NJMP KVAY Sunday Lunch Fly In

[201er]

New Jersey Mooney Pilots are holding a lunch fly in at KVAY, Mount Holly South Jersey Regional Airport from 11AM-2PM this Sunday the 29th of January. Join us for lunch at the table of knowledge and enjoy discussion of our favorite birds. All Mooney pilots welcome. I'd appreciate notice to plan seating so reply here if you plan to come. We already have at least 7 guys attending. Of couse if you can't decide till last minute, feel free to just drop by.

[fantom]

[Seth]

Unfortunately I won't be able to make it.  I have a series of meetings in California next week and will be flying commerical during this meet on JetBlue from Dulles to Long Beach.

I will be flying, just not my Mooney, and as a passenger.

Take care,

-Seth

[201er]

We pitty you, at the mercy of the TSA nazis.

[201er]

Today NJMP hosted our 3rd Mooney fly in. Lots of people showed up to KVAY South Jersey Regional and we had a fantastic time.

I set out early this morning to preheat and prepare my M20J and headed east to pickup Patrick at Farmingdale. I had to follow the shoreline at 500ft despite turbulence and wake. Getting in was easy and finding Patrick on his ramp was not any more difficult. We took back off and set out for the fly in with no particular haste.

Getting into South Jersey was a little tricky cause you don't see the runway from behind the treeline until you are practically over it. Took a second to realize that what I was first seeing was actually Flying W. Partrick and I arrived a bit too early so we talked to a local pilot who showed us his pimped out Cherokee and Diamond. I was surprised that the 4 seat composite Diamond weighs as much as my Mooney yet is slower and with a substantially lower useful load of just 700lbs! Another point I couldn't agree with the guy on was his theory that more complex airplanes crash than fixed gear because pilots put them into stall by lowering the gear at minimum speeds.

Apparently our reputations precedes us because we had several people ask if we were the Mooney fly in. Looks like we are becoming known in the area and we haven't even tried yet. Finally the Mooney guys began showing up. Few at first and then in droves. Don B came in the M20E he rebuilt from a gear up. Then Al arrived in his Maroon 231. It's amazing watching the 6foot 8inch giant emerge from his flying machine. It is an intricate process akin to the sequence of gear/door extensions on a 747.

Bob who we hadn't met before arrived in his 1988 205SE from Poughkeepsie. Shortly after, I watched a familiar blue and white rocket pull in piloted by Joe, the only other member to make every single one of our meetings since the groups inception. The 1979 M20K had undergone conversion to a 305 Rocket in the 90s.

We checked out each others planes and noted countless minute differences that outsiders would never even pick up on. Al showed us the clear tape he applied to the leading edges to keep the paint from chipping further away. Bob showed off his Aspen and GPS combo. Patrick felt a bit left out with his plain out for service but I think he enjoyed good company.

We sat down at the round table of knowledge in the middle of the Runway Cafe. Don ordered a sandwich on a pretzel roll and that sounded fascinating so the rest of us wanted those too. Sure enough they came back to say they were all out so we got our cheese steaks on garlic rolls instead which were quite good. Al told fortuitous stories about his experience flying GA in Europe and user fees through the roof. Pilots would have to pay user fees on a per approach basis and it was prudent to shop around for which airport had the cheapest instrument approach. Cris arrived a bit later and joined our discussion. He showed off his new gadget he made for covering the gap around the spinner and designed to replace the need for cowl plugs. We'll see how his project goes.

As we were ending our meal the waitress came over asking us if we're Mooney pilots. She said our lunch was paid for and we couldn't understand what she was saying and had to ask three times. Turned out Peter (allsmiles) who was based at that airport and registered to come didn't show up and bought lunch for the group. After some of the stuff he stirred up on mooneyspace we were wondering if he was hiding or just couldn't make it but the good gesture was much appreciated.

Finally the Mooneys started to dissipate. I flew Patrick back to long island and then returned my ship to Linden. Unlike the previous event where we had a game to watch, this meeting was very laid back without a timeline. This worked out well and really gave us an opportunity to get to know each other, check out planes, share stories, and have a great time. I'm sure everyone will be looking forward to the next one of these as much as I.

If you are a Mooney pilot based out of NJ or can fly to NJ for our frequent Mooney fly ins, request an invite or PM me to join the New Jersey Mooeny Pilots group.

[201er]

I got some more pics in from the fly in.