Poker Run

jsstevens

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jsstevens
So, I'm one of the few still belonging to AOPA, I guess (from the comments on this board anyway). They are having a summer virtual poker run. 7 card stud, you get a card for each public use airport you check into via their app (GPS checked for location). I read about it last week. So today, I took a club 172 and landed at 7 different airports around Central Florida. It gave me something to do other than chug around the pattern.

I headed out of home base at Sanford (KSFB) around 8AM. I landed at Umatilla (X23), then Ocala (KOCF), Crystal River (KCGC), Inverness (KINF), Leesburg International (seems a little pretentious to me as a life long local) (KLEE), then Orlando Apopka (X04) and back to Sanford. Took 3.4 hours on the hobbs. There were a fair amount of low cloud puffballs, and Ocala was LIFR due to mist when I took off from Sanford, but it had burned off well before I got there.

This was a fun way to push myself a little as these airports are not far apart so switching radios, picking up ATIS/ASOS and calling in by 10 miles out took some focus. Also, I used the flight plan in the 430 to do the whole shebang-worked nicely and I still remember how to do it.

My landings were not so hot. A lot of gentle bounces. Oh well, more to work on.

John
 
Sounds like a fun day.

I did flight training through multi commercial at Sanford, and been to all those airports at least once.
 
Sounds like a fun day.

I did flight training through multi commercial at Sanford, and been to all those airports at least once.

Yes, they're popular flight training practice airports (all but Umatilla-I think it's so small and tucked away that people forget it's there). There was a ton of traffic at Ocala, none at Crystal River except the ops people inspecting the runways, some at Inverness but gone before I got there, a ton at Leesburg and 3 in the pattern at Apopka - 2 172's and a Cirrus who was trying to squeeze in power off 180s. I even heard the dreaded "Right final" call headed into Apopka. :) And so many accents!
 
Oh, yeah, my poker hand sucked: a pair of 10s with ace high trash.
 
And so many accents!

Hard to understand accents were few and far between when I was there.

Ocalla and Leesburg did not have towers back then.

I once landed at Pahokee. They had oranges and tangerines for sale. I bought a lunch bag worth of tangerines and found a bushel of tangerines and oranges in the back of the plane when I left... :lol::lol:
 
What do you get if you win the hand?

Free hat? I thought I was joking, but there's probably a hat in here somewhere.

There will be three (3) Grand Prize winners and (1) consolation prize for the worst hand. The 1st Grand Prize winner will receive a Bose A20 Headset and AOPA Prize Pack. AOPA Prize Pack consists of 1-year iFlightPlanner Premium access, 1-year AOPA PPS Plus membership and a $100 AOPA Pilot Gear gift card. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the 1st Grand Prize is $1,400. The 2nd Grand Prize winner will receive a 2021 D2 Air Garmin watch and AOPA Prize Pack. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the 2nd Grand Prize is $1,000. The 3rd Grand Prize winner will receive a $250 Randolph® gift card and AOPA Prize Pack. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the 3rd Grand Prize is $650. The worst hand winner will receive an AOPA Prize Pack. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the Worst Hand prize is $390. ARV of all Grand Prizes is $3,440.
 
I was wearing my AOPA hat.

here’s the prizes:
FF1AE626-8A89-484D-826D-CA4149FB8C31.jpeg
 
What's sad is that I probably don't have time to do this because I'll be flying commercially for work to at least 7 different airports in the next 15 days.

RDU
Atlanta
DFW
JAX
Vegas
Ontario, CA
SLC

It WOULD be cheating if I checked in from a commercial airport I didn't fly to, right?
 
Free hat? I thought I was joking, but there's probably a hat in here somewhere.

There will be three (3) Grand Prize winners and (1) consolation prize for the worst hand. The 1st Grand Prize winner will receive a Bose A20 Headset and AOPA Prize Pack. AOPA Prize Pack consists of 1-year iFlightPlanner Premium access, 1-year AOPA PPS Plus membership and a $100 AOPA Pilot Gear gift card. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the 1st Grand Prize is $1,400. The 2nd Grand Prize winner will receive a 2021 D2 Air Garmin watch and AOPA Prize Pack. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the 2nd Grand Prize is $1,000. The 3rd Grand Prize winner will receive a $250 Randolph® gift card and AOPA Prize Pack. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the 3rd Grand Prize is $650. The worst hand winner will receive an AOPA Prize Pack. Approximate retail value (“ARV”) of the Worst Hand prize is $390. ARV of all Grand Prizes is $3,440.

Just wait until someone wins while spoofing the check-ins all from the comfort of their living room couch, lol. I also never received an AOPA hat in the 10 years I was a member. Cheap bastages.
 
I always forget about these things. I've probably been to 20 airports during the time frame, but the last time I tried the aopa passport app it was such hot garbage I deleted it.
 
I always forget about these things. I've probably been to 20 airports during the time frame, but the last time I tried the aopa passport app it was such hot garbage I deleted it.
It’s not great. I had to kill and restart it once to get it to update location to where I was. And I attempted to download the directory database twice. It hung about halfway through both times. 49.8% once and 53.4%. And if you don’t have connectivity it won’t register.
 
I’m still a member of AOPA,have been doing the pilot passport program. The rules aren’t very we’ll defined. Just another way to track your flights.
 
Yes, they're popular flight training practice airports (all but Umatilla-I think it's so small and tucked away that people forget it's there). There was a ton of traffic at Ocala, none at Crystal River except the ops people inspecting the runways, some at Inverness but gone before I got there, a ton at Leesburg and 3 in the pattern at Apopka - 2 172's and a Cirrus who was trying to squeeze in power off 180s. I even heard the dreaded "Right final" call headed into Apopka. :) And so many accents!


My CFI pulled the throttle on me one time near Umatilla and I had to make a power-off landing on that little strip. I think it’s 2500’. Only time I ever landed there. The landing wasn’t pretty but it was safe. It made for a good practice exercise.

I know what you mean about accents at Apopka. First Landings gets lots of foreign students. It once tempted me into having a little fun on the radio: “Apopka International traffic, Cherokee 123AB downwind 33.”
 
I also never received an AOPA hat in the 10 years I was a member. Cheap bastages.

The secret is to let your membership expire. They will send notices out for renewal. Then just wait for the offer of the free gift you want. I have a few hats and a few more headset bags. My membership is about to expire so I will be waiting for that free gift offer.
 
The secret is to let your membership expire. They will send notices out for renewal. Then just wait for the offer of the free gift you want. I have a few hats and a few more headset bags. My membership is about to expire so I will be waiting for that free gift offer.


How long do you have to wait before they give you a winning sweepstakes entry?
 
I am still a member, John. I think the poker run thing is a good thing. It gives you a goal to accomplish.
 
The secret is to let your membership expire. They will send notices out for renewal. Then just wait for the offer of the free gift you want. I have a few hats and a few more headset bags. My membership is about to expire so I will be waiting for that free gift offer.
Lol, already done. Still get snail mail and email notices about it.
 
Landed at 4 airports yesterday and all I've got is a pair of Kings.
Still have 3 airports to go.
 
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