White Sands Missile Range
May 15th to 17th, 2020

CPA Fly-in Sponsor: Rich Barclay

This amazing fly-in will take place May 15th to 17th, 2020

Established in 1945, White Sands Missile Range is America’s largest overland military test range. The world entered the Atomic Age when the first atomic bomb was tested. In 1949, the world entered the Space Age from White Sands Missile Range, when Bumper, an two stage rocket roared beyond the earth’s atmosphere. 

Friday, May 15th: This roughly 425nm trek to the White Sands area will kick off with a weekend of touring and sightseeing activity.  We will update the website with arrival times as we get closer to the date, however plan on arriving around lunchtime.  Upon arrival there we will collect our attendees and head to lunch.  After lunch, stop by the hotel to check-in/drop off our luggage and then spend some time visiting the White Sands National Monument and enjoy all those rolling hills of sand.  According to the White Sands National Monument website it's "Like No Place Else on Earth: Rising from the heart of the Tularosa Basin is one of the world's great natural wonders - the glistening white sands of New Mexico. Great wave-like dunes of gypsum sand have engulfed 275 square miles of desert, creating the world's largest gypsum dunefield. White Sands National Park preserves a major portion of this unique dunefield, along with the plants and animals that live here."

Saturday, May 16th: Saturday's activities will include a tour of the New Mexico Museum of Space History which contains exhibitions ranging from Robert Goddard's early rocket experiments near Roswell to a mock-up of the International Space Station.  There are a number of indoor and outdoor exhibits for us to tour during our stay, one of which is always fun - one of which is the John P. Stapp Air & Space Park.   Named after International Space Hall of Fame Inductee and aeromedical pioneer Dr. John P. Stapp, the Air and Space Park consists of large space-related artifacts documenting mankinds exploration of space. Examples of exhibits include the Little Joe II rocket which tested the Apollo Launch Escape System. At 86 feet tall, Little Joe II is the largest rocket ever launched from New Mexico. Of course no official CPA fly-in would be complete without happy hours, lunches, dinners and of course ICE CREAM (yes, we did say Ice Cream) throughout the weekend.