Wednesday, June 25, 2014

"Speaking of Travel Airs"

I was poking around the Internet a couple of weeks ago and stumbled across a familiar name from my 737 First Officer days.  Captain Dave Moffett is one of the good guys! Unfortunately we don't cross paths much anymore.  Dave is now a 767 Captain based in Atlanta, Georgia.  He flies to London and Paris and other exotic locations.  I fly the MD-88 out of New York City.  I spend a lot of time in Richmond and Grand Rapids.  We sit on opposite ends of our airline's food chain.  What I liked the most about flying with Dave was fact that he was an Airplane Guy---not all airline pilots are.  He lives in a fly-in community on the south side of Atlanta, and has a plans-built RV-4 in his hangar. Yeah; as soon as he pulled out the pictures, he was my hero!

Besides flying, one of my hobbies is drawing cartoons.  My talent is marginal---but it has proven to be a fun way to pass the time while out on the road.  I borrowed Dave's airplane pictures on a layover in Salt Lake City. . .  The drawing was respectable---it really looked like an RV-4, so I gave it to Dave at the end of the trip.  A few weeks later I found this photo in my v-file at work.  It was a nice surprise!


So where am I going with this?

Dave's latest project is a Travel Air biplane!  If you are a fan of classic biplanes, as I am, you will enjoy following Dave's Travel Air Project.  I recommend starting at the beginning. You will not be disappointed.

Shifting gears, slightly. . .



United Airlines Captain Duncan Flett, known throughout the world as The Exotic Guy, has been vacationing in the Pacific Northwest.  Duncan shares my passion for small town airports.  Last week he called to tell me (rub it in) he was wandering around the Orcas Island Airport in the San Juan Islands.  We chatted for a while and towards the end of our conversation I told him about running across Dave's Travel Air web log.  Ten minutes after we said our goodbye's I received a photo text message with the following caption:  "Speaking of Travel Airs."


Photo by Duncan Flett

How's that for a serendipitous ending?  Be sure to check out Magic Air Tours, Inc., of Orcas Island, Washington.  Watch the video!

And to prove I'm not making this stuff up. . .

Here are a couple of layover drawings.  Sorry; no RV-4---I gave it away before I had a chance to make copies.





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