Another heat index in the triple digits day made for some pretty miserable conditions and a nice day to stay indoors, which of course we didn't actually do.
The guys at Muncie gave Chuck the wrong part when he went over there, and by lunch I was feeling mostly okay, so I took the Bellanca over to Muncie to exchange the wrong part for the right one. The Bellanca actually has some pretty good air output from those little air vents, but to say it's hot in an enclosed airplane is still quite an understatement. When I got back home, it took a good 30 minutes in the air conditioning before I quit feeling the heat radiating out of me, and I had to completely change clothes, too.
So of course I had to go flying again. ;) This time I took Kaylee with me. Friday night, a friend named Judy had asked ladies who fly, in particular taildraggers, to come on out for a Dan's Fish Fry dinner and a ladies' night. So Kaylee sat in the front seat and flew us there, and other than the ground rudder/taxi ops, she did the takeoff, flew us all the way there, and did the landing, and I only touched the stick once, and that was on landing, I bumped it back just a fraction there in the flare so she wouldn't bounce her landing in public. :) She did really well. She also did the start-up: mixture rich, one prime, master and mags on, starter engage, she did the throttle and stick on takeoff, etc. It worked out pretty well, I just kept us straight on the runway with the rudder and she did the rest. I had to tell her what to do, of course, she doesn't know how or why just yet, but she's learning. Tonight after we landed she asked me how to hand prop an airplane, so I went over that briefly too, and talked about the importance of staying clear of the prop, how to (not) grab it, how to swing it so you'd fall backwards if you tripped or after you swung, etc. She watched, she wore her "Chicks Fly" hat, she enjoyed a little attention from folks who saw her getting out of the front seat and commented, and she's getting pretty good at using peripheral vision outside to keep herself straight and level, on altitude, etc. We had fun. We sweated to death, but it was a nice flight with the windows open and a good breeze.
Again, when we got home, well, I've been home for awhile now and I'm still sweating, still feel the heat coming off of me, mostly my head. I baked from the inside out and I'm still baking. M-I-S-E-R-A-B-L-E. The event coordinator asked me to be there as early as possible tomorrow because it's easier to park the T-6 before everyone gets there. He said the event starts at 7 a.m. I don't think I'm going to make 7 a.m. on a Saturday morning. Maybe 8. And 8 is pushing it considering what time I'll have to leave the house to get to the airport, get out the Six, get the kid buckled in, and get TO Marion by 8. This is not a fun relaxing weekend thing, this is a "I am going to be nice and support a guy I like and his event" thing. When I told him Nathan wasn't coming, he then said "But you're coming, right?" There goes that hint of an idea I had about just skipping. ;) It would be more enjoyable if everyone was going and if it wasn't supposed to be another miserable hot day, but if you're out flying the T-6 with your daughter, exactly how bad can it be. ;)
Kaylee's plugging Marion into the GPS. She also dialed in and flip-flopped the radio frequencies for me.
Flying along...
Halfway home she gave me the controls and just wanted to look around a little bit.
Back to flying herself, giving me a thumbs-up.
Driving home in the car, window down, red face, cooling off in the breeze...
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