The Grumpy Gang

The Grumman Aircraft Pilots Association European Branch

Home > Meetings >  2003 Welshpool  Wales

Our main Banquet on the Saturday evening was a candlelit affair, but with a difference. We had the added delight of being accompanied by internationally respected harpist Sian James, who enthralled us all when she played and sang to us a cross section of Welsh folk songs. Never has Welsh Lamb tasted as good. It was all boosted by copious quantities of wine, suitably imported in the luggage compartment of various Grummans from a continental country not too far south of England. Being held in a hangar has its problems, namely, no bar! No fear, this was admirably overcome by the organisers with the provision of a temporary bar in one dark comer of the hangar, where the evil alcohol could be surreptitiously dispensed.

A lovely cake with the AYA star insignia had been made by Graham's wife Judith. There wasn't much left of it after the event. It looked and tasted terrific.

Our guests of honour were airport owner Bob Jones and his lovely wife Linda. Without their help and support the event would certainly have been very difficult to arrange, if not impossible. Our thanks were passed to Bob and his team of helpers.

Graham and his team were presented with a three-foot-high dragon as a memory of all their hard work in making the event the success it was. Nobody should underestimate the time and effort put in by these chaps.

The main prize of the annual event is the "Whisler Trophy" for the most meritorious flight undertaken by a participant in getting to the fly-in. It is named after Norman Whisler, a member who sadly died a few years ago. It commemorates his commitment in getting to European AYA fly-ins over long distances. He lived in Ireland and thus had further than most to get anywhere! This year, the trophy could have gone to a number of people, as many had come a long way by many a circuitous route, but it was decided that, once more, a Danish pair were the justified winners: Vagn Stevnhoved and Niels Bille in OY-GAI. Consider the difficulty in judging this year: One of the runners-up came from Grenaa, the same airfield in Denmark, and had come the same route in a similar airplane, but, since there were three people in the airplane, we decided the workload had been less arduous, maybe!

The weather was absolutely fantastic, blue skies and warm breezes. We really felt sorry for those who couldn't make it, and delighted in telling them such whenever they telephoned to ask!

In all, we had nineteen Grummans, and quite a few members came by car. Sixty people attended the banquet. Once again we enjoyed the presence of pseudo-Europeans Ed and Pat Manning, who came courtesy of United (Grumman) Airlines all the way from California.

A number of members were attending for the first time, and we hope they enjoyed the experience. We were very pleased to see John Bradley and Sahib Bleher, the most recent joiners.