And if you're not a member and live and/or fly in Utah, you should be ~ need to support those who are out there ... supporting your cause and maintaining all those great destinations that inspired Mr. Hanselman to write his great book about flying in your beautiful State.

Greetings again gentlemen (and ladies ~ I know you're out there; merely outnumbered right? )

I've just officially become your new newsletter editor. Since there hasn't been one since 2006 ~ seems it's about time. Try to forget I'm in California, and don't yet have my ticket; nothing I can do about the former, but I am pleased to say I'm finally - working on the latter. Not so sure I'll achieve the level of aviator savvy that it takes to do what you all do this lifetime since I'm getting a bit of a late start ... but I never say never, and I have to say I'm certainly inspired and motivated to reach a level where I could get myself into some of the amazing places you all fly into (shall refrain however from making any comments about getting myself into the ummm....."situations".......you all sometimes fly yourselves into as well )

I do bring to the plate a genuine enthusiasm and passion for what you all do; I'm good at cajoling people into providing content and telling me stories; not shy about being a literary cheerleader for your cause. I work cheap at this point too until I hit the bigtime, which may have had something to do with my getting hired

Wanted to share this here because this site is a great resource. Can't not utilize and learn from it and hope you'll help me become a valued advocate for what you all do ... as opposed to a pest; I obviously plan on hanging around and picking your brains rather frequently in the future.

Thanks to some of the writing I've done so far for my book, in the past month I've been given the chance to work on some interesting writing projects in addition to my own; things that I'm hoping will only help the cause of getting my writing and name out there - agreeing to do this newsletter is one of them.

I would appreciate knowing how many UBCP members DO hang out around here ... and give you a heads-up that if OK ... if I spot something interesting from one of you here that's not embarrassing (well OK; sometimes those kind of stories can admittedly make for a good read), I might ask for your permission to share it.

(Shall hit submit now and hope that Zane doesn't decide to stick this into the invisible "Sequestered Posts" Forum )

I am a member, and enjoy the area as much as possable. But not too much this time of year. TOO HOT, and TOO DRY.

Good luck with your writing/newsletter

Gary

Flywriter,

Hey its good to see you've signed on as Newsletter Nazi (jk). My initial introduction to the UBCPA was when a guy at the airport handed me a stack of old "Air Mail" copies that he was throwing out and said " You should enjoy these". I read each of them about 20 times. I didn't have a plane at the time so I jumped on my XR650 and went about visiting these airstrips from the ground.

I absolutely love Southern Utah for hiking, biking, river rafting and flying. I travel all over the world on a Gulfstream 550 as a flight mechanic. People always ask what is my favorite place of any I've been and I tell them Southern Utah. Fiji a close second.

I bought a Cherokee 180 in 2004 and finished my Private. I had been a little bummed out about the aviation scene in Utah. It seemed that other states (Idaho, Nevada and Oregon come to mind) had a lot of GA activity with Airshows and Fly-ins like we used to, but Utah has less fly-ins and Airshows every year that goes by. We didn't even get the Hill Airforce Base Airshow this year.

I figured rather than snivel about it I should roll up my sleeves and get involved, and UBCPA would be my in. I sent in my membership fee and sent an email to Steve Durtschi. I was disappointed when he told me that interest has waned in having monthly meetings and they were only having board meetings at present. He has invited me to attend a board meeting so I'm still looking forward to meeting him and some of the other members. Some of the guys meet up at Skypark on Saturdays and hang out. Hopefully, I can do my part to attend/organize some of the functions.

I say hopefully because I'm a little worried about being a great cheerleader and not being able to put in all the time for service projects/functions.

Its funny how life works, It took me 34 years to have the money for a plane and flight lessons. Now I can fly whenever I have time. But a full-time+ job, travel, Fun Cop and 3 chillens under 10yrs. old at home, T-Ball coaching duties, Boy Scout duties....... I've never had so many constraints on my free time!

So thanks for helping with the newsletter. Let me know if I can help with anything and I'll say yes and get nothing done. Don't worry about being a Californian or not having your ticket, showing up is more than most can do. My backcountry flying experience amounts to landing at Ibex (where you could land an A380) but it put a smile on my face...

As the former UBCP newsletter editor, I would like to welcome Susan (Flywriter) to the scene and wish her all the best with her endeavors!

As with you, 62L, life has brought many of us some changes over the last few years - including kids, work, and family responsibilities - that have curtailed my ability to be a hound dog (when it came to snorffling out contributions), and my time to edit and compile the newsletters. I am so glad that Susan is now on the scene.

On the note of contributions... All it takes to contribute something to the newsletter is a little enthusiasm and subject matter related to Utah back country flying (or back country flying in general). I still plan to contribute regularly - provided my stuff is up to snuff with the new editor! We appreciate anything anyone has to offer.

Thanks again, Susan, for helping out with this monumental task.

M

Thanks guys ... I suppose one of the advantages of hitting the big 50 is you get the opportunity to start pursuing some of those things that in younger years, family life and other time consuming (and financial) commitments require many of us to put off.

But having been there, done that ~ I also know that even in the midst of the daily chaos, little things mean a lot and small contributions to any cause meaningful to you or yours ... has value. A bunch of people each doing a little when they can, adds up to a whole lot sometimes.....

62L do what you can, when you can, it'll count (and Fiji ~ haven't yet made it to Southern Utah, but been to that gorgeous place ... I'll have to put it first for now I grew up a commercial airline brat, and that was one of my all-time favorite destinations)

Matt, my pleasure to take this on; fun opportunity for me and of the many types of pilots I've kindly had the chance to get to know because of my book ... you backcountry types personify an aviation spirit I've come to admire. I've had aerobatic pilots tell me they think "YOU'RE" crazy to do what you do ~ and I had a WWII Ace share that the most valuable flying lesson he ever got, came from an early experience getting himself boxed into a canyon. A compliment that a P-51 legend, told me he really admires backcountry flyers.......

I'm a member as well, and I'm looking forward to seeing newsletters! I'll try to come up with some articles too. Thanks!