Bob's Q200 followed by Gordy Jones' LongEZ                   Jim Patillo with Merced Award                                        

N200QK heading for the Golden Gate - July 8th, 2006

Another good reason to visit the San Francisco Bay Area this summer                                                                 

Alan Thayer and Sam Kittle are planning the Seventh Annual Tandem Wing Fly-in at Livermore Airport (LVK) in northern California (near San Francisco) on August 22-23, 2008. All tandem wing airplanes, owners, builders, and "I got to get me one of those" people are invited. The Fly-in will get started on Friday afternoon and evening with a no-host dinner at Beeb's Restaurant on the field starting at about 6:00 pm. In 2006 about 25 people made it to the Friday night dinner. We'll get going again at Alan Thayer's hangar #262 at 10:00AM on Saturday and go until the last person gives up. There will be an informal Sunday breakfast for people who are interested, at the local Bakers Square in Livermore. This is an informal fly-in aimed at getting to know some of the names you've seen in Q-Talk and on the Q-List. There will be rides, lots of talk about these birds, and a late afternoon and evening BBQ on the South side of the airport at Alan's hangar, #262. We should have 7 local "Q's" in attendance. Jim Patillo's Oshkosh Lindy winning Q200, Alan's Q2/Jabiru3300 and his Quickie-1 with the new carbon fiber spar, possibly Mark Summers's Q2/O200 (maybe - he has just retired and moved out of the area)  and Brad Olson's Q200 which Brad bought from Tom Moore.  Brad has just completed his panel modernization.  Also on hand will be Geoff Rutledge's N200AL, and Bob Farnam's 500+ hour Q200, N200QK. 

Also attending this year will be at least three Dragonflies, flying in from Southern California and Arizona, as well as a Longeze or two, in addition to several Q-200's flying in from several states away.

Additionally, Barry Weber has agreed to moderate a short forum dealing with safety issues for first flights. His talk on this subject some years ago was well-received and extremely useful. Barry is one of our Chapter Flight Advisors.  

Pat Panzera will be bringing us up to date on the Corvair aircraft engine project. This is a good chance to see what a 'Vair conversion looks like and sounds like. 

For arrival information and airport map, scroll down.

Things to do besides talk about airplanes.

For those who might want to stay and make this a longer vacation trip, there are several nice hotels within 1 mile or less of the Livermore Airport Terminal Building. In addition, for flying companions, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system is about 3 miles away in Pleasanton and can take you quickly to downtown San Francisco for sight-seeing or shopping. We have a a decent restaurant on the field at the northwest end called Beeb's which is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. You can taxi there and park next to it. There is also a Cattlemen's restaurant within 1/4 mile of the terminal. Other local attractions are the fine local wineries. There are 13 in the Livermore area, including Wente and Concannon, plus a number of smaller quality wineries. There is also a very nice muni golf course right next to the airport. Beeb's Restaurant is actually at the golf course.

Nearby hotels are:

1. Extended Stay America.  2380 Nissen Drive, Livermore  925-373-1700, 800-398-7829. Kitchens in each room. (.2 mi.). Next door to Cattlemen's Restaurant. No pool.
2. Hampton Inn. 2850 Constitution Drive, Livermore 925-606-6400, 800-426-7866. Kitchens in each room. (.5 mi.). Complimentary breakfast.
3. Residence Inn by Marriott. 1000 Airway Blvd., Livermore 925-373-1800, 800-331-3131. Kitchens in each room. (.6 mi.). Complimentary breakfast, free shuttle within 5 mi. No pool.
4. Comfort Inn. 2625 Constitution Drive, Livermore 925-606-6200. Complimentary breakfast (.6 mi).
5. Courtyard by Marriott. 2929 Constitution Drive, Livermore 925-243-1000. (.6 mi.) Courtyard Cafe on premises.

All of these hotels are very nice and new, and most have pools. For those who asked, there is no camping at LVK.

Rental Cars: Call Enterprise Rent-A-Car at (925) 449-3600. There is an airport discount available. Use discount #R05430.

Livermore Airport Information

     ATIS 119.65      (925) 447-9516                            ASOS (925) 606-5412

     Ground 121.6                             Tower and CTAF 118.1.

On busy days they sometimes run a second tower frequency for the south side (25L or 7R). Listen to ATIS to find out if it is active. Tower operates from 7:00 am to 9:00pm. Runway 25R/7L is the longer one with lights and an ILS. It is about 5500 ft long. 25L/7R is not lighted and is about 2700 feet long. The field elevation is 400 feet MSL and the TPA is 1400. Livermore is just outside the largest ring of the SFO class B and has no airline activity - just GA. We have a VERY large collection of antiques, warbirds, and homebuilts.

The weather is likely to be severe clear and pretty warm. August temps can get as high as 95-100 degrees but with low humidity. In 2006, the weather was about 80 degrees and beautiful.  It does cool off some in the evening. We are close enough to the ocean to get cool marine air.

San Francisco is about 20 minutes away by Q200 and well worth an air tour (see the picture above). SFO has a class B so pay attention, but you can see a lot without penetrating the class B, especially in the North Bay. South of SFO is pretty clobbered with SUA because of San Jose and Oakland. The controllers have been cooperative about allowing "Bay Tours" inside the class B if they aren't too busy. There is no official "Bay Tour" - mostly you just tell them what you would like to do.

Local Phone Numbers

     Sam Kittle (cell): 209-559-0903    

     Alan Thayer (cell):  510-427-3432    

Arrival Information:

North is up in this photo. Please DISREGARD the right hand arrow in the above satellite picture, denoting the former location of the Fly-in during previous years. This year's location is new, on the South side of the airport, in the collection of hangar buildings shown vertically in the middle part of the picture, 4th row in from the left. The tower, terminal building and the transient overnight parking are midfield on the north side. Aircraft arriving Friday afternoon or evening can park either at transient parking, or on the gravel strip immediately west of the most westerly row of hangers on the South side.

If you will be arriving Friday afternoon, tell ground control that you want to taxi to the North hangars, then look for the taxiway which runs from the north runup pad for Runway 25R to the northeast hangars. It's an extension of Taxiway 1. Beeb's restaurant is at the northwest corner of the large asphalt tiedown area on the west side of the tower. You can taxi there and park temporarily. That's where we'll meet Friday evening around 6 pm. If you are driving in, you can reach Beeb's by taking Airway Blvd south from 580, then turn right to the golf course. If you follow Airway Blvd north over the 580 freeway, you will see the hotel area on the right just after you cross the freeway.

If you are flying in Saturday morning, tell Ground Control that you would like to taxi to hanger #262, the location of the Tandem Wing Fly-in, of which they have already been notified, and Ground can give you a progressive.

To reach Alan's hangar by car on the day of the Fly-in, from 580, take the Airway Blvd turnoff South, and follow it along as it parallels the sheltered tie-downs on the airport property on the right. Make a right turn at the light on Kitty Hawk Road, (NO right turn on red) and the next right again onto W. Jack London Boulevard. Proceed about half a mile to the last row of hangars where you will see a gated entrance to the field. You can call Sam or Alan on their cell phone to come and let you in, if nobody comes by with a clicker. Hangar rows are marked with hangar numbers, and are easy to locate.

Please let us know ASAP if you will be able to attend, and how many will be in your party, so that we may get a fairly accurate head-count in planning for our Saturday evening chicken barbecue. (One year, some had to go without, as we had run out of chicken!) You can send an e-mail to Sam from the Q-List, or give us a call if you have questions. Looking forward to seeing you in Livermore!

Sam Kittle 209-559-0903

Alan Thayer 510-427-3432