The 2024 GOPA Convention will be held in Port Clinton, OH, KPCW, September 9-13
Hello Grumman Community. The Grumman Owners and Pilots Association (GOPA) convention committee has selected Port Clinton, Ohio, as the next gathering of our unique brand of planes.
The dates are Monday, September 9 through Thursday September 12, 2024.
The Port Clinton area offers many advantages to host our group. It is centrally located and easy to reach from most areas of the country. The uncontrolled airport (KPCW) has two runways running north-south and east-west. There will be plenty of aircraft parking. Most planes will be directed to a concrete pad while the rest will be on grass.
The Liberty Aviation Museum will be the focal point for the convention. All activities will be centered here: The ground games will be on the spacious ramp on the north side of the museum. All seminars, meetings, and meals will take place in the museum. The museum has many relics and displays of eras gone by, housed in two hangers.
For those folks flying commercial there are three airports within 85 miles of Port Clinton.
Cleveland Hopkins (CLE) 66 miles
Toledo Express (TOL) 58 miles
Detroit Metro Wayne County (DTW) 85 miles
Cleveland would offer the better choice in airline flights.
Upon arrival you can get a car rental
OR
We will offer shuttle service from Cleveland for a nominal fee. We will have more info later on.
We have booked 60 rooms at the Country Inn and Suites, a short 0.3 miles away. Please call the hotel directly when making a reservation (419)732-2434. Because the date of the convention is after Labor Day, we have a great off season rate. We expect these rooms to sell out fast. Second hotel information is below.
Port Clinton is a great vacation spot in season. Fishing is one of the mainstays of the community, in fact the city has been nicknamed the "Walleye Capital of the World", due to the productive fishing waters for the species lying offshore in Lake Erie's Western Basin.
We will have the usual flying and ground games scheduled along with the seminars. We will have a group lake cruise.
The main hanger will be ground zero, the location of all of our activities. We will gather here for our meetings, our seminars and of course our meals. We have scheduled two lunches, one evening meal and of course our main banquet. Speaking of food, attached to the museum on the west side of the hanger is the Tin Goose Diner, http://www.tingoosediner.com/. This is a 50s era style diner that will be open for us during our week. There are also several fine off site restaurants within a few miles of the museum.
As mentioned our convention hotel is the County Inn and Suites. We have negotiated a great off season rate. Our backup hotel is the Sleep Inn. Both hotels are 0.3 miles from the museum.
We have scheduled a group Lake Erie cruise aboard the Goodtime I, https://www.goodtimeboat.com/. This will take place on Wednesday evening, there is a limit of 80. The Ford Tri Motor, http://libertyaviationmuseum.org/ is owned by the museum and will offer rides. Nearby, visitors can drive through the African Safari Wildlife Park, cruise around the “island”, take a ferry to the other islands, or fly over to the islands. There is a landing fee for both South Bass and Kelley's islands. Also Cedar Point Amusement Park, https://www.cedarpoint.com/ nearby will be open Friday through Sunday. Come early or stay late to take advantage of activities such as Cedar Point Amusement Park, the African Safari Wildlife Park, or a short hop over to the islands.
We will have a fun filled convention that we believe will be well attended. Hope to see many of you in Port Clinton in September.
2024 Convention Hotels
The discounted rate offered by the Country Inn & Suites By Radisson, Port Clinton, Ohio, for the Grumman Owners and Pilot Association (GOPA) is $65 + taxes per each rooms (60 maximum). Please call the hotel directly when making a reservation (419)732-2434.
All Individual reservations would have a cancellation policy of 24 hours prior to the arrival date to avoid a no-show/cancellation fee of one night (room and tax).
The group would normally have a cut-off date by 08/08/2023, which means any guest rooms from the requested 60 rooms block not specifically reserved by the cut off date will be released for resale with no further obligations to hold space.
We have added a secondary hotel, Sleep Inn & Suites, located near the convention hotel, Country Inn & Suites, 0.3 miles from the Liberty Museum. The low off season rate is similar to the Country Inn, well under $100, rooms are nice and clean, and they offer a free hot breakfast. To reach the Sleep Inn, 419-732-7707, mention the GOPA convention and use this code (VJ38U4).
Rental Car: These two companies can have the car waiting at KPCW for you.
State Street Auto 419.734.2811 (I got a car for $60/day)
Enterprise 419.621.8181
Here is a link to the schedule.
Further info will be available at GOPA2024@grummanpilots.org, in the International Grumman Star and here on the website.
Some tourist information is here.
