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From: Alan <nuh-uh@nope.com>
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.advocacy
Subject: Re: What is going on with 2024 the SCCBC season?
Date: Wed, 10 Jul 2024 10:22:20 -0700
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On 2024-07-10 07:51, Tom Elam wrote:
> On 7/6/2024 4:42 PM, -hh wrote:
>> On 7/5/24 2:19 PM, Tom Elam wrote (plus merged posts):
>>> On 6/28/2024 8:04 PM, -hh wrote:
>>>> On 6/28/24 11:10 AM, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>> On 6/27/2024 3:55 PM, Alan wrote:
>>>>>> On 2024-06-25 10:34, Tom Elam wrote:
>>>>>>> Dear Alan,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Last year, 2023, April-June, there 3 weekends, 9 races at SBBC. 
>>>>>>> Total unique CW driver entries were 97, OW 37. These are typical 
>>>>>>> for an entire season for 2021-2023. In April-June 2024 unique 
>>>>>>> driver entries are 14 OW and 49 CW, about half prior years.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> These stats are from the SBBC season championship records.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Wow, quite the drop. What's going on, Alan?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> And, BTW, you entered 11 out of a 71 2021-2024 races. None last 
>>>>>>> year of course, but also none this year and 11 out of 34 in 
>>>>>>> 2021-22. Have you retired? I thought you were looking forward to 
>>>>>>> getting back this year. Not so much?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So great to see you taking such an interest in my life, Liarboy!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I wonder if I might take a little interest in yours.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Done much flying lately?
>>>>>
>>>>> Well, yes. Two very different flavors. Full scale last 6 months, 36 
>>>>> hours logged including 2 family visit trips to Georgia, some CAP 
>>>>> hours, and just passed a VFR checkride. The Christmas return flight 
>>>>> from Georgia was IFR all the way home and an instrument approach 
>>>>> into Indy Metro. 
>>>>
>>>> Christmas of 2023, of course.
>>>>
>>>>> Now good for 2 another years on my BFR, taking me almost to my 80th 
>>>>> birthday. At this time I am also IFR current and capable, but those 
>>>>> are perishable skills. I'll be taking an IFR skills test checkride 
>>>>> before the end of September.
>>>>>
>>>>> RC model flying has been active since the weather improved in 
>>>>> April. Some of that is documented on my YouTube channel available at:
>>>>>
>>>>> https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcvZXi-36GQkeHr0FdB4cTg
>>>>>
>>>>> My latest YT video is rendering as I write this. That one is on 
>>>>> programming my 3 meter Fox sailplane for solo hand launch. It will 
>>>>> be up on the channel by end of today.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tomorrow I am scheduled to go to the AMA annual Fun Fly in Muncie 
>>>>> and do some instructing with beginning RC pilots. I also just 
>>>>> passed my Part 107 Remote Pilot/commercial drone license FAA 
>>>>> refresher, and good for another 2 on that front years too.
>>>>>
>>>>> So yes, done a lot of flying. Some airline flying in the near 
>>>>> future too!
>>>>
>>>> Because even 36 hours droning along at a Cessna's 125mph cruising 
>>>> speed is just 4500 miles: enough to cross the pond once...but not back.
>>>>
>>>>> We will be flying to Vancouver next month to catch a train to 
>>>>> Calgary then flying home from there. August takes us to France, 
>>>>> Luxembourg and a Viking river cruise to Basel. Flying home from 
>>>>> Zurich. Ten day trip in all. So still traveling too.
>>>>
>>>> Oh, so now its a ten day trip for what previously was a twelve day 
>>>> Paris-Rhine cruise claimed back in February?  /s
>>>>
>>>>> How about you, doing any racing lately? I know the answer to that, 
>>>>> at least for SBBC events. Null, zero, nada since 2022. Going 
>>>>> anywhere outside Canada this year?
>>>>
>>>> Life invariably takes different turns.  My last travel comment here 
>>>> was in early 2023, that we were looking (in 2023) to be making up 
>>>> for our CoVid travel lull, but that doesn't mean that it all went as 
>>>> had been hoped for: indeed, it could have changed.  Cancelled 
>>>> outright, or even perhaps upgraded to be in First Class instead of 
>>>> Coach on all of that year's international flights! /s
>>>>
>>>> Same applies for 2024 as well, for life invariably throws curve 
>>>> balls; this is why the advice was to 'do the hard stuff' while one's 
>>>> body (& finances) are healthy enough to be still able to do what one 
>>>> wishes. Otherwise, one can be pushing 80 and renting a car is no 
>>>> longer trivial, so one can get increasingly constrained to guided 
>>>> tours on cruise ships.
>>>>
>>>> In any event, a week on the Rocky Mountaineer and the aforementioned 
>>>> Rhine cruise sounds to be in the rough ballpark of ($7500+air)/pp, 
>>>> so it does seem like Tommy is perhaps finally breaking out of his 
>>>> prior fiscal constraint, as I'd long advised.  Yay, you!.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -hh
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Ten was a wrong number for Europe. It IS 12 days plus 2 for to-from 
>>> travel that I did not include in a prior post.
>>
>> But also plus +3 days pre-tour in Paris, as you've mentioned before 
>> and mentioned again below.
>>
>>
>>> The Canada trip is a package tour via a local company. It includes 
>>> several side trips, most meals, air, and several nights in the 
>>> Fairmont Banff Springs and others of similar quality prior to Banff 
>>> Springs. Check the rates on that hotel. $11,990 for 2. Sadly, one of 
>>> the people, a good friend at that, was scheduled to go but died very 
>>> suddenly. The wife has to cancel. It may still be an open reservation 
>>> for two. Interested? Starts July 20.
>>
>>
>> We've been meaning to get back to the Canadian Rockies, but that start 
>> date hits a schedule conflict.  Plus we learned last month that we're 
>> out of shape for any decent hiking in the Rockies (not that this rail 
>> journey would really have much), so not enough pre-trip prep time either.
>>
>>
>>> The Europe trip including air is a bit over $10,000 plus 3 nights on 
>>> our own in a Paris hotel at $300/night, plus meals, local 
>>> transportation and sundries. Likely to also come to about $12,000.
>>
>> Figured about that, as a cabin on Viking is ~$3800/pp on its own.
>>
>>
>>> Your $7,500 pp is spot-on but includes airfare.
>>
>> As you know, there's several rail journey options to choose from, of 
>> varying lengths; I'd conservatively parameterized to a higher end tour 
>> than what you actually chose.
>>
>>
>>> We also just this week scheduled a trip to Luddington MI to spend a 
>>> week with some good friends at their cabin. I'll be flying us up 
>>> there, only about $600 R/T for air plus taking them out to a VERY 
>>> nice restaurant or two.
>>>
>>> We also have the annual ski trip of course. 2024 is a bit of a 
>>> splurge but not that different from many prior years.
>>
>> I've not chatted skiing lately with a colleague who spends 2-3 weeks 
>> in Vail each season to know current rates, but I'd expect that the 
>> Epic is still just ~$1K/pp and that condo/AirBNB rates are quite 
>> variable.  Even so, $10K probably covers ~3 weeks when driving.  So 
>> without the ski trip, ballpark $25K for 2024, including the Florida 
>> bit (next below):
>>
>> {merge}
>>  >
>>  > Second reply. I just updated the 2024 travel diary and forgot to
>>  > include 2 January Florida weeks. We stayed with friends week 1, so
>>  > that kept the cost down. I think the whole trip was only maybe $3-4k
>>  > all-in.
>>
>>
>> {merge}
>>  >
>>  > Back again. FYI the club 182 cruises at 160+ mph, not 125.
>>
>> So its an 5,760 miles upper limit.  That's still not enough to cross 
>> the pond & back...and one still can't nap (safely) when at the controls.
>>
>>
>>  > It's a little over 2.5 hours including taxi time, with no headwind.
>>  > Delta makes it in 1:30 of droning on in a B737 but them you have a 
>> 1+  > hour drive to my sister's place in Woodstock, TSA hassles, ...
>>
>> TSA Pre makes airport security pretty trivial.  And since someone else 
>> is driving, its easy to take a nap, watch a movie, read a book...
>>
>>  > ... and what do we do with all the Christmas presents in Cessna
>>  > luggage compartment? 🙂
>>
>> Have Amazon send them direct to final destination.  Or ship them out 
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