2020 - A Year Without a Caravan

By Dan "Clippy" Driscoll

2020 started like any other year - we began with great energy from 2019's Caravan XXII and got to work lining up clinics, the 2020 Caravan, and new technology to help both. The first clinic of the year, the Gunfighters/Redstar Pilots Association formation event in Yuma hosted by Chuck "Cowboy" Crinnian, went smoothly with over a dozen pilots from the Southwest (and a few from across the nation!) gathering to practice formation flight in the mild Arizona winter. Other squadrons were lining up safety pilots and registrations in preparation for practice events from March through May.

COVID-19 Pandemic

During the first Yuma clinic at the end of January, health officials in the US confirmed the third, fourth, and fifth cases of the COVID-19 disease detected within the country. News and infections developed rapidly through February as the world began to understand and react to the virus. Our second clinic, at KHYI near San Antonio, was planned for late March and all clinic organizers began monitoring conditions and local restrictions. The situation changed rapidly as many municipalities instituted lockdowns in March and commercial air travel ground to a standstill. Despite strong early signups before the pandemic and securing a CAF hangar for holding briefings, Bucko "Sandman" Strehlow made the decision to cancel.

At this point in the pandemic, we were still in the early stages of understanding its impact to our lives and schedules. News reports and local governments considered whether a two-week lockdown would be adequate, and whether we could get back to normal in April or perhaps May at the latest. The long-term impact of widespread infection had not yet been internalized and we were all hopeful that we could get Mooney Caravan members the practice they need in time for AirVenture in May. Clinic organizers did their best to provide updates while the situation in each community evolved, and to make the decision to postpone or cancel when required.

EAA leadership announced on May 1 that EAA AirVenture 2020 would be cancelled. In his communication, EAA CEO Jack Pelton described the considerations EAA had undertaken, and described the need for safety for organizers and participants. Reactions from aviation enthusiasts ranged from understanding to disappointment, but in general were supportive of the EAA decision. Mooney Caravan leadership began refunds for mass formation and clinic registrations, and remaining organized activities were largely shelved until 2021.

Gone West

On July 2, Mid-Atlantic Group squadron lead Bob "Breakdown" Belville passed quietly after a two-year fight with cancer. Bob was engaged with the Caravan all through early 2020, planning the formation clinic at Hickory before safety conditions forced cancellation. The difficulty in getting together prevented nearby Mooney compatriots from attending services, but friends from both the Caravan and MooneySpace offered an outpouring of support. Bob will be remembered the next time the Caravan flies together.

Grassroots activities

Although mass gatherings stopped, many pilots found that they could organize and conduct limited flying without being in close proximity to others. Formation briefings between experienced pilots were conducted over Zoom, and pilots practiced wingtip separation to achieve social distancing.

In September, some members of prior Caravans organized an informal meetup and formation flight across California. In true 2020 fashion, planning and execution got all the way to a few days before the event before smoke from wildfires covered much of the western US. Severe smoke in California, Nevada, and Oregon completely prevented flight, with visibilities below 1/4 mile in some cases.

Smoke in September at KGCD vs. clear skies

But all was not lost. West-coast pilots found time before and after to fly together, pilots East of the Rockies were largely (but not completely) unaffected, and a couple of M20Js managed to get nearly 8 hours of two-ship time in as the smoke chased them across four states.

Tech

A pause on formation activities gave us extra time to work on our technology and community platform. The Caravan's tech needs are constantly evolving and our website is usually right there with us.

Going into 2020, we knew we needed to revitalize the way we did online registration. For 2019, Caravan registration was a multi-step process that left too much room to skip a step or forget to pay, and clinic registration was managed entirely by squadron leads, often with paper checks due on clinic arrival. For 2020, we knew we could do better. 2020 clinic registration was moved online to Eventzilla, which provided updated look and feel with reasonable transaction fees. We only completed a single formation clinic but got a lot of experience with refunds, all of which were completed without financial penalty to our members or the Caravan.

For 2021, we set our sights higher. Inspired by the B2OSH platform, we knew we wanted integrated membership and registration services that would allow Mooney Caravan members to sign up once and register for clinics and the Caravan with their single account, while gaining access to protected members-only content. After a several-month-long search and comparison process, we decided that the B2OSH platform hosted by Stephen Blythe was a great fit for our needs, and we began the process of porting our website and registration system. The new MooneyCaravan.com is hosted gratis by Stephen, who has helped with plenty of enhancements and bugfixes as we build out the new online Caravan experience.

In parallel, we've been working on the content we host on our website. A refresh of our site in May preceded our migration to B2OSH; once on B2OSH, we reorganized most of our content to make it clearer, more complete, and easier to find. Our regional Squadrons, the backbone of our organization, will take on new importance in both our website and our communications. We're excited about the new experience and hope you'll let us know if there's anything we can do to make it even better.

Going forward

2020 helped remind us all that the best-laid plans and expectations can always go a bit askew. The aviation community had a lot to deal with, and the decisions of the EAA and Mooney Caravan reflected dedication to safety and a focus on doing the best for our members. 2021 will be a year where both organizations get back on track, and we have high hopes for a successful year and track into the future.

Mooney Caravan ▪ 1025 Weston Ave, Wausau, WI 54403 ▪ Phone: (206) 370-1915