A note from Eva:

I spoke to Duane recently to give him an update as it's easier for me to do it this way. I get lost in all the emails and Corvairborne posts, etc. It's getting confusing.

Here's the latest information I have to share with you. I called and spoke to John Vance on 9/27/23. He is the Aviation Coordinator at Wright Patterson Air Force Base I had mentioned that I previously spoken to and he was willing to work with us in having this event. I made further inquiries to see if they would be open to having aviation event featuring the Vairplanes on either Wednesday or Friday during convention week (as a day event). He and I both agreed that an airplane event must take place during the day (not in the evening). John stated that they would make sure a definite arrival window time and departure time would be established. The area that would be used for this event would be the closed portion of their airport where they've had other events involving WW2 airplanes. Here are the bullet points on this:

- The runway is not lighted for evening take-offs or landings.

- There would be no charge for landing fees or having the planes stay overnight.

- I asked and they are willing to allow the Corvair vehicles get near the Vairplanes for photos, etc.

- They do not have tie downs or hangars to store the Vairplanes and if they need to launch to survive (due to inclement weather), they would have to leave if they don't want their airplanes getting wet, etc.

- There is no ability for re-fueling at that side of the airport so if the Vairplanes need fuel, they would have to go to a nearby local airport to do same (which many have done in the past). Otherwise, the only alternative would be for us to hire a fuel truck to provide fuel (which would be very costly).

- Due to Wright Patterson being a military air base, any Vairplane wanting to participate would have to notify us ahead of time to give us a commitment and apply for a "Civil landing aircraft permit" and they would also have to fill out paperwork (ahead of time) that would involve signing a hold harmless document, insurance and indemnification documents. I can coordinate all of that with the folks at Wright Patterson and with William Wynne's assistance. There will be internal waivers made for these planes to land and John said he would take care of that part. The Air Force people will issue a "Calp Number" that allows the Vairplanes to land. Should any pilot want to cancel coming to the event, they would simply notify us so we can inform WPAF of same. However, Vairplanes who have not filled out the proper paperwork can not simply have a last minute "Oh, let's go to the CORSA event and think they can attend." John was very clear that those who haven't been issued a Calp# will be refused landing rights.

- Wright Patterson will provide Ambulances and Fire Equipment trucks during our event. This is standard procedure.

John said he will discuss all of this with the Museum Coordinator who is handling the dinner event for CORSA and get back with me next week. As of Oct. 10th, John let me know that I need to get in touch with Taylor Gentry who will coordinate and organize what I've been talking about. On Oct. 12th (today), I spoke to Taylor and they are willing to work with us on this aviation event. I mentioned it "might" take place on one of the days during convention week, maybe Thursday or Friday. They are fine with that as long as it's not Saturday as they have a car event. Taylor is going to send me an Aerial Proposal Form for us to fill out to start this ball rolling (if you want to proceed forward).

I also spoke to Brad again, the Airport Manager at the Moraine Airport. He is also willing to work with us if we want to have this aviation event at his airport.

In the meantime, I reached out to William Wynne @ FlyCorvair.net to see which airport the Vairplane owners/pilots might prefer and if he thought the owners/pilots would be willing to go thru the paperwork hoops of having the event at Wright Patterson Air Force base.William said pilots are used to paperwork so it's no big deal. I mentioned that, even though he and many other Corvair airplanes will probably be going to the Oshkosh Fly-in event that's being held the exact same week as our CORSA Convention; I thought that perhaps I might capture a few plane owners/pilots attention to the fact that having an event at Wright Patterson AF base would be something so prestigious and amazing for them as it's a rare occurrence. William totally agreed. He really likes the idea of having this aviation/car display event at Wright Patterson AF base (even though he won't be able to attend).

Now, here's the question. I asked William Wynne if I could post a question on his WWFlyCorvair page to see how many Corvair airplane owners/pilots would like to come to our event during the July 21-24th, 2024. I need to get a guesstimate of who is interested so I can forward that info to Taylor @ Wright Patterson when we fill out this form (unless you want to have it at Moraine). Is it okay to go ahead and make a post about it? Yes/no?

Let me know your thoughts on all of this. I have a feeling I'll be more involved with this aviation deal as I've been going back and forth with the contacts at Wright Patterson and the Vairplane community.

Eva

Eva,

I can’t thank you enough for doing this. You definitely put in a lot of work! This event is a very creative solution to keep our guest to stay just one day longer. The way I see it, four hours at a dinner tour planned for Tuesday evening is not enough to view all the planes and artifacts at the museum. It probably takes more than four days! With the Vairplanes present on Friday, I believe this would encourage our guests to return where they left off at the museum after seeing the Vairplanes. They would have all day to take it all in. So it is a resounding YES to post the question. I agree too, flying to WPAFB at our Corvair Convention my be a once in a lifetime experience that may never be repeated. I hope you can convince the Vairplane pilots/owners to come.

Corsa representatives will be in Dayton November 10-11. I will be showing them all the tour sites that are planned for the convention. We will probably be finalizing our schedule by that time. If Corsa wants us to move the autocross from Thursday to Friday so that it be on the same day of the banquet, the Vairplane event can occur on Thursday. So the possible dates are either July 25 or July 26.

In the last paragraph you mentioned “July 21-24”. That’s Sunday through Wednesday. I am assuming that is a typo?

Another question. Can the Vairplane fuel up at Moraine Air Park?

What car activities is occurring the Saturday after the Vairplane event at the AF Museum?

Lastly I attached an updated proposed convention week.

Thanks so much, Eva.

KC