Bill Marvel, Fly-in committee chairman
It’s time to say adios to the CPA’s exciting 2025 Fly-in season and you no longer see any events listed here because they’re all history! 2025 sent our members to locations in New Mexico, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, South Dakota, Kansas and four times to destinations right here in Colorful Colorado. There isn’t room for a full summary of each, but we saw everything from bison herds to ancient caves in a national park to the Apollo 13 command module and other historic spacecraft to a spectacular river float trip to a hands-on tour of an aircraft paint shop, to a small town historical settlement and its accompanying hardships to a gold mine to a fabulous Fourth of July fireworks display to outside dining at the base of a massive rock cliff to an underground bootlegging facility from prohibition days to a floating restaurant and even to an extensive in-person visit with Burt Rutan! We saw museums and mansions of all sorts, incredible scenery, ate great dinners and yes, we had lots of ice cream! In short, it was another year of flying adventures for all pilot experience levels and included a wide variety of activities at every destination.
But fret not because although this flying year is finished, more adventures are coming next year!
Mark your calendars because on January 10, we’ll convene at 8:30 in the upstairs meeting room in the terminal building at BJC. There we’ll select our events for the 2026 flying season, which normally runs from March through October, Mother Nature permitting. And don’t think that only some select group of “insiders” do this – nope, it’s anyone who wants to host one! In fact, we often don’t know in advance who will step up as a host, where they plan to take us or what we’ll do. So that meeting is exciting because the flying year literally unfolds right in front of us. All members and visitors are welcome and encouraged to attend.
Stay in touch on both the web site and in our Flight Lines newsletter. And if you’re not yet a CPA member, what are you waiting for? Toss $30 into the pot and join us! Flying past the 550 plus mountain peaks above 13,000 feet in pristine Colorado toward distant destinations is one of the most satisfying things you can do in aviation. We have deserts, mountains, canyons, prairies, vast forests, crystal clear streams and even great beer! Our members are friendly, helpful and welcoming, not to mention often experienced in mountain flying and able to aid you on each trip. And you’re not yet a member? Really?