NIPPER GATHERING

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Paul,

I don't want to steal Pat's thunder, but there is a hotel on-site at Sywell: http://www.sywellaerodrome.co.uk/hotel.php or accommodation on offer at mine also, that offer goes out to anyone interested.(Home base is Colchester Essex, 70nm as the crow flies from Northampton Sywell.)

Neil

[Neil Spooner]

Hi All,

I asked Jeff at Sywell if we needed to pre-book for a mass arrival, his response:

[i]5-10 arriving together would be no problem, 30 would ! If you do get 30 maybe 5 at a time with a 10 min window between them.

And slot availability:

That is no problem, if you can't get the consecutive slots just book one or two for the whole gathering and we can be flexible.
[/i]

Possibly Nippers up to 6 now.

Just a thought on the meeting at a "friendly farm strip" to arrive en-mass; some magneto'd Nippers are a swine to start when hot or warm, so that could be a problem.

Neil

[Neil Spooner]

Hi All,

We are up to 8 Nippers and one Leburg Sparrow!

I picked up a spare prop' from Temple Bruer today, and "called in" on the way home into Northampton Sywell. Spoke to Jeff about our arrival, and he said not to worry about slots, they will just fit us in. We have a Nipper Corner, so I am looking forward (wx permitting) to seeing a squadron of Nippers there.

I invited Barry Smith, but failed to motivate him enough to bring his Acro Advanced unfortunately.

For those who have not been recently, Sywell is in good hands, has a lovely Bar/Restaurant, and 3 runways! We should get a warm welcome. There is a lot of work going on to improve the area around the fuel pumps, and install a hard runway, it would be worth looking at the Notam current on the 24th.

All the best,

Neil

[G-NIPR]

Thanks to those that have offered overnight solutions, I wll let you know my plans nearer the time, but appreciated all offers.
My probability of attending has just risen as I have managed to wangle the whole weekend off work!
The only stopping factor now really is weather....
Lets hope for a good August.

Keep in touch with your plans.

Paul.
G-NIPR.

[Neil Spooner]

Hi All

The Nipper gathering could be turning into a "swarm" (if that is what you do with 9, yes 9 Nippers!) Or we could be posh and call it a squadron!

We now have:

ASXI
AVTC
BYLO
NIPR
ONCS
AWJE
BLMW
ATBW
AWDA

AWESOME!!

Any more takers? I haven't had a complete response to the mail shot, so there is a possibility of more.

Thank you for your responses.

Neil

[G-NIPR]

Neil,
Just out of interest did you include me in the mail shot, if so it hasnt arrived.
But your lovely card has!

Thanks.

Paul.
G-NIPR.

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Paul,

So sorry you didn't get your one!
I didn't send you an invite as you had already expressed an interest and you are easily contactable through the forum or email. I was unable to colate email addresses for all the other Nipper owners, so sent out 30 letters to the G-INFO listings. Sorry, don't take it personally! I was just trying to keep the cost of the mail shot down.

Really pleased with the response so far, could be the biggest meeting of Nippers for some years.

Neil

[G-TIPS]

Dear all,
After a very long absence from this chat group, I was kindly reminded a couple of weeks ago by Neil Spooner about its existence, with a good classic letter in the mail, announcing the project of this fly-in. Neil, thank you for that.
Pleased to ear about this and pleased to see that the chat among Nipper owners is still going strong.
My Nipper is still there, in good condition. I have been waiting for a very long time for the completion of some repairs to a wing tip and the wing tanks... In the process, a series of delays came in and I'm still waiting for a couple of details to be finished. Now that there is this fly-in coming, I put this as a deadline for the finishing of the job and hopefully i'll make a test flight august 15th.
The aircraft is in Cranfield righ tnow.
If all goes well, I'll try to make it to the fly-in.
Paul, you might log a 6th Nipper on you log book...
Cheers to all,

Frederic Neefs

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Fredrick

Great to hear from you, if you can make it that would be great! 10 Nippers all together would be the largest gathering for many years I am sure.

Neil

[Neil Spooner]

Hi All,

Have just emailed Jeff at Sywell to see if we can get a discount for entrance/landing. The contingent looks like 10 Nippers + Leburg Sparrow.

The aircraft I am expecting are:

G-
ONCS
AWJE
ASXI
AVTC
BYLO
NIPR
BLMW
ATBW
AWDA
TIPS

(if I have left anyone off please remind me!!)

If anyone else wants to come then that would be fantastic, this must be the largest potential gathering for many, many years. Come and be a part of it!!

Look forward to seeing you there, I will post more details later this week.

Neil

[G-NIPR]

Hello All,
Has anyone seen a long range forecast for the weekend yet?
My planning is pretty much done, the aircraft is fuelled and ready to rock, but I am unsure what the forecast holds...
I hope it all comes off , Im looking forward to our gathering.
I need cheering up, I knew 2 of those aboard the 402 that was lost at CVT at the weekend.
Get back on the horse and all that....

Best wishes.

Paul.
G-NIPR.

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Paul,

I read the incident reports to try to understand and learn how these things happen, but as you also know as a professional pilot it takes more than just one thing to make an accident. The chap who gave me a personal recommendation to get into easyJet crashed his Starduster just recently, he is making progress, but I doubt he will hold a medical again, he lived to fly. As you rightly say, "get back on the horse", but although a good attendance this weekend would be great, it is a long way for you to come, and I don't need to remind you that its better wishing you were there than wishing you had of stayed on the ground. Aviation is a tough mistress.

Fly safe,

Neil

[G-BYLO]

All,
I am told the permit for G-BYLO is on its way so weather permitting I will be there. Happy to meet up for a formation arrival- I will be departing Henlow (which is a faff for non MOD aircraft at the weekend- otherwise I'd have suggested an RV there)

Mike

[Neil Spooner]

Hi Mike,

A formation arrival sounds great, if you want to launch when I get in the overhead or some other pre-arranged spot sounds good to me. My intention is to arrive Sywell 1000hrs.

Neil

[Pat Blenkinsopp]

Neil et all,

Might be worthwhile organising an air to air frequency ???

How about 123.45 ?

Look forward to seeing you all there.

All the best,

Pat. ASXI