Saying Good Bye To Dan - Fly In

Sandwiches all gone, sorry. All guests will receive a bottle of water and a quart of Phillips XC 20-50

I'm just reading all of this now, so tomorrow sounds great! (I really need to log in more often).
Dan M.

Today, we said, "Good Bye" to Dan Dicker.
It didn't work. He's not going anywhere. He's got a new nicely-located hangar with required old sofa and refrigerator, with a great airport view.

Six people came on Tuesday to the second official Dan Fly-In, as many members could not get there on Sunday due to obscure visibility.

Ken Cook flew in from Danielson, Connecticut. Dan M. flew in from Hartford, Connecticut and Tom Corcoran flew in from just south of Boston. Two Cessna guests came along, Ernie Lee with Ken and Mike Wightman with Tom. On Sunday, Bob Kittine was able to make the first event from East Hampton Airport further along on Long Island.

At lunch a couple of members each ordered one of "the best pancakes in the world" at Windy Lunch at KWHV. They couldn't finish even one!

Dan Dicker can now be considered an official recipient of BAC abuse and banter.

"Sierra Kenny" Cook holding court yesterday..........

Professor/Captain/BAC flight ops director Robert Kittine with his student Richard arriving early Sunday to demolish all the sandwiches before anyone else got their grubby hands on 'em............always ahead of the airplane, Bob is................

Looks like you guys had a great time "catching up". Nice looking V-tail Bo there Dan.

Hey, flight instructors and First Officers are TRAINED to eat anything they can whenever they can. Who knows when they can afford their next meal.

And I thought Dan D. was already qualified to receive BAC abuse and banter.

Didn’t want them to go to waste. Actually wasn’t going to eat anything until Dan insisted.

wjknight said:

Looks like you guys had a great time "catching up". Nice looking V-tail Bo there Dan.

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I was happy to hear the ruddervator conundrum was resolved. Someone is chemically milling magnesium sheets to make the right thick for the skins. I haven't heard what they will cost yet.

N6008L said:

I was happy to hear the ruddervator conundrum was resolved. Someone is chemically milling magnesium sheets to make the right thick for the skins. I haven't heard what they will cost yet.

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SRS Aviation in Minnesota just won the ABS half million dollar prize for manufacturing a 'new' magnesium ruddervator for replacement. Skins are $7150 per side, a full ruddervator with hardware and labor installation if you go to them is $9650. This is in comparison to a salvaged ruddervator in varying condition that was going between 15-25AMU (if you could find one) per side.

Not cheap, but took away a very nasty ownership fear for v-tails where a bump or hangar rash could result in a totaled airframe -- really -- or otherwise a 12-36 month down time while you search and negotiate for a replacement. SRS has ruddervators in stock, and are also capable of less expensive repairs of your own (if that's possible) through the mail, both FAA-PMA, fully airworthy and signed off. Big, big plus and probably a market boost for v-tails which had suffered with this unknown parts problem for many years. No more. And there's another composite ruddervator being developed that's in with the FAA now and "they say" will be approved in early 2026.

rkittine said:

Didn’t want them to go to waste. Actually wasn’t going to eat anything until Dan insisted.

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You don't need to make excuses to me. I would have pushed you out of the way to get to sandwiches!