 WAMM
Fly-in October, 2004
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Our Porterville hosts once again were
Bill Vandersande, Ben Favrholdt and Don
Deaton. Special guests were Monroe and Opal Spake from
Villa Rica, Georgia, and Charlie Collman and Lynn
Flekal who came down from Broomfield, Colorado. The other long-distance
travelers but regular attendees were David Favrholdt and
Dave Rutherford from Canada (Vancouver) via Los Angeles and
rented car. Gil Gilbert came down from Kent, Washington
(Seattle) on a commercial flight and rented car via Fresno. Doug
Triplat came in his M-20C from Rosamond, California and Bob
Katz from Santa Monica in his Piper PA-24 to spend a few hours with us.
Michael Harms, who has two Mites hangared in Porterville, came
down in his Cessna 182-RG from Mountain View, California. Robby
Robins flew up at low altitude from Fallbrook, CA in his Audi.
Tony Terrigno came in his Piper PA-22 from his new home in Palm
Desert, CA. Michael Magnani drove up from Valencia, CA in his
VW Passat wagon. Lastly, our two visitors who validated the Fly-In by arriving
in Mites were Dave Mazzola from Watsonville, CA and
Toni Guttman from Soquel, CA.
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| L to R: Bill Vandersande, Bob Katz, Ben Favrholdt, Dave
Mazzola, Dave Rutherford, Tony Terrigno, Monroe Spake, Opal Spake, Gil Gilbert,
David Favrholdt, Robby Robins, Michael Harms, Mike Magnani, Don Deaton, Charlie
Collman, Lynn Flekal. Missing: Doug Triplat, Toni Guttman (total of 18) |
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| Here we are at the traditional Thursday night Mexican
feast at La Fuente. From the left, Ben, David, Monroe, Opal, Gil, Dave R. and
Bill. |
Same crowd, different camera, different angle. |
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| For the past year, Michael has kept his Mites hangared at
PTV, but now he's putting down roots in Porterville. To go with the hat, he
bought an almond orchard near the airport. Some of the gang spent a very
pleasant hour on a guided tour of his property. |
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| We dined at Michel's All American Grill at
the airport more than ever. Here's our Friday morning breakfast. Clockwise from
front left: Gil, Ben, Dave R., Glenn Ricketson (a local Piper owner), Bill,
Michael, Monroe and David. |
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| Lunch at Michel's on Friday indicates how fine the weather
was as we tucked into our chef salads and lemonade. On the left, Charlie and his
wife Lynn chat with David. From the front, clockwise: Bill, Robby, Gil, Charlie,
Lynn, David, Ben, Don, Doug, Monroe, Michael and Tony. |
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Saturday breakfast at Michel's. On the left, Bill talks to
Michael and Dave R. Robby and Gil are at the far end.
On the right, Tony and Ben are at the far end while David and Dave M.
(white shirts) chat with Michael. |
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| It's always good to see Tony in his Piper PA 22/20 at Porterville. He
was the head honcho of WAMM in pre-website times. |
Michael (on the left) is about to take David, Monroe and
Mike up for some sightseeing in his Cessna. |
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| We ate Saturday lunch at a different venue, enjoying the taco special
on the deck at Rustler's, east of town. |
Don Deaton with his wife Betty and daughter Lisa, with
Toni and Michael in Bill's hangar. |
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| There were seven Mites in the lineup, but these are the only ones
which flew in for the event: Dave Mazzola's N380A and Toni Guttman's
N10301. |
It was a rare pleasure to have two lovely
ladies take part in our regular activities, including hangar flying. L to
R: Dave M, Opal, Lynn, Gil, and Don. |
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