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RyanKittrellOur guest speaker for the month of February was National Weather Service Forecaster, Ryan Kittell.

His presentation included a wonderful overview of the aviation services provided by the National Weather Service. Ryan answered a variety of questions throughout his talk and concluded with an interesting look at our local weather phenomena.

40 DAFers in 13 aircraft descended into Chino on a warm and beautiful Saturday to visit SkyTypers, the nation's premiere   skywriting company.  Stephen Stinnis, grandson of the company's founder, along with his colleague Darwin could not have been more hospitable to our group.  They had chairs and water waiting for us along with a fascinating display of SkyTypers history.  After spending quite a bit of time answering many questions from the attentive DAFers group, Stephen let us view a recent video profile of SkyTypers produced by a German documentary company (the film is now making the rounds at various film festivals and receiving great reviews).  After a few more questions, DAFers were given the opportunity to have a close-up inspection of the specialized aircraft used for sky typing.  Our fly-in ended with a nice lunch at Flo's Airport Cafe.  A beautiful day for flying combined with some aviation education and a great lunch - who could ask for more.  Thanks to Larry Chapman for putting the event together.

January's fly-in was a visit to the Mullin Automotive Museum in Oxnard, for a tour of their current exhibition on Citroen. 15 DAFers flew into Oxnard Airport, and another 4 drove up for the day. After some contortions getting in the the SUV as Mitch ferried people from the airport, the docent led tour was amazing. Our guides were informative and extremely knowledgable about the cars and the history behind them. The collection has some very unique cars, as well as examples of the ubiquitous 2CV. After the tour, we adjourned to CJ's Barbecue for lunch, followed by an easy trip home. A little windy, but otherwise a great day.

In January, we all enjoyed Rob Reddeg from SOCAL TRACON. Rob gave us insight on what it is like to work at the "Worlds Busiest Terminal Facility" SOCAL TRACON. He provided information not only about SCT itself but also taught us some great techniques on how to navigate our complex airspace and keep the airways safe here in Southern California! As Rob pointed out, with traffic continuing to rise year after year, especially with GA aircraft, it's extremely important that we work together to keep our airspace safe. This is a guest we should definitely invite back again soon!

The Del Amo Flyers started Christmas off with a bang, dancing and celebrating another great year. It was great to see everyone dressed up, and spirits were high (as well as flowing freely)! Palos Verdes Golf Club had the place looking festive, with decorations all around. In Contempt (the band, not our attitude) provided great dance music that got everyone out on the floor until the very end, and the food was very good. Many thanks to Patti LaGrelius for her efforts in making the arrangements; it was a job well done!
The 2018 DAF board was introduced, and we have some new blood this year. Kelvin Vanderlip has joined the board as Webmaster, Gary Palmer is the new Membership director, and Vince and Heather La Duca will be handling Dinner/Door. Patti LaGrelius has stepped up as President, taking over from Larry (who seems to think flying down from Placerville for every dinner and board meeting is a little much. What a wimp!). Mitch Taylor is now Treasurer (a scary thought), James Pavlick is the new Secretary, and Robert Beckwith has taken the reins at Fly-ins. Linda Howard will continue with Decorations, Maggie Smith and Laurice Churchill will keep up their great work with Programs, and Steve Sappington and Nancy Schunke are our Photographers. 
We're looking forward to another fantastic year, with some interesting programs and unique fly-in destinations. Happy New Year!

There were 18 of us who made the trek down to San Carlos in 6 airplanes, landing at nearby Guaymas Airport. The weather there was perfect. The Marina Terra Hotel and Spa provided a nice logistical location for the group as many went kayaking, stand-up paddle boarding and snorkeling at the hotel beach club nearby. On Algodones Beach, we had takers for horseback swimming (yes, they took the horses in the ocean!) and others went regular horseback riding on the beach. The dolphins gave us a fantastic show as did the sunset on our Hattie Annie Margarita Sunset Cruise. The margaritas weren’t bad either! Our “toes in the sand” dining at Sunsets was a real treat as we watched the sunset and listened to a local band. Nearby the popular Soggy Peso Bar received some of our “soggy pesos’ during the weekend. Rumor has it that Sally and Eric Kinder made it to the top of Tetakawi Mountain, the well-known landmark in the middle of San Carlos. It’s quite a hike but the view is breathtaking. Kudos to Sally and Eric! For a little down time, the pool and jacuzzi were popular. On our last night we had 16 of us in the jacuzzi after dinner! Overall it was a fun trip with a fantastic group of people. Thank you Patti and Tom for arranging a fantastic trip and for sharing your favorite Mexico getaway with fellow DAFers!