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Reunion 1996 Information
Reunion #7 – October 3-5, 1996 – San Diego, California
"One Sensational Convention" --- At least that’s the way most of the people who attended described it. The hotel was excellent, the location outstanding and our tour of the Naval Helicopter Squadrons and the aircraft carrier Constellation superb. We had 275 people in attendance and I won’t tell you how much they consumed. Even though the Hospitality Room was next to the pool, nobody fell in.
Thursday, October 3rd started with 36 players in a golf tournament at Torrey Pines, which lasted until dark. The winners were awarded plaques with our eggbeater logo engraved on them to prove their accomplishments.
Thursday afternoon featured the Harbor Cruise with 208 members and guests boarding the San Diegan for a two-hour tour of San Diego Harbor. It was a beautiful day and everyone enjoyed this unique perspective of " America’s Finest City".
Friday we were invited to tour the USS Constellation aircraft carrier and two Helicopter Squadrons at North Island NAS. We were duly impressed with the floating city but more impressed with the naval helicopter pilots and their operations. Navy helicopter pilots comprise 44 % of their total pilot force and perform every mission any other aircraft does. They primarily fly H-60 Seahawks on sub hunting missions but can also attack with air to surface missiles, depth charges or drop flares. They fly 50 miles out from the ship and with a 50-mile radar they give the Battle Group Commander a 100-mile radius view of what is happening all around him. The data is telemetered in real time directly to the command center from the helicopter’s avionics systems. Once in a while they even do search and rescue.
Saturday’s business meeting went very well. At the same time 58 people took an escorted trip to Tijuana for shopping and lunch. Judging from the number of bags carried off the buses, the trip must have been a great success.
The banquet Saturday evening was a perfect finale to a super convention. First, everyone was astonished as a Flying Saucer slipped silently into the darkened ballroom. It hovered over tables of stunned guests, revolving in place with lights flashing and made diving passes and pull-ups throughout the room. How they did this is still a secret.
Chuck Klinkert, who organized the golf tournament, presented the award plaques to the winners. He had all the names engraved on them, which was no easy task in only 36 hours. Doug Armstrong presented the award for "Best Claim to Fame" to Bob Ferry for his 60 mile rearward test flight.
The hotel did a fantastic job preparing the dinners. After weeks of juggling numbers of prime rib, fish and chicken, everyone got precisely the correct dinner including one vegetarian meal. I couldn’t believe it.
The best part f the evening was the talk by Frank Robinson on how he
built a viable helicopter production company without any support from the
government. It was a true American success story. He detailed all the challenges
with design, production, testing, financing, and regulatory agencies, which
he had to overcome. It had a happy ending too, as the R-22 is now the most
popular private training helicopter throughout the world. He told many
interesting stories as he showed slides of his trips through Asia, Europe,
Africa and South America with his lovely wife, Barbara, who is also a helicopter
pilot.
Note: Information taken from USAFHPA Newsletters and other sources.
Kyron Hall, Historian.
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