Two Pilots & an LSW: BOB in Indy

It was a hot muggy one, and I spent the day sweating, and the evening fending off the headache from that. I drank like 6 or 7 bottles of water and electrolytes and two Diet Mt Dews and I still never had to go to the bathroom, was still dehydrated. Unreal! But it was a good day.

Steve and I had a lot of work this morning. We had to pull out the Aerostar and put it back over in the maintenance hangar, pull out the T-6, I had to put the oil in on BOB and get everything ready on preflight, pull out BOB, push away the T-6, close everything up, and get in, and all that took a good 40 minutes.

Flew down to Indy International. They were having everyone land on Runway 23L, which is on the opposite side of the field where we needed to park, with a Ton of taxiways in between. That's a lot of taxiing and instructions. So when I contacted approach, I let them know I wanted Runway 14, which was 1) actually into the wind and 2) right by where we were parking. They had time to process my request, maneuver me around, and set me up for landing on 14, and it was perfect. The BT and the PT both came in too, and they ended up landing on 23L with a quartering tailwind and a huge taxi. I gloated at them for not thinking about just asking for the other runway.

The event was large. Fed Ex had a family appreciation day, basically, where they invited many of their workers and their families out for free food, bouncy houses, live music, and they had a 757, 767, 777, and two Fed Ex turboprops out there that they were letting everyone walk through, climb in, etc. Then we brought our C-45, BT-13 and PT-26, and let them climb up in those, too. Fed Ex had sponsored 36 veterans' for free rides in the airplanes, and we had a poster board that had photos of them, and said "thank you" to Fed Ex for that. So we were there to thank them for the generosity and display the warbirds, talk to the community, etc. It went very well.

It was hotter than hell. Muggy. I was sweating like crazy, everyone was. I had the flight suit as required on the way in, but on the way out everyone else was gone so I skipped it. I was sweating so much it was running into my contacts on the way in, and I couldn't see out of my right eye. I couldn't see the marshaller trying to guide me into place until I got close. Fortunately I can land with one eye. ;)

The kids were well behaved for the most part, just a few who grabbed at things they shouldn't, but the parents all seemed to do a good job parenting out there, which is surprising for the public. Everyone had a lot of fun. We were there from 10:30 am until about 5 pm, which made for a long, hot day, but a good one. They had over 1000 people at this event, and most of them came through the plane at one point or another. I'm pretty good at the spiel by now. I impressed Steve, at least. ;)

On the way home, we were dodging showers and cells, but made it. I called the gas truck, and more work ensued. We pulled out the T-6, pushed away BOB, I hooked all the oil canisters back up and put in all the plugs, topped off the T-6, pushed it away, pulled out the 340, topped IT off for Monday's flight, pushed it back away, and by the end of all that it was 6:30 pm, and we were soaked again.

Nathan was there, so he, Steve, Chuck and I went to Pastarrific for dinner, had like 4 glasses of unsweet tea, and dinner, before coming home where I washed my face and promptly changed all my clothes. I got too much sun again, but I Was wearing sunscreen, even put some on my scalp. That needs washed out. lol

Got home, and Kaylee came over for awhile. She did a 5K walk today! She did it for/with a friend whose father shot her mother in the face and killed her, and then shot himself. The friend did the walk to donate towards domestic violence assistance. Kaylee was proud that even with her POTS on a hot muggy day she was able to do the 5K and at a pretty good rate. She loaded up on sodium, and water, and said she felt a lot stronger. She's supposed to take a ton of sodium, but she hates salt, hates eating it, and the pills are huge so she hates taking them, and she tried cutting them in half but then they scratch her throat which makes her gag, and she tried smaller versions and they didn't have a coating so they tasted like salt, which made her gag, so she doesn't take it like she should. But she could tell today that taking it made a big difference, and she needs to take it!

While she was here, I got a text from a former T-6 student, Matt, who let me know he had just witnessed a T-6 crash at a fly-in he and his wife were at. It was someone he knew, someone I'd been to a formation clinic with, a guy named Mike and his wife, both in the plane. They got slow on base, and stalled/snapped it into the ground. Matt was thanking me for the training I'd given him in the T-6, regarding the handling characteristics, the recovery, having respect for the airplane. Awful that he had to see that, and sad that a husband and wife are both gone because of getting slow in a T-6. I know he knew better, because if there's one thing they preach in T-6 training, it's that. You don't have room to recover one of these if you stall it in the pattern. And yet it keeps happening... :( It was sweet of Matt to thank me for the 'good training' though. I certainly appreciate the nod. And I certainly respect the airplane. Almost too much sometimes I think.

Well, I'm wiped out, just completely exhausted. If I don't wake up with a headache at 4 am it'll be a miracle. No bets. So I'm going to kick out Kaylee and get to bed. Tomorrow I take the T-6 down to Columbus. Respectfully.