October 2005 - American Bonanza Society

!,REGIONAL NEWSMidwest Bonanza SocietyMBS met at Sanderson Field (ANJ)in Sault Ste. Marie in the MichiganUpper Peninsula, known as the Soo or"Yoopers Country." Lloyd and MarjorieRichards orchestrated this event forAugust 11-14 from their home inTimmons, Omario, Canada, 180nmnorth of the Sao. Sixty-one adults andfive children arrived in 27 aircraft.Sault Ste. Marie is the oldest city inMichigan and the third oldest city in theUnited States. a town rich in GreatLakes maritime history. The Soo Locksystem connecting Lakes Superior andHuron dates back to the 1870s and isstill in operation.While some shopped on Fridaymorning. others held a maintenanceseminar hosted by "Old Bob" Siegfried.In the afternoon, folks toured the 550-foot "Valley Camp" are and grainfreighter, now preserved as a GreatLakes Maritime Museum. We alsotoured the 210-foot Tower of Historyoverlooking the Sao Locks.Later in the day, we took a twohourboat cruise through the Sao Locks,a 2 I-foot drop between Lakes Superiorand Huron. That evening the Sao PilotsAssociation hosted a Western BBQ attheir airport hangar, complete with a"Classic Country" band.On Saturday, we crossed theInternational Bridge to Canada via theSoo Tram, climbing 135 feet above theSoo Locks, for two stops. One was a tourof the Bushplane Heritage Centre, theonly North American facility dedicatedto both bushplane aircraft and forest firemanagement. The other stop was at theshopping mall, Kewadin Casino andsome unique shops in Sault Ste. Marie.The evening ended with dinner andguest speaker Kevin Psutka, president ofthe Canadian Aircraft Owners and PilotsAssociation, who gave guidelines abouttraveling across the Canadian border.Apparently our fly-in was a hit withthe community. The local newspapercarried a front-page photo and insidearticle about Dr. Jerald and MarthaDuncan from Germantown, Tennessee,and their V35.The Sao Pilots Association, withPresident Jerry Jones, welcomes all ofyou to visit the Sao. - Carol OlsollMark Murphy with some of the large float planes ondisplay at the Bushplone Heritage Centre,Lifeboat on display inside freighter thot MBS members toured .Aerial view of Sao Locks.Rocky MountainBonanza SocietyAfter a tour of a warbird museum inDriggs, Idaho, the RMBS group headedfor Kalispell, Montana, for our August12-14 fly-in. The weather was lookingpretty gray with cumulus buildups climbingweU above 30,()()() feet.Approaching Kalispell , ATCadvised of 13 planes lined up for vectorsinto Glacier Park International Airport(KFCA) in a 15-minute time frame, andwe should expect holding. The controllerdid a fantastic job vectoring the crowd,and within about 20 minutes we were allon the ground.With all safely landed, we wereready to enjoy the lodge on Glacierational Park's Lake McDonald. Builtin 1913 as a hunting lodge, it hasretained its rustic charm nestled amongthe trees bordering the lake. With noTV, no radio and no cell phone coverage,we spent time getting acquaintedand becoming fami liar with the area.The next morning started wi th aPage 9284www. bonanza .orgABS October 2005