Ohio

I didn't know as of 9 am whether I was flying locally with students and taking the 340 up to practice, or I was going to Frankfort, Logansport, Ohio, Logansport, Frankfort.  Word came down, I was doing the second one.  So I drove to Frankfort, we flew to L, then took Nick and his son Charlie over to Ohio for a job look, topped off, ate lunch, flew Nick back to Logansport, flew ourselves back to Frankfort, then I drove back home in time to get meds from CVS, grab some travel sized contact solution for the airline, feed Ann, feed the cat (she isn't eating well even on steroids right now but she did go outside to play and eat grass), and do a little studying for tomorrow.

Roadie ran outside and stood in the sun and ate grass and just really liked being out there for about 15 minutes.  That was nice to see. I sent Kaylee a picture and she "hearted" it too.

Tomorrow is my 340 recurrent training, so I pulled up the airport we're going into. It's in the mountains, at Elizabethtown, TN. There's one non-precision approach into it from one direction only.  So we'll be going to a nearby tower controlled field to do some too. I'll be flying a plane whose avionics I don't know well into airports I don't know with approaches I don't know after not flying 340s hardly at all in quite a while with somebody judging/critiquing me.  I hate that.  Yeah, yeah, it'll be fine. It's always fine. But I still hate it.  So I'm preparing as best I can at least on the approaches and such.  But in the meantime, I have to get up at 5 am to drive an hour to Frankfort to be wheels up by 7 am to be down there by 8:30 am.  At least we'll be done by 5 pm, as he said he had to get his mom to a doctor appointment at 5.  I wonder what doctor is open at 5 pm, but...I don't care, if we can just be done.

E was also coughing really bad today, head congestion, didn't feel great.  I almost jumped out of the plane, 'cause I can NOT get sick right now. It would show up in a week...when I head down to Florida to do the tour. I don't have a day off for two weeks down there.  I can not be sick.  So I didn't touch my face or nose, washed my hands a lot, and am hoping for the best...I'll be with him all day tomorrow too.  I can't ditch this.  So...wish me healthy luck. 

It was gray, overcast and nasty all morning here, so this was a nice sight.

Still Goin'

I've created a TTD list that I email to myself, then when I accomplish stuff off it, I delete stuff and add stuff, etc.  My list is down to fairly short at this point.  I have my usual suitcase and a large backpack I'm going to take. I may not bring my whole purse, I don't know. Or I'll stuff it into the backpack. Haven't decided yet.  My new shoes got here today.  I'll be returning one pair, and I love the other pair.  They should be Perfect for flying BOB and walking around in cooler temps. My thin soled black breathable shoes are perfect for everything else flying in the summer, the Champ, the T6, etc. And these should be perfect for BOB and more Fall/Winter wear.  I like 'em.

I met with Morgan this afternoon to sign her off for her checkride. Did the endorsements, checked her logbook, and sent her the info to do her IACRA (online FAA form you have to do for an application now).  We should be good to go for her Sunday checkride.  Then she is coming down to Florida to volunteer and help for like 5 days at the end of March.  It'll be great, and I think we'll have fun, too.  :)

I was hoping to do a few things tomorrow, but now E wants me to go on a trip with him. That'll run me out of time before the 340 recurrent training to be able to go up and practice anything, but what else is new...I always end up going into this stuff cold and stressed.

Nothing else going on. Just me completing a lot of things on a to do list to get ready for being gone.  That also included Ann's meds, some of them had zero refills left and were going to run out in two weeks when I was gone, so that took a phone call to the doc office and the pharmacy both. That kind of stuff. 

So, I guess, time to get back to it.  No pics from today.

Let's See...

Day Two, no appearance of beets.  You're welcome.  ;)

Yesterday I went flying with Morgan, doing one of our  last checkride prep flights. We did autopilot work, and four approaches, which is a lot, all getting ready for the big day.  She did great.  Then Steve and I met up with Greg and his wife Maury for dinner at Pastarrific, where we watched the Purdue/IU basketball game. Purdue was Ranked #1 all year, and now has dropped to #5. IU was ranked #17.  They were playing IN Lafayette. Purdue should have creamed them, wiped the floor with them.  Instead, IU actually won. We're sitting in the bar area groaning at all the bricks that Purdue guys were dropping and bouncing off the rim.  They couldn't hit a basket to save their lives. Not that I care in general, but now that I'm flying the coach around, and hear him talking about the players and strategies and stuff, I find it a little more personal and interesting.

At Pastarrific, they have this drink called a "Smokey Old Fashioned".  It's the best Old Fashioned any of us have ever had, and they present it to you with a glass covering the glass of alcohol, and when you pull the glass off, woodsmoke comes out.  They burn woodchips and put the smoke in there.  It smells like you're at an awesome campfire, and the taste is super smooth.  Best one ever.  So I took photos of the ingredients and we're going to recreate it for our deck and maybe for Oshkosh.  Good stuff, man.

Today Steve and I met Glenn O. for lunch, as he was coming down to pick up his airplane that has been stored here for almost 3 weeks while he was on tour with BOB.  We ate at Missy's Family Restaurant, in downtown Kokomo, with a huge breakfast and lunch menu, open till 3.  Good stuff.  I didn't even know it was there, but Steve mentioned it. I'm glad we gave it a shot, it was worthwhile.

Then Kaylee texted tonight and asked if we wanted to go to dinner tonight. I wasn't planning on it, as we'd eaten out several times in a row, but we haven't seen her all week, so what the heck.  We went to Olive Garden and hung out for a couple hours and I brought home leftovers for both us and Ann.  Kaylee talked about how much patience I had, and said she never remembers me ever yelling at her in anger.  She remembers me suddenly shouting or yelling a word or a noise to try to break her out of a whining loop she was in, but it was a deliberate action to shock or surprise and not an out of control shouting or yelling at her.  She just said I have a lot of self-control and patience, and I thought...whew. We don't probably get a lot of brownie points as parents, so I'll take those.

I have thought for a long time that tomorrow I'm going to TN to do my 340 recurrency. I was checking the weather tonight and wondering why I hadn't heard from E, because the weather looks terrible tomorrow, and I pulled up my schedule and low and behold, March 1st is the day, and the day is not tomorrow like I thought.  Whoops.  I'm glad though, I wasn't ready or in the mood.  So even though it'll be rainy and windy and nasty tomorrow, I may try to go find some khaki pants or shorts or something I can wear in 'uniform'.  I've never conformed before to the dress code, I usually wear my checkertail shirts and jeans.  But maaaaybe I'll give it a try. If I can find anything.  Bleh.  (Supposed to be CAF blue shirts, khaki pants, black or brown shoes.  I have the shoes. ;))

"Prince Harry" is on another tv show tonight. I thought it was really funny that South Park did a spoof on him and Meghan and basically accused them of what I've said for ever.  "I want my privacy!! So let me write a book, and do a documentary, and go on a bunch of tv programs, and complain about how I don't have my privacy and how bad the royal family are and treat me.  And let me trash the institution and my entire family, and you all buy it up over and over again so I can have fancy homes and cars and status and be rich off you giving such a shit about my life. But then give me privacy!!"  Meanwhile, I have also seen articles that say they're not as high up in Hollywood as they thought they would be.  Good.  I hope they fade into middle class and have to live with it like the rest of us.  Sad sacks. I'm half glad his Grandma didn't have to keep watching this happening.

I cleaned my jewelry, and Steve's. Looks good.  I took care of the nose wax thing.  Also looks good.  That's amazing by the way.  Tomorrow I'm going to try to get as ready for the APHT as I can. I'll be gone March 1st to TN, I leave the 5th for Florida. So my time is short to get my stuff together for being gone for two weeks.  I just wish I didn't have to airline it, because now I have to minimize my bags, and that's a long time to fit into one small bag. Plus my headset, and flight suit, and shoes, etc...  More things to think about as I'm packing...

Randomness

Yesterday I got my hairs did, as some people say.  I didn't want to have to do much with it down in Florida. It's going to be hot. So hot and sweaty and sticky and flat head don't go well.   I think I got that fixed, at least.  I have shoes coming tomorrow.  I do need khaki shorts or pants, but I've made it this far without them.  I hate khaki pants. I've never looked good in those, or I've never found a pair I looked good in, anyway.

The alarm went off at 5:30 this morning, for me to move a T-6. So I was out at Kokomo by 6:45 and heading to Ft. Wayne in the Citabria before the sun was even up. It was a pretty morning, but it was cold. Yesterday we were at almost 70°, and today it was like 25°. Nasty.  

I got to Ft. Wayne, and picked up the T-6 there, and flew it to Marion. I also dropped my cellphone into the belly, which was great.  :p  Spencer met me at  Marion in the 172RG.  He got back from Florida late last night.  On the way back to FWA for me to pick up the Citabria, he said "Why didn't I just fly you to FWA myself?" I said "Because I had to leave at 7 am instead of you leaving close to 8 am, and I was trying to be nice and not make it so early since you just got back so late."  He said "I appreciate that, actually.  Thanks!"  lol  He left 85-90° and a sunburn down there, back to wind chills and below freezing temps, here.  Boo.  ;)

So by 9 am I had flown a Citabria from Kokomo to Ft. Wayne, a T-6 from Ft. Wayne to Marion, a 172RG from Marion to Ft. Wayne, and a Citabria back from Ft. Wayne to Kokomo.  Productive enough, eh? 

I've been doing more walking, so I got some of that in this afternoon too.  I'm not pushing it hard or for long, mostly like 20 minutes or so, but just to get something in, because something is better than nothing.

I've also been watching this series from a place called "Square One". It kind of fell into my lap, but it's from a thing that was originally called "Chris Beat Cancer".  About a guy who had Stage IIIc prostate cancer with a 'grim' prognosis, his journey, nutrition info, etc.  He's been cancer free for quite a few years now, and he didn't do the traditional treatments.  There are a whole good-sized group of people who have had their cancers go into "Spontaneous Remission" after following a very old style nutrition plan kind of thing.  Okay, first, no, I don't have cancer. Anyway, he releases one "module" each night. The first one I found pretty interesting because it talked about where cancer comes from (your own body, of course). Your immune system that is designed to destroy the 'mutant' cells, and various things that weaken that and that strengthen that.  If your body creates it, your body can heal it, is his thing.  Different cultures and the way they eat, that have a fraction of our cancer rates here in the West, how most of our diseases are "diseases of affluence" and "Western diseases", and people from other cultures who adopt our diets end up with our diseases.  At the end of every 'module' is a testimony from someone who has had their cancer disappear after following this.  Now having said that, I'm not going to do that.  Basically it involves avoiding everything except fruits and vegetables.  No meat, red white or seafood, no dairy, no animal products, no fast or restaurant food, no processed food, no white sugar, no white flour.  Dairy and meat are now inundated with hormones and chemicals.  We all know white sugar and flour is bad and why.  Etc.  He also talked about how our water filters don't get rid of cancer causing things, and the shampoos and soaps and cleaners we use, and makeup and face creams and perfumes, that everything you put into or onto your body is either helping you or hurting you. The immune system is strong enough to counteract much of what you do, but if it gets suppressed or overwhelmed, then it's like Lucy and Ethel at the chocolate factory with the 'bad' cells.   Some of the stories of people who did it were pretty amazing.  One lady who had a cancerous mole removed from her arm, but it had spread, and they didn't get all the mole, either.  She refused chemo and radiation and did this diet full on, and watched her mole flatten, turn a different color, then disappear.  Their doctors always tell them they are stupid and going to die.  There are a lot of pretty cool testimonials.   But a part that is interesting that you CAN adopt, is...he went through and listed the cancer fighting properties and immune boosting properties of various things.  People will "juice" some of this stuff and drink it throughout the day.  One woman with breast cancer who didn't do chemo or radiation, she increased her exercise but continued her normal diet, with the exception of juicing at least 40 oz. of stuff a day. She's another testimonial of someone whose cancer disappeared.  So I found it interesting, not for me to beat a cancer I don't have, but if drinking some juiced vegetables every day really has that many healthy properties, immune boosting properties, I could probably do THAT.  I'm not giving up every bit of food I normally eat.  I'm not throwing away my deodorant, because it works and that's good in small spaces, and I'm going to keep perming my hair because I like how it looks. I'm not giving up going out to eat with friends and family and enjoying things.  But juice?  I can drink juice. 

High fiber in fruits and vegetables, starchy and all, helps people's digestion system move more rapidly. So he said in the countries with the lowest cancer rates and the diets like this, people would move food from mouth to exit in about 30 hours.  In America, many times it took as long as 3 days/72 hours to move through.  That even if you're regular, that doesn't mean it's moving through fast, just regularly, and if it sits in your gut, it creates a ton of unhealthy bacteria and starts absorbing poo back into your system, which can make you even sicker.  So he said to try the Beets test.  Eat beets.  See how long it takes for your poop to turn red.  That could be terrifying if you didn't know.  :D   So I did that tonight. I ate beets at 4:30 pm.  Let the countdown begin.  :D  I actually like beets...

So that's been my rabbit trail the last few days.  A new module comes out at 9 pm tonight, and it's more on the diet part of it.  I mostly take notes on things like "broccoli sprouts are many times more potent than mature broccoli and one of the super foods" and I got two 'recipes' on the recommended juicing ingredients. One I will not do, too complicated. One I will probably try.  I'm quite sure my immune system could use a boost.  The unfortunate thing is that carrots is at the top of the list and I hate carrots. But maybe drinking them is better.  ;)  I think the next one talks about stress and how that leads to dampening your immune system.  Anyway.  We'll see.

I fixed a pot roast for dinner tonight, which was pretty good, actually.  Nice cold winter meal with potatoes and stuff.

Today's sunrise photos.

Hold short line Runway 23

The last photo I took before I dropped my phone to the bottom of the T-6. ;)

Hurricane

What a yucky day! Heavy rains, winds, IFR, blowing rain so hard sideways that you'd get soaked no matter what if you went outside.  

The house got cleaned, the cat is picky about what she's eating again. Kaylee got certified in "MindSet", which she says "That means I can restrain you."  I said "Congrats! But that is not what that means, trust me."  She laughed.  She said that she asked one of the supervisors to actually restrain her because she was going to fight to get out of it. She said she was about to win and break loose when the supervisor yelled "I'm gonna need some help" and then tapped out because she didn't want to have to get two people to take Kaylee to the ground.  So Kaylee did great, of course.  ;) I said "Good for you! Some day you will be able to take me out, but that day isn't today. :p"  

Steve and I had a meeting with a new prospective CFI that may come work with us.  She's not a fast time-builder, is a very bright and intelligent young woman with a Masters.  She has already instructed about 300 hours' worth, and has a flexible schedule. So she may help us out and would be a good addition, as a non-speedy-career person looking to rack up fast time then leave right when all the students get used to you.  She's looking at working with us, or at Frankfort, so we'll see what she decides. We could use the help, but we're not desperate yet.  But if she comes with us, I think it'll be good. 

I tried ordering some shoes online to wear with my flight suit in BOB.  I wear my tennis shoes in the T-6, as they are light and flexible and I can feel my feet well. But BOB's rudders and brakes are really hard to do and the lightweight shoes kill my feet after a short time. So I need thicker shoes for the Twin Beech, save my feet while I'm doing multiple rides a day every day for weeks.  Do you know how hard it is to find good shoes even online?  Merrell had one shoe I liked. Vasque had like 5 women's shoes and they were all weird.  Columbia, a handful of choices and no good ones. Steve said to go to Amazon and look up Obiz shoes. There were more of those but there was one.  So I bought the one Merrell and the one Obiz, and I'll send back whichever one I don't like the best.  They should all arrive within the next few days, before I leave March 5th for Florida...

Tomorrow I get my hair permed and my eyebrows waxed because looking as good as you can makes you a better pilot, right?  ;)

More Wind

It was nice out, just windy and bumpy. I took the Citabria over to Marion and delivered some logbooks and a box of T-6 parts to Eric over there. It was so bumpy that my watch told me I had been exercising for 20 minutes and I'd just been sitting there.  That's my kind of exercise.  lol It was also windy enough that I learned that these big fat tires change something, and I had a hard time keeping directional control on the ground on the gusty crosswind landing.  I had full rudder in and it wouldn't turn, and I had full aileron and rudder in and didn't hold the centerline on landing.  I had to use brakes to taxi off the runway.  So winds around 20 knots aren't a problem in a Cub or a Champ or Chuck's Citabria, but in THIS one, it got tricky.  It has to be the tires, right?  What else?

Tomorrow's rainy and stormy and windy, up to 50 mph wind gusts.

Looks prettier than it was. It was gusty!

Weather Goodness

I have nothing for you today but flying stuff, as I did it from the time I woke up until dark.

First up was Isabel in the RG doing VOR approaches.  Landed, ran to McDonald's and got a small cheeseburger, went back and pulled out the Aerostar and flew it to Ft. Wayne.  Met up with Bob and flew in his T-6. We came back to Kokomo and I had him practice taxiing and doing the takeoff. He's not a pilot. He needed a little help, but he gained some respect for it, especially with the tailwheel unlocked. Ha.  He flew us back to Ft. Wayne and flew over his friends and parents' house again, then I landed, hopped back in the Aerostar and flew back to Kokomo, in time to go up in the RG with Morgan and do checkride prep, which was three instrument approaches and a hold.  We did the harder ones, the Localizer 4, the VOR 15, the Localizer 23 circle to land 32, the missed approach with the hold, etc.  I tripped her up a bit, but that's sort of my job, and she did well on everything except one approach. But I'm guessing I nor an examiner will be able to trip her up on that ever again.  ;)   Landed at sunset, and ran home around 7:30, in time to eat a small late dinner and try to catch up with everything else I'm behind on.  It was a good day on my end.

So I ordered this at Pastarrific for Ann.  She loves the sweet potato casserole.  I wonder if the server smiled when she labeled it like this, or if it never crossed her mind.  Some sweet pot, man.

Me & Bob in his T-6

I tried to sneak a picture of the cop car and kept having it turned the wrong way, so here's a picture of me sitting in the front seat of a cop car getting a ride back to the FBO, with all the lights on and everything, and a shotgun over my head, and I couldn't sneak a good photo.

Beautiful sunset tonight.

Inbound for landing Runway 32

Photos

Kaylee was here today, and just left to head back to school. If I didn't say so, she has a cold and doesn't feel great, but we had a nice time while she was here.

Spencer took several neat shots of the Twin Beech and the T-6 on the ramp tonight in Tallahassee.  Gorgeous sunset, water on the ground to get neat reflections off of.  I feel pretty lucky to be able to fly both of these airplanes. It's pretty cool, you know?

BOB flew 5 rides yesterday, and 6 today, which it really needed. They head to Tampa tomorrow for the next round. 

Note

Quiet day. I updated all the avionics in the 340 and the RG.  No flying.  Kaylee came home and we went out to our Valentine's Day dinner late, and had a really nice time.  We split a chocolate crème brulet for dessert and it was deeelicious.  Steve and I split some mussels in a garlic wine sauce that we like.  Nice evening, with laughing and hanging out with our favorite people involved.

Glenn has gotten my airline ticket to go to Florida for the APHT, my round of it.  Today is the first day BOB has been busy, and they gave 5 rides.  Prior to today, they only gave ONE ride the whole time they were down there thus far, which was starting to be pretty concerning considering how much money went out to make this happen.  So today was a bit of a relief to see that it could be busy, too.  

Mom & Ernie are recovering from their round of the sickies, fortunately out and about again today.  Kaylee came home with a cold, probably the same one I had this week.   The cat is still hanging on and being picky about her food and making me steroid her about every other day.  Ann is doing all right with her caregiver, Stormy, and they seem to get along pretty well, which is good. That gives her 3 hours a day for 2 to 3 days of the week.

Tomorrow's got nothing on the schedule and it's too windy for me to go fly something fun, so you probably won't hear from me till Monday...

Ladies' Day

I am in such a good mood today.  

I got a jewelry cleaning device. The cleaners I have tried have just not worked well. A spray isn't cutting it, and the cream I had is great, but not for my wedding ring, as the cream just gets stuck in all the little stone prongs, and there are a lot of them.  So I got an ultrasound cleaning machine, and I popped my rings in there, and they came out so much better than before. The best part of all, though, was that it was a $50 machine and I got it for $22.  So that pleases me.

We sent off an email to one of the companies I fly for, and let them know we needed to raise my rates.  Haven't heard back on that yet, but I did get a text from them asking today if I'd be available on Tuesday for a trip to NC.  I said yes, and then rearranged my hair appointment I had for Tuesday morning.  Then tonight they got back to me and said they don't need to go after all but thanks.  I'm not going to rearrange my appointment back, so nothing better come up on my new day.  I want to get my hair cut before I go on tour in Florida for two weeks and it gets all scraggly.  :)

I got a private message from a pilot who said "The company I work for, FlexJet, is asking u to send in photos showcasing women in aviation this month. Would you mind if I lifted a couple photos off your FB page and sent the in, since you're one of the most accomplished aviators I know (female or otherwise)?"  That made me feel good, and I said of course. I like to help support women in aviation but the bottom line is, you can be special or you can be the same, and like I say, I want to be a good pilot, not just a good female pilot.  So hearing somebody say that, makes me feel good.

And speaking of female pilots, I flew from 9:30 am to 6 pm with a lunch break, and it all happened to be with three college girls working on their instrument rating.  The first one has been through airplane familiarity and is now into button pushing and VOR/GPS tracking.  The second is brand new and is still getting used to just flying and landing the new complex plane.  The third is in checkride prep, with her checkride originally scheduled for 6 days from now but was pushed to March 5th (bummer).  So each is in a different phase, but everybody really did a great job today, and it was a fun day.  Love it when they nail stuff.  That'll put a smile on your face, when three students in a row come back and kill it after not being able to fly for 2-4 weeks.  :)

I've lost about 5 pounds slowly but surely, so that also puts me in a good mood. I don't expect to be slim and trim any more, but I hate the feeling of that excess weight.  Another 10 pounds and I'd probably feel pretty good.  So I've been working on that a bit more lately while trying not to get discouraged at the slowness.  But today, it's 5 pounds less than it was, so that's good.

Steve and I have been forced into looking for a car, for awhile now.  My Buick has a constant Check Engine light on that they can't seem to keep off, occasionally it won't start for 5 minutes for no good reason, and other electrical dash issues, and is really expensive to fix when something on it breaks.  Kaylee toasted the Ford Explorer that was PLPD only so we didn't get any money from the wreck, and is now driving our old beige Jeep where the back window randomly rolls down by itself.  Steve's going to keep his Jeep but it is a 1985 and getting some rust on the body much to his dismay and has a crap ton of miles on it.  We are down on reliable vehicles.  So we're going to do something different and lease one, for me, first.  It's a Laura Car.  It's a cool (to me) color called "Octane Red", with a 3.6L V6 engine, leather, all wheel drive, 0 miles, warranty, and it's kind of a studly car.  We've been looking a long time, and most of the time I'm like "Yep, it's a car. Yep, it's another car."  This time, we saw this online and it just had my name on it.  So today we put a $500 deposit down on it so nobody else can take it. When it gets here in a few weeks, we have the option to look it over and see if we want it or not. If not, we get our money back, no harm no foul. We are probably going to lease it, and they have a new program now where you can lease for 3 years and then decide if you want to buy it or not. If you buy it, all the payments you made towards the lease go towards the purchase. If you don't want to, you turn it in and get another car.  I kinda think I might want to keep this one, but we'll see. We always have the option to change our mind at any time, so that's nice.  For now we'll see it when it gets here and decide if we want/like it for sure or not.  I told Steve, part of me was a little worried that it was a silly car for a 50 year old woman, but then I decided I didn't care, I like it.  So there.  ;)

And that's the end of my good day.  The guys are on the deck, I'm organizing my schedule and catching up my logbook and getting ready for tomorrow's adventures, which is a T-6 flight in some decent strong winds.  Giddy-up!

I am SO going to start getting speeding tickets again...

No.

Kelly Clarkson on her show just casually stated that when she was a kid going to school in Ft. Worth, TX, it was a poor area, and they didn't have a big playground, so the way they had fun at recess was going out to their yard, where there were a bunch of big holes all over the ground, and TARANTULAS would come out of these holes and they would PLAY WITH TARANTUALS during their recess breaks.  A BUNCH OF THEM.  ALL OVER THE PLACE.

I have curled up in a ball on my couch and will let you know if I ever recover.

Bumpity

The winds today were up to 37 knots for awhile today. When I took off, they were down to about 30, so it was still gusty, bumpy and rough, and unfortunately a direct crosswind for where I was going. My passengers weren’t super thrilled with the winds and turbulence, but really wanted to go to Ohio to watch their daughter play in a college basketball game, so as parents do, they were willing to deal with their own fears and troubles so they could make it there.  There wasn’t supposed to be any smooth altitude, but I found one anyway at 11,000’, and just stopped there and flew over low but calmly.  Coming in to land, like I said, direct gusty crosswind of about 30 knots, coming in over some trees.  We were rocking and rolling.  I touched down gently (accidentally I’m sure) and taxied off, and one passenger asked me if I thought that was fun or if it bothered me.  I had to admit I knew it wasn’t fun for them but I enjoyed a challenge. When we got inside, there were four guys lined up at the window watching. They said I was only the second plane they’d seen all day, and that the first guy in a Cirrus bounced down the runway several times before going around and getting out of there.  I texted Dustin that, and he said “They wonder if either you’re good, or you’re stupid/crazy”.  lol.

I’m still here in Ohio waiting on them to get back from the game. Everyone has left and I’m here alone, tasked with locking up when I leave. Still gotta love general aviation and the old school trust. They could make me sit in my plane like the big city places would if they closed. But nope…

Nothing much happening today otherwise. BOB has moved to its second stop on the Tour down in Florida. I think Spencer is having fun. Glenn looks tired but hopefully is enjoying himself as well. I’m getting eager and nervous about going, myself.  I’ll be pretty much on my own, while the other pilots have helpers with the props pulling and fueling and oil and loading pax and briefing and such.  But if I am on my own…I’m going to go like gangbusters and work my butt off and impress them. It’s for two weeks, I can do anything for two weeks.  :)

Sunset on the ramp.

Super dark night.

V-Day

I made cookies tonight, cut them into the shape of a heart, frosted them with red and white, and that was my Valentine's Day effort.  I sent a picture to Kaylee and told her I was leaving some for her.  :)  

Steve and I met Ty, Mary and her son for lunch, along with Chuck and Jim S. I did normal bad weather day stuff; paid bills, housework, email stuff.  It was a quiet day around here, nothing different.  Windy as heck.  And I still have a cold.  I went ahead and took a Covid test since I'll be flying some people tomorrow and want to be able to tell them it's not that at least when I see them tomorrow.   Kaylee says she has a cold too. Boo.  Hiss.

Tomorrow I've got winds up to 37 knots, a student I'm sure I'll cancel, and a late trip to Ohio, won't be home until probably midnight.  

Steve is going to take me and Kaylee out for Valentine's Day on Saturday. She couldn't go out tonight, and besides, the restaurants are always packed out on the day of. So why not wait for a better day and celebrate later. ;)

BOB the Twin Beech has already had its first adventure of the Spring Tour! Pilots Glenn Olsen and Spencer Jordan stopped at a little airport just north of their first destination, and unknowingly landed at BOB's former home base of 20 years!  Someone came across the radio and asked what they were doing there, and after it was explained they were on the Air Power History Tour, this gent told the pilots they had 80 hours in BOB from back in the day when it was based there.  Their Wing Commander came down today and let us know that they have had a camera sight from BOB that they've held onto for over 20 years.  One of our Indiana volunteers, Tim Porter, drove up and picked it up for us, and in their hangar spotted lots of pictures of BOB from back during the time frame it lived there in Mississippi. What a small world, and how neat to see the living history touring across the country again!

And here are photos of the Conquest that I'll most likely be flying.  :)

Trip Day

I've been sneezing like crazy, runny eyes, runny nose. I woke up at 6:30 this morning and felt pretty draggy and drippy, and I've been tired all day, but part of that is the early morning.  I drove to Frankfort, and get in the 340 with Ethan and Nick, and we headed to Evansville for the morning.  They don't have any chairs there with head rests, they're all sit upright seats. So uncomfortable!  I mean, they're comfortable for a little while, but not for hours.  When we left it was almost 1 pm our time, and we hadn't had breakfast or lunch, so when we landed in NE Ohio 1.5 hours later, I was ready for lunch. Except their courtesy car was gone and might not be back for "hours" because against their own usual rules, they let someone take it to go to a funeral instead of having them rent a car, so there wasn't one available. So I went on Uber Eats, and ordered 5 Guys burgers. Two burgers, no fries, no drinks. Just two cheeseburgers, and it cost $43 in total.  Luckily I didn't have to pay for it, but still, that's just stupid expensive. Their cheeseburgers were $15 each!  They're not THAT good!  But we were starving to death, and the delivery was supposed to take an hour. I finally ate lunch around 4 pm as I was getting downright irritable and barely hanging on to myself.  

We left Ohio at 6 pm, right as the sun was going down, and had a lovely sunset to watch most of the way home.  Beautiful night.  When we landed in Frankfort, I stopped at The Milky Way, an ice cream/sandwich shop, and had a soft taco, some fried mushrooms, and a malt, and it was so worthwhile.  I was starved again by then.  

My schedule is booking up already. In February in Indiana. It's wild. Just in the last two hours I ended up filling two days. I have an MBros flight on Wednesday, bad weather Thursday, students all day Friday, Saturday is the Ft. Wayne T-6 in the morning and students until dark.  Ethan's offer on a Conquest II has been accepted and the process is close there. By April he wants it up and flying and us all trained on it, and then I'll have a fairly full time flying job with him and his brother's companies in it.  I won't be taking any more new students, to be fair to them and me both on scheduling. 

Good day. Tomorrow was supposed to be students but our plane still isn't up and running.  Maybe I'll take the up in something else if the weather is good.  Here are subsequent sunset photos from tonight.

Kokomo at Sunset

Frankfort, inbound for landing

Super Sunday

It's the Big Game, but it's kind of nice that the big game doesn't start until evening. In some ways it's nice, anyway, because you can spend your day doing the things you want, first. Like church people. Did the Superbowl used to start earlier or did people skip church for all the pre-game stuff?  Hmm. Anyway, I did not go to church, just the church of aviation, and I got paid well for it, AND I really enjoyed myself.

I took Sunshine the Citabria and flew it to Ft. Wayne. It's my first cross-country in it, and Jerry said when he topped it off the other day, all the fuel went in one tank. There is no left/right selector, it's just an "on" thing and if it's not gravity feeding properly from both tanks, that's a problem. If it runs out of fuel on the one tank, will it get any from the other, or will the engine quit? How blocked IS it?  So I decided, not being foolish, to top off in FWA too so I'd have enough to get home without having to worry about those tanks.  Sure enough, it took all the fuel in one side.  So we'll be calling the mechanic tomorrow on that one.

When I got to FWA, the T-6 was out, and I met Bob's parents who came out to see his plane and watch it start up.  We got gas (in my plane and his), we did a preflight walk-around together, fired up, and we flew for almost two hours.  He went by his friends' houses, he went past his family's houses, places of work, old places he used to own, by his condo on a lake, he just flew around and wandered all over the countryside and enjoyed himself.  So did I, and I got paid for the whole time I was gone, and paid for the gas I used too.  Can't beat that on a 50 degree day full of light wind and sunshine.  It was rejuvenating.  

Flying home, when I got back to Kokomo, I climbed on up to about 4500', and I did a spin in the Citabria to check it out.  It spins faster and more aggressively than the Champ, so that's good, for training purposes.  Then I did some aileron rolls.  The stick is stiff on the ailerons, and I'm not sure how the Phat Tars (big tundra tires) affect its handling, but I got the job done. It felt so slow after the T-6.  lol  The first roll I did was about perfect. The second I tried to tweak something and was looking inside and botched it a little more, so the third one I went back to the outside references where I'm supposed to.  ;)  I didn't want to take any more time today, and I hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was 3 pm, so...I landed and topped off the plane again and tucked it away nicely, and smiled all the way home. In fact, when I entered the spin, and I was pointed straight at the ground, going round and round, I caught myself grinning.  Something is definitely wrong with me, but that's okay, I'm not the only one.  ;)

Kaylee left around 4:30 to go back and watch the game with her roomies.  Steve and I are here at home with some snacks watching the game and doing some work at the same time.  It's even a good game, close, action on both sides, some good plays so far.  I'm enjoying the game!

Up North

The T-6 owner has a condo down there

Sunshine in Ft. Wayne

The green line is our squiggly ground track from today.