A great time was had by all at our 3-day Columbia Fly-In. "Captain" John Chandler was the very first to show up, arriving Thursday afternoon to be sure he had a prime tie-down and campsite selected. Several others arrived throughout the day Friday, through Saturday morning. An estimated total of 45 Mooneys and 65 people were in attendance.

The members of W.C. MAPA did their absolute best to welcome their VMG friends. Their 20 years of experience in organizing such fly-ins proved to be very successful, as well as a good learning experience for your VMG Board Members. Other than a slight (10-12kts) headwind coming from the North West, the WX was "Severe Clear" in all quadrants.

The BBQ luncheon/meeting in Columbia's club-house was a great way of meeting and mixing with the W.C. MAPA members. Al Richman's public auction was everything it promised. Al truly has the "gift of gab" and demonstrated this as our Auctioneer.

Several Mooniac's (about 33%) stayed over Saturday night and departed Sunday. This gave many of us the opportunity to get together for a Saturday evening dinner in town.

As many of you that were present already know, the unfortunate side to this fly-in was that W.C. MAPA did officially disband. The same board members have been organizing their fly-ins for the past 20 years. They've clearly stated that they've grown older and tired, and that these fly-ins have become a bit overwhelming to them. It's very unfortunate that nobody was willing to step-up and take-over their efforts. However, Al Richman did advise all that he would do his best to at least keep the Columbia experience alive, and your VMG Board has agreed to attend and assist Al in anyway possible. You can therefore expect to find our future June Fly-Ins regularly scheduled in Columbia, CA.

It truly was an honor to have attended W.C. MAPA's very last organized fly-in and farewell party. Thank you West Coast MAPA members, we wish you all well. Please remember, you all have an open invitation to any of the VMG fly-ins, regardless of what you fly, drive or float! We'll hope to see you all in July.

Safe Landings,
Richard H. Todd
VMG Board Member