| Congratulations to All Cessnas 2 Oshkosh Pilots!
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It is hard to believe that it has already been a month since we took Wittman Regional Airport's runway 36 by storm and arrived at AirVenture 2009 in Oshkosh. What an adrenaline rush that was! When Rodney shut down the engines of N5052Q and parked it in its spot in the North 40, the last plane in the flight had been secured and our mission had been accomplished. Eight (8) months of hard work had paid off. Unquestionably, we had achieved tremendous success!
We are happy and proud to report that the flight concluded successfully without a single incident. No stall or landing gear warning horns going off, no bunching up on final approach and on the runway and no go-around. This feat was accomplished in spite of very challenging landing conditions with winds from 290° at 16 knots gusting to 22 knots.
As the post-arrival report indicates, thirty-nine (39) aircraft participated and successfully completed the mass arrival. Half of the participating pilots were flying the arrival for the first time. Four (4) pilots were not able to fly the arrival with the group because they did not make it on time to the final brief at Juneau. Unfortunately, adverse weather conditions in their route interrupted their journey. They joined us later at Cessna Base Camp between Saturday evening and Sunday morning.
 View of the chow line at our Fourth Annual BBQ Dinner.
Congratulations to each and every pilot, co-pilot, spouse, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter and friend who joined us in the mass arrival. Our last tally indicates that forty (40) people joined the thirty-nine (39) pilots in the arrival flight and over forty (40) more pilots and friends joined us the day for our Fourth Annual BBQ Dinner. According to our caterer, La Sure's, over one-hundred-twenty (120) meals were served on Sunday evening.
During the following AirVenture week, we welcomed many visitors to our tent and shared with them our excitement. The popularity of the morning breakfast at Rodney's kitchen took us all by surprise when over forty (40) people responded to Rodney's invitation to "join us for breakfast tomorrow". As he kept the burritos coming, he was heard repeating "Did I really say that?" We quickly adjusted to the situation and met the needs of our campers. We have many friends to thank. Among them, Steve and Debbie Holmes, Clinton Holmes and Molly Charley, Nathan and Christa Houser, John and Susan Hughes, Gil and Sue Velez, Craig Chipley, Berry Gamblin and all the others who took turns helping out at Cessna Base Camp.
 The Big Tent at Cessna Base Camp as viewed from Perimeter Road.
One of our community activities, the movie night, was a big hit. We had a packed house on Monday for our children's movie and again on Tuesday. Cessna's CEO Jack Pelton happened to be driving past our tent on Perimeter Road when he was suddenly attracted to the brightly lit, packed tent, flying the Cessna flag. He stopped his car and dropped by unannounced. Only a few of us in the crowd actually noticed him. While the crowd was glued to the screen watching Sky King, we pulled him aside, gave him a thorough briefing and invited him to join us next year. His closing statement, as he was leaving was: "I will do everything in my power to fly with you guys next year". Wouldn't that be super!
Thanks to each and every one of you for the hard to describe camaraderie lived at Cessna Base Camp.
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| Who did actually fly the mass arrival?
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In recognition of their effort taking time away from personal, family and work commitments to train for this mission and make the journey to Juneau and Oshkosh, we would like to introduce the 2009 Cessnas 2 Oshkosh pilots and their position in the flight. Congratulations fellow pilots!
| Element | Lead | Chalk 2 | Chalk 3 |
| Alpha | C. Chipley
C172
N7904X | G. Velez
C172
N5288T | R. Bowden
C172
N1374Y |
| Bravo | R. Ahern
C172
N20355 | T. Beumer
C172
N53025 | J. Blackman
C172
C-Gotz |
| Charlie | B. Gamblin
C172
N5148J | J. Hughes
C172
N733PN | C. Houser
C172
N6017N |
| Delta | E. Frech
C172
N977SQ | K. Polovick
C172
N5047A | L. Walton
C172
N819CF |
| Echo | S. Holmes
C180/185
N5418E | J. Johnson
C180/185
N8845Q | C. Holmes
C182
N2144V |
| Foxtrot | M. Jesch
C182
N735CY | J. Hubka
C182
N96528 | R. Low
C182
N182DL |
| Golf | S. Wolf
C182
N8DM | M. Hymowitz
C182
N7303Y | P. Nielsen
C182
N8791T |
| Hotel | P. Gilbert
C182
N5524S | J. Benson
C182
N2156G | G. Haas
C182
N2408X |
| India | J. Matthews
C182
N52379 | F. Wood
C182
N3520F | J. Mason
C182
N4696K |
| Juliet | D. Zaslavsky
C182
N2376R | J. Andres
C205/206
N2172F | B. Wolansky
C205/206
N8433Z |
| Kilo | J. Schulz
C210
N94159 | R. Deuker
C210
N5828F | L. Schwartz
C210
N9627X |
| Lima | K. MacLean
C210
N7311M | J. Pearce
C210
N210HL | T. King
C210
N2129S |
| Mike | R. Morris
C337
N2475S |
Vacant
| D. Bush
C210
N6680B |
| November | R. Swanson
C310
N5052Q |
Vacant
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Vacant
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| ...and then there were the children
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I don't know about you, but I saw more children in our camp this year than the past. There were children of all ages, from as young as just over a year old to older adolescents. It was a pleasure to have them among us. They filled the air at Cessna Base Camp with joy and excitement and they kept the camp young at heart. They all had a blast too and some have already informed their parents that they want to come back. So parents, listen up! We certainly hope that you will bring them back next year.
 Gabriela Swanson, Amanda Hall, Katie Chipley, Lars Nielsen, Alexandra Swanson and Ned Dodds.
Another activity that our children really enjoyed this year was the ice cream party offered by our neighbors, the Bonanzas 2 Oshkosh (B2Osh) group. We would like to thank Kevin O'Halloran, coordinator of the B2Osh arrival for inviting our children to share with theirs. This invitation was not a spur-of-the-moment reaction. In fact, Larry Gaines and Kevin O'Halloran contacted us early in May as they were putting the final touches to the planning of their arrival to invite us to their adult activity Beer2Osh and our children to their ice cream party. In a perfect example of aviator reciprocity, our children welcomed the B2Osh children to our first movie night, which was dedicated to the children and featured Disney's Pixar Studio movie Flushed Away.
By the way, Kevin approached us again during AirVenture's week to extend us a new invitation for next year and to communicate the B2Osh group wish to plan joint activities with C2O for next year, not only for the children, but also for the adults in our groups. The fraternal spirit of camaraderie among the two groups is alive and well.
We enjoyed very much having Gabriela and Alexandra Swanson, Katie Chipley, Julianna and Dakota Andres, Heather and Amanda Hall, Sarah Shultz, Nels and Lars Nielsen, Jonathan Garrett, Jack Matthews, Alex MacLean, Dusty Berg and Joe Soter.
Welcome to Cessna Base Camp and we hope to see you all again next year!
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| Who won the door prizes?
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 John Uczekaj, President of Aspen Avionics, handing out the Aspen Pilot PFD to a very happy Paul Berg from Fort Pierce, Florida.
The door prizes handed out during our Fourth Annual BBQ Dinner celebration this year went to the following happy winners:
| Prize | Winner |
| Champion Thermo Cup | Kurt Bossert |
| Champion Coffee Mug | Sue Velez |
| Champion Baseball Cap | Linda Polovick |
| Champion Baseball Cap | James Shadle, Jr. |
| Champion Sport Polo Shirt | Paul Valois |
| Oregon Aero Headset Kit | James Shadle, Sr. |
| Oregon Aero Headset Kit | Dick Low |
| Case of Camguard | Jim Andres |
| Set of Goodyear Tires | Kevin Polovick |
| Bose Sound Dock for the iPhone/iPod | Christa Houser |
| Fresh Pick 182 STC | Jim Pearce |
| Power Flow Exhaust System | Charles Leeds |
| EI Engine Monitor | John Hughes |
| Aspen Pilot PFD | Paul Berg |
Thanks to our sponsors: Champion Aerospace, Oregon Aero, ASL Camguard, Goodyear, Bose Corporation, Fresh Pick 182 STC, Power Flow Exhaust Systems, Electronics International and Aspen Avionics.
Special thanks also go to the following sponsors who made substantial monetary contributions to Cessnas 2 Oshkosh's general fund to help cover the cost of our events: Gulf Coast Aviation, Kennon Covers, Power Flow Exhaust Systems, David Lomax and Ned Dodds.
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| The 2010 Recruitment Process
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To make the 2010 event even a greater success, we need to take the recruitment process of mass arrival pilots to a personal level. We had many discussions about this issue during AirVenture's week and continue to discuss it as I write these notes.
Early in the year, we thought the economy was going to be the main obstacle to our recruitment effort. AirVenture 2009 proved us wrong. We thought things would be pretty sparse at OSH this year but EAA ran out of North 40 camping space, car parking and the homebuilt area had to be expanded to accommodate all the aircraft and enthusiasts. The prevailing attitude was "I don't know how much longer I'm going to be able to fly, but until then, I'm gonna fly". We had a very enjoyable group this year but we need to improve numerically. We believe that having one hundred (100) plus aircraft in 2010 is an attainable goal. We need to effectively communicate what we do every year, how safe it is and how much fun we have doing it. Let's look forward to 2010!
We envision the transformation of the recruitment process into a grassroots movement. Each and everyone of us needs to become sort of a "Cessnas 2 Oshkosh Airport Representative" and take responsibility for the recruitment effort at our home base airport and the three or four airports closest to ours. If we set a recruitment goal of three new recruits each and accomplish that mission, we would have no less than 120 new recruits. Factoring in the attrition rate of 25% that always shrinks our roster during the last four weeks prior to the mass arrival, we would still have one hundred twenty (120) aircraft available for next year's arrival. What a cool thing that would be!
In order to accomplish that goal, each one of us must take personal responsibility for the success of the event. We are looking for individuals with knowledge recruiting volunteers. We have a good plan. We need help implementing it.
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| The Fredericksburg Clinic
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Steve Holmes, one of our pilots and a major supporter of our cause, who is the owner of Gulf Coast Aviation has put together a get-together, fly-in and formation training clinic in Fredericksburg, Texas.
We are inviting all the Cessnas 2 Oshkosh pilots and friends able to make the trip to Fredericksburg to attend this clinic. If you are asking yourself, "what's going on?", the answer is "Yes; we're kicking off the 2010 season early".
The clinic will take place on Saturday, September 12, 2009 at 9:00 am at Gillespie County Airport (T82). The historic Gillespie County Airport (T82) is located just three (3) miles southwest of the City of Fredericksburg. It is easily accessible and within a couple of hours from many points in the South. The lead pilot for the clinic will be our Director of Training and Operations, Rodney Swanson.
For those wishing to spend a night or two in Fredericksburg, the beautiful Hangar Hotel is located right on the field. This historic hotel has luxurious accommodations available to those who would like to extend this clinic into a nice weekend get-together. The hotel is offering a modest discount of $10.00 off the nightly room rate. The hotel reservation number is 830-997-9990 and www.hangarhotel.com is its website.
Those interested in participating in this clinic may get in touch with Rodney Swanson, our Director of Training and Operations by sending a message to Rodney@cessnas2oshkosh.com or to our general mailbox Info@cessnas2oshkosh.com.
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| August 25, 2009
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| The Pirep is the official newsletter of Cessnas 2 Oshkosh. It is the vehicle through which we keep all the participants in the Cessnas 2 Oshkosh Mass Arrival and our friends informed about our progress. It is published monthly, with additional issues published if and when the need arises.
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| Post-Arrival Report
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The actual number of pilots who flew the mass arrival is thirty-nine (39). These pilots brought forty (40) passengers onboard. Four (4) pilots and their four (4) passengers joined us with their aircraft at Cessna Base Camp after the arrival between Saturday and Sunday. In addition, many pilots and their passengers joined us at Cessna Base Camp during the following days.
Twenty-two (22) states and one (1) Canadian province were represented. Michigan led the states with five (5) aircraft, followed by Califonia with four (4) aircraft, New Jersey and Virginia with three (3) aircraft each, Arkansas, Kansas, Maryland, Texas and Washington with two (2) aircraft each and Alabama, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Vermont, Wisconsin and Ontario with one (1) aircraft each.
Among the aircraft models, the Skylane (C182) led the way with fourteen (14) aircraft, followed by the Skyhawk (C172) with twelve (12) aircraft, the Centurion (C210) with seven (7) aircraft, the Skywagon (C180/185) and the Stationair (C205/206/207) with two (2) aircraft each, and the Skymaster C337 and the C310 with one (1) aircraft each.
We are very happy with these results. They show that positive thinking and hard work can go a long way, especially in difficult times.
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| Send Your Feedback
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 Rodney Swanson conducting the final brief in Juneau.
We invite each and every one of you to send us your comments, observations and feedback on the clinics in which you participated, the final brief at Juneau, the mass arrival flight and the activities at Cessna Base Camp. Tell us what you liked, what you didn't like, what would you do exactly the same way, what would you change and what would you eliminate. We want to know what you think about the distribution of information through our website, our newsletter direct email messages and our Cessna Pilots Association AirVenture Cessna Arrival and Encampment online forum. Would you like us to use other methods available out there, such as a phone call or Twitter®?
Your feedback will help us improve the entire process. We assure you that we take your opinions seriously and consider every suggestion that comes our way. This year's success was no doubt due a great deal to the adoption of suggestions provided by last year's participating pilots immediately after the arrival and the weeks that followed.
 Ned Dodds, the Cessna Shooter timing the launch of each element at Juneau.
Among them we can cite the creation of the Cessna Shooter position and the appointment of Ned Dodds, who actually suggested it and volunteered to do the job. No doubt that he had a tremendous impact in the success of our arrival. Specifically, his work on the runway at Juneau, controlling the exact timing of each element's departure, set the stage for the flawless execution of the arrival and landing operations at Oshkosh.
Thanks Ned! You were absolutely right and we are very glad that we took you up on your offer.
Other examples of successful modifications were the adoption of new climb and cruise speeds for some of the models, whether landing gears were extended or retracted during the flight and flaps and gear extension times.
 Paul and Lars Nielsen, from Graham, Washington, Golf-3 on final approach to Wittman Regional Airport.
These technical aspects of the flight were modified based on suggestions made during our training clinics, passed on by our clinic lead pilots to our Director of Training and Operations, Rodney Swanson and discussed by the tactical group at Juneau.
We want to express our appreciation and gratitude to Mike Jesch and Steve Wolf for their contribution during the tactical planning process.
If you have comments or suggestions to make, please contact us. Send us an email to Info@cessnas2oshkosh.com
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| Thank You!
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We cannot close this issue of The Pirep without expressing our gratitude to those who helped make our event more that a reality, a success.
At the risk of leaving some of you out, we would like to recognize the efforts of the following individuals:
Katie Chipley; Jim, Christina and Dakota Andres; Steve, Debbie and Clinton Holmes; Richard and Suzie Bowden; Sue Velez; Nathan and Christa Houser; Patrick and Phil Gilbert; Dmitry Zaslavsky; Mike Jesch; Berry Gamblin; Trevor Moody; Steve Wolf; Ted Beumer; Tim Bentheimer, Mary Gasper, Josh and the staff of Wisconsin Aviation; Craig Johnston; Dan Unger; and Mike Rutledge.
 John Frank, Founder and CEO of the Cessna Pilots Association.
Last but not least, a big thank you to John Frank and the Cessna Pilots Association (CPA), our principal partner in this endeavor.
CPA provided the big tent that became our home for a week, the banner that identifies it and the refreshments we enjoyed on the day of the arrival.
John was our coordinator on the ground at Oshkosh and the link between us and EAA, not only on the day of the arrival, but throughout the year. His intervention was crucial securing for us the outstanding spot in the North 40 that became Cessna Base Camp.
 Cessnas 2 Oshkosh and Cessna Pilots Association Banner.
In addition, for two years now, CPA has made available to us the online forum AirVenture Cessna Arrival and Encampment, where we communicate among ourselves on a daily basis.
Thank you all, without your help we would have fallen short of our goal.
Gil, Craig and Rodney say Thank You!
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| Spread the Word!
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Help us make the Cessnas 2 Oshkosh Mass Arrival a success, download our flyer, make some copies and post them on the bulletin board of your local airport FBO, flying club and everywhere you meet with fellow pilots.
Forward this issue of The Pirep to every Cessna pilot in your contact list.
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| Corrections
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| This amended sixth issue of The Pirep was released on August 26th at 1500 UTC to correct several errors and omissions in the previous release. Please accept our apologies.
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