Hey team, this past week saw the first official day of summer. Hopefully June gloom will soon be in the rearview mirror and we can get on with some blue sky flying.
The first day of July will also be the anticipated raffle day for our summer fundraiser to collect funds for more yearly banquet prizes. As Jovi mentioned above , we have some great prizes being raffled off, and some great Catered food for members and their immediate families on a first come, first served basis. Food should be available around 11:00AM. We paid for quite a bit of food, but if you come late – you should bring your lunch with you. 😊. You really don’t want to miss out on tri-tip sandwiches, and your chance to win the iX14 Radio! Raffle tickets will be sold all morning on June 24th and the 1st of July, and the raffle will be held around noon on the 1st. Funds donated to this raffle will go towards additional raffle prizes at the end of year banquet in January. While talking about fundraising, I also want to thank all the participants in the 50-50 raffle over the last couple months. Club members have won $1970 to date, meaning the club has too! I am near my goal of $2000 to reduce ticket prices ( by $20 for each ticket) for the hundred members attending the banquet in the Air & Space Museum. Any further funds raised before the end of the year will also go towards a variety of raffle prizes.
As we approach Independence Day, I would like to remind members of the front row seat available from our site for the holiday fireworks. SEAWORLD has one of the best shows in the State and you are only a couple hundred yards away from the launch site when watching from our club pit area. Traditionally, we do a closed gate day where members will pass through the gate and close and lock it immediately behind them, their family, and their guests. We attempt to keep the random public out of our site as they tend to leave their trash, shoot firearms, and start things on fire. I am not able to attend myself this year, so I am looking for a volunteer to take custody of the “Members Only” sign to be placed on the gate during daytime hours, and then removed after the fireworks as members depart. Please let me know if you would like this task.
In my last newsletter, I talked a little bit about safety, and we had a few words about flying safely at the last members meeting at the field. One thing I realized during that discussion is that some people are having so much fun that they can be flying in an unsafe manner without realizing it. They may not actually know they are over the pits, parking lot, and drone area unless someone verbally tells them. I would ask every member on site to remember that they are ALWAYS part of the safety strategy in our club. We cannot let ” I didn’t know!” be a recipe for stitches or an ambulance ride out of our field! You don’t have to be a board member, or the safety officer to say something when someone else is unsafe or reckless. That being said, I don’t expect you to yell at anybody – just make a statement about what they are doing, and that you’re feeling unsafe. A little bit of peer pressure goes a long in stopping people from flying over the table area, or doing high-speed passes over the fence. Recently we haven’t been saying too much if you do a high speed pass between the center line and the weed line – but you should NEVER be between the center line and the fence unless taking off or landing.
Along the same lines, some members apparently don’t understand that, in their excitement, they are doing 20-30 MPH in the parking lot and are dusting people out. If you see it, PLEASE say something. They are not actively trying to be jerks, they are just excited…
One of the main things I love about this club is that we mostly have a group of well mannered, courteous members who are mostly drama – free, all trying to enjoy a hobby together. Recently, it has come to my attention that a few members are being discourteous to others with the weird thought that they have permanently reserved tables at our site. This is NOT the case! If you arrive early, select a table, and would like to put a chair at the table next to you to save a table for your friend, or flying partner that are on the way, Feel free to do that. If your friend is late, and the other tables are full – move the chair to give someone else a slot. BE COURTEOUS! If you want a specific table, get there early and park at that table. If you arrive late, and someone else is at the table you normally use, use another table. DO NOT CURSE at people and tell them to get the F** off of “your” table and go somewhere else. This will not be tolerated, and can result in your expulsion from this club. I currently have the names of the persons that believe they OWN property at Mission Bay, and the next offense will result in official action from the Board of Directors.
This months monthly fun fly event will be on 24 June. This one will be a club favorite, the bomb drop. Like most events, any pilot that can safely fly their airplane can participate. You don’t need to practice 30 hours a day to place!! There will be prizes for the top winners, followed by the monthly club meeting at the field, and a hot dog lunch.
Please join us and have a great time, but remember to watch your airplane!
I hope everyone has a great July!
Brad.
