife and I are going to try and make it. Unfortunately I won’t be flying yet but hope to be done with my build in Oct/Nov
 
Is this event shaping up to be well attended?
Me and a friend would like to come out for this one.
 
I will be there
 
It's looking like a good turnout, we should have 30 to 40 gyro's on Saturday.
 
The lake bed is looking good
 
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Did they open the lake up yet?
Are there any musicians who will be attending?
 
The fly inn is on, come on out
 
Hello Everyone! Well, the Lake is still closed, BUT - we are still ON for KBFFI 2022! We will be holding the event on the West side of Gyro Cove. There is a gravel perimeter road that will take you directly to where we are having the event. Better yet - go here - http://www.kbffi.com/Flyer-Schedule/Alternate-Location/alternate-location.html - and there are written AND video directions as well as a map that shows where we are holding the event. We look forward to seeing you there!!!
 
Another fantastic event... Thank you for organizing it!!!
 
I had a wonderful time at the Ken Brock Freedom Fly In at El Mirage, California.

I had heard the Lakebed was closed to vehicle traffic because of the recent rain.

My trepidation was eased after talking to Dave who assured me it was a go.

I was grateful to Terry for the map and video on how to get to gyro cove via the perimeter road.

The weather was nice with occasional brief periods of strong gusting winds that would cool things off a little.

I rolled up at around eleven Friday and things were well underway.

I watched a friend make an inelegant landing and he was open to advice on how improve although he had already figured it out.

Lunch was a delight as was dinner.

I saw lots of old friends and made some new ones.

We never ran out of things to talk about and I enjoyed every minute.

Shawn wanted to organize a review of the years mishaps with some input from the flight instructors that were there to see it didn’t get too far from reality.

I gave my standard response which is there is simply not enough time or resources in life to make all the mistakes myself so there is value in learning from others mistakes.

I wondered aloud if people would be willing to admit their mistakes and Shawn assured me they would.

In the evening we were joined by a lot of grasshoppers.

I saw ten o’clock on my watch and wondered where the time had gone as I excused myself for an evening walk.

I love walking across the high desert at night with the twinkling lights in the distance and a sky filled with stars.

I can feel the history of El Mirage as related to both gyroplanes and hotrods.

I felt the presence of Ken and Marion.

I headed back to the Lincoln, cracked the sunroof open and cured up in the back seat.

Sleep came quickly and the weather was nice all night.

A lot more gyroplane enthusiasts showed up on Saturday and at one time I counted twenty two gyroplanes on the flight line and perhaps half were single seat and at least three more were up flying.

I counted four flight instructors Saturday.

I felt Shawn’s talk went very well and I look forward to expanding it next year for the 60th year of PRA Chapter One.

The emotions that were shared touched my heart and I went away feeling we may have saved some people the cost of learning these lessons from personal experience.

I had an inquire the day before about the FARs (Federal Aviation Regulations) and I had resisted the temptation to just answer the question and instead made an appoint to walk my friend through the process of discovering the answer in the FARs.

I find the FARs confusing and sometimes use them as a sleep aid.

I feel my friend is confused on a higher level and for me it was one of those flight instructor magic moments as I watched my friend have several sentient moments on the path to the answer.

I did not stay for the banquet as I had pressing matters at home.

It was two days filled with learning, gyroplanes, joy and friendship.

Thank you PRA Chapter One for an event well done.
 

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Well,
This was my first time at a gyro event and I was not disappointed.
It takes one to know one, so I am qualified in saying you guys are only a little bit nuts! (In a good way...)
Actually it was more tame than I expected, but like any endeavor that has a learning curve, it tends to weed out
the riff raff and you are left with quality people.
I had a blast, met great people and learned a lot.
Thanks for the great conversation and invaluable advice from all.
It's good to confirm that gyronauts are not a bunch of yahoos who inevitably end up in a pile with their aircraft!
Here are a few shots from the event.
I look forward to seeing all of you again...
 

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I visited KFBII for about five hours on Saturday. This year, several personal obligations prevented me from staying well into the evening for dinner and the raffle. Nevertheless, I enjoyed visiting with old friends, making new ones, and sharing the joy of rotary wing flight. I miss not seeing and visiting with the "Utah Possi" and the "Arizona Syndicate" that have attended in years past.

Because of the lakebed closure, the temporary location was very refreshing. Driving the perimeter gravel road seemed to take less time than driving across the lakebed even though the driving distance was a bit longer.

Thank you Shawn for organizing the discussion panel in the afternoon on the most recent gyroplane accidents and incidents. A great forum for all to learn and reinforce previous knowledge gained. I vote "Yes" to hold this type of seminar on Saturday afternoon at every KBFFI. Since the inception, I have continuously participated in and an ardent supporter of the FAASTeam WINGS - Pilot Proficiency Program and the AOPA Air Safety Institute program for the very reason to learn from others' mistakes and not duplicate on my own. As a future thought through the PRA, gyroplane specific safety seminars can be held yearly at the National Convention, at every locally organized Fly-ins around the country as well as online. Perhaps in time this can qualify for WINGS credit.

The FAR/AIM discussion with Vance and several others was nice too. With every year of my involvement within aviation, any new changes within the FARs become more convoluted and ambiguous. I'm beginning to agree with others that this is being done purposefully to lead the interpretations of the rules in the direction of a more restrictive manner.

Thank you Terry for your continued success as Chapter One President. Your leadership in continuously organizing the KBFFI Fly-in. In making sure we had an alternate location for the Fly-in because of the lakebed closure, and the added measure in making sure everyone one understands where and how one can travel to the new location effectively and safely.

Thank you too Chapter One members for putting all the "man hours," physical labor, and effort in setting up and tearing down the infrastructure needed to have a successful KBFFI every year. You all rock!!

Wayne
 
Sounds like a great event!!!!
I’m putting this one on my BarnStormers “to do” bucket list……. Would love to meet some new folks and fly the lake bed!!
Congrats on another awesome event!!!
 
Hello Everyone! Well, it's been a few days since the Fly-In ended. Amazingly enough, the BLM opened the Lake Bed on Monday! Go figure. BUT, that did not prevent us from having a Fantastic Fly-In! The attendance was slightly down from last year, but we still had people stopping in on Saturday to support the Fly-In and enjoy the wonderful weather this year at El Mirage. There was not a lot of wind (and I know some pilots would have loved to have some more than we had!!), and the temperature was in the 90's and also, not uncomfortable. The evening temperatures were cold the 1st night or so, but kept getting warmer. Over all, one of the best events weather-wise we could have had.

I do want to take some time to thank EVERYONE who came out to support the Fly-In, and those who came early and helped with the set-up, tear-down, and lent a hand during the event. Teddy Udala and Karen Keene (our VP and Secretary/Treasurer) both invested a lot of time and effort to make this a successful fly-in! Teddy brought a lot of the canopies and his main trailer in well before the event to block out where we were going to set everything up. And Karen worked tirelessly during the year to help get T-Shirts ordered and picked up, worked on MANY of the raffle items, just to name a few items. Both of them helped make this Fly-In another success!

Many other Chapter 1 members also gave a big hand to help get this event going. Richard Press, Jim Thurow, Jim Miskiak, Chris & Tracy Laws (and their wonderful sons!) Dave Bacon (who helped not only me to get my gyro to and from the event, but also helped Shawn Hart and others). I know there are other who popped in and out during the event to help as well, and your assistance was GREATLY appreciated!

The Fly-In takes many hands to be successful, and I am fortunate to have so many Chapter members who are willing to lend a hand to make it all happen!

Chapter 1 thanks ALL OF YOU who came out for this year's Fly-In, and look forward to seeing you next year for the 2023 KBFFI, and the 60th Anniversary of Chapter 1!
 
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Thank you, Peter, for coming to this dry lake, full of dust and windy weather. Your present makes our fly-in
more attractive to people who think of flying Gyros.
Love your personality.
 
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