Q1_Aircraft: 14th Annual Tandem Wing Field of Dreams Fly-In

Hello Fellow Tandem Wingers,

If you attended the 13th Annual Tandem Wing Field of Dreams Fly-In that I
hosted last year at Sullivan, MO you will probably remember me telling you I
would not be able to host the event in 2004 due to the fact that I was
scheduled to move overseas. For those of you who don't know, I am a Chief
Warrant Officer 4 in the US Army currently stationed at Fort Leonard Wood,
MO. My career manager decided that I should spend my last year in the Army
in Korea so he put me on orders to report for a 1 year unaccompanied tour on
15 JAN 04. With that in mind I talked to Spud and he told me that he would
gladly host the 2004 event in Ottawa.

So what am I doing writing this email from Fort Leonard Wood if I was
supposed to report to Korea on 15 JAN 04? I have been having some problems
with my back for the last 16 months or so. I kept visiting the doctor and
they tried different things.....none of which helped at all. Finally after
about 1 year of complaining (I really feel they did not believe I had
anything wrong with me), they decided to do a MRI. Come to find out I did
have something wrong with lower back. I have a bulging disc, degenerative
spine condition, and something called spondylolysis. I have been undergoing
epidural lumbar steroid injections (3 series so far and another one
scheduled for next week). I had to go before a medical board and they gave
me a 6 month probationary period so that I could receive treatment. At the
end of that 6 month period I have to go before another board. I know this
is a long and boring story.....bottom line is I will likely just get to
retire from the Army this December with 20 years of service.

This means that I will be in the States the last weekend of September (no
matter what happens with my treatment) and I will be able to once again host
the Field of Dreams Fly-In in Sullivan, MO. Sullivan is really a great
place to host the fly-in. They have a really nice airport with great
facilities (the parallel taxiway will be the complete length of the runway
this year) and all of the support stuff (hotels, restaurants, interstate
highway) are within about 1 mile of the airport. The airport manager was
great last year and has welcomed us back again this year. The fly-in will
be held from 24-26 September 2004.

I still have the event web site from last year up and running, complete with
several hundred photos. Most of the information will remain unchanged
except for the schedule of events. You can visit the 2003 Fly-In web site
at:

www.fidnet.com/~letempt/index.htm

I welcome you to join the Tandem Wing Fly-In email list on Yahoo Groups if
you would like to provide input about the event. The group is located at:

groups.yahoo.com/group/TandemWingFly_In/

Last year we had 19 tandem wing planes (20 if you include the Long Eze) and
about 10 conventional airplanes fly-in for the event. I think we could see
25 tandem wing planes show up this year if the weather cooperates. Expect
to see more about this in Q-Talk and the DBFN in the very near future. I
will update the event web site this week.

Jeff

The excitement is starting to build?..the 14th Annual Tandem Wing
Field of Dreams Fly-In is right around the corner. Everything is
coming together here in Missouri and I am very much looking forward
to seeing you at Sullivan from 24-26 September 2004. The event will
once again be held at Sullivan Regional Airport (UUV). Sullivan was
the perfect place for the fly-in last year and I am hopeful that it
will even be better (if that is possible) this year.

I really learned a lot about hosting a fly-in last year and think a
slightly different format will make this event even better this
year. We learn the most about these great little airplanes by
talking with the builders and going over the planes with a fine
tooth comb. The forums are useful, but sometimes they are almost a
distraction. My theme this year is going to be 'less is more'.

As of this writing (subject to change of course) Friday is going to
kind of be a free for all open discussion time. Our good friend
Drew will be there and he will be prepared to discuss anything and
everything about tandem wing airplanes. If someone is interested I
think I can get us a good set of accurate scales to knock out a
weight and balance or two.

Last year on Friday at the fly-in we had a hands-on composite
construction class. The demand for this class a few months before
the fly-in was almost non-existent, but a few weeks prior to the fly-
in the demand actually exceeded our maximum class capacity of 20.
If there is enough demand for a similar hands on composite
construction class I will gladly set it all up again, I just need to
hear from you very soon if you are interested.

Last year there was a $20 fee per composite class participant to pay
the materials used in the training. Wicks Aircraft Supply
graciously donated some foam and fiberglass cloth last year and I am
pretty sure they would do it again this year, so I would anticipate
the cost for the class would once again be $20 per participant. If
there is enough interest in this class we would probably start it a
little earlier this year, maybe at 1200. We ended up running a
little longer that I thought we would last year.

There will be fewer forums, but they will be longer in duration.
What I experienced last year was during a 1 hour and 15 minute forum
we just got to touch on a few things and then the real conversations
took place in side bar discussions. If we dedicate more time to the
forums maybe we can tackle a few particularly challenging topics and
everyone can benefit.

We will once again have the truck stop dinner on Friday evening.
They have a pretty good sea food buffet or you can order from the
menu. I just need to know if you plan on attending the dinner so I
can let the restaurant manage know how many people to expect.

24 September
1300 - Event Officially Open
1300-1700 - Tandem Wing Open Discussion - tandem wing aerodynamics,
X-Plane, GU canard issues, weight and balance ....you pick what we
talk about!!!
1800 - Dinner at the truck stop

25 September
0830-1030 - Performance Run
1030-1230 - Q Forum
1300-1500 - Dragonfly Forum
1500-1600 - Group Photo
1600-1700 - Fun Fly
1800 - Awards Banquet

26 September
0900-1200 - Fun Fly
1200 - Event Officially Closed

I need a few volunteers to help me out at the fly-in. The three of
us who took care of the performance run timing last year should all
have flying planes participating in the run this year, so I will
need two people to handle the timing of the run. I also need a few
guys who would be willing to serve as airplane judges. In a perfect
world I would like to have 3 Q guys judge the Dragonfly's and 3
Dragonfly guys judge the Q's. Please contact me if you would like
to help out.

Now a few words about the cost of the event??you all know how
inflation works ? right? Last year the event registration fee was
$7.50 and the dinner on Saturday evening was $12.50. With the
continued generosity of the Airport Manager at Sullivan and a little
penny pinching on my part, the costs to attend this year's event
have gone down!!! Event registration fees will be $5.00 and the
awards dinner on Saturday will be $12.00.

If you fly your Dragonfly or Q bird to the fly-in, you will be
treated like a King!!! No registration fees and no hangar/tie-down
fees. All you have to do is pay for your meal at the awards
banquette!!! Thanks for flying your tandem wing aircraft to the
event!!!! Last year we were able to park all 19 tandem wing planes
(and one Long Eze) inside a hangar for overnight storage. I can not
promise we will be able to get 25 planes in a hangar this year, but
I bet that we can.

I have a fly-in web site at:

www.fidnet.com/~letempt/index.htm

Listed on the site are detailed driving direction, information about
lodging in the local area (5 hotels within about 1 mile), and a wide
variety of other useful bits of information. If you do not have
internet access, go over to a friend's house or the library and
spend 30 minutes on the computer?.it will be time well spent.

I welcome you to join the Tandem Wing Fly-In email list on Yahoo
Groups if you would like to provide input about the event. The group
is located at:

groups.yahoo.com/group/TandemWingFly_In/

No you just need to sit down and fill out the registration card??and
get it back to me. You can fill out the registration card located
on the web site and mail it back to me with your payment or if you
prefer you can email me the information and pay with PayPal. Last
year we had 19 tandem wing planes (20 if you include the Long Eze)
and about 10 conventional airplanes that flew in for the event. I
think we could see 25 tandem wing planes show up this year if the
weather cooperates. If you have any questions about the event you
can email me at jeffrey.letempt@... or call me at (573) 364-
2545 before 9 pm CST.

Jeff