Awesome IPMS Nats Tours
Four exciting tours have been prepared for the attendees of the 2013 IPMS National Convention in Loveland, Colorado, August 14-17.
Scheduled for Thursday, August 15, is our tour of Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, Colorado. Buckley AFB is the home of the Colorado Air National Guard’s 120th Fighter Squadron, 140th Fighter Wing and the Colorado Army National Guard’s Aviation Support Facility. The tour of the CoANG’s facility is planned to include viewing the 120th’s F-16s take off or land, a mission briefing, checking out the pilot gear, the parachute trainer and F-16 trainer cockpit, and inspecting an F-16 up-close in the hangar with a maintenance chief available to answer questions. After a lunch in the Buckley base commissary food court (lunch cost not included in the tour fee) we will visit the CoArNG’s Aviation Support Facility to inspect their UH-60 Blackhawks and the brand-new UH-70 Lakota helicopters (other helos may also be available). A photo stop at the CoANG’s gate guard display aircraft is also planned where the Minutemen F-86, F-100C, and A-7D are displayed.
RESERVATIONS FOR THIS TOUR CAN ONLY BE MADE ONLINE THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND MUST BE MADE PRIOR TO JULY 28. No signups for this tour will be accepted at the convention.
In accordance with Department of Defense policy, this tour is limited to only US Citizens sixteen years old and over and Social Security Numbers and drivers license information must be provided prior to the convention start date.
Our visit to the Wings Over The Rockies Air and Space Museum in Denver is planned for Friday, August 16. The museum’s curator is a model builder affiliated with the Denver IPMS chapters and because of this, the tour will feature rare opportunities to view the cockpits and open servicing panels of several of the museum’s aircraft. This also includes very rarely granted access to the Number 3 prototype B-1A’s cockpit. You will definitely want to bring your camera and paint swatches to compare to the real colors on the real aircraft. Signups for this tour should be made online through the website in order to insure your seat on the tour.
A one-of-a-kind tour for automobile enthusiasts is being offered on Saturday, August 17. This Autophile Tour includes visits to the Cussler Museum in Arvada and the Shelby American Collection museum in Boulder. The Cussler Museum contains a selected set (around 80 cars) of adventure author Clive Cussler’s personal automobile collection. The Cussler Museum is normally closed on weekends and special arrangements have been made to open it exclusively for the members of this tour. This collection includes mostly antique, classic, and unique automobiles restored to museum quality. The Shelby American Collection features Shelby autos and Ford Mustangs related to racing legend Carroll Shelby. This museum also displays many racing artifacts and other racing memorabilia. Signups for this tour should be made online through the website in order to insure your seat on the tour. Note that this tour occurs on the same day and time as the Rocky Mountain National Park tour. Please don’t sign up for both tours.
Also scheduled for Saturday, August 17 is something completely different, a visit to Rocky Mountain National Park in the pristine mountains of Colorado. The IPMS Nats convention location is actually on Colorado’s eastern plains farm country. In order to see the splendor that is Colorado’s high country, you must travel west into the heart of the Rocky Mountains. The members of the Nats convention planning committee thought it would be a shame if people travelled all the way to Colorado and didn’t experience the spectacle of its mountains. So this tour was added to provide convention visitors with the opportunity to view the magnificence and beauty of the Colorado Rockies. The planned tour route will wind through mountain forests passing timberline into high alpine meadows revealing magnificent mountain vistas along the way. The destination is the Alpine Visitors Center which is located at an altitude of over 12,000 feet above sea level along the highest continuous paved road in the United States. Wildlife such as elk and rocky mountain big horn sheep can often be seen and stops will be made for wildlife and scenic photography. A stop at a clear blue mountain lake is also planned, complete with an optional short hike around it. This tour will include a box lunch for you to enjoy in the presence of the Colorado Rockies. Cameras and binoculars are recommended. Please read the description for this tour on the convention website to learn about health precautions that you may find applicable.
RESERVATIONS FOR THIS TOUR CAN ONLY BE MADE ONLINE THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND MUST BE MADE PRIOR TO JULY 28. No signups for this tour will be accepted at the convention.
Note that this tour occurs on the same day and time as the Cussler Museum/Shelby American Collection Tour. Please don’t sign up for both tours.
Information about all of these tours can found at:
http://www.ipmsusa2013.com/index.cfm?mode=tours
Tour reservations can be made online at:
http://www.ipmsusa2.org/store/nats_tours.html
And if you’ve attended recent IPMS National Conventions, you may recall the unpleasant experience of standing in long, time-consuming lines to register onsite. This year will be no different and you can avoid this long wait simply by registering for the convention online in advance prior to Sunday, July 28.
Early online registration is offered through the IPMS/USA Online Store website at: http://www.ipmsusa2.org/store/nats2013_registration.html
Complete information about the 2013 IPMS National Convention facilities, contest categories, schedule, seminars, vendor information, and 2013 Nats planning committee contacts can be found at: http://www.ipmsusa2013.com
This is the first IPMS National Convention to be held in Colorado and the IPMS Colorado National Convention Committee members have planned an event worthy of celebrating the kickoff of IPMS/USA's 50th Anniversary year!
We’ll see you in Colorado next month!
Martin Sagara
Tour Coordinator
IPMS Colorado National Convention Committee
http://www.ipmsusa2013.com/index.cfm?mode=home
tours@ipms2013.com