Bellanca-Champion Club  

...takes place Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 11
at the Columbia CA Airport.

Come join us at the 2023 West Coast Fly-In! Great fun to be had for all attendees. Sage words from attendees: From Ian Shere: Why should you go? You'll get to put faces to mysterious names from Facebook or the Viking Pilots forum. You'll have fantastic comradeship with like-minded pilots and owners, many of whom have more hours in their Bellancas than I have total time. That means real-world experience and real-world scenarios. Dan Torrey, the West Coast's resident Bellanca guru, will be there and his talks are not-to-be-missed. You'll learn a ton of stuff just from his talk alone. Plus, there's living it up in the outdoors. Expecting to see Frank on his 2-foot-thick air mattress again! We always enjoy camping, and, this year, we have a new dog to try out camping with. Good food, good fellowship, great instruction and mentoring, and just another good reason to fly (if you really need one!) But maybe camping really isn't your thing - fair enough. See your options under "Lodging & Transportation". But whatever you decide, decide to attend. You won't regret it, you'll make new friends, learn some stuff, and, best of all, have fun. Oh, yeah, it's a dog-friendly Fly-In as our collie Sir Barclay the Faithful will happily attest to. Cheers, Ian Shere

This will be our 23nd Annual West Coast Fly-In held in Columbia, California in the heart of Gold Rush Country. This Mother lode of Fly-Ins has become the largest gathering of Bellanca and Champion Aircraft on the West Coast, perhaps anywhere. Attendees can expect a weekend of beautiful airplanes (spanning several decades), wonderful food and drink, a chance to visit with fellow aircraft enthusiasts, and it all takes place in an idyllic, picturesque setting. We invite all members and their guests, and non-members to join us for this most enjoyable fly-in weekend.

Bellanca, Champion or whatever you fly or drive: Come Join Us!

This is a good opportunity to see our Club in action!

EVERYONE IS WELCOME

Friday: Registration begins, followed by a Pasta Dinner and an evening of socializing.

The late Ozzie Levi compiled an exciting tour of towns and historical sites around Columbia, CA. Air Tour participants, enhanced by Jim Kilbourn, will receive maps and a guide to spotting local historical sites such as Columbia State Historical Park, Sonora, and Angels Camp from the air; the flight will last approximately one hour. A "low-altitude" option is available to those prone to nosebleeds.







Vic Manuelli has selected several off-airport activities for those so inclined. You can download this list, which includes the updated event itinerary as well. A number of items provided by our generous commercial supporters will be available in the Clubhouse.

Flour Bombing and Spot Landing Contests will be held on Saturday morning. Meet near the Registration table.

Raffle:   We'll be selling tickets to some great prizes (drawing Saturday night Dinner Meeting) solicited by Committee member Robert Swanland and donated by our generous supporters in support of the works of the Club:
  Note: Now you get 8, not 6 tickets for $5


Last Year's Raffle Prizes were:

•     - LED Landing light from AeroLeds,
•     - Pair of Emblems from the Cruisair (courtesy of the Club),
•     - Gift Certificate (LARGE) from Jon Goldenbaum, for any Poly-Fiber, Randolph or Ceconite materials,
•     - Handheld Radio courtesy of Icom America ,
•     - Several CO detection systems and USB power units courtesy of CO Guardian,
•     - Gift Certificate from Chief Aircraft,
•     - Gift Certificate from ACI Jet,
•     - Gift Certificate from McFarlane,
•     - Sealed Aircraft Batteries - courtesy of Concorde,
•     - Headset from David Clark Company,
•     - Handling In-Flight Emergencies Course courtesy of Rod Machado,
•     - Gift Certificate from Wag Aero
•     ... and more coming.

Cold drinks and Club souvenirs will be available for purchase during the three days of the Fly-In. Coffee and buns will be offered Saturday and Sunday mornings in the clubhouse.

Friday, we'll run our the Gold Country Air Tour (see above), meet newcomers;



Ian Shere, an A+ student of flying and instructing, will share his knowledge and experience on spin training.

Saturday:

Roundtables on mods and maintenance on Saturday afternoon:
        ... High-Wing Champions & Aeroncas - moderated by Robert Szego
        ... Triple-Tails - moderator TBA
        ... Vikings - moderated by John Christensen

Dan Torrey, highly respected caretaker of our airplane types, will share his knowledge of all Bellancas and Champions in a presentation called "Maintenance Experience"

...and of course, there will be time to visit with everybody individually.

Saturday evening we will enjoy another wonderful meal and the camaraderie of this wonderful Bellanca-Champion group. Picture-slot plaques will be awarded for People's Choice, Best High-Wing, Best Triple-Tail, Best Viking, Best Aeronca, Oldest airplane in attendance, Winner Flour Bombing and Shortest Landing contest and Longest distance flown to the fly-in. Then we'll draw the winners of the Raffle Prizes.

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