by Ben McQuillan
EDEN PRAIRIE, MINN. – This year 25 airplanes from all over the Twin Cities descended upon Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, for the annual “Flying Cloud Air Tour,” September 14, 2013. It was the best-attended fly-out in Minnesota since it began a decade ago.
The air tour started in 2004 with one thing in mind; fun! The group looks for great places to fly to within a short flight of the Twin Cities metro for flying and socializing. It’s a perfect opportunity to get to know other pilots and see new flying destinations.
The morning started with a 45-minute presentation to establish the rules of the day while calling on the experience and thoughts of each pilot. Participants covered everything from weather to air-to-air photo operations, and when the meeting concluded, every pilot was ready to hit the throttle.
James Bungert of South Saint Paul led the way this year in his classy Cessna 172 fastback with his son and daughter as navigators.
Weather is always the concern and the group has conservative minimums as this whole thing is supposed to be fun.
Within 40 minutes after departure, the speed demons of the group, Rob and Shar Hardcopf, were on final approach to the first stop at East Gull Lake, Minn. (9Y2). By contrast, Pete Gabrail was setting the scenic pace in his semi-stealth Ercoupe in a leisurely 1 hour 10 minutes. After the first 10 airplanes had landed, the pattern was starting to get ugly.
Ben Thuringer and Dan Trout of Madden’s Resort on East Gull Lake rolled out the red carpet to welcome the group with a wonderful venue for a driving range contest. If you’re ever near central Minnesota, this is a great place to stop in, play the range or a full round, and catch a ride to one of Madden’s great restaurants.
After tearing up the driving range (literally), the group was off to Longville, Minn. (KXVG) for lunch. As if the prospect of a crosswind landing in front of 50 fellow pilots isn’t intimidating enough, Steve Shallbetter and his group of local pilots had set up a spot-landing contest on Runway 13.
The folks at Longville were the perfect GA stewards, parking all planes and giving rides into town. Patrick’s Fine Dining on Girl Lake hosted lunch and suffered all of the awful pilot jokes as a result. They’re just a quick 10-minute walk from the airport if the courtesy car is out, even quicker if you park your seaplane right at their dock.
The final leg home took the group just ahead of some rain showers and made them feel like real “working” pilots. The words “deviating left of course” could even be heard over the radio at some point.
Another terrific year behind them and they are already planning for next year.
For more information on the Flying Cloud Air Tour, check out the air tour page at www.inflightpilottraining.com, or email benmcq@msn.com. There’s no cost to join and all planes qualify to participate.
