It was a busy one! This morning as soon as I got up, we headed to breakfast with Chuck, and then Steve, Chuck and Kaylee went off and did their thing, and Nathan and I went to the Symposium. The Symposium was the group of P-51 pilots, FAA, NTSB, medical, etc. folks sitting in and giving talks, etc. One of the guys at my table last night gave a safety talk (the former TWA Flight 800 NTSB Inspector), a big-wig from the FAA medical office gave a chat on those issues, they had maintenance talks, insurance, the whole ball of wax. Apparently this Symposium is well-respected enough that insurance companies have been known to lower the rates a bit on the owners if they show they've attended it. Not bad. It was interesting to me too.
From there Nathan and I had a "special" lunch, 'free' for that group, downstairs in the hotel. It was quite fancy, with sandwiches with names like "roasted" and "bruschetta" and whatever. A wonderful chocolate something for dessert. When we finished up, Nathan decided he didn't want to go back for the last few hours, and we instead met up with Chuck, Steve, and Kaylee and we headed out to the airport and the Mustang. Once we got there we had to wipe it down from the rain, take the cover off, dry stuff off, and get it ready. Lots of people came around, and we'd answer questions about the plane, its history, its operation, etc. That was kind of fun-I actually enjoyed talking to people, answering questions, watching people thrilled at being near the airplane. And of the two times they asked me questions I didn't know the answer to, once I just said "I have no idea" (to another P51 driver) and the other time I made something up, knowing they'd never know the difference. ;) One of the guys who came up to us was a man who actually flew the Checkertail P-51 from the 325th Fighter Group in the war! He had some amazing stories, and I took his photo with the plane and Nathan. He brought his son, and they just sat and talked and enjoyed seeing the Checkertail Mustang. He was a flight leader credited with 6 air victories, has a purple heart, etc. His name is Barrie Davis. Living history. A Legend.
I also got to meet an SMA family out there; the Baldwins! Helen and I have spoken for about 9 years now, and her brother and nephew were up here for the show, and we happened to be at the plane when they stopped by this time. Her nephew is a pilot as well, and also an excellent photographer from what I've seen. It was good to see them in person and say 'hi'. :)
At 6:30 p.m. we all headed to an invite-only party at a hangar nearby. It was really a neat set-up. F0r heaven's sake, their port-o-potties were on a trailer, with real looking bathroom stalls and marble sinks and gold-plated faucets. Wow, man. :) They had giant parachutes hanging from the ceiling, and a bunch of airplanes on the other side of the hangar. They had drink stations in three or four places in the hangar, where alcohol, water and soft drinks were served free. And the food was really good. I couldn't tell you the name of a single thing I ate other than "roll". It was completely unfamiliarly named food. Asparagus wrapped in something I don't know. A ball of something that had spinach. Cheese dip over the top of some crab thing. The words were in a foreign language to me, but regardless, I tried one of about everything, and it was ALL good. Even the little desserts were delicious. Meanwhile they had a live band playing, and they did a wide variety of stuff, from the 40's to country to Axle Rose (80's) to big band to whatever. They'd switch out costumes, and they were really very talented. We stayed almost 3 hours before it wound down.
We then headed home, and now it's only 11 pm but we're all crashing. For one thing, I have to get up at 5:45 a.m. if I'm going to the pilot's briefing which is being held at the crack of pre-dawn tomorrow. I think they ought to hold it at a reasonable hour, like 8 or 9 a.m., but apparently I'm the only one who wants to start the whole show a bit later. ;) I don't have to go-only Nathan has to go-but I CAN go, and so it seems as though I should. I'd be all over it if it didn't begin at 6 something a.m. :O
The weather cleared off a lot today, about 20 more Mustangs made it in along with the Thunderbirds and several other big boys. I'll tell you what, the Thunderbirds were playing today, and they came screaming over the ramp, right over our heads, very low down. Made me grin every time. Love that sound. Love the sound of a stack of Mustangs coming in at once even more. God Bless Merlins. Speaking of Thunderbirds, Thunderbird #9 stopped and chatted with Kaylee at the party tonight for several moments. I didn't get a picture, either, as I was busy making sure she was being polite to the guy before I realized who he was, and by then it was too late to get the photo op. But all the Thunderbirds were there tonight at the party, and that was pretty neat. So were the F-15 Demo pilots that were sitting at the table next to us, and the Warbird pilots down the way a bit. What excellent company with which to be associated. :)
Well, I guess I'd best post this and head to bed so I can get my five hours of beauty sleep and get up at the crack of dawn to join all the pilots flying in this show this weekend at the briefing downstairs.
It's a rough life. ;)
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