ASC Nationals, KIMO. You going?

[Jerry Warner]

Hardly anyone here talks about the ASC Nationals. Is there a reason?

I've never been to a fly-in other than once, before I purchased my own PPC, where they had 4 PPC's that were there. Hardly counts from the fly-ins I've read about.

I'm headed to Three Rivers, MI this year for the ASC Nationals. I'm not going to compete in anything but I am hoping to fly. I'm taking my PPC up in addition to a camping trailer and the entire family. I sure hope the rest of them don't get bored or it will be my last fly-in.

So is there something wrong with KIMO? I see lots of posts about a fly-in out in Kansas where it's windy all the time and I'm amazed anyone is ever able to fly. Why not Three Rivers?

[FrontierFlyer]

Jerry,
I can't speak for other fly-ins like Kimo and Greenville...But the extravaganza in Kansas is THE fly-in for PPCs!! I went last year and it was an amazing time!! The weather was great for flying and when it wasnt there was always something going on. PLUS its family oriented...LOTS to do for the whole family! I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone out there thats even remotely considering it!!

[Jerry Warner]

I've seen pictures from Kansas (hanging on my wall in fact) and it looks like a blast. But it's a 13 hour drive one way! That's just too much for a weekend.

Surely there are a bunch of mid-western and Eastern folks who can't make that drive and would be going to Three Rivers instead right? So why doesn't anyone talk about Three Rivers?

[lockdoc600]

Jerry-

I cannot speak for anyone else here either but I had never heard of Three Rivers until you brought it up. Is it possible that it is still young enough for the word of mouth to be in its' infancy yet? Or do the event organizers spend any time on promoting the event?

I live in central Minnesota and I make the Kansas trip in 10 hours (one way of course). It is still a long drive but decidedly worth the trip for a chance to fly with so many others enthused about the sport and just get away from "normal" life for a few days. My boss has decided that I deserve more vacation time each year and although doesn't pay me for the time away... he allows me to take as much time as I feel I need. Between hunting, family vacation, a few four day weekends, etc......I need to keep my flying events down to one or two a year.....that is the main reason that I choose Powrachute Extravaganza as the main event I attend. Oh....btw....did I mention I am self employed? The boss can be good to get along with when it comes to this stuff but his wife may not be!! ;)

Whatever events you all decide to attend.....have fun....learn what you can from those pilots who have been in the air longer.....and stay safe.

[Bruce Brown]

Actually, KIMO predates the Powrachute fly-in and is a rather large fly-in.

The Powrachute fly-in grew big quickly for a few reasons, they are centrally located, they are located in the heartland where there are lots of PPC's, they have a lot of owners of their machines, and perhaps the most important reason, they have a drawing for a free PPC.

I think early on the free PPC was the biggest draw, and the show just gets bigger and better each year. The Powrachute fly-in is now being copied by other manufacturers, and giving away PPC's is becoming standard at the manufacturer sponsered fly-in. A Destiny and a Buckeye have already been given away this year, as well as a Powrachute at the World Championships.

For people who have a long distance to travel, attending just one of the big fly-in's each year might be all they can do.

[ZipItyDoDa]

[QUOTE=Jerry Warner]Hardly anyone here talks about the ASC Nationals. Is there a reason?

I'm headed to Three Rivers, MI this year for the ASC Nationals. I'm not going to compete in anything but I am hoping to fly.
So is there something wrong with KIMO?
================================================== =========

Well if you went to KIMO, you have the answer to your question. I have went the last 3 years, ever since they switched to Three Rivers. I brought the PPC with me this year and I have to say I wish I hadn't.
Maybe the reason no one talks about it is that they don't have anything good to say.

[Jerry Warner]

Well, you're right. I went. I took my PPC and I got to fly a couple of times. It wasn't anything like I expected at all. I doubt I'll bother to go to another fly-in ever.

This was my first one, and my last I think. It's really too bad.

[Bruce Brown]

Don't judge all fly-in's by your experience at one. There are some really great ones out there.

Weather can ruin a fly-in, and so can bad management. Sometimes there are just too many people flying around in one area and it becomes dangerous. Of course, this is very easy to avoid with proper management.

Some of the fly-in's even have activities scheduled throughout the day when most of us don't fly. They are great opporunities to expand your knowledge on a variety of subjects and to meet other pilots.

[Jerry Warner]

Bruce,

If this had been just another fly-in I think your advice would be right on target but this was ASC Nationals. It should have been one of the best events available. The weather was very good so that wasn't really a limiting factor.

Management.... well, perhaps. There were some things that I didn't like but having never tried to organize a fly-in myself I'm not in a position to be all that critical.

I flew a couple of times. Scared me to death. The airfield was crazy. We were in a cross wind with trees and buildings on the upwind side, they changed the pattern (still a crosswind) but had no way to tell the people who were already in the air without radios, and as near as I can tell there was no attempt to tell the ones who had radios either. There was no visible marker on the ground to tell anyone what the pattern was. There was no one to help with the take-offs and landings so it was almost luck if you got out of there without having someone land on your head. There were multiple take-off and landing areas being used which forced crossing flight paths. There was no schedule of events posted that I could find. There were no descriptions of the competitions or the rules involved. There was no one helping people learn what was available, and there wasn't anything available during the day other than a meeting with the FAA on Sport Pilot (which I attended).

Most of the day it was more like a ghost town than a fly-in. I don't know where everyone went, but they were gone. Even ASC closed their tent and left halfway through the second day of a three day event. By that evening I think there were only six of us left.

I feel like I wasted three days of my life and drove two cars for 10 hours for nothing. I would have gotten more air time in at home and could have done a lot of work on the house between flying opportunities as well. Beats the heck out of sitting in an empty field.

I'm just not in any hurry to do that again. You know... Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Ok, that was one.

[FrontierFlyer]

Jerry,
Next year if you can...go to the Extravaganza. It is WELL worth it. You will have a great time and learn a lot. Its fun to camp out with friends, fly, learn, fly some more, watch shows, eat, fly a little more!!!

[ZipItyDoDa]

Hey Jerry

I think you hit on just about all the problems with that fly-in. The pilots wanted to hold off on some of the contests because there was just TOO much going on in one area, but it was overruled. No one knew what was going on. I did intro flights and the altitude density was killing us, plus they had us taking off down wind with passengers!! A couple of us jumped one of the 'airbosses' about changing the pattern. They agreed and changed the pattern and then was overruled by higher-ups that said 'there wasn't enough wind to worry about'. I couldn't believe they fly these things and actually said that. (Especially since they had already pulled a pilot with a paying passenger out of the trees!!)
Pilots were setting up in front of half a dozen other pilots ready to go. They were coming over the top of people ready to take off and dropping chutes right in the way. (Even after the briefing in the morning that said to land off to the side by the fence.) Yeah it was a real mess.
Anyway, these guys are right don't judge all the flyins by this one. I have been to some real fun ones.

Ed