www.cessnas2oshkosh.com		 Participants of The Cessnas 2 Oshkosh 2008 Mass Arrival. Click on for a larger image.
The Pirep
Open Letter From Rodney, Craig and Gil Pirep No. 1 February 2009
Welcome to Our 4th Annual 2009 Cessnas 2 Oshkosh Mass Arrival!

We are looking forward to another successful event celebrating all things Oshkosh and Cessna. We have partnered again with the Cessna Pilots Association and are looking forward to their support during our planning and execution of this year's arrival. John Frank and his staff will be coordinating our seamless arrival with the Experimental Aircraft Association's security and ground staff personnel. We have now completed our pre-event planning. By the time you read this newsletter, our online registration process will be open.

We too are feeling the effects of the recent downturn in our economy. We can understand how watching your 401 turn into a 104 might cause you to hunker down and cut back on flying. We have limited our flying to necessary flights with no $100 hamburger in the near future. But, there is no way that we will miss Oshkosh. If we have only one flight on our schedule this year, is to go to Juneau and Oshkosh to spend the best time with all of you. Kudos to all our previous participants for making this such an enjoyable event.

Unfortunately, this year we were forced to charge a registration fee to insure that our event continues to be viable not only this year, but for years to come. The registration fee will cover the cost of the logo polo shirt that each participant will wear during the arrival, the BBQ dinner ticket and the burrito breakfasts in Rodney's kitchen at Cessna Base Camp. Cessnas 2 Oshkosh will not profit from this registration fee and the payment for the items mentioned above at the time of registration will cut our administrative costs and expenses.

We have addressed all the concerns and comments voiced during and after last year's arrival and have made changes to our procedures that will be reflected in our training material, including the slide presentation and clinics. We have also planned for two training clinics in most of the locations to allow scheduling flexibility for our participants. Please continue to visit our website for the most up to date training material and clinic calendar.

We're looking forward to seeing you all again safely on the ground at Oshkosh. As We continue to polish our operation, we feel confident that you will be duly impressed with the improvements we are making. Thank You for your interest!

Blue Skies,

Rodney Swanson, Craig Chipley and Gil Velez
100th Anniversary of Canadian Powered Flight Celebration
2009 marks the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada. It was February 23rd, 1909 when John Alexander Douglas McCurdy flew the Silver Dart over Baddeck, Nova Scotia. AirVenture is commemoratimg the event with various activities and we're joining the celebration.The Silver Dart
Our Canadian veteran of three mass arrivals, John Leeds from Calgary will lead the Cessnas 2 Oshkosh Canadian Squadron. In the past three mass arrivals we've had representatives from Alberta, Ontario and Quebec. We certainly expect all of you back for another great mass arrival. We want to celebrate with old friends and new friends who will join us for the first time.

We are extending a warm invitation to all of our Canadian fellow pilots to join us in our Mass Arrival and celebrate the ocassion. Come on Canadians, join us in the fun and let us celebrate with you the 100th anniversary of powered flight in Canada.
The Pirep is the official newsletter of Cessnas 2 Oshkosh. It is a vehicle to keep all the participants in the Cessnas 2 Oshkosh 2009 Mass Arrival and our friends informed about the progress on our way to Oshkosh. In 2009, it will be published on the fifteenth of each month. Additional issues will be published if the need arises.
4th Annual BBQ Dinner

Our Fourth Annual Cessnas 2 Oshkosh BBQ Dinner will take place on Sunday July 26th at 5:00 p.m. at Cessna Base Camp in the North 40. We changed the day from Monday to Sunday to avoid conflicts with the EAA opening day evening concert. Our dinner is not to be confused with the CPA BBQ at the Hilton on Tuesday July 28th.

As in previous years, the BBQ dinner will be catered by La Sure's, the best caterer in Oshkosh. The menu will consist of beer brats, angus burgers, fried chicken, boneless pork chops, potato salad, baked beans, oven potatoes, pasta salad, drinks, condiments, and desserts.

Dinner will be followed by a giveaway of door prizes. Please come out and support our annual BBQ dinner.

This year, the price of the ticket is included in the registration fee and there will be no need to purchase tickets. Your tickets will be waiting for you in Juneau or Oshkosh.

Read more...
C2O Merchandise
Participants interested in purchasing extra Cessnas 2 Oshkosh logo shirts will be able to place orders in our online store beginning in April and until June.

Although the official shirt color for 2009 is white, we will take orders for red, blue and gray shirts in our online store. We will only accept online payments via PayPal and the merchandise will be distributed in Juneau and Oshkosh.
New Registration Process
We have made changes to the registration process in 2009. These changes enhance and streamline the collection of information for first-time participants and facilitate the process for returning pilots.

Pilots who registered to fly the 2008 mass arrival, whether they flew the mass arrival or not, and pilots who registered to camp at Cessna Base Camp, whether they camped or not, can save some time during the registration process by retrieving their previous information. To do so, click the appropriate link on the registration page and log in with the same email address and zip code used in 2008. If the information matches the information in our database, the registration form will be populated with the data submitted last year. After making the necessary corrections and answering the new questions, they can submit the registration form.

The new information requested is the pilot's shirt style (male or female) and size in addition to the first name, shirt style and size of each person flying the arrival along with the pilot. We will need this information to place the order for the shirts and name tags that each person will receive in the welcome package upon their arrival at Juneau for the final brief.

The last change in the process is the addition of the registration fee payment. As previously explained, the registration fee will cover the cost of the shirt, name tag, BBQ dinner ticket and breakfasts in Rodney's kitchen at Cessna Base Camp. The registration fee is $50.00 per person. Children up to the age of 12 will not incur a fee. The process is simple and intuitive and the payment can be made using a PayPal account or any major credit card.
Scheduled Formation Clinics
Sign up for any of these clinics.
As of today, these are the confirmed scheduled clinics. We have planned over ten clinics over the next five months in locations across the nation. Please visit our website for more detailed information about our planned clinics.

We encourage every pilot to plan ahead and participate in one of the clinics prior to the July 24th clinic in Juneau. We anticipate a busy Juneau clinic and, as many of you know by experience, the summer weather in Wisconsin is unpredictable.

If the Juneau Clinic is your only option, by all means come to Juneau. Every pilot present at the Juneau clinic will train and have the opportunity to qualify for the mass arrival.

Read more...
The Dothan Formation Flight Training Clinic.
Our first formation flight training clinic in preparation for the Cessnas 2 Oshkosh 2009 Mass Arrival will take place on Saturday, March 7th at 9:00 a.m. CST. in Dothan, Alabama.

Rodney, Jeff, Ed, Tom and Gil participated in the Dothan Clinic in 2008.We will meet at Flightline of Dothan, one of the two FBO on the field at Dothan Regional Airport (KDHN). This clinic will be an initial training session for new pilots as well as a recurrent training session for pilots who have previously participated in our mass arrival. The host and lead pilot for the clinic will be none other than our Director of Training and Operations, Rodney Swanson.

The City of Dothan in Alabama's Dale County is centrally located in the Southeast region. The Dothan Regional Airport (KDHN) is located approximately 7 miles northwest of the City of Dothan. Car rental facilities are available right on the airport and there are numerous hotels within a few miles. Flightline of Dothan is a full service FBO with a very professional staff who is available to assist with hotel and car rental reservations. Read more...
Self-Proficiency Formation Training Tip
Next time you go flying, practice this exercise. After lift-off, accelerate to 90 knots in a C-172, 110 in a C-182 and 130 in a C-205/206/207/210 and maintain this speed throughout the exercise. Make smooth attitude and power adjustments to climb at a rate of 500 fpm or less. Maintaining airspeed is primary, rate of climb is secondary. Climb to a cruise altitude of 2,000 AGL and retrim to maintain airspeed and cruise altitude. Practice standard and half-standard rate turns and descents at 500 fpm maintaining your target speed at all times. Take notice of the power settings required for the different phases of your flight.
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