Home
  • You are here:  
  • Home

The Saturday, March 15th lunch fly-in to Borrego Springs was a little different than most of our lunch fly-ins due to some turbulence forecasts enroute to Borrego Springs. Of course our intrepid DAF aviators responded in kind with a variety of solutions to the bouncy forecast. With eleven aircraft departing Torrance, Hawthorne, and Long Beach, we had six aircraft head to Borrego Springs, three aircraft went to El Monte, and two to French Valley. It turned out to be the best decision for everyone involved as all DAFers had a fun lunch somewhere in Southern California and they got to use their airplane to get there! Borrego Springs was a fun destination and the weather turned out to be a perfect 72F there. With about 20 DAFers at the La Casa Del Zorro Hotel Bistro restaurant at Borrego we had excellent food and a great time hiking around on the hotel grounds.

A big thanks to Robert Beckwith for planning the lunch fly-in and for persevering after having the event canceled twice for weather in 2024!

The Feb 22nd lunch fly-in to Oceano was outstanding! We started off with a morning brief at the Torrance GAC at 10AM where the fog was just clearing and weather was excellent enroute. The DAF flying group arrived at Oceano (L52) beginning at about 11:30AM and after everyone made the short walk to Old Juan’s Cantina, we enjoyed a great Mexican lunch with 26 DAFers and friends in attendance. 

There were a total of 12 DAF aircraft that made the journey and it was a great assortment of flying machines! Here’s the list:

Beech B35, A36 and Sundowner, Cessna 172 and 182, Piper Comanche 180 and 260B, Cirrus SR22, Grumman Tiger, Glasair III, RV, and a Flight Design CTLS. 

After lunch a group of DAFers hiked down to Pismo Beach to do some beach combing and there were plenty of sea creatures to amuse the gang.

A big thanks to Jeanne Shaw for planning the lunch fly-in and for persevering after having the event canceled for weather in 2024!

Five airplanes and a Ford truck made the trek down to San Carlos, Sonora, Mexico November 10-13, landing at nearby Guaymas Airport.  Actually, eight of us ventured down a bit earlier to get the party started! The fun included swimming, boating, snorkeling, kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding, hiking, jacuzziing, billiards, BBQ, fire pit and shopping not to mention lots of eating and drinking margaritas). Tom made sure the pool temp was 90 degrees so there was no hesitation on jumping into the pool!  Two of our group hiked all the way to the top of Tetakawi Mountain.  Wow, that was impressive Anne and Laurice!  While activities were available, there were downtime opportunities in the afternoons for some just hanging out at the pool. We enjoyed “toes in the sand” dining at Sunsets Restaurant at sunset on Algodones Beach, with lovely live music.

Ten of the group stayed at Tom and Patti LaGrelius’ home and four stayed at the nearby home of fellow DAFers Mario and Victoria Lopez.  We ran around town in the LaGrelius’ SUV (and golf cart) and the Lopez’ truck, no hotels or taxis needed!

So another successful Mexico adventure is on the books for the Del Amo Flyers….and hopefully more to follow!!  Thank you to Tom and Patti for organizing the trip plus kudos to Mario and Victoria who were quite helpful with the lodging and logistics!


Our DAF September fly-in was to McMinnville, Oregon on September 13-15th. The weather was spectacular for the trip and while a couple of our scheduled aircraft couldn’t make it due to crew illness, we still had four aircraft and eight DAFers make the mission. Our group of DAF Flyers met up on Friday evening for our traditional “post-flight” happy hour social on the rooftop bar of the historical McMenamins Hotel. There was something for everyone on Saturday of the fly-in when the guys went to the Evergreen Air and Space Museum to see the Spruce Goose and the ladies went to the Salem Art Fair. Afterwards, we all met to taste wine at a beautiful outdoor wine venue followed by dinner at the Golden Valley Brewery and Restaurant. Some aircraft departed on Sunday but a couple of DAF crews stayed behind to enjoy the great weather and wonderful Pinot Noirs of the region. We all had a great time!