Thirty (30) Mooneys showed up in Bullhead Arizona for our Laughlin, Nevada
fly-in starting on Friday and running through Sunday. This was a last
minute impromptu fly-in and the turnout was fantastic! The weather on
Friday at Bullhead was clear, visibility unlimited, and believe it or not,
mostly calm winds! The Mooney gods were with us for sure as the
temperatures were also mild giving us all a respite from winter.
We hung out and met the landing Mooneys on the ramp next to Landmark Aviation.
Landmark treated us wonderfully and we are thankful to Jennifer, Mike, Andrew
and general manager Jim.
We actually only had 29 Mooneys as Frank & Carol Gagliardi flew their "Corvette"
to the fly-in!!! About as close to a Mooney as you can get without wings!
The Riverside Casino and Resort shuttled us all over to the Buffet Lunch without
any hitches. See Jeri Brisepierre in the middle.
Jeri has just received her Pilot Certificate and we all gave
her a rousing applause and welcomed Jeri into the ranks of Pilots! Then we
asked Christian to ensure that she will now be properly trained in the operation
of a Vintage Mooney! Phil talked about the new VMG
chapters sweeping the country like a wildfire with VMG North East headed up by
Jeff Miller, VMG South Central by Greg Ellis, South East by Colin Bitterfield,
and shortly we will announce VMG North Central which will give our wonderful VMG
nationwide coverage. Now VMG fly-ins will be available to all Mooney
owners across the country. Stay tuned for more fun!!!
After lunch, Mert & Ann Bean rented a 15 passenger Ford Econoline and drove us
to historic Oatman, AZ on old Route 66! What a funky town with Harleys,
donkeys and Mooney pilots and co-pilots roaming the streets shopping and drinkin'
Margaritas!!!
Then, Saturday night would not be a VMG Saturday night without a reception
hosted by Ozzie & Jo Kaufmann. As usual, the affair was informal, but
folks brought wine from Arizona, Northern California, and Paso Robles as well as
lots of munchies and everyone had a wonderful time. There we all were,
scattered in chairs, on the floor and on the beds tellin' Mooney tales and
planning future fly-ins! We even discussed maybe having a National VMG
Fly-in in the future!
Photos courtesy of members Phil Corman
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