OVERVIEW

OVERVIEW

The next annual AYA convention will be held in Burlington, Iowa on July 7, 8, 9 and 10. This is a Monday through Thursday format with Monday being the arrival day similar to the past few conventions. The name of the airport is Southeast Iowa Regional (BRL) and it is located adjacent to the city on the southwest edge. Planning is well underway and there will be all of the usual events and activities in which to participate. It is a great location in the midwest for a convention and your convention co-chairs, Arnie and Lois Sperfslage of Burlington, Iowa, and Don and Cathy Cochran from Spring Hill, Kansas, are working hard to make this a great convention and vacation experience for everyone attending.

Burlington is in the very southeast part of Iowa and is on the west bank of the Mississippi River. This is a very rural community with a population of approximately 29,000. As with all of the surrounding area, agriculture is a major industry with some of the best farm land to be found in the country right here in Iowa. It is a great place to raise corn and kids! Flying in Iowa is a delightful experience with so much wide open airspace, rural landscape and relatively low elevations across the entire state. There are 93,000 farms which cover 89% of the state and the mean elevation of Iowa is only 1,100 feet MSL. The elevation at Burlington is 698 feet MSL. Rivers provide the east and west boundaries for the state with the Missouri and Big Sioux Rivers on the west and the Mississippi River on the east. The average July temperature is 87 degrees which helps keep the density altitude manageable for all of our airplanes.

One of the advantages of having the annual AYA convention in a different location each year is the opportunity to see and experience new sights and attractions. More than once I have heard individuals say that going to and from the convention is half of the fun. That is quite a statement considering how much fun we have just at the convention! This year's convention in Burlington, Iowa, should be no exception with attendees arriving from all directions and experiencing a wide variety of things to see and do along the way. Make plans to be in Burlington, Iowa next July and look for more convention information in future Stars and on the AYA web site.

AIRPORT FACILITIES

The Burlington airport is a near perfect location for our convention. Southeast Iowa Regional is non towered and has two hard surfaced runways with parallel taxi ways for each. Both runways are over 5000 feet long and there are multiple instrument approaches including an ILS. A large ramp is available for all of our airplane games and events. There will be plenty of parking available with easy access on and off the taxiways and no tie down fee. The airport manager, Sharon Leeper, is excited about this event coming to Burlington and is already helping with the convention planning in both words and deeds. For more airport details:

Photos courtesy of Southeast Iowa Regional Airport Authority.   Additional Photos:    Zoom | Alternate | Satellite