Stuff

It was a day of organization, mostly. I got my hair highlighted, it's getting more dull as I get older, so Jessica the stylist puts some "caramel" and some reddish highlights on the top.  I organized my emails, mostly my CAF stuff, into Wisconsin Wing, Nashville Wing, Indiana Wing, WASP Wing, and Headquarters. I emailed about the Sweetwater thing, emailed HQ about Nashville checkouts, emailed Nashville about their checkouts, and basically stayed busy doing that for awhile.  I was supposed to go down there tomorrow, but the winds are going to be gusting to 37 knots tomorrow, which is obviously too much for the PT-26.  I did household stuff, laundry and kitchen clean-up, stopped at the store for Ann's supplies, and just had that kind of catch-up day.  Organized my laptop, updated to Windows 11, cleaned out my emails, did everything except work on my presentation due in a couple weeks.  Maybe I can pull that off tomorrow.  *sigh*

Kaylee has a resume now, and has applied to four different places for a paid summer internship in the social work arena.  One place got back to her within 30 minutes and has set up an interview with her.  She's hoping to get to work at a care facility over the summer.

Did I mention a friend online sent me her Apple Watch to try out?  I like it. I can do most things on it that I can do on my phone, without pulling out my phone. Not needed in life, but nice anyway. It also has an ECG function, measures your heart rate, has a pulse ox function, measuring your blood oxygen levels. I think that runs a little low, because normally I run 98% or better and this is reading 95% or so. But still it's a good indicator, once I know what is normal for me with this unit, then it's something I can use in the planes since all our finger units have died and we haven't replaced them. I haven't even figured out what all it will do yet.  One thing it doesn't seem to do as well as my inexpensive little FitBit is monitor my sleep. It doesn't give me the details that the FitBit does for sleep tracking, which I don't believe. So I'm needing to dive some more into that end of it.  All in all, though, I really like it.

CAF Weekend

Busy weekend. Saturday Glenn Olsen flew in his Bonanza to Kokomo and picked me up and took us into Indy Metro. We had CRM and then PT-26 training at the FBO there, for many hours. That evening, he and I, AE, Nathan and Jamie and Steve went out to eat, then over to Chuck's for a little while.  First thing Sunday morning, I was out at the airport early, and I set up the tables and chairs by myself, food table, computer table, big screen. People arrived around 9 am, and I ran out to the ramp, parked them, ran and got chocks, ran them back to the hangar. Ray B. started us off with props and engines, then moved into the BT-13 stuff. When he was done, I did the C-45 stuff. We were there all day. Glenn brought coffee and donuts, Steve went out and bought sandwich material from Miller's.  At the end, I ran everybody back out to their planes, grabbed the chocks, helped put away all the tables and such, had help this time, and I was pooped at the end of that day.  Adrenaline, stress about doing it, stress about how it went, hoping that I didn't sound too stupid on it on my part, all of that stuff.  I think it went all right.

This morning I woke up with another headache. Temps dove down to 20, now it swings to warm, and my head hates it. The new stuff does make me groggy, so it works if I take it in the middle of the night and can sleep it off for 4-5 hours, but if I take it during the day, it's not good to fly off of, unlike Imitrex.  Unfortunately.

I had one flight this morning at 9.  We took off, got about 150' in the air on a short field climb, Vx, and the engine lost power. Partially, not completely.  The student kept flying it for another couple of seconds, but the power didn't come back, so I went ahead and took it. Gauges in the green, yadda yadda, turned back towards the crossing runway, lowering the nose from the steep climb to gain some energy, and then the power came all the way back. I kept us high and close to the airport, gave it back to the student and had them do the high power back slip to land.  That .4 was probably a better lesson than what else we were supposed to be doing for 1.4.  ;) 

After that, my medicine kicked in, got rid of my headache, but also turned me into a sleeeeeepy girl.  I barely made it through lunch awake, had errands to run and decided to do those before I went home. One of them was Fed Ex trying to deliver something to my house three days in a row and not giving me ANY time, info, etc. I was going to sign the thing and leave it on my door, and when I went to my door at 8 am, they had another tag there and had already tried at some early hour this morning when I was hear and never heard them.  BUTTHeads.  So I went to Fed Ex. They said I needed to go to Fed Ex Ground which was down the road around the corner and in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to yell at someone but they had my package there and it wasn't the girl's fault who brought it out to me, so I just took it home and was glad to have it.  But now my stomach was in bad shape, and Fed Ex is closer to the airport than my house. So I ran out to the airport, went to the bathroom, got a drink, and then commenced with my errands.  Gas station (ouch), CVS to pick up Ann's meds, and home, to what I thought was take a nap.  Nope.  I started waking up a little bit.

Steve and I drove the Explorer through the car wash and gas station and then took it to Marion to give it back to Kaylee and swap vehicles with her.  We ate dinner with her at her campus, and they have SO much food there available for the students. You wouldn't believe this cafeteria and the options in it.  A-mazing.  They have beef that they slice right there, like a Japanese restaurant. Pork tenderloins grilled with rice and vegetables and garlic mashed potatoes and a huge salad bar and deli and fried foods section and pizza section and dessert section (I ended with peach cobbler).  I mean, that place is amazing.  Anyway.  We ate dinner with her, switched cars, and headed home.

Wednesday I was supposed to go to Nashville, but the weather isn't going to work. So I'm going to try for Thursday. We shall see.

In Glenn's Bo headed to Indy

Jordan Ray teaching the BT-13

I look unfriendly but I'm just concentrating on the picture. lol The two girls lying on top of me.

Kentucky

It was a lousy weather day for VFR flying, and a lot of potential for bad icing, so Ethan had me go along on his trip to Kentucky today. We didn’t pick up too much, after all, but you never know on days like this. We just went to Louisville, which is only an hour away. I spent the day in the FBO, working on my presentation for the Indy Aeroclub. Basically writing out my story like it was a speech. I got about halfway through. 45-60 minutes is a long time to talk about yourself, you know? 

I was possibly going to have to go to Philly tonight at 4 pm and drop off a couple of people at the Purdue game, wait for them, then fly them home at 11 pm, on a 3.5 hour flight home with bad headwinds, then an hour drive home from Frankfort. If you’re doing math, that puts me home around 3:30 am at best.  Then I had to be up early to go to Indy Metro for the CAF PT-26 and CRM training.  Well, the Philly trip fell through, thankfully, and I was able to be home in time for dinner at 5:30 pm, and now I’m sitting at home watching the game, and watching Purdue, #3, get beaten by the Peacocks, #15. Normally I go for the underdog, but I was hoping Purdue would win. Unless a miracle happens in the next 25.8 seconds, it ain’t happening.  Bummer.

Kaylee is coming home for tonight, maybe the weekend. Says she misses her cat. I’ll be gone tomorrow and Sunday for CAF stuff, so it’s good she can spend time with her cat.  ;)

Nope. Purdue lost at the buzzer. *sigh*

Blue skies above

Louisville on approach

And On You Go

New day, new things to look forward to.

This morning I woke up at 5 am to look at the weather. It wasn't great. I texted the info to D, how we could get it done though it would be tricky.  He wrote back with "Yeah, what a mess, I don't need to be there today, let's reschedule."  So I went back to bed and didn't get up until after 10.  Didn't mean to sleep that late again, but I didn't fall back asleep until about 7:30 or 8, so everything got thrown out of whack a bit.

Eric came over and finished up the annual on the T-6, and I did a test run on it, with everything looking good.  It just needs put back together now and for him to finish the paperwork, and then I've got people who want checkouts, waiting to go. 

I watched a "Youth Protection" video for the CAF, took a quiz over it, and did another background check, towards the specific CAF Youth Protection Don't Be A Pedo Creep program if you work with kids like giving rides, etc.  Printed off the PT-26 quiz that Nick made up for our upcoming weekend training. Haven't done it yet, but will do that tomorrow.  Got an email from a lady at the CAF WASP T-6 program, who asked me if I'd thought about coming to Sweetwater, if I was current in T-6s and could give a couple rides, and if I'd thought about or would be interested in taking it on the Air Power History Tour.  I told her I could possibly do Sweetwater, and she offered to book me a hotel room and let me drive with her.  So no expenses other than probably airline airfare (cheaper) to get to Dallas and back.  And the APHT? I'm going to stop here.  That is the B-29, FiFi, a B-24, the WASP T-6, a Stearman, and Gunfighter, the P-51 that Jordan just got officially checked out in to give rides, all going on tour across the country and doing rides.  This is a little bit of the "in" on checking it out to see if I and the crew for even FiFi would get along, as a possibility to see about flying the B-29.  It also would be great if Jordan was there on tour when I was, because I would have an actual friend along.  And would it help me towards the P-51 too?  I don't know.  Maybe?  Odds are not good there, but hey.   The Tour itself, you're not out money. They pay for your rooms, your food, all that stuff. It's usually for a couple of weekends during the summer, that you can choose.  So...the lady sent my info to the head of the Ops officer for that Wing, and he's supposed to send me info on the Tour, and IF it all works out, I may go do that, and it may be a good thing.  Or it may not work out and I won't. But you never know if you don't position yourself as best you can and prepare for the opportunities as best you can.  I feel nervous already but good about at least knowing I gave it a shot.

I sent an email to Tom M, who flies the Indy P-51 and Bearcat, who wanted me to do a T-6 checkout in their T-6 with a friend of his.  So I fired off some info and my willingness to do that. 

The Wisconsin Wing guys sent an email out today about setting up a date to do T-6 training, and I told them when would work for me and that I'm waiting on finalizing that date so I can then go down to Nashville and fly with them in their PT-19.  So the CAF is taking up a lot of my time, all for free, but...opportunities are there, too. 

When I ran up the T-6 today, I couldn't hardly get up on the wing like I normally do-I had to crawl up. I have to do that when I'm wearing a flight suit anyway, but in normal jeans I can normally run up it.  But there's some more motivation to be getting more healthy.  I am not only flabby and puffy looking, which isn't cool if you're trying to be 'cool', but I've lost strength and flexibility too, which is the actual more important part.  So with a bunch of cameras coming out and new people to meet and try to impress, I have even more incentive to improve my health.  I'd like to look the part, too.  I don't have time to make enough change to make much of a difference in the next couple of months, but...gotta start somewhere, and I have.  Just need to 'up' the physical fitness part of it.

So, depressing one day, optimistic the next. That's me, I can't stay too bummed out for too long, usually, because I don't like living that way.  There's still a bunch of crap waiting in the wings to kick us in the teeth, but I can't do anything about it TODAY, so for today I'll enjoy the good, and get back to pouting about the bad when it raises back up.  That's life, right?  One step in front of the other.

Oh, also, Ethan has said he'd like to fly down to Sun-n-Fun and asked if Steve and I wanted to go along, that he'd pay for it for the company flying in and out of that very crazy busy event.  So Cathy is either going to come here or we're going to drop Ann off in TN, and if it works out, we'll spend a couple days in Florida in early April, which will be nice.  Then mid-April is my presentation that is bothering me.  Then the end of April is the WASP reunion in Texas if I end up being able to make that.

Kaylee is okay, the cat is fine, Steve is okay, Ann wasn't feeling well tonight but hopefully will be good by tomorrow (she may have eaten too much today of her junk food from her birthday), haven't heard anything on the law suit in a week which is lovely.  

And I don't have to wake up early tomorrow for any reason. Which means I probably will anyway, but I don't HAVE to.  Thank you. :)

Monday

Beautiful out there today. I only had one flight, and he canceled because he felt sick.  I wrote up a quiz for the Twin Beech and printed out a copy, which turned out decently though not super thorough. Went to Glenndale to pick up a package, out to Staples to pick up my newly revised C-45 checklists. They turned out pretty well.  From there I headed to Kokomo, and had a cluster of a time.

I’ve got a trip to Memphis tomorrow morning early, and needed to update the avionics. I log in, and it says I don’t exist. No updates, no airplane associated with the account, nothing.  I called in, and after playing on the phone for long periods of time, I find out that our updates expired, and we hadn’t gotten any notifications about it.  I go to log into the account to pay the bill, and it won’t let me in. Tech says that my password will no longer work because now it requires a character too.  I can’t get in to change my password. Steve calls in to see if I want something from Hydration Station, and when I try to disconnect him, I hang up on tech support. I try the online chat option. They tell me how to pay the overdue invoice without logging in, and they reset my password for me.  Then I log in and it still doesn’t have an airplane associated with it or our name on it. I chat back in and they fix that.  I download all the updates successfully, only to find they all expire 3/24. You know what today is?  3/21.  I’m pretty angry, actually. It all took me almost 3 hours.  And I just have to do it again in a few days.  Grr. 

Tomorrow’s trip looks like bad weather. We may not get to go. Wad of thunderstorms doesn’t look like a lot of breaks in it. I won’t know until 5:30 am when I take a look and make the go or no go.

Today I finally heard from Jordan, who said he finished the P-51 checkout course, got the patch, and the type on his pilot certificate, and is only the 215th person to complete the course in their 35 years.  I found out at lunch, and told the guys there, and ty says “Why aren’t you doing that?” I joked about how it was $61,000, which it is, but the question actually opens the wound. I’m happy for Jordan, I really like him and he’s a good guy and he deserves it. I’m sad it won’t be me.  Jim Z is also flying a P-51 now.  As is a guy down in Terre Haute who has money but no time to fly most of the 10 airplanes (no joke) he owns.  *sigh* I was so close, but nothing I can do about it, so I’m a little bummed out temporarily, watching other people pass me by and do something I COULD do but can’t, and then…I’ll cheer on Jordan as he flies it around, and I AM happy for him. 

Well, on that note, I need to head to bed, early 5:30 am wake-up call, and see about fighting the weather.  Could use the paycheck, don’t need the stress.  ;)

Weekend Update

Kaylee came home, and Lon and Cathy drove up for the weekend.  Lon was coming to visit his mom, who also has more advanced dementia, and is in a facility.  We also were celebrating Ann's 89th birthday, which is officially tomorrow, but we celebrated it yesterday while everybody was able to be here.  :)

Ann has been stable and well for quite awhile now.  Just today she said her stomach hurt--after she insisted on having two small Culvers mixers ice cream treats, so that wasn't a shock--but all in all, she's doing very well so far.  No dizziness, no moaning, no stomach stuff, she's been in good spirits and all in all doing as well as can be expected.  She asked me yesterday how old she was, said she didn't remember.  I said "You're 89!"  She said "89! That's not too bad!" and laughed and laughed. Cathy decorated her living room with "Happy Birthday" things, and a little balloon, and an oreo ice cream birthday cake, and several presents.  She did great.  :)

Saturday evening, Steve and I drove out to Fairmount and met a couple for the first time for dinner out at a place called "Grains and Grill". It was a nice evening out, one of the first "couples" evenings we've done in awhile.  I had a most excellent filet, food was great as always there.  We were able to go out of town and be late like that because Lon and Cathy were with Mom.  It was nice!

Today was the first official day of Spring, and it was beautiful out.  Kaylee headed back to school, Steve sprayed for bugs and spiders and did a few other things, and Lon and Cathy headed out to go back home, after taking Ann out for a shopping trip at the Hallmark Store and treats at Culvers.  This afternoon, Steve and I went up in the Champ, him in front this time.  He did his three or four takeoffs and landings, and I did three as well.  One three point, one engine-out one wheel, and one wheel landing, from the back, and we had a good time on a really nice day.  We got back just before sunset, in time for me to do Ann's last pill and shut things down, and then spent the evening watching TV shows and relaxing.  It'll be a busy enough week after this, so it was nice to take the weekend off.

Retro and Intro Spective

So Thursday, I went up with Cameron in the Champ, and we went over to Glenndale.  The winds were down Runway 18, so we had to come in over the wires. It was his first time going in there since he came in over the wires in the back seat of the Saratoga and Jerry hit the pole, the wires, and crashed.  He did two full stop takeoffs and landings out there, and he handled it well.  He was nervous, and high and fast the first time over the wires, which you would expect, and then he dialed it in and make an almost perfect landing.  It was breaking that last link in the chain, the last thing holding him back.  He done good, and I was proud of him.  I told him that I had been in an accident once too, when I was just a year or two older than he is, and that I knew what it was like getting back in the plane and revisiting where it had happened. He was shocked, that's not exactly something I tell people, and he says that getting in a plane for the first time again was definitely harder than getting back into Glenndale, that he trusted in his own abilities more now, but that yes, it still makes you pause.  It took more than people probably knew for me. I thought maybe most everybody was right, and I didn't belong in airplanes. I kept having flashbacks of the world rotating up to meet me and me thinking I was dead for a couple of seconds, even after we hit.  I was given the nickname "Crash Queen" in the area and from former schoolmates, and people actually yelled that out at me in the restaurant in town.  I didn't have a friend in the area, not one.  I lost some of the joy of what I'd been doing because of it too, and I was dealing with an on-again-off-again relationship with an ex-fiancé who liked to come back around when his next relationship would end.  What I had in my favor that kept me going and helped me end up where I am today?  I'm freaking stubborn as hell.  Maybe even stupid stubborn.  Probably even stupid stubborn. I left the toxic area, I licked my wounds, and I tried again somewhere else.  One more time.  And they were good people, and it made all the difference in the world.  But even a few years later, the first time I got back in a C-150, I still had a flashback of the accident, while I was flying along.  The person I was with noticed that I suddenly got stiff and quiet.  I had to work through that, and sometimes it, and the doubt in myself, yelled louder in my head than anything else.  The accident was 29 years ago.  To this day, some people think I'm being self-deprecating, or fake humility. But they don't know that I know that it just takes a moment and a mistake, and I don't want to be up too high on some pedestal, because it's too far down.  I spent quite a few years not being taken seriously at all, and wondering if they were right. I was "that girl pilot" that they kept waiting for me to ball it up--again.  Now days, I'm getting more and more attention and respect and accolades, and while most people would probably eat that up, it frankly makes me nervous. The head of the CAF posted on Jordan's post about us flying together that he got to fly with one of the best pilots the entire CAF had to offer.  Uh.  I'm a behind-the-scenes person. I'm an introvert. I don't like a lot of focus on me. I just like to be very good at what I do, enjoy what I do, and fly under the radar most of the time.  I have also worked hard to be safe, and proficient, and...good...at every aspect of flying that I can.  And do you know it was probably really just last year that I really, actually believed it? I figured that I probably wasn't as good as most of the guys in the formation clinic, for one example.  Steve would tell me I was, but why should I believe him, right?  It wasn't until I went to Dubuque and saw the others in the group, and had one of their longest-term instructors ride in my back seat and come back and tell the main guys that I was a really good stick and a good solid formation pilot, that I could actually believe that I belonged in there too.  I feel like if I can't be perfect at something, I'm not good at it, even though that's a complete disconnect from what I tell everyone else who is learning a skill in flying.  But *I* have to be perfect. And you can't be perfect.  Ergo I'm not very good (at some things).  I'm working on trying to accept however far my little star rises without shooting myself down and of course without getting cocky over it.  The second one will be easier to manage than the first.  ;)  Anyway, this all brought back some memories, obviously, along with two other things that have brought out old home week.  1) Going through my old diaries trying to find dates on some flying stuff, to no luck by the way, because all I talked about was my ex. I'm so going to burn those as soon as I get a good sized fire to do it in. and 2) me having to write a 45-60 minute long presentation on myself and my history to give in front of a large group of rich people in less than a month, and deciding what to say about myself.  It's been...weird.  *sigh*

It's been a productive day. I started off the day doing my "TSA Security Awareness Training" which is due annually to be a CFI.  So you go through these 8 sections and take a quiz at the end.  I did all that, and printed off the certificate, gave it to Steve so he can be prepared for our TSA inspection this year of our flight school.  I re-upped my membership to the WASP Squadron of the CAF, as it had expired.  I did my annually required online training called 60-1 training for the CAF today, a bigger set of documents and a 50 question quiz, and finished that and submitted it to HQ and my Ops Officer.  I sent out three big emails full of info to people who were waiting to hear from me.  One about training in the T-6, one about having Texas Flying Legends at our Indy event, one about formation training.  I called on the PHONE (gasp) to make hotel reservations for the TBM Avenger Gathering in May, for two rooms. One for me, one for Spencer and Jon.  The lady liked me so much (yes, really), that she gave me an extra discount on the rooms. She told me that today I was a nurse.  She'd already done it, so I didn't tell her not to do it.  It's already expensive to get two rooms for three days.  So every bit helped. I also sent in a photo and a bio for the presentation I'm going to be giving.  So they're going to use that for advertising on their special guest speaker, me.  Yeah.  I cleaned out my inbox and am down to three major projects.  1) Redoing the checklist on the C-45, which I am going to work on some tonight.  2) Working on the groundschool I am teaching on the C-45 next Sunday, which I am not ready for, and 3) Writing and working on my presentation I'm giving in Indy next month, which slightly terrifies me.   So I'll get everything but these last three things done today, and feel pretty good about that.  The last two...those I'm gonna lose some sleep over soon.  But hopefully not tonight.

I got the Wordle in 3 tries again today.  I have 24 days where I got it in 3 tries.  This pleases me.

I am thinking about getting an Apple Watch. They have one with a pulse ox built in, you can look at your emails and texts on your wrist without pulling your phone out, it's a FitBit too, with steps and health matrix, sleep, etc.  The only problem is, they're freaking expensive.  And if I get one, I'm going to get the newer model with those features.  So I'll probably just need to wait awhile until the next model comes out and the prices on this one drop.  The ole FitBit works just fine until then. The pulse ox function would be good though.  Most of the pulse oxs we keep in the twins quit working, so having one on all the time would be handy. 

Kaylee is fundraising for kids with disabilities to be able to have a prom, and they're not getting many donations, so I posted it on Instagram, and Ethan in the 340 shot me a text that he sent in some support for it.  He has a son with Cerebral Palsy and understands how special it can be to just have a "normal" prom or dance or event for kids who don't normally get that. Steve and I are doing a 'business sponsorship' too, to try to help. It's a neat thing to do for families with disabilities. I remember the dance we did for SMA Support in Virginia and what it meant to those guys.  :)

Well, I should probably quit procrastinating and get to working on my checklist revisions. Hopefully this will go easier than I expect.  Probably not, but hopefully.  ;)

Sixties

The temps, that is, at least for a couple of days here before we get more snow spits on Saturday.

I wrote up a bio about myself for the presentation I'm giving next month.  It's weird to talk about yourself in the third person like that.  Laura Stants did this.  Yeah. 

Spencer had his CFI checkride today, and we could watch it happen on FlightAware because the plane has ADS-B.  So we knew when he passed his oral and got into the plane, and we could watch the plane do the maneuvers, and knew when it landed.  He passed with flying colors, did great.  That was one positive for the day.  Another kid, another Justin, he got his first solo in today.  He's been struggling to get there, and today was The Day, and he got it done.  Another positive for the day.  Then I went up with Morgan, who brought me homemade big frosted cookies, which I didn't need but are really tasty, in the Champ.  She and I went in the Champ, not me and the cookies.  She wanted to do some spins, so we did them for multiple turns before recovering.  Had fun.  Then on for 3-point crosswind landings, wheel landings, and then halfway down the runway in the air I pulled the engine on her, and she said "That wasn't nice, you didn't give me any warning!" and I laughed and said "Engine failures don't warn you first, dear!" She landed on the other runway with a nice slip at the end to lose altitude, and did great.  So we had a good time flying, AND I got cookies, so...more positives from the day.

Steve went down to the CAF meeting and got into a bit of a back and forth with them.  Apparently some of them have decided we should "rebrand" BOB the C-45, saying that "Big Oily Beast" is a negative thing.  Steve fired back with "You mean like 'Bucket of Bolts'?", which is one of the busiest C-45 rides airplanes out there.  There was an argument about it.  I may not have the heart to tell them that an article is coming out in Warbird Digest probably next month that talks about BOB, as it is.  It's a WWII big ole oily cargo plane with radial engines that goes through oil like crazy.  That's part of its charm, not a negative thing.  I think they should focus more on how they're going to raise the $40-$50,000 we need to replace that engine within the next year and not worry about the name that came about quite of its own right.

No Kaylee news--she's back at school, said it took her 3 hours to finish one of her projects tonight, and she misses her cat.  Never us, just the cat. ;)  Ann is holding steady for today.  Steve is just trying to stay caught up.

I had a pilot friend contact me and tell me that he's had a few small things go wrong on some flights, and that now every time he goes and flies, he's super tense and nervous, that something big is going to go wrong.  I told him most pilots who fly long enough will go through that, and we talked about it for quite awhile. It helped just to know he wasn't alone, and I gave him some ideas on overcoming it.  Not everyone does, and sometimes it is time to hang up the spurs, so to speak.  You've read "Fate is the Hunter", gentle audience, right?  ;)  But not for him, not yet.  He said it was getting to the point where he was going to sell the plane or hire a pilot to fly him around because it was eating him up every flight, every crackle of a water bottle or unexpected bump of turbulence.  That's a super common thing for pilots to deal with at some point, sometimes more than once over the years.  Working through it takes some gutting it out...I believe he'll get through it.

Well, it's 11 pm and I should go to bed.  More Champ flying tomorrow. And possibly another person gutting out something tough for them.  I hope so.  We shall see.

Champing.

Pennsylvania

My friend Jordan is down in FL doing his P-51 transition training, and I am happy for him, and jealous, at the same time.  The one chance I'll probably ever have to do that passed by with a whiff--if Steve read this he'd get mad and say you never know what'll come along, and that's also true.  I don't think the odds are in my favor, however, let's say. The program is $61,000.00 to go all the way through now.  But Jordan deserves it, he's a good guy, and I AM happy for him.  He'll be doing rides and events in Gunfighter, one of the CAF P-51s.

The Cheyenne needed to go to Pennsylvania for its annual today.  So Spencer and the 172RG left at 9:30 am, and I waited until 10:15 am to take off, and blew past them not too far from Philly.  I was doing 395 knots groundspeed at 27,000', and smoking along nicely. I landed, talked to the shop guys, and waited up at the FBO until the RG landed.  We didn't need gas.  Jamie rode in the back seat, Spencer and I up front.  I had Spencer fly from the right seat, as his CFI checkride is tomorrow.  Dun duh dun...  The trip home was *slow*.  Painfully slow.  We were getting 105-110 knots groundspeed as low as 4,000'.  It took us over 2.5 hours to get home when it took me 40 some minutes to get there.  But there are worse ways to spend a day.  :)

I need to come up with a bio and a photo to pass on to the Indy Aero Club that I'm giving a long talk to next month.  Ugh.  This is making me anxious.

Lots of contrails at 27,000'

Straight and level in the Cheyenne

Pennsylvania snow

Under the wing of the RG too

Groundspeed in the RG over there on the right. 

Marching On

Today is Kaylee's last day here, from Spring Break.  She's made some extra gooey brownies to take back to school with her for a brownie-baking contest with her roommates, done the loads of laundry, and packed up her yoga mat.  It's been nice having her home.  She's visited with friends, worked on homework, watched Criminal Minds with me, hung out with her cat, gone down to Indy to eat with people, had dinner with us most nights, celebrated my birthday, and all in all had a good time off.  

I woke up today ready to go back to sleep for awhile until I saw it was 9 am.  Which means it was 8 am as far as my system was concerned.  I went ahead and got up anyway just to stay in some kind of rhythm and not start off sleeping in until "10 am".  Ann slept in, for the same reason, but she has no reason to HAVE to get up at a certain time.  :)  

Yesterday I met up with Nathan, AE and Steve for lunch at Pastarrific, and the night before me, Chuck, AE and Steve went to Marble the Steakhouse for my birthday.  I had a filet, truffle fries, mushroom soup, and crème brulet for my official birthday dinner, and enjoyed it quite a bit.  The next day, Chuck claims he got food poisoning from his food.  We all ate the same thing except he had a hangar steak and the rest of us had filet.  I really doubt he got food poisoning from his steak, or from this place.  I'm guessing his system just didn't like something or other, but still, that's a bummer.  He already says he got food poisoning from Windmill Grill and won't go back there to eat, and there have been others I don't remember. I think his system revolts sometimes, but I don't know that he keeps getting food poisoning.  The one time in my life I had food poisoning, on my birthday 2 years ago after fish tacos gone wrong, I thought I was going to die.  I could feel my stomach swell up with gasses to the point of physical pain, I couldn't spend more than 20 minutes away from the bathroom, and at any given time I couldn't always decide whether I had to put my face or my rear over the toilet first.  I have only eaten fish tacos once since then, too.  It was really, really bad.  Then 24 hours later or so, it was like a switch flipped, and I was weak and dehydrated, but fine.  I'll pass on ever doing that again, thanks. 

Anyway. The rest of us enjoyed the meal.  lol  Yesterday was also more my "Sunday", as I caught up on household stuff.  Today I think I'll work on a checklist for BOB, and maybe start writing down notes for what I want to say on my public speaking engagement in mid-April, now that that's only a month away.  Good Lord, I don't really want to do it.  Why am I doing it?  *sigh*

Not much else going on today, or in the previous days, but that'll be changing soon as we wind up towards Spring.  Tomorrow is a trip to Pennsylvania to drop off the Cheyenne for annual, with a slow flight home in the RG in strong headwinds.  I'll bring a book to read...

Nifty Nifty Look Who's Fifty?

At lunch today, we had a person in their 50s (me), 60s (Steve), 70s (AE), and 80s (Chuck) at one table.  Kind of wild.  No longer am I two decades away from most of the people I hang out with.   :)  

I got a call this morning from Jordan B., who is heading down south to get checked out in a Mustang, and asked if I'd fly with him in the T-6, so he could do some takeoffs and landings from the back seat.  Sure, I didn't have any other plans for today, so I stole the 340 and headed off to Terre Haute.  Flew from the front seat while he flew from the back, and it was a beautiful day for it.  Landed, and we went over to the C-47, climbed up there and he explained how everything worked, said we'd go flying it this summer.  Which I'd like to do.  Then it was dinner time, so I joined him and Nikki and Ray for dinner before flying home in the dark.  All in all, it was a really nice day, and I hadn't had any other plans for the day, so why not, you know?

When I got home, Steve and Kaylee showed me a box that had arrived for me--with some tasty steaks and a cheesecake on the counter thawing out and waiting for me, from my mom.  Then they proceeded to gift me with a "colo-rectal stool test" with a bow on it, because, you know, I'm 50 now.  ;)  And a chocolate bar to "soften the blow" of the kit.  Last but not least, Kaylee gave me tickets to go to a concert in Indy of all my 80s/90s bands. Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Joan Jett, Poison.  We're going to go together, and Steve is going to get us a room down there to spend the night.  It'll be fun!  :)  And she paid for it with her own money that she'd saved up too, which was sweet.  

All in all, I'd say it was a very good 50th birthday.  :)

T-6ing it.

Me & Jordan

C-47 cockpit

C-340 cockpit on the way home at night

Aren't they sweet?  ;)

Weekend Updae

I sort of didn't really do anything all weekend.  The weather was gorgeous, I had one day with a headache and one day vegging out and basically recovering.  Tried to catch up on some usual stuff.  Kaylee is here, and we've gone out to dinner most evenings.  The cat loves having her here because she lets her inside most of the day/evening. 

Steve and I (mostly Steve) worked on stacks of paperwork for the lawyers for the lawsuit.  It was the set of questions for me personally, for one.  You sort of have to be in the right mood to do that because it'll put you in a bad mood.  A young couple with a mansion for a house and multiple brand new vehicles including for their kids at the time, suing us for our '95 Jeep and a Buick with the check engine light that won't stay off.  You go, guys, get that justice against people who didn't do it.  

I went to J Edwards today and picked up some more green olives stuffed with Gherkin pickles, because I was out.  I love eating one here and there and chopping one up in my morning eggs once in awhile.  I also picked up some white chocolate macadamia nut toffee, which is super delicious and creamy.  And last but not least, I picked up an almond cupcake for my birthday.  I don't need a whole cake, but I do want a treat.  So there we go.  :)

I'm not sure what else I missed from the last few days.  Not much...

Irritant

It was a good flying day. I had Izzy at 9 am, and we did all the maneuvers for Private pilot checkride prep, and she did a good job.  After lunch I went up with Eric and we did instrument approaches. He did a perfect ILS 23 for the first time, so I had him do an RNAV, and then an RNAV circle to land, which pushed him.  Also a good flight.  I came home and did Ann's dinner, and then went to a Flying Squirrels meeting. There's a new student interested in learning to fly, she's 14 and will be joining the Squirrels for the summer camp program, and Steve thought it would be a good idea if Isabel and I went to the meeting tonight so she'd see some representation. It ended up being a good thing, because other than me and her, the only other people there were two current squirrel guys and one former squirrel who 'graduated', plus the instructors Greg and Steve.  It was a very quiet meeting, which would not have been impressive, and probably still wasn't, but at least was better with us two there too.

The irritant is with the CAF. I went down to Terre Haute to fly the BT with Dennis, as I said.  We flew almost two hours, after which time I determined he is safe to fly the plane.  I send in his form, and get back an email from the new guy in charge of ops that says basically he hasn't had ground school and we need to log our flights because none were logged since Nov and he doesn't meet the requirements (number of landings), which we had requested a waiver for.  Backing up.  When the rest of us got a checkout, we each had about one flight.  I had two, because I had one from the front and one from the back seat.  In total I flew 1.5 hours, and was signed off to fly it and to instruct in it.  We did one-on-one groundschool with Mark N., the check pilot.  Five of us got a similar checkout, including one guy who needed a waiver for not having enough tailwheel landings, like Dennis here.  So I respond to this first email and clarify that we did one-on-one ground school using the manual, physical walk-around and discussion at the aircraft, and TCDS info, just like Mark did with us, as we wait to get in our first annual groundschool for the BT.  I informed him that our flights are logged current and up to date, and basically answered all his concerns, including that Dennis had demonstrated proficiency in the tailwheel.  So he writes back tonight and says that he wants Dennis to get 10 hours in the BT before he'll sign him off and that maybe we could do more stalls and that he doesn't want to diminish my capabilities as an instructor but that he doesn't think Dennis has enough time.  NOBODY has 10 hours in that airplane, including me.  They all had 1-2 hour checkouts, and Dennis gets stuck with 10 hours?  And he is telling me how to be an instructor, and doubting my recommendation. It's insulting and irritating.  Dennis just wants to go along with it, and I want to fire back.  I'm going to say *something*, because it feels a little like my 'honor' has been insulted, but I'll try not to burn the bridge with the new guy while I do it.  So irritating.

Kaylee's coming home tomorrow afternoon, and I think Spring Break starts for her after that. :)

BT-ing

It was a non-stop day until about 8 pm, and honestly I was okay with that, even though I'm tired.  I woke up early, had to be up by 7:30 and I woke up at 5:30.  Part of it is the daylight coming in the window earlier now is waking me up earlier.  I really wanna get some black out shades or something.  I just got up at 6:50 or so and started the day early.

I made it out to Kokomo by 8:50, and then Dennis picked me up in his RV7A, which I'll just say here would be a lot sexier if it was the RV7, which is a taildragger, instead of the 7A, which is a nosedragger.  But hey.  We flew to Terre Haute, where I was going to give him his initial checkout in the BT-13 (The CAF's newest addition).  I want to pause here, to mention that I have only flown the BT-13 really once before, broken into two flights, one of an hour from the front seat, one for .5 in the back seat, same day.  I was now an instructor in it.  I haven't flown the airplane since that one day...Sept. 5th.  Which is six months ago.  I have a whopping 1.5 hours in the plane 6 months ago and I'm the teacher.  Fortunately for both of us, a quick scan through the manual, a little ground time to remind me of the particularities of this airplane, and the actual FLYING isn't hard.  It's remembering little things like how to break the tailwheel loose properly, which is weird in this one.  lol  

When we got down there, we noted the airplane had three flat tires. Gah. Dennis found a hose and air, and filled up the two mains. They were down to 10 lbs, and needed to be up to about 30.  The tailwheel was messed up and flat, so I called in Jordan Ray, and he came out, jacked up the tail, took off the tailwheel, split the tailwheel open, fixed the tube and stem, put it back together, and we were up and running in less than an hour.  

Dennis and I went up and did steep turns, slow flight, power off and on stalls, all good.  Came in and did wheel landings with 40° flaps, no flap wheel landings, 3-point landings, go-arounds, etc.  After 1.8, we were done, he was checked out and doing great, and we headed back to Kokomo in his RV.  It was so nice to get up, and the BT is so much more relaxing to instruct in than the T-6 but it still looks cool.  SO much easier! I enjoyed myself today, it gave me a boost of Vitamin D that I really needed.  :)

After I got back to Kokomo, I had just enough time to get to the dentist for my 6 month cleaning.  I hadn't eaten today, we didn't have time with all the maintenance issues and me needing to get back for the dentist, so I decided I better wait until after the dentist to eat--he might appreciate that.   Nothing wrong with my teeth, so that helps, even if I hate sitting there getting my teeth scraped and polished. 

Steve and I hit dinner, and then I made it back at 6:30 for a CAF Zoom meeting talking about our groundschools coming up.  We got done close to 8, and finally for the first time today, I was done.  Like I said, a long, busy, but decent day, though it started and ended better than the middle with the dentist and the meeting.  ;)

Dennis putting air in the mains as the line guys watch

The BT

Dennis

Mua

On the ground

Hero shot

The panel of the RV-7A

Tuesday

Gorgeous day.  We were up early today, and moved our big TV out of the house, out past the deck, and into the back of Dave's pick-up truck.  It is now finally gone and out of the kitchen against the wall where it has resided for months. The TV was a little heavier to move than I remember it being before, but not by  much.  Steve and I managed it without turning purple, and the only slightly trickier part was getting it up into the bed of the truck, lifting it up.  But again, we managed it pretty easily, which I'm using as a barometer of age and health still being okay for us.  ;)

After lunch we went out to Kokomo, where the guys had pulled out the T-6, and I did the first run on it this season, the post-annual "leak check".  The one thing I hate about that, is Jon crawling up on the wing and leaning WAY forward, looking into the engine, both sides, then on the ground underneath, all while the prop is spinning.  I spend the whole time with my hand on the mag switch in case he slips, but if he does, it won't matter how fast I turn it off, most likely.   My fitbit showed a spike in heart rate around then.  Part of it was the thrill of firing up the T-6. Part of it was the fear of Jon falling into a spinning prop and splattering me with parts.  And part of it was the spins that Spencer and I did afterwards in the Champ.  ;)

The T-6 started pretty well.  It took it about 55 seconds to run smoothly, no backfire, I ran it on the primer for a bit, and then it was off and running to the races.  A run-up, everything looked good, and the guys didn't see any obvious or bad oil leaks.  So all in all, a successful run!

Next up I pulled out the Champ. Isabel was going to go with me, but she had to do a ground lesson. So Spencer went instead. He did three takeoffs and landings from the back seat, and then we went up and did two spins to the right, followed by me doing a landing.  It was over 60 degrees, and a beautiful day to go fly. I just wish the T-6 had the panels on it.  ;)

We didn't watch the President's speech, like we usually don't, because anything relatively important, or interesting, or any good or bad points, they'll all be repeated ad nauseum anyway. So instead we started catching up on "The Resident", something we're like 7 episodes behind because we sort of stopped watching.  But it's better than watching political crap.

The view from the top of the T-6

Champ flying

Me, Jon and Spencer 

The two spikes, moving the TV, running up the T-6/Spins.  lol