Two Pilots & an LSW: Monday Monday

So, we're back. We had scheduled ourselves off for this morning, which was good for me. The bed felt so good last night, the shower felt so good this morning, everything felt soooo good. It was a really good time, and one I needed, a full on vacation, no extra trips, no mid-week shenanigans, no stressful early morning flights, just an actual vacation. It was great. It makes me ready to expand more again next year and do a few other things, but for this year, it was exactly what I needed it to be. The last few years felt like Oshkosh was for and about everybody else. It was work. I was worrying about weather, getting in and out of the area IFR repeatedly, taking my first major trip solo in the Cheyenne and had a few problems, taking the T-6 there is an honor but it was also a lot of stress, trouble with the radios, trouble getting in, trouble on a photo shoot. Even flying the PT in the airshow. It was fun, I needed and wanted to do it, but it's also a day of meetings, briefings, flying, and stress, as I was being observed by the head of the CAF on the ground, the winds were a 27 knot direct crosswind, and it wasn't exactly a cake walk. I missed most of the campsite events, the fires, the dinners. At one point last year I remember thinking, as I sat at home waiting to take my next business flight, that I didn't even feel like going back up afterwards. I was burned out on working Oshkosh trips. This trip was a breath of fresh air that reminded me what I love about going.

Kaylee and I spent time Friday going to see a high school production play of Footloose. Which was great. We went out to eat and chatted afterwards. We went to an outdoor reenactment of a USO Club event for the WWII era. Singers, skits, in the dusk to dark, in our camp chairs. We went to see "Hidden Figures" at the outdoor movie theater there, and that was a great movie, by the way, and we really enjoyed that. We all went to the night air show, and got rained on, and liked it anyway. When that B-1 went by at dusk with afterburners aglow, I literally got goosebumps. That thing is incredible. I went to the bomber show by myself on Saturday. Again, stunning. Two B-29s in close formation, never seen in the last 50-60 years. A Missing Man formation of two B-29s and two B-25s. Wonderful. We ate with our camp mates, had fantastic dinners both at camp and at our favorite places. Kaylee got to spend a day with a friend up there, and they went shopping, driving off in a car together for the first time, instead of their bikes or their mom taking them somewhere. The kids who used to slide down the hill on cardboard are all grow up. *sniff*

All in all, it was worthy, and relaxing (after that first day when the trailers finally arrived), and fulfilling, and had spectacular scenery, and had record-breaking attendance, and I did get to connect with a couple of people and do some networking that was helpful, and I'm glad I went, and looking forward to next year. Who knows what next year will bring, but there are some interesting possibilities.

So today I slept in until 8:30, which is really 7:30 Oshkosh time, so that wasn't too bad. I did stuff around the house, putting away bags, doing laundry, organizing. Lunch with the gang for the first time in awhile, which was nice, and then I had a cross-country flight with a kid Kaylee's age. He's suuuuper quiet. So many young teenage boys are so very quiet in flight training. They don't get hard to deal with until they get to be in their 20s. THEN they're more cocky and mouthy and get on my nerves. But the teens are usually tough to get to interact or communicate. It's sort of cute.

I got a message that a Cub needed flown from Glenndale to Kokomo today, before its annual expired at midnight. So I did that, and really enjoyed the flight. I did a couple of spin entries just for the fun of it, and it makes me smirk to see that bottom door start lifting up right as a perfect stall indicator. The Cub just doesn't want to get into or stay into a spin with me in the back and nothing up front, so it's more like an entry that goes right into a steep spiral. More power helps. Anyway. Then on to a couple of takeoffs and landings in different configurations to wake the feet up. I parked the Cub in the maintenance hangar (not ours), and then had a guy run me back to Glenndale in the 172. It had been awhile since he'd done Glenndale takeoffs and landings, so we did three of them there and worked out some kinks, over the wires (dum de DUN). I drove back from there to Kokomo, where I pulled out the T-6.

First, I had trouble getting it out. I had to unhook and rehook on the tug to get it out as I was in an awkward spot. Then I get it out, check the fuel, and it's only got 20 gallons a side. That's not enough. It's also 6:10 pm and the field just closed. ARGH. So I taxied over to the self serve pump and did that. And then life got better. ;) I went up high and did some aerobatics for the first time since last year. Felt pretty good and it was a beautiful day for it, too. Next up I went over to Marion to do some takeoffs and landings. I did this because I saw some guys set some chairs up at an open hangar at OKK to watch as I went by, and I wanted to do things that might not go so perfectly, and I didn't want to be thinking about spectators. Marion was deserted, so I went there. I started with a normal 3-point landing, something I'd gotten too lax on lately. And then I did some engine failures. Jim hadn't had me practice those during my official checkout, and I'd not done it fully on my own, either. There are a couple of areas in the plane I feel like I need to expand the envelope on, and that is one. It's hard on the engine to just pull it to idle, which is one of the reasons we just haven't done it. But I don't want my first engine failure in it to be for real, either, so today I practiced three or four of them, as gently as I could. One time I had to give it a quick burst of power to assure hitting the runway, although I probably would have made it, but...probably isn't the best plan. ;) But the others went really well. I left feeling pretty pleased about them. I'd wanted to do them to a 3-point landing, and while one was a tad flat and ended up being a tail low wheel landing on accident, it was still nice and right about where I was aiming for. So I feel good about that practice today. It was worthwhile. I have a few more things to work on and hit coming up soon, HOPEFULLY this Sunday. I hope weather and schedule allows, as there's a lot coming up I need to do and I need to be prepared for it...

Kaylee is working hard on her summer work, getting things done. Some assignments are due Thursday, and she's gotten one out of three of those done so far. Tomorrow's Tuesday. She has a lot of reading and paper writing to do by Thursday. :o

Wednesday I go pick up Ann from Tennessee, Friday I have a trip to Oklahoma City for MBros, Saturday is T-6 rides at Indy Exec for their Down's Syndrome event, Sunday is hopefully some aerobatic stuff in the morning and then another trip to Oklahoma City that evening. Should be a busy but good week if mother nature cooperates.

I have way too many photos, man. Here are today's. Oshkosh's will probably have to go on my website...I'll let you know when they're up.

Takeoff, out the open door of the Cub, out of Glenndale's Runway 36.

I had two hair scrunchies this time ready to go. Sitting in my car waiting. Saw them 15 minutes before the flight. Could not find them anywhere. Stuck with tornado hair again.