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I was holding on to an expiring (12/31/03) Aero Academy Certificate and was debating whether to reluctantly leave my wife and family behind to attend a class that fell on two weekdays (Dec 8th and 9th). There were only two classes left for the year, but only one with any openings. As I had unused vacation days (or lose them) and then obtained approval from the real boss (i.e. wife), I bought a ticket ($210 round trip EWR/ATL) and reserved a rental car (ok, I wasn't that cheap I used Hertz at $34/day using AAA rate and an upgrade) a week before Dec 8th.
Many here knew that we had one big winter storm in the northeast (with me in NJ) over the weekend. As I was watching the weather report and saw snow started to pile up on the road last Friday, I was saying to myself, I wasn't going to make any flight down to Atlanta. I was shuffling snow on Friday evening, Saturday late afternoon, and of course on Sunday morning; all the while, I kept noting flights canceled at area airports Friday and Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. My flight was due to depart around 5pm on Sunday at Newark, some earlier fights to Atlanta did manage to take off early afternoon and my flight was as scheduled, so I packed a carry on and off to the airport. The airport wasn't that bad when I arrived at about 3pm, more than two hours before my flight. I still wasn't sure there was going to be a flight down until about 30 minutes before scheduled departure when a plane pulled up to the gate. After making sure the plane at the gate was in fact my confirmed flight, only then I called a hotel near Road Atlanta to make my reservation. I did not book a hotel earlier as many hotels down there have penalties for late cancellation or even no cancellation if booked through the cheapest internet rate.
I don't think I need to add more to what has already been said about the Aero Academy. I can only repeat that if you can go, do so. This is one extremely useful and fun driving course for anyone who hasn't attended anything similar.
There were 13 people (all men in this case with a couple of non-participating spouses) and we got lots of behind the wheel time. The instructors were simply exceptional in all areas. The weather was perfect, sunny and on the cold side (great turbo engine temperature at 40s to 50s). Before the class, I think it is fair to say many Aero owners overestimated their own driving skills and underestimated the capabilities of the car, myself included. Everyone bettered their autocross time at the end of the class.
During the class, only Panoz was testing a new race car on the regular track, and no other class was running. This was nice as we didn't get distracted from the noise or facility scheduling conflicts.
For those who are going to last class of the year, have a great time ! The first class next year is at the end of February. Also, bring your spouse or significant other if resources permit. Saab may decide on a pay-as-you-go class with time on the high speed track, stay tune !
Hi to all who attended the class with me :-).
posted by 12.42.232...
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