SimAirline.net Farewell Event Planning

Aaron Robinson · **Posted:** 01 Jun 2010, 02:19

Email I just sent. You can still express your interest by filling out the form on the website.

Quote:

All,

Thank you for your interest in coming to SimAirline.net’s farewell event later this summer. At this moment we have about a dozen people that have formally said they would like to come. Based on the information I’ve received back from you, I’d like to propose the following plan for the event. Seeing that most of us are users of the SimAirline.net Message Boards, it would be great if you could reply with your thoughts in this topic. For those of you that aren’t users, please feel free to reply to me directly and I will post on your behalf. Of course, if you have any concerns, you may always share them with me privately.

Below is the proposed itinerary based on feedback so far. I’ll explain the reasoning for this itinerary later.

Friday, 13 August
Arrive at your leisure
Convention – closes at 10p

Saturday, 14 August
Delta Facilities Tour – tentative
Aircraft spotting – airport TBD (likely afternoon for international arrivals)
Farewell Dinner – location TBD
Free time TBD

Sunday, 15 August
USS Intrepid Museum – tentative
Free time in the City
Depart for home at your leisure

Hotel Location: 5-1 in favor of New Jersey. I think this is probably wise; we will realistically not find anything decent for a good price in Manhattan, we can get a rate at the convention hotel (Hilton) for $99/night plus tax per room, and Manhattan connections take just 20 minutes by train. There is a hotel shuttle to EWR. We must book by July 15 to get this rate though. At the moment we are looking at needing six hotel rooms.

Events For Sure
Group Dinner: 9 of 10 interested. Anyone have suggestions on a good venue?
Convention: 8 of 10 interested. Having gone to the convention three times before, I think having several hours on Friday (or your free time on Thursday/Saturday) will be plenty.
Plane Spotting: 8 of 10 interested. Any locals that have advice? Online resources are at http://nycaviation.com/new-york-area-spotting-guides/, http://www.stevesairshow.com/spotting-jfk.html, http://www.aircraftspotting.net/airports/JFK.php, http://www.stevesairshow.com/spotting-lga.html, http://www.stevesairshow.com/spotting-ewr.html

Tentative Events
Delta Facilities Tour: 8 of 10 interested. I will contact my colleagues at JFK and LaGuardia to see what they can do for us. I presume JFK would be the preference?
USS Intrepid Museum: 5 of 10 interested. In Manhattan, there is a British Airways Concorde. http://www.intrepidmuseum.org/

Unlikely Events
Cradle of Aviation Museum: 5 of 10 interested. 30-minute train + 10-minute cab ride outside of Manhattan. http://www.cradleofaviation.org/
Manhattan Tour: 5 of 10 interested
Helicopter Tour: 4 of 10 interested. $140-300 per person, roughly $10/minute. We can arrange this if people like, but the price might scare the 5 interested away. What do you think? http://www.manhattanhelicoptertours.com/, http://www.libertyhelicopter.com/, http://www.heliny.com/

seahawks7757 · **Posted:** 01 Jun 2010, 03:22

Hey Aaron I am intrested. I would totally say JFK for the tour. Iwould actually be there for both SimAirlines and NYC Aviation. So please do let me know if you need any help looking anything up. EWR also works best for me to fly into as well. If there is anyone who wants to get a room with twin beds to split the $99 a night I would be cool with that too.

Aaron Robinson · **Posted:** 01 Jun 2010, 03:47

Brandon, if you are interested, you need to fill out the form so I can properly take your preferences into account. Thanks.

DMM200 · **Posted:** 01 Jun 2010, 06:22

Looks like a solid plan. I do of course recommend going along with what those sites say about spotting, and unless it's from your hotel room, don't take any pics at Newark. My best recommendation in terms of where to spot and tour is at JFK, but it will be hard to arrange because just about everything, even waiting for a pizza inside terminal 4 (don't ask) has been somehow affected by the runway closure/renovation. If anyone has some sort of boating license or can arrange for a boat tour of Jamaica Bay, take a boat out and take a peek at either 4 arrivals or 22 departures at JFK. Howard beach is useless at this time for obvious reasons (again, the closure). As for restaurants, it depends on what you're in the mood for. There's plenty of things to get in NYC. Times square is full of chain restaurants like TGI Fridays, Sbarro, and Olive Garden, while I've seen quite a few French Bistros at a reasonable price surrounding Time's Square. There's quite a few very good restaurants downtown and in Midtown, and of course there's the settlements such as Little Italy which are full of restaurants that are true pallot pleasers. Of course, if anyone is looking for a good slice of pizza for lunch, it's probably mandatory to visit the real original "Ray's Pizza" on 6th Avenue and 11th Street.

As for Hotels, which I know is a big issue, there are two very good ones right by the Meadowlands sports complex (the one I remember the most is the Sheraton, though I last drove by it earlier this year), as well as a Mariott along the NJ turnpike on the way into the City. However, if you are planning on staying in Jersey, just remember that although it's cheap, it's far from EVERYTHING excluding KTEB as well as KEWR and Jersey City/Newark (and of course the convention). Though it seems like a good idea on the surface, getting everywhere else on that itinerary is going to be a nightmare of connections and it comes with astronomically high prices. I suggest possibly adding a tour bus (rent one from Coach USA/Classic Coach) to ease up costs and add a more comfortable environment for transportation. This way, you can still get to and fro and still have a great hotel price (your original recommendation, I've also heard excellent things about that particular Hilton).

Hope this helps.

aingramncl · **Joined:** 01 Jun 2010, 11:33 **Posts:** 1

hey Alan, I'd love to be able to come over the USA for the farewell event if i can get some cheap enough fairs from London or Manchester in England as I am from Newcastle in the UK, also I had to re-register with a different email because it said my gmail.com address was already in use but couldnt login with that email or request a new password, obviously doesnt really matter now does it, bye for now.

Andrew Ingram

RatherBFlyin · **Posted:** 02 Jun 2010, 03:49

I am actually looking into renting a car and driving up to NY, since that would be a little cheaper than flying. I also realized last week that I have relatives that live in that area, so I may be able to stay with them (unfortunately I doubt they would want to host anyone else since they have several small kids).

steve63 · **Joined:** 27 Jan 2005, 17:54 **Posts:** 397

I think that this would make for a great weekend and I might fligh in a day early just to do some more sight seeing.

Dennis · **Posted:** 03 Jun 2010, 18:18

There's always something that comes up...Murphy's Law and I apparently go hand in hand. There's now a 50% chance I won't make it there. An uncle of mine that lives in Germany has invited my grandma over and the family wants me to go with her. My mom said that if I decide to go to Germany, then I can't go to the Airliners Convention. The Germany trip is still on hold since it's possible it might not be done at all.

At any rate, I'll let you guys know by July if I will go or not.

Aaron Robinson · **Posted:** 05 Jun 2010, 07:47

Marc Eichler writes:

Quote:

I suggest something in NYC for the dinner. In addition to EASY access from EWR (NJTransit or PATH - PATH runs 24/7 from Newark Penn Station), there are a lot of restaurants and bars in NYC that are affordable. I don't know where everyone else is from, but I went to college right outside of NYC, so I know the area pretty well.

Thomas auer · **Posted:** 14 Jul 2010, 11:06

someone pay for my airfare please

Anniversary in future? (*hint hint*)

Dennis · **Posted:** 15 Jul 2010, 23:29

Yeh, Murphy's Law beat me. Germany's off and convention is off. Gotta thank the students of the UPR for going on strike and messing up everything (college owes me some $$$ which I was planning on using to go there). Alas, it'll be until next year (possibly).

Northwestdc9 · **Posted:** 26 Jul 2010, 12:53

Tough luck Dennis, I was looking forward to meeting you!

I will be there, I have to fly to NYC that weekend anyway so that works out perfectly.

Dennis · **Posted:** 26 Jul 2010, 14:58

Well, you weren't the only one who was expecting to meet people. At any rate, keep me posted as to when and where the next convention will be held. I won't jinx myself by saying "I will be there" even though that's what I plan on doing eventually. :laugh:

SimAirline.net Farewell Event Planning

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