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Q-talk 89 - FLY-IN LIVERMORE

We have just completed the first annual Livermore Fly-in in Livermore, California. Attendance was good, the weather was spectacular and there was a lot to see and talk about.

First arrivals were Alan Tenerelli and Brad Hale in Alan's Dragonfly. They arrived Friday afternoon from southern California. Brad had intended to bring his Dragonfly, but a minor delamination discovered just before the weekend caused him to hitch a ride with Alan.

Friday night we met at 6:30 pm at Beeb's Restaurant on the golf course adjacent to the airport. It was a good chance to see some old friends and meet some new ones, as we had about 16 people at the dinner. By Friday evening we had assembled Jim Patillo, Bob Kendall and his wife Kathy, Alan Tenerelli, Brad Hale, John Lo-ram, Bob Farnam and Jan Armour, Mark and Leslie Somers, Alan Thayer, Mike Perry, Pat Panzera and his wife Veronica, and Gene Cash. Also visiting was Barry Weber, who owned a very successful 600-hour Q200 before he switched to a Long-EZ about 6 years ago.

Saturday dawned severe clear, even for California, and people began to assemble around 10:00 am. We eventually ended up with 7 tandem wings, three of them not flying yet. Jim Patillo has his spar repair completed and had begun flight testing, but wasn't far enough along to give any rides yet. Alan T. and I were the only ones who were able to offer rides. During the afternoon, Pat Panzera and John Moyle showed and talked about their two Corvair engines. John Loram displayed his Jabiru 3300 120hp engine on a mock up of his Q2 firewall. John somehow managed to fly his Skylane down from Ashland, OR and got his wife to drive the van down with the Jabiru aboard the van. Actually, she had scheduled a visit with a favorite sister who lives in the Bay Area so she had other reasons to make the trip. Thanks Kathy. Jim P. gave a short talk describing the great spar repair adventure and I had a chance to get on my soapbox about the steering and braking systems we have developed at Livermore. So far, we have two airplanes with more than 400 hours experience and two more which are in the process of being converted to the same system. Pay attention now - both of these airplanes are pussycats on the ground and neither has gotten close to being out of control on landing or takeoff.

In the afternoon, Dave Smith arrived with his basic and beautiful Revmaster Q2 that has more than 600 hours on it. The main change he has made to the airplane from stock is TOE BRAKES! Dave will tell you that he wouldn't fly without them. A RANS S9 also visited us with a Rotax 2 stroke engine. An afternoon drive around the field gave those interested a look at Mark Somers Q2 which is being modified with the braking/ steering system and a Continental 0200. Another interesting Livermore airplane is Walter Treadwell's 55% scale Lockheed P-38. Ken Coe (the primary pilot) and Walter rolled the P-38 out and flew several low passes for us. He then brought it over to the fly-in for a closer look. The airplane has 2 Suzuki 4 cylinder car engines in it. Walter built it from scratch in about 5 years and it is a beautiful piece of work. Unfortunately, Bob Kendall's Kohler V2 powered Quickie is not flying yet, so he wasn't able to show it. He's waiting for a Livermore hangar and in the meantime, he keeps the Quickie (and his RV6) in Tracy, CA, about 20 miles away.

Around 5:00 pm, as the weather began to cool a bit, Sam Kittle fired up his grill and started cooking his special BBQ chicken. By dinnertime, we had some 40 to 50 people on the scene. The evening proved to be beautiful and warm enough to allow the die-hards to sit around until about 10:30 in the evening hashing over the day.

Thanks to all who participated. Jim Patillo and I had a great time and we plan to repeat the event again next summer. To those who couldn't make it, keep this approximate date (Aug. 18 ) in mind for next year. It seems likely that several of the people who drove to the event this year will fly their tandem wings in next year. Incidentally, Alan Thayer put together a nice 1-hour video of the proceedings.



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