MNPilots Hanger Flying

Another Great Minnesota Aviation Gathering (GMAG) has come and gone and we thank those of you…many of you…who braved the rainy weather and drove to the event. This adverse weather, after two weeks of gorgeous weather, certainly dampened the grounds of the Buffalo Municipal Airport, but the spirit of those who came to learn and celebrate aviation made this another outstanding event!

This moment offers the opportunity to review some of the highlights of the GMAG, and there were many, many highlights!

First, the Exhibit Hangar was full, once again, of displays that brought new information and opportunities to those who came. We had a few new vendors amidst those entities who have annually graced us with their presence as exhibitors at the GMAG. We have run out of space for new exhibitors, unfortunately, and this will be a challenge in coming years as our event grows. Painful, but a good problem to have.

We made the decision to alleviate some of the pressures on EAA Chapter 878, who have served breakfast and lunch at past GMAGs. We decided to have the tasty donuts from Moon Donuts, of Buffalo, served with coffee inside the Exhibit Hangar and that was a huge culinary success! NorthFork Coffee, a local family-owned company, graciously donated their aviation-themed coffee for the GMAG, and we found it to be excellent! We hope to see more of them next year! The weather was miserable for the kind people of EAA 878, and this substantially reduced the number of people who took advantage of their grilling services, but the food was very good, and we will be looking to see how we can make this better next year.

How many aviation events have you attended at which you heard a Scotsman playing a bagpipe during the breaks? George Campbell, our speaker from Haines, Alaska, not only gave two excellent presentations on flying in poor weather and on flying in his native state, but he is an accomplished musician, providing outstanding renditions for our pleasure!

What we lacked in terms of aviation enthusiasts flying in for the event we made in terms of quality speakers and timely topics. While we are biased, we feel this was perhaps the best quality we have had in our previous ten GMAGs! Chris Henry, from EAA Headquarters, was outstanding, once again, as were our speakers addressing many aspects of aviation. The dedication and gracious donation of time by our speakers is particularly heart-warming in today’s world where seldom do we experience “acts of kindness” on such a grand scale. Preparing these presentations takes a great deal of time, in addition to the sacrifice of spending a day or two away from family and work. What an inspiring group of people!

It would be so much easier to sit in our homes and watch a “webinar”, rather than make the effort to drive or fly to the GMAG. We have questioned if there is a need for events like the GMAG at all, with the pressures we feel from the webinars. The resounding answer from those who attended the GMAG was “We Love the GMAG! Keep it Going!”