Two Pilots & an LSW: Pancakes, Michigan, and Loss

The day started off pretty fun. It was hot and pale and washed out, like the dog days of Summer in Indiana get, but there was also a breeze. Steve went with Chuck in the Citabria. That was a funny story. Chuck wants someone to go with him now because his feet don't work as great and he's worried about the rudders. The winds were a little strong too. Morgan was going to Pennsylvania today and couldn't do it. Chuck was giving Steve a hard time, so Steve said "Hey, I gave up a flight in the T-6 to ride with you, buddy!" Chuck says "Laura doesn't have anyone in the back seat?" Steve said no, and Chuck says "Well then I'll just go with her!" and Steve gets cut out of the whole thing. Lol It was funny, but Steve ended up going with Chuck in the Citabria and they left before I did.

I go out to the airport by myself. Pull out the 340, pull out the Cheyenne. Move the table and chairs that were in the middle out of the way. Hook up the T-6, unhook the oil sump, pull it out. It doesn't have fuel. Climb on up and fuel it up. Put away the 340, put away the Cheyenne, close the hangar door. By now I'm already rather sweaty. Fire up and fly down to Noblesville for their bi-annual Pancake Breakfast to support their EAA Chapter and programs. The grass was a little soggy, so once the plane was parked for awhile, it sank in and took a fair amount of power to get back out. Some airplanes were taking off with a tailwind, but with the conditions like that, I chose to back taxi and takeoff into the wind. Good thing, too, because I still ate up a fair amount of runway, and it's a pretty long runway.

As soon as I landed, a line formed of people looking at the plane, so I just stayed up on the wing and let people climb up and look at it, per usual. The line formed and wound around a long way! After awhile, Steve Tummers came up and offered to get up on the wing and let me go eat breakfast, and I took him up on it, and took some photos of him with the plane too. It was a nice event, good food, ran into so many aviation friends, which is always kind of fun.

Steve and Chuck left first, and then I headed out when the line of people at the plane were cut off so I could head out. Like I said, the runway was soft enough that I ate up a lot of room to just get off. It was impressive. I flew home with the window open and let my sweaty head cool off, and it was nice. Had a 14 knot 40 degree crosswind at home, which wasn't a ton, but it's the first actual crosswind I've had in the plane this season, so in almost a year. It went well, so I did another one, and it went well, so I taxied in satisfied. Pulled the 340 out, pulled the Cheyenne out, tugged the T-6 back in, tugged the 340 back in, topped off the Cheyenne for tomorrow's trip. By then Steve was there, and I left him to tug the Cheyenne back in and hook up the oil sump on the T-6 (because it hates me), and I left to go home and get ready for my trip to Michigan.

I'd looked up the information on the 340, the Meridian, and the Cheyenne, to go to Grand Rapids and pick up Amber, drop her off in Delphi, and go home. The 340 meant driving to Frankfort, and I counted the cost of the 100LL fuel at Frankfort and Grand Rapids along with how long it would take, and figured out the cost. I did the same with the Cheyenne out of Kokomo. I did the same with the Meridian out of Marion. All different airports and different legs/lengths, etc. Of course the Cheyenne was the most expensive. The 340 was the next most expensive because 100LL is more expensive than CAA Jet A fuel and it's slower so took longer. So I took the Meridian. I hand flew the whole way up, at FL210, because I don't fly that plane enough and I'm still catching up. It went pretty well. When I got there, the winds were gusting to 28 knots at a 60 degree crosswind. The Meridian lands weird, and it wasn't anything to brag about, but it was fine. Topped off, and the line guy in there was going to charge me a handling fee because we only took on 30 gallons and the minimum is 50 to waive their fee. I sweet talked him and he waived it anyway. Thank you. ;)

I took Amber to Delphi and dropped her off; the winds there were also gusty crosswind, also a 'fine' but not fabulous landing. Dropped her off, fired back up and took off for Marion. THAT landing was pleasing. One out of three was really nice, two out of three were "fine". lol

Kaylee is in Louisville still for the bachelorette party, and we've been taking care of Molly, who I think misses her human. I went over this morning to check on her, and Steve hung out with her for awhile this afternoon. We'll go back over again tonight before bed, and Kaylee will be home tomorrow afternoon/evening. I know Molly will be happy to see her.

I had a sad thing happen today though too. I was at home getting ready for my Michigan flight, changing clothes to non-sweaty ones, and I was getting ready to log out of the computer, and I saw a Facebook post that made me pause. It was by the wife of one of my FB friends, announcing that her husband was killed in a plane crash. I was a little stunned. Geoffrey Andrews was a Purdue grad who came to me to get his tailwheel endorsement. We had the Cub back then, and I taught him to hand prop, and we had a blast in the airplane. He was brilliant. Had a PhD and a few other degrees at a young age, and could explain the aerodynamics and physics of what we were doing way better than I could. He had a NASA scholarship and job. He had a promising career in aerospace. Even as smart as he was, he was willing to listen and learn. He was like a live-wire. Wild curly hair, a huge smile constantly, and a dandy. He'd wear a bow tie about every day. A fancy hat. He was always dressed like a European gentleman. He traveled around the world freely, with adventures abounding. I enjoyed flying with him, and we remained in touch afterwards. When he met his wife, Gentry, he brought her to our Christmas parties for awhile. He recently posted that he and his wife were expecting their first child, a daughter. They were an awfully cute couple. Well, he was with a guy in a Mooney, took off out of Massachusetts to go on a final camping trip before his daughter's birth, and had an engine failure. They said there was nowhere for him to go, and he came down hard. Plane broke in half, and he was killed. The passenger survives last I heard. I made the mistake of listening to the ATC audio, because it was a tower controlled field and somebody posted the link. That's the first time I've ever heard the voice of someone I know well in the 10 seconds before they die in a plane crash. He sounded scared but calm, called out engine issues, that they were going to head this way a bit then turn and try to make the runway. Got very close, but didn't make it. I saw the photos and heard the audio right before I was walking out the door to go fly the Meridian. I felt weird and sad awful. His wife was so graceful in her post, and she has three months to prepare to give birth to their daughter, who will never know her dad. Geoffrey was a person that lived life full bore, all in, full send. The world is not a better place without him in it, and I'm shocked and sad.

Now, back to photos from the day.