FRIDAY, April 25th

           ARRIVAL

You should plan to arrive at the Santa Maria Airport in the afternoon, get your aircraft parked and secured, and yourself checked into the Radisson Hotel at Santa Maria. Then pick up your name tag and program in the Enterprise Room just off the lobby. Then you'll have plenty of time to freshen up, to greet fellow aviators whom you haven't seen in-person since last year (or perhaps ever), to do some hangar flying, and to admire all the sigrat aircraft on the Radisson ramp. And don't miss your chance to be counted by the Landing Assessment Crew on Friday!

HUNGRY?

If you're hungry, you can have a snack at Vintner's Restaurant at the Radisson, or at Pepper Garcia's in the SMX terminal (both overlooking the ramp and runway) while you watch familiar aircraft and faces arrive (and hopefully a repeated appearance by the SMXgig Landing Assessment Crew!).

DINNER BANQUET

Friday evening is the banquet dinner in the Enterprise Room at the beautiful Santa Maria Radisson.  

From 4:30 to 6:30, we will have a "Welcome to SMX" gathering, complete with a no-host bar, hors d'oeuvres and some beach tunes.

The reception and no-host bar are at 6:30 p.m. and dinner is at 7:30 p.m. in the Enterprise Room.  After dinner, we're in for a tremendously entertaining treat: Mark Grady will be our featured speaker. 

 

MARK GRADY - FLYIN' FRIENDLY

Mark Grady, writer, commercial pilot and professional speaker, pokes fun at his height (or lack of it!). In Flyin’ Friendly Mark shares with you the perils of being a ‘vertically-challenged’ pilot. How do you get the FAA to STC a phone book as a “pilot height extension device”? Combining broadcasting with his love of flying, he worked 10 years as a traffic watch pilot reporting for three radio stations. He is familiar to North Carolinians as a radio talkshow host, TV telethon host and television commercial personality. What Mark lacks in height, he makes up for in heart—and he tickles our funny bone. His relaxed, friendly way of speaking is reflected in his writing for various publications including the Southern Aviator, Weekend Flyer, Wilmington Star-News and Jacksonville Daily News.

MAGELLAN AWARD

We will also present the traditional Magellan Award to the intrepid aviators who traveled farthest to attend SMXgig. (Past winners have come from as far away as Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and Germany.)

SATURDAY, April 26th

BREAKFAST

7:00 am - Breakfast at the Santa Maria Radisson Hotel,  if you're so inclined. Alternatively, doughnuts, muffins and coffee will be available at the tech sessions.

TECHNICAL SESSIONS (PART 1)

Saturday morning from 8:00 AM until 12:30 pm, we'll have the first segment of the technical program. All technical sessions will be held in the Enterprise Room at the SMX Radisson. Each session will last about an hour.

The daily schedule for our tech sessions are still under development, but we're expecting a special lineup for our 20th SMXgig!

SATURDAY LUNCH

At 1:00 p.m. on Saturday, we will have a wonderful lunch at the hotel, featuring a Santa Maria Tri-tip and BBQ Chicken Buffet. The
vegetarian choice is Grilled Portobello Mushroom Sandwich. Of course, we’ll have door prizes and a bunch of fun.

SATURDAY EVENING DINNER

Steamers of Pismo

                        

On Saturday evening, we'll take the BFUB (Big Fat Ugly Bus) to beautiful Pismo Beach for dinner at Steamers, with a casual and elegant
atmosphere and an outstanding water view. After a no-host cocktail hour, we'll have a delicious buffet, featuring:

Chicken Piccatta with Lemon Caper and Butter Sauce
Chilean Sea Bass
Garden Salad
Rice Pilaf
Petit Misu
Coffee, tea, tropical tea, soda and water

SUNDAY, April 27th

BREAKFAST

7:00 am - Breakfast at the SMX Radisson,  if you're so inclined. Alternatively, doughnuts and coffee will be available at the tech sessions.

TECHNICAL SESSIONS (PART 2)

Sunday morning from 8:00 am until noon, we'll have the second segment of the technical program in the Enterprise Room of the SMX Radisson. Each session will last about an hour.

AFTERNOON FREE TIME

You're on your own in the afternoon. Check out all the Things to Do in the beautiful Santa Maria and San Luis Obispo areas. Or, you can just hang out and grade landings with your fellow SMXgiggers.

DINNER

If you're actually hungry after all the food of the past few days, there's the restaurant in the Radisson and Pepper Garcia's in the airport terminal.

MONDAY, April 28th

DEPARTURE

Monday is departure day. No formal activities. Sleep late if you're so inclined, have breakfast at the Radisson (or a steaming bowl of Menudo at Pepper Garcia's if you're man enough), do some unstructured hangar lying...'er FLYING, say your farewells, check the weather, kick the tires and launch off into the wild blue yonder.  We'll see you next year!