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IMG 0865-4895-800-600-10038 DAFers, including a contingent from Santa Rosa, descended on Loreto for the February Fly-In and Whale Watch. "Aircraft needing a margharita, say your location" was the call from the tower, and the response was immediate, although paperwork on landing was a little slow.

Saturday morning, after a sunrise breakfast and a van ride across the peninsula, we boarded our boats at Magdalena Lagoon. THe weather was perfect, not too hot but with plenty of sunshine. Whales were not only watched, but petted and given belly rubs. Up close and personal was the phrase of the day.

The hotel, with it's sunrise view across the gulf, was excellent and the bar well stocked with tequila. Aside from the brisk competition for the Bonehead award, it was a fantastic trip and a great time. Thanks to Dave Weir for arranging everything.

Our first dinner meeting of 2014 was a great success with almost 60 attendees. Incoming President Wayne Grau presided over his first meeting in command. Despite all predictions, everything went smoothly. (Although past-President Joe Cogan was overheard murmuring "rookie" on several occasions).

New Fly-In chairman Dave Weir spoke about the upcoming Baja whale watching trip on Feb. 21-24, as we'll as future fly-ins to Grass Valley (May) and Gold Beach, OR (July).

Our speaker was Lt. Col. Dean Hunter (USAF ret.), who gave an excellent presentation on his experiences as a U.S. Marine during the Korean War, and as a USAF pilot during the Viet Nam war.

More than forty DAFers stormed the decks of the USS Iowa for the January Fly-in (or Drive-in, if you want to get technical about it). Led by our able and knowledgeable guides, we toured the ship and enjoyed the perfect blue skies and warm weather. The only setback was Craig Narr's hernia from trying to sneak out with a 16" shell under his shirt.

After the tour, we adjurned to the 22nd Street Landing Restaurant for an excellent lunch. Thanks to Liz and Peter Broen for arranging a great outing!

DAFers ended the year in style at the annual holiday party on December 17 at the Palos Verdes Golf Club.  The wine was flowing, the food was great, and just about everyone made it to the dance floor.

The 2014 Board was announced (see list below) and Joe Cogan said his farewell as he presided over his final DAF event as club President.  We’ll miss you Joe - you ran a tight board meeting and kept club scandals to a minimum.  Incoming President Wayne Grau presented Joe with a king-sized bottle of Jack (with a nice decanter) to help ease the transition into civilian life.

At November's dinner meeting, the eagerly anticipated results of November 9th's Mystery Fly-In were presented. But before the winners were announced, Curtis Hahn was presented the coveted Wings award for "Grilling Services Above and Beyond the Call of Duty".

The Mystery Fly-In winners were Larry and Jodie Chapman, with Steve Sappington and Nancy Schunke coming in second. The Chapmans, who also won 2012's trivia contest, recognized that their days as victors were numbered. "It is only a matter of time before other DAFers gain the ability to access the Internet", Larry Chapman was overheard saying.

We could not have asked for nicer weather for our Annual Mystery Fly-In on Saturday, November 9. Joe, Peter, Mitch, Anne and Wayne dug deep into the aviation trivia world and came up with a great quiz. 28 DAFers participated and all were able to decipher the destination airport without resorting to the only-open-in-an-emergency-only envelope.

A good lunch followed at the Voyager restaurant where the quiz was debated and litigation strategies discussed.