We had a wonderful time at the 2016 Great Minnesota Aviation Gathering, and thank you to all who attended YOUR GMAG! We had a bit over 900 walk through the doors of the event, and the feedback has been very positive. Our thanks goes out to all the speakers at our Hangar Flying sessions and to all who worked hard to make this a valuable and successful event. We thank our sponsors for providing funds which made the GMAG possible, and to the exhibitors who provided much information to those who spent time in the exhibit area.

It was particularly gratifying to see so many pilots milling around the Golden Wings Flying Museum, randomly visiting with other pilots, getting to know officials from a number of governmental organizations, speaking with the many vendors who exhibited at the GMAG. We are finding that the Gathering is achieving one of our missions, that of providing a social aviation event in our state. How nice it was to see people visiting with friends from other parts of the state that they hadn’t seen for some time.

We also want to give praise to Cheryl Daml, CFI, CFII, for the wonderful job she did with her Pinch Hitter course at the GMAG. She had excellent attendance and the feedback was quite positive. Similarly, Steve Thibault, CFI, CFII, gave a wonderful AOPA Rusty Pilot session at the GMAG and it, too, drew rave reviews from attendees.

Overall, it was a terrific event. We are blessed with many outstanding speakers and contributors to our GMAG, eliminating the need to pay big bucks to bring in speakers from outside the state. This translates into considerable cost savings for us, and serves as a point of pride that we have it all in Minnesota!

Thanks, again, for your membership in the Minnesota Pilots Association, and for your support of the 2016 GMAG!