Page 30 - Volume 15 Number 1

AOPA
A Return to the Beach
Last November, the traditional every-other-year westward trek of AOPA’s membership meeting, dubbed the Aviation Summit, settled at the water’s edge in Long Beach, Calif. LGB is always a pleasant venue, with lots of local attractions nearby and a big airport at which to host a static display. Despite a limping economy, the mood was resilient and attendance strong.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association show is always an excellent way to wind up the
Report and Photos by LeRoy Cook year’s activities, putting the cap
on aviation’s accomplishments before the holiday hustle starts. Serious, informative seminars are held throughout the show, and if you’ve been putting off an equipment purchase there will be ample opportunities to compare and take delivery on this year’s budget. Mostly, it’s a chance to mingle with old friends and make new ones.
Sights to see this year included “Fifi,” the Commemorative Air Force’s Boeing B-29 Superfortress, sporting a fresh $1 million set of
hybrid R-3350 Wright radials as it rumbled over the Harbor. The 1945- era bomber, the last flying example of more than 3,000 built at a time when tyranny threatened to engulf the world, proudly decorated the Daugherty Field ramp near the 100-aircraft static display. As part of the AirportFest display, designed to attract non-membership from the local area as well as the AOPA Summit attendees, there were business jets, fast-glass personal planes, antiques and light sport aircraft, all waiting for inspection.
28 • ­TWIN & TURBINE
JANUARY 2011
SUMMIT