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Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh XVII: An Invitation to Participants The Mooney Caravan organization is pleased to announce that planning and preparations are well underway for the 17th annual Mooney Caravan to Oshkosh on Sunday July 27, 2014. The Mooney Caravan is a formation mass-arrival to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh each summer and first flew in 1998 as a means for fellow Mooney pilots to camp together in the North 40 (see history). This is absolutely the best and safest alternative to the Fisk arrival and is the only viable option if you want to camp beside your friends. This event grew over the years with a peak of 97 aircraft participating in 2000. In 2009, Caravan organizers made the decision to overhaul the organization and flight format in order to improve the safety and quality of the mass flight into Oshkosh. Our organization is dedicated to facilitating a safe and enjoyable mass arrival formation flight into EAA AirVenture Oshkosh each year, as well as developing opportunities throughout the year to get together and fly our fantastic airplanes. Our participants share a strong sense of camaraderie and the friendship’s borne via our common interests in aviation and Mooney aircraft span the continent and the entire year between Caravan flights. The Mooney Caravan is sponsored by Mooney International. Our organization has developed a great relationship with Mooney’s new management team, who will be participating in the Caravan flight and many of our events during EAA AirVenture. Check out Mooney’s new website www.mooney.com. Caravan 2014 Our twelve person volunteer team has been working very hard since last year’s very successful full formation 25-ship mission in preparation for this year’s flight. The 2014 Mooney Caravan is scheduled to leave Madison (KMSN) Sunday July 27 at 10:30 A.M. The Caravan 2014 flight will consist of 3-ship elements (per our LOA with the FAA). The flights will be separated slightly more than the inter-element spacing to absorb and correct for compression and expansion effects as the flight progresses from MSN to OSH. In order to participate in the Caravan flight, pilots will be required to have demonstrated formation flight proficiency preferably by prior formation clinic attendance (strongly recommended) and must attend the briefing at 8 A.M Sunday morning. Most pilots will arrive at Madison during the day on Saturday July 26. There will be opportunities to fly formation sorties for fun and practice during the day Saturday. Saturday evening festivities include the annual Mexican dinner, pilot's "roast" and "naming" ceremonies. The easiest way to demonstrate formation flight proficiency is to attend one of the many formation clinics across the nation organized by our team (see https://sites.google.com/site/mooneycaravan/training) as well as our very supportive colleagues in the Bonanzas to Oshkosh (B2OSH) and Cherokees to Oshkosh groups. With prior coordination, most B2OSH clinics are open to Mooney pilots and all who have participated in these clinics have been warmly welcomed and immediately made part of their community. The learning opportunities have been absolutely outstanding and the experience exceptional. The watershed realization for most participants with no prior formation experience is that it is so much easier being 50 feet away from another plane as compared to 500 or 1500 feet away in terms of station keeping. With basic exposure to the principles of station-keeping (no overlap, wingman never passes lead, establish and constantly reference a sightline on lead, utilize very small control inputs), the learning has been quick and in very short order, pilots were conducting 2-ship formation take-offs, executing a series of turns and returning to a formation landing after 30 – 40 minute sorties with relative ease – and a ton of fun! In one weekend, with a little classroom time and 3 - 4 sorties followed by thorough debriefs of every flight (SOP for formation flying!), pilots are comfortable and qualified to fly in simple formation manoeuvres (most of which are beyond the requirements for the Caravan flight!). At this time, many Caravan formation flight candidates have already attended a clinic. If not, we are offering two more clinics between now and late July as follows: NE clinic - May 31- June 1 Lancaster, PA TX clinic - June 21-23 San Marcos, TX There are also seven B2OSH regional clinics scheduled over the same time period (see http://www.b2osh.org). Please don't be deterred if you haven’t flown formation and can’t make it to a clinic but still want to fly the in Caravan this summer - contact us now! Someone may be able to fly with you to allow you to demonstrate proficiency as we have resources and pilots all over the country. Please visit our website https://sites.google.com/site/mooneycaravan/home to find out more and to register for the 2014 Mooney Caravan. For many photos and videos of recent events and clinics, please visit https://mooneycaravan.shutterfly.com/. Check out our Facebook page by searching Mooney Caravan! I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all past Caravan participants to return for 2014 and to invite all Mooney pilots considering a trip to AirVenture this year to join us in Madison this summer. Chris “Toro” Shopperly President, Mooney Caravan Educational and Safety Foundation www.mooneycaravan.com