The Hoptoberfest Fly-In
By: George Zhen

November 11, 2005

(Munich, Germany) - When we were deciding on how to best assemble our first fly-in, we weren't sure of a lot of things. Where to do it? How to get word out? Should we structure a bunch of events, or leave it to chaos? The only thing we were sure of was that we wanted it to reflect the carefree spirit that The Flight of The Hopper project embodies.

With the calendar approaching October and beer on the mind, it wasn't too difficult to build a route that would deliver us to Germany in time for Oktoberfest. As we approached the fall, we were able to settle many of the pressing questions about location (Germany on FSimCafe.com), promotion (kind help from FSimCafe, AVSim, SIMRadar, FS Nordic RSS feeds, and the like), and structure (a simple convoy across the country). A few clicks, some design, some words, a Teamspeak server and we were ready.

When we arrived online on October 22, we were surprised to find some anxious flyers at the ready on the Hamburg Airport tarmac. At first, we were going to make this flight in the trusty Pilatus, but then I brought my computer over to Geoff's place and we both took to the skies. Geoff flew the PC-12, while I toggled between a Beach 1900 and a DC-3. Another local friend, Frank, joined us on our LAN, but his computer problems proved too daunting to conquer in time for the fly-in. Hopefully, he'll join us for our African adventure this Winter.

After a few technical trials, we departed Hamburg en masse for Bonn. Our friend Gizmocat, lead the way in a rotary-winged contraption while VFR specialist Stickman roared off in a Cessna Caravan. Scottie also joined us in a Baron 58, along with a host of other friends that included Hopper followers Colin, Doug, de Luke, vlad, a couple of flyers fluent only in German and a guy whose moniker is simply Assassin Pilot (or "Ass Pilot" as he became known). The weather was typically German for this time of year - cloudy, rainy and fogged in. We made the best of it and routed our way to Bonn.

It was at this point that we began to experience some of the most frustrating portions of our flight. FSimCafe are great people and their FSHost server is usually quite reliable, but for some reason this wasn't the case on this day. People were dropped unceremoniously and reconnecting through the many Microsoft MP bugs proved problematic. We pressed on, at times punctuating our flights with exclamations of frustration over the Teamspeak connection.

That aside, we are intrepid travelers undaunted by these type of glitches. We made the most of it, and afterall, there was beer to drink and friends to share the misery with.

Speaking of beer, we had a nice fridge filled with it on our end. A mini-keg of Warsteiner, some Spaten Oktoberfest lager, a couple of Tucher varieties and a six of a wonderful doppelbock known as Salvator. Reviews of the most memorable of the lot will be forthcoming. Suffice it to say that the Germans know their beer!

Back on the fly-in front, we proceeded through Bonn to Leipzig, to Berlin and then to Dresden. Along the way, we were buoyed by the interesting conversations on Teamspeak, the navigational challenges of flying heading 215ish, and at times our shared frustrations with modern technology and Flight Sim. Those challenges aside, it was a grand time for nearly 2 dozen enthusiasts who love flying and enjoy beer.

After finally arriving in Munich 10 hours after our departure from Hamburg, it was time to call it a night. Some lasted with us the entire day, while others went to bed very, very late on the other side of the Atlantic. We enjoyed everyone's company very much and we can't wait to do something like this again. Hopefully by that time. We'll have figured out a few more things about flying in a MP environment that will make it more stable.

As for our awards, we have the following to give away. Thanks to all of our intrepid friends and we hope to fly with you again soon!

Scottie gets a complimentary European Summer Texture Set courtesy of FScene for his day long dedication to the cause (and for being ready to head down here with his Blackhawk crew to rescue us from the impending doom of Hurricane Wilma)!

Gizmocat gets a killer commemorative Hopper Beer Stein for helping us find our way via headings of 215ish and the like....

Stickman gets a killer commemorative Hopper Beer Stein for helping direct traffic and helping make this whole thing work....

Thanks again to all the flyers for their kind help and participation, FSimCafe for the generous assistance, FScene for their sponsorship of the pilot awards and James and Rachel from our local Whole Foods for their knowledge and continued interest. We'll see you all in Africa!