Staggerwing and Radial Reunion 2019

This weekend is the third annual Staggerwing and Radial Reunion.  It is more of a concept than an event but it has lots of food.  It is an event centered around the Beech Staggerwing and other planes that still use radial engines but they are fully inclusive.  That means my horizontally opposed engine was welcome too.

We missed the dinner last nigh but were off late morning to a fly out at Jekyll Island.  Longtime readers will remember this is the home of the cool red electric golf carts.  The organizers had arranged for Red Bug Pizza to open so the group could do a lunch.  Then we could fly back to home for a Dinner. See the common themes here, planes and food or possibly food and planes.  The pizza was quite good and the service was fast and friendly.  This is often hard with so many people arriving together but they pulled it off.

We arrived 15 minutes after the scheduled meet up time so we were 45 minutes early.    This was fun as we enjoyed the great late morning weather on Jekyll and took a walk.  By the time we returned the group was assembled.  The airport provided vans to take us to pizza and even brought us back.  As the afternoon wore on we watched the storms approaching from the West.   

The clear skies started to become overcast so we decided it was time to head home.  Tonight is a BBQ to close out the festivities.  Many of the pilots will continue South to Sun and Fun which is a big annual airshow.  For me, work is calling.  I have had a blast the last two weekend with the extra days off getting in some great flying but now back to reality.

Young Eagles

Sofar this has been a pretty good month for flying.  While I have not had time to take any long trips, CC and I have gotten around and I have put in some good training time.  The month started with the plane in annual inspection so it was a short flying month but I have made the most of it.

Friday and Saturday I headed to Suwanee Florida to give Young Eagle rides.  Young Eagles is a program through the EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) to introduce youth to aviation.  Pilots offer free airplane rides and there is age appropriate educational information provided as well.  For some it may just be a fun ride but for others it may be the start of a career or hobby.

When I saw the flyer for Wings Over Suwanee which was the Fly In, it rang a bell but I didn't remember why.  Today while walking around the festival part between flights I remembered.  In August 2007, Samantha, a friend and I had flown in for a EAA fly in and BBQ.  My friend had snapped the picture of the two of us taking pictures. 

We ended up having great weather for the program.  Warm but not hot and mostly clear skies.  Heading back Friday the clouds had formed at my preferred altitude but ATC hooked me up and let me air file.  I spent the 20 minutes of cruise popping in and out of the clouds.  Today I filed on the ground and we spent a total of 3 seconds in a cloud.

Friday morning before the festivities began there were two guys out flying powered parachutes.  Unfortunately they had chosen right by the Young Eagles area to launch and recover.  as they practiced they came a bit close for comfort for me but luckily they were done and gone before we started flying the kids.  I ended up adding 12 Young Eagles to my total.  This is also the start of the Radial Reunion weekend so we have more activities lined up for Sunday.

Selma to Montgomery

March 7, 1965 a group of people peacefully walked across a bridge and were met by clubs and gas. Their refusal to succumb to the the evil they met managed to profoundly change our country.  While that day the marchers were forced back, on March 21 they began again from Selma Alabama and reached Montgomery on March 25th.  This was a pivotal moment in the struggle for civil rights.

I have been wanting to visit Selma and The National Memorial for Peace and Justice but the weather had not been cooperating.  Yesterday when I noticed that we would have blue skies, I arranged a rental car and filed some flight plans.  Logistically we flipped the order a bit.  Arriving in Montgomery, we drove to the memorial first.  

The memorial is "dedicated to the legacy of enslaved black people, people terrorized by lynching, African Americans humiliated by racial segregation and Jim Crow, and people of color burdened with contemporary presumptions of guilt and police violence"

The memorial is quite powerful.  While it touches on many aspects of the African American experience, it focuses heavily on the acts of domestic terrorism against African Americans.

The states and counties where people were murdered (lynched) are represented by large metal boxes.  The people's names and the dates of the murders cut in the steel.

Interspersed among the memorials are several powerful sculptures that capture the horror of the atrocities experienced by these people.

The memorial garden continues cataloging the acts of violence with rows of memorials arranged by state and county (Parish).  I think it drives home the point that these activities were neither rare nor isolated to certain locations.

One particular sculpture captured the contribution of the men and women who literally walked for freedom.  It commemorated the bus strike that began in 1955 and lasted just over a year.  Those early footsteps paved the way for future progress.

After the memorial we drove to Selma to walk on the bridge.  I have seen it in countless pictures.  There is a sense of history standing there looking down the highway.  Today was a beautiful sunny day.   I can't imagine what it was like to crest the rise and see a mob of people with clubs, some mounted on horseback about to attack.

After soaking in the history we drove through Selma and stopped for a bite at the "Coffee Shoppe" in Selma.  CC had found it and little did we know we would get a bonus history lesson.  We arrived and ordered lunch.  Most of the tables had been reserved for a tour group of Harvard Alumnus so we ate at the side bar.

We were quietly eating when they arrived.  The Shoppe's owner, Jackie Smith,  came out and spoke for a bit.  She had grown up in Selma, been the first to graduate college in her family at 42 and after retiring from city government had opened the restaurant.  She was quite hopeful.  She noted that the place was originally a diner where African Americans could not enter.  They could only buy food through a back window.  Now she was the owner.

It has become locally famous and now people of note drop by for her food and a photo op or two.  Among the names mentioned were David Letterman and a few weeks ago, Elizabeth Warren.

The drive back was down the same highway where the marchers traveled 64 years ago.  There are markers showing the camping sites along the routes as the people journeyed 54 miles to demand that they be treated as human beings.

The National Park service has an Interpretive center just short of campsite 2.  We stopped by and watched an excellent movie about the march and looked at many artifacts from the period.  Then it was down the highway to return home.

The flight home was uneventful.  The plane was happy to wait for us at Montgomery airport.  We had taxied in past all 4 gates.  While I did see a flight arriving after we came, I never did see a plane at a gate.

Danger - Terrain Warning

After a long week of work I was ready for another adventure.  I had read about a fly in around central Florida at a small grass strip.  I called and got information and confirmed I was allowed to land at the private airport.

Osborn Field 02FA (No relation to Ozzy) is located about 17 miles West of Disney World.  It is a grass strip, not quite as flat as the last one I visited but very smooth.  The strip is 3700 feet long which was plenty for us.  Getting in is not an issue but grass increases the take off roll.  Our normal 1000 feet was closer to 1200.

They were advertising BBQ and cool planes so we decided to sign up.  When I spoke to the owner, she gave me the info and requested I sign up using the Google form.  In the old day these things were all word of mouth or airport bulletin board.  Today it was Social flight, Facebook and Google forms.

Getting there was a bit different.  I filed IFR so I would not have to worry about airspace.  There are many restricted areas and it is near the Orlando class B airspace.  The computer initially added a huge detour to the flight which would have made our 40 minute run an hour.  The en-route controller was helpful and when I gave him a fix near the airport he put us direct which was only 6 miles from destination.

Arriving there was traffic below so we were kept high until very close.  We broke out of the clouds around 3000 and picked up the field soon after.  There was a plane on final so we continued for an overhead entry and joined the downwind for our turn to land. 

The other difference is that the GPS did not know this airport.  I have terrain avoidance that warns me when I get near terrain or obstructions.  Around an airport the GPS understands that you are getting lower to the ground but when it is just flying to programmed position it gets nervous for you when you get near solid objects like the ground and cell towers.  Entering the traffic pattern both screens lit up warning me I was getting close to the ground.  Oddly this was comforting as we were trying to land.

The event started at 9AM, food at noon.  We were arriving around 11:30.  This meant that everyone would be watching and grading the arrival.  I also had never landed there.   I was counting on the published information, the talk with the owner and the fact that 50+ planes had landed ahead of me.  It all looked good.

Someone planted a big tree at the road at the end of the runway but we cleared that with plenty of room and the landing went as planned.  Nose high, slow speed,the mains gently rolled on and I kept the yoke all the way back to keep the nose wheel off as long as possible.

Coming in we received a radio call to taxi to the South end upon landing and look for a person to park us.  I kept it on the roll and at the end we found the person with the batons who clearly motioned us to do a 270 to park next to the Luscombe.  We acknowledged the instructions and soon were in our spot.

Lots of planes had come in for the festivities as well as some helicopter.  It is a different environment when you are literally parked on the runway.  We walked about looking at planes, watching them come and go and enjoying the warm sunny weather.

Soon we heard the sound all pilots respond to, food served.  We lined up and piled our plates with Sonny's BBQ.  They had tables set up in one of the hangars and there was a nice breeze.  After eating we looked at more planes and then watched several departures.  We also chatted with some of the local firemen who had dropped by and showed them the plane.

It was then our turn to depart.  Operations are different at a strip like this.  After starting I was told to keep right on the runway as I back taxied.  Yes, planes were going both directions on the same runway.  Reaching the end we turned around.  Generally I don't like to stop on grass as it is harder to get going again and there is more of a chance to pick up junk in the prop.

When I turned around I saw 2 planes had followed me out, both Piper cubs.  One was still in the center of the runway.  I let everyone know I was holding until clear.  The second cub then pulled to the far right side and it was my turn to go.  I applied power slowly to get rolling and kept the yoke back to keep the weight off the nose.

We were soon airborne, gear in the wells and climbing strongly.  We cleared the area and switched to Orlando who was expecting us as I had filed a flight plan home.  CC captured the take off with the GoPro.  A bit bouncier than pavement but the plane was designed for this type of environment.  Now to plan Sunday's adventure.

An Emergency for Brunch

I had been planning some trips but weather has been great during the week while I worked but not so good on the weekends.  I thought of an overnight run this weekend but the Sunday forecast looked a bit low so decided to just take a nice breakfast run Saturday.  The weather was supposed to be pretty nice.

The first trip I took with my last Beechcraft was down to Vero Beach for Brunch at CJ Cannons.  I also took CC there for Mothers day a while back.  So this was sort of deja vu except with worse weather up by home.

We decided to sleep late and then head off for Brunch.    We departed in overcast conditions and were soon droning along between layers.

Every once in a while we would be swallowed by the clouds and then see glimpses of blue skies above.

At one point we broke out the top and just skimmed between the cloud valleys.

Nearing Vero the clouds parted and we landed in gusty conditions.  Luckily the wind was right down the runway.   Little did we know that this would change.

We headed in and scored the last booth with the airport view.  I could even see the tail of our plane.

We then feasted on brunch, enjoying the warm weather and contemplating the return flight.  As we prepared to leave there was a rush of activity at the airport.  Police, fire engines and ambulances.  This is never a good sign.  We walked out to the plane and could see across the field the emergency vehicles  clustered around.  We asked what was happening to some other pilots and they had heard a plane was on fire.

After seeing the plane that was parked next to us depart successfully we decided to fire up and see what was happening.  We called ground and got our clearance but then held while they let a fire truck leave the scene.  The runway into the wind was closed due to the emergency and we received an unusual clearance.   We were sent onto the active runway to back taxi so as to get around the emergency and then back onto the taxiway.

As we taxied by we could see a plane that had been foamed.  It looked like everyone got out OK and the fire vehicles were packing up.  The plane was a single turboprop.  I later saw a news report that confirmed that no one was hurt other than the insurance company.  It was a multi million $ plane but that is why we pay for insurance.

We had to take off with a stiff crosswind and then spent most of the flight in the clouds.  Good practice though.  Landing at home base the gusts were up to 30 knots but pretty much down the runway.  The above picture lets you know what the inside of a cloud looks like from the cockpit.  A very successful day, we escaped the cold dreary weather for a bit, got some good eats and had a fun flight.

Sunset

It has been rather blustery so I skipped flying Sunday.  I figured I could make it up today.  Right after work it was off to the airport.  Sunset was 5:53 but that is for you earth bound folks.  Up a few thousand feet and Sunset is a bit later.  You can figure it out but it means a trip back to Geometry class.

On departure the sun still seemed high above the horizon.

We had some scattered clouds but mostly clear skies.

The shadows over downtown got longer.

And then the sun sunk down, even from our high perch.

CC and I both captured the moment.

I circled back but it was gone.  Just leaving a colorful glow.  By now we were over Palatka.  We headed back to Saint Augustine.

And then back to Craig.  You can see the contrast from the West and East Skies.  The phone makes it look much brighter than it is.

Turning final it seemed much darker than this.  The runway lights a welcome sight.  Landing was an A- but it got the job done and we soon pulled up at the hangar.  A beautiful night but a bit nippy for my taste.