Seymour

My new iPhone 4s is up and running.  Did you know that phones these days are so smart that if you so much as turn them on, they deactivate your other phone and start activating themselves?  Yeah, I didn't know that either.  You used to have to call in and go through some rigmarole to get them activated. So I thought I'd turn the iPhone on and just LOOK at it...and then was without any phone at all, and basically locked out the phone contacts, texts, voicemails, and photos, making it so I can't just transfer them over.  However, Steve told me not to touch the thing until he was ready to set it up, so I've already heard enough about it to keep me from complaining and hearing more.  ;)  It's all set up now though, it's basically my iPad with a phone and a smaller screen, so using it isn't too tough so far; tomorrow Steve will probably set up his new Razor.

Here's how today was supposed to go.  I was going to fly the T-6 with Jon in the back down to Seymour for their fly-in, and we were going to sell rides at an event.  Then Nathan was going to fly the P-51 with Chuck in the back, and Steve take the RG and take the 3 kids down there.  Sounds fun, and no sweat!  Then that wasn't going to work, so we needed another pilot, but when we needed another pilot, we added a butt that we didn't have a seat for.  And then AE was going to take his airplane down so we were all covered again.  Yay!  And then AE decided to drive because of weather.  Phoo! So now, no matter what we did, we didn't have enough seats again.  All last night and all morning Steve was trying to arrange it to work out, calling other people who were all busy and couldn't come fly one of the other planes, and there just wasn't a good solution.  So instead, Nathan took the P-51 down with Steve in the back, and I took Gumby (the Aerostar) with the three kids, Justin and Jon. 

We flew down together, and the Mustang would be on the left, then the right, then behind, then around, etc.  Steve spent most of his time heads-down staring at the iPad in his lap and said he'd look up sometimes and he'd not be where he was the last time he looked.  The kids laughed, waved and made faces, and then didn't really think much about it after that.  They've been in the warbirds in formation more than once.  Now there's a sentence to ponder that I don't think a whole lot of folks could say.  :)  As we were cruising along, I spotted a Cessna not too far above us.  Nathan and I talked on the radio for a second, and then the CAP plane (it was close enough I could see it was a CAP plane) got on the radio and said "That's quite a sight." He asked where we were going, and then asked if we'd consider stopping at his home base to give him a ride "in that P-51".  Right.  ;)  We flew over the city of Seymour together, did a pass, then came in to land.  When I taxiied in, I saw the Tocano that I got to fly in Louisville, and a Christian Eagle that was at that same formation clinic, and a bunch of our Sheridan/Glenndale/Kokomo folks, and that was neat to catch up with some of those guys.  One older gentleman I didn't know came up to me at the Aerostar and asked if I flew that in, and I said yes, and he said "I wondered what on earth that was flying with a P-51. Never seen that before." I said he probably wouldn't see it again, either, as it's not exactly a normal configuration...

The photos are a little off on coloring and such, because the windows in the Aerostar don't have the best tinting for taking pictures through.  But I worked on them a bit, and you get the idea.  I like this one because you can see the window curtains and the wing, so you know it's not really zoomed in all that much.  :)

We didn't stay at Seymour long.  The weather was moving in to Kokomo, and while I'd be okay in the Aerostar, the Mustang didn't need to be rained on or flown actual IFR.  So we boogied out.  Nathan gave them a nice fare-thee-well, and we went our ways, making it home in time to fuel up the 340 for Monday's Dawn Mission, put everything away, and get settled in before the clouds moved down and the rain moved in.  The rest of the day was dreary and cold and gray, and after hanging out for a bit, we ended with too much food at Chili's, including a Chocolate Chip Paradise dessert, which has coconut and walnuts and chocolate and ice cream and...yum, man.  Good stuff.  I'm still full and it's been like 2.5 hours...

So, it was the Saturday that didn't go according to plan, was a little messed up, but it was good to support George and Karen, good to get out of the house and do something, good to get a little flying in, and it's never a bad day to watch a P-51 off your wing.  :)

Random quote for the day:
"Smart alecs seize the moment while others are busy being uptight.  Lighten up!"