2026 Cessna 170 Convention, Fort Walton Beach Fl. 18FD. First full week of October

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

2026 Cessna 170 Convention, Fort Walton Beach Fl. at 18FD. First full week of October. Exact start and end dates to be determined. Hold the dates.
Much much more to come.
Hosts: Ken and Silvia Spivey

[CGFlyer]

Great location! Looking forward to it.

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

2026 Convention information has been posted. See all the information here:

https://cessna170.org/about/convention/

[mmcmillan2]

Is the plan to fly over to Mobile AL for the Continental tour?

[cessna170bdriver]

Is the plan to fly over to Mobile AL for the Continental tour?

Either that or 2+ hours each way in the vans. Might be a good question to ask the host. I don’t think Ken is a regular on the forums.

[GAHorn]

I’ll toss-out an inquiry about RV-camping possibilities…and Children’s Activities.

[GAHorn]

Well… heavy rain SOAKED my turf runway… so I’m DRIVING in Heavy Rain … have stopped for the night in Hammond, LA at the recommendation of the Wyborny’s.

My cell ph is dead …(forgot my charge cord)… the hotel phones are dead… heavy rain.

Headed out in the AM …

I knew you were all holding your breath and wanting to know my progress….

[BoeingFlyer]

We’re at Leeward Air Ranch in Ocala & the forecast for tomorrow’s weather looks awful & the rest of the week not much better. Looks like our Florida drought is ending this week. Hotel says reservation is non-cancellable, but not sure if we’re going to drive over. We were looking forward to attending our first convention.

Carolyn & Mark Pasqualino
N9170A

[cessna170bdriver]

Mark and Carolyn, go ahead and come! This will be my 37th 170 Convention. I looked at the weather yesterday and decided to drive (14 hours) as well. I’ve driven/airlined to about as many as I’ve flown my 170 to and I always enjoy the camaraderie and getting to see places and do things I wouldn’t have otherwise, regardless of how I got there.

[N8293A]

Carolyn,
Katie and I, and Mitch and Cindy all decided to drive. We are enroute this evening should arrive around 2 pm tomorrow. Although we canceled our hotel reservation and now have a room down the street from the convention hotel.

[BoeingFlyer]

Hi Steve, I texted Mitch & found out you were all driving. We debated that, but it pretty much rained all day here in Ocala. Looks like you will have a hurricane heading your way, so we aren’t coming. Really disappointed to miss out, but it’s a bad week for weather along the coast. Stay safe!

[GAHorn]

Well…. the Ft Walton Beach Emerg. Mgmnt. system has ordered All Tourists and Guest OFF the island due to the approaching storm.

The convention has closed abruptly and folks are leaving as soon as each finds practical.

It was FUN while it lasted. The Continental Engine Tour was today and was Especially Interesting and Informative. (lots of CNC machines and engine assemblies seen)

Ken and Silvia Spivey has been SUPER HOSTS and have managed a MIRACULOUS accommodation for this unexpected interruption of events. All the auction items will be stored by them for a future event.

The BOD mtg is planned to be a zoom mtg in the near future.

No future convention has been proposed as of this moment. Stay tuned for updates via FlyPaper and The 170 News and these Forums.

[johneeb]

Thanks, George, for the update, been wondering how you all were fairing.
Johneb

[Karl Towle]

Well, I guess I'll be the 2nd one to break the news on the forum. (When I first started typing this, and even after refreshing the page, George's post didn't appear yet.)

This year's TIC170A Convention was cancelled on the second day. Wednesday (someone provide the exact time here) the county ordered the hotel to evacuate ahead of Hurricane Isaias. They allowed some of us to stay Wednesday night if we had flights to catch on Thursday. There were three 170s that made it to 18FD, and one that was delayed for a minor mechanical issue in ATL (they rented a car and started driving). The word about the evacuation filtered out quickly. Nancy and I were driving (Matt Roberts riding along) back from 18FD to the hotel when we got the word. By the time we arrived at the hotel, almost all of our group appeared to have departed. In our case, we stayed Wed night, got up at 0300, took Matt to the VPS airport for his flight home, then Nancy dropped me at 18FD and I was out of there by 0545. She had elected to drive owing to the fact that I could not leave home until very early Wed due to an important meeting I had to attend Tuesday night. So, we traveled toward home separately, meeting in Longview, Texas for the night.

I'm sure there are a host of stories out there detailing the challenges we all faced. We hope and pray that all made it home safely, and that those who live in the areas affected by Hurricane Isaias remain safe, and free from excessive damage. We also want to thank Ken Spivey and his Wife Sylvia along with all those who helped them put this event together. It was a Herculean effort, and I'm certain a bitter disappointment. The tour of the Continental engine plant was very enjoyable and informative, and we were looking forward to a great week together with our friends. Alas, that was not to be, since challenging a category 3 hurricane wasn't ever going to be a wise idea.

Karl

[cessna170bdriver]

Karen and I got out (by car) about 6:30 pm Wednesday and spent the night in Andalusia, Alabama, about 75 miles north of Ft Walton Beach. We woke up Thursday morning to a message from one of our members that she couldn’t get a flight home until Sunday, so we drove back to Pensacola to pick her up and take her home to Illinois. That mission accomplished this afternoon (Friday), we headed over to Poplar Grove (C77) to stay with other friends for the night, and are planning to catch some peak fall colors in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula on the (long) way home - a bit of lemonade from the lemon Mother Nature dealt us this week.