Back in the day when the Cayo family originally owned and operated the Avion Corp. there was a trailer owner’s club that served as a social network that planned rallies, provided peer support and camaraderie.  They also shared some SWAG that separated them out as “Travelcaders” which was the term used to denote an Avion owner.

(Credit:  Above photo from SilverAvions.com which is a fabulous resource for Avion lovers)

We were fortunate enough in March 2017 to find this original “Travelcader” knitted argyle cap which was one of the hallmark “swag” pieces that Avion owners wore at rallies held in the heyday of the Travelcade Club.  Here Kevin is modeling his hat and cannot wait to wear it at the rally we are going to this summer! [scroll down to see two collectible rally photo’s with everyone wearing them!]

Sadly, this company-supported club and its rallies and programs vanished after subequent owners of the corporation and in April 2005 the “all-Avion” club was merged into the Fleetwood Travel Club and the club was spun off to fend for themselves with no continued financial support from the Fleetwood company which then was building the Avion models. Fleetwood discontinued building the Avion Travel Trailers in 1990.

Many Avion owners lamented this decision of the corporation because as they note that once multiple brands were introduced into the club, the fellowship and uniqueness of Avioners was diminished.  Eventually most, if not all Avion owners did not renew their memberships. (check out the guy second in from the left…sporting his Travelcader beanie just like Kevin’s!) Below photo also thanks to www.SilverAvion.com

We are happy to report that a new group was formed the Silver Avion Fellowship Club and that group is still going strong and hosts an annual big rally each year.  Here is link to rally info.    Additionally, with the advent of the internet and particularly with Facebook, many (maybe even too many-I subscribe to all of them and have a tough time keeping up and keeping them straight!) Avion-oriented facebook pages have arisen and thrived. These include pages just for discussing repairs, Avion trailers and parts for sale, restoration focused pages and Avion Owner pages.   Some pages have over 1500 friends, mostly Avion owners and facebook and a few dedicated yahoo groups continue to provide the camaraderie, peer support and rekindle that “travelcader” mentality of we are stronger together than apart.  Visit our Vintage Resources page for links to forum sites.

Here are some more images of the Travelcader swag that existed in the 60-80’s and some that  is still available today!

We purchased these off Ebay in Nov 2016.  These are about 8 inch in diameter, vinyl pressure sensitive stickers that will be put on to replace our very worn out originals. The medallions were put above the running lights both in the front and rear of each rig.  This ensures that fellow Avion owners knew you belonged to the club and could even give  you a wave on the road.  Our stickers are new reproductions of originals with some slight modification.  ( I believe the originals had a line drawing of an Avion trailer in the middle, so perhaps the new designer of these wanted to avoid any trademark issues)

The Classic Avion Travelcader rally photo below!  Notice each of them wearing the trademark knitted argyle cap like Kevin has now!