You could cut the tension with a knife as DAFers waited to hear the results of the October 10 Mystery Fly-In at the October dinner meeting on October 18. Many DAFers had been preparing themselves for many months to face the grueling written test that would reveal the mystery fly-in location.

But before fly-in czar Mitch Taylor revealed who would win the coveted Mystery Fly-In trophy, fellow DAFer Dave Hopkins delivered a comprehensive update on the status of Santa Monica Airport. He noted that closure of the airport would set up a dangerous precedent that could affect TOA’s future. And even if SMO’s closure didn’t directly threaten TOA, the increased traffic directed from a closed SMO would certainly complicate and add to congestion at TOA.
Mitch then provided an overview of the fly-in test and provided the correct answers to both the difficult and not-so-difficult questions (the long-standing rule that anyone who contested a question would be response for organizing the following year’s fly-in kept challenges to a minimum). Finally, Mitch revealed the team with the highest test score: Team Hahn.  Congratulations to Curtis and Lisa!

And none of this would have been possible without the hard work of Mitch, Steve, Nancy, Robert, Dan, Bob and Lynn in creating and helping to administer the test. Thanks, DAFers.