"Movin' On Up!"

Color coordinated Russ Farris.

Jellystone Air Park neighbors, Forrest Walton and Russ Farris, have decided they need more "giddy-up" in the hangar, and swapped their beautiful 1957 Cessna 172 for a cream puff 1952 Beechcraft C35 Bonanza.  Forrest was out of town Thursday so post purchase acceptance flight duties fell to Russ.  Luckily the Jellystoners were on hand to document the event.

"There's no way I'm practicing touch and go's in front this crowd!"

Working the wobble-pump. . .  (She caught on the second blade!)

Under the bonnet. . .

Russ & Forrest

Friday morning it was smiles all around for the new owners!

It's The Holiday Season

Photo by Jamien Fisher

Is that Andy Williams I hear singing?  No, it's the sound of deicing fluid pounding against the fuselage below my sliding window.  The left stall vane is covered with ice, as is the rest of the MD-90 after a night of freezing rain in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Flight 1092, the 0715 departure to Atlanta, Georgia was going to be late---by two hours and thirty-seven minutes.  It took over an hour for the deicing crew to clean the airplane with Type I deicing fluid.  As you can see in the picture, it was really caked on!  Applying the final coating of Type IV anti-icing fluid to the wings and tail took exactly four minutes. About an hour and fifteen minutes to make the jet airworthy, after it was all said and done. Of course that was after we made it to the deicing pad.  Just leaving the gate was an adventure.

Twenty minutes before we were scheduled to push back our operations agent called with news that our ramp crew had yet to load any (passenger) bags.  The crew was short-handed, and everything was covered with ice.  Things were moving slow---when they finished with the Minneapolis flight they would head our way. . .  I turned to my first officer, and said:  "This is going to take a while."  He replied:  "Don't I know it, it's really slick out there!"

Slick it was!  During push-back the tug began to fishtail---I could hear the tires spinning through the interphone.  For a moment I thought we might be calling it a day, but the driver recovered nicely.  It takes a special set of skills to push one hundred and fifty thousand pounds of airplane on an icy ramp!  Hats off to the tug driver at Gate 82 at Pittsburgh International airport!

During my thirty year career I can't remember a single Thanksgiving to New Year's travel season that has not been affected by a winter weather event somewhere in North America. This years challenge in the Northeast came eight days before Christmas.  Luckily it was short lived, and there was plenty of time to recover.  Three years ago Frosty the Snowman paid a visit to the Deep South on Christmas Eve.  A lot of folks were late for dinner at Grandma's house that year.  I missed that one, fortunately, but I still have plenty of T-shirts. . .

Not that it mattered much to our passengers, but we were fortunate our delay came at the start of our duty day.  As we were leaving the deicing pad, ground control was directing an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 777 to a hardstand where it could refuel, following a diversion from Washington's (DC) Dulles International Airport---after an ocean crossing, and a few turns in a holding pattern, I'm sure.

More like The Winter Wonderland Route!

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Tree Top Flying At Gilbert International

Here are a few photos from Saturday's Tree Top Flyer (EAA Chapter 1467) Fly-In at Gilbert International Airport, Gilbert, South Carolina.  

Pop and I left Jellystone Air Park at 0930.

Forty-four minutes later we were on the ground at Gilbert International.

Tree Top Flyer Don Schmotzer's Zenith CH-601XL.

Looking down Runway 27.

Transit aircraft parking on the south side of 9/27.

Who likes curves?  Neil Deye's Culver LFA.

Fly-In Headquarters . . . Ron Angerman's Hangar-Home.

Dining Hall.

Eddie Price and Pop taking it easy on the back of the Follow Me cart.

NC1143B sitting pretty.

Photo by Eddie Price

2016 Tree Top Flyers and guests.

Photo by Eddie Price

Heading back to Jellystone Air Park.

38 Special

The combination lock on the baggage compartment of Brother Barbeau's Hatz biplane was having "issues."  When it was originally installed the combination was set at 007. That's right, James Bond, a number that is easy to remember---the builder was a pilot, he knew his audience.  About a year ago we discovered the three-row combination mechanism had malfunctioned.  The latch still worked, but we could not lock the door.  It was not a big deal (so we thought) since nothing heavy or valuable is stored in the compartment.  Also, there doesn't seem to be a strong aerodynamic force working to pull the door open.  We could "kick the can down the road," so to speak, something to address on the next annual inspection---if we remembered.  But you can only kick a can so far. . .

In September the latch failed---in the closed position, fortunately.  I discovered the failure when I tried to retrieve the fuel strainer from the baggage compartment after topping-off in Laurens, South Carolina during a lunch outing with some of the guys from EAA Chapter 961.  Once again, not a problem.  The door was closed and the fuel tank was full.  But it could have been a big problem---especially if I had a passenger.  The fuel quantity dipstick is stored in the baggage compartment.  Like a small regional jet, the Hatz can't carry a full load of fuel when all of the seats are full.  It's nice to know how much you weigh; even nicer to know how much fuel you have on board.

Thursday was designated Baggage Door Lock Repair Day at Jellystone Air Park.  Of course Brothers Barbeau and Baker were both out of town---not that it mattered.  The Jellystoners were out at the airport the day that (and a lot of other) subjects were covered in college.  It was up to me to save the day.  Hopefully we could still fly the airplane when the task was completed!

Step One:

Remove the lock from the baggage door.  This was fairly simple.  I drilled out the screws and removed the lock mechanism from the door.  Once the door was open I was able to remove the latch from the fuselage.

Steps Two, Three, and Four:

Inspect the back side of the lock.  Not really sure what I was looking for.  I was hoping there would be a lever or a channel of some sort that could be used to release the latch. There was a lever, but it wouldn't move.  There were a bunch of holes.  I thought if I inserted a small screwdriver in one of the holes while rotating the combination wheel the correct number would be revealed with a noticeable click, clunk, or whatever.  That didn't work either.

Educate myself.  There is a YouTube video for everything.  If my wife can learn how to construct a quilt by watching YouTube certainly there was someone out there, a Geeky Locksmith Wannabe of some sort, with a video I could use.  As Brother Baker likes to say: "One would think."  After forty minutes of reviewing everything from using a rubber band to apply pressure to the release lever while rotating the combination wheels, to checking for dust on the numbers, I decided there had to be a better way. . .

Find a locksmith.  My iPhone said there was a locksmith 1.7 miles south of Jellystone Air Park.  Maybe those folks could help---and if not, maybe they could help me find a replacement.  I circled the parking lot three times; no locksmith.  I guess my iPhone didn't get the update the shop was no longer there. The next closest place was eighteen minutes away.  I was hungry.  Ouzo's Pizza, a Jellystoner favorite, was right around the corner.  The mission could wait until after lunch.

Step Five:

  
Get lucky!  One of the videos suggested starting at 000 and moving forward sequentially 001, 002, 003, etc., until you hit the correct combination; assuming the lock was not broken.  While waiting for lunch to be served I decided that since I didn't know if we had a broken lock, or a miss-set combination, I might as well give it a try.  I started rolling. . . When I landed on number 038 the lock opened!  I couldn't believe my luck!  As Brother Barbeau's father-in-law likes to say:  "I'll-be-go-to-hell!"

Step Six:

Put it back together.  Ta-da!

And it still flies. . .  Check out the big brain on Bob!

Trying To Feed The Obsession

My quest to find old airplanes is a habit that is sometimes hard to explain.  I'd like to think it is not an obsession, but my wife thinks otherwise.  On more than one occasion I've heard her ask (exclaim is probably a better description) "You planned our vacation around what?"  The "what" in question was probably a fly-in of some sort, or an aviation museum, or (in a perfect world) both---it has happened!  In the spirit of "full disclosure" I must admit that I sometimes plan my airline layover destinations around vintage aircraft sightings.  I guess it is an obsession.

Back in the spring I had a layover in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  While perusing a brochure in the hotel lobby I discovered the Grand Rapids Public Museum, only one block from the hotel, had a 1931 Driggs Skylark Biplane on display.  Unfortunately, the discovery came at the end of the layover, too late to visit the museum.  I made a mental note to put Grand Rapids on my list of preferred layover destinations. 

The October bid package had a bunch of Grand Rapids layovers.  One of them, a seventeen hour layover that blocked in shortly after noon, looked like the perfect trip for viewing the Skylark.  I placed my order. . .  One week later the trip was mine!  Flight 751 from Atlanta, Georgia to Grand Rapids, Michigan touched down at 1636 GMT October 6, 2016.  It was time to feed the obsession.

When the guy at the museum help desk asked if there was anything specific I wanted to see, I said:  "I'm here to see the airplane."  My statement was met with a puzzled look.  "I read in a brochure there is a Driggs Skylark Biplane on display."  The guy said:  "Yes, normally, but that area of the museum has been under construction.  I believe the airplane is still in storage."  And so it was.

Photo of a photo, circa 1933.  Driggs Skylark used by the Jackson Flying School in Jackson, Michigan.

The Driggs Aircraft Company of Lansing, Michigan produced twenty-one Skylark Biplanes between 1929 and 1931.  Like many companies, it was a victim of the Great Depression.

True fact.

There it wasn't!

A good read.  Click on the picture to enlarge.

The 96 horsepower Cirrus Hi-Drive aircraft engine.

I did get to see a video. . .

. . . and I bought a post card. 


For more about the Driggs Skylark (and the fascinating history behind it's Cirrus Hi-Drive engine) check out H. G. Frautschy's article in the October 1993 issue of Vintage Airplane Magazine.

2016 Fall Vintage Fly-In

Brethren!  We had great weather for this year's Fall Vintage Fly-In at Woodward Field in Camden, South Carolina.  Dad and I were on the grounds Saturday.  Here are a few pictures:

Our chariot:  Brother Bakers' 1947 Luscombe 8A.

The Candler Field Express from Williamson, Georgia.

Douglas' finest!

1938 Waco ECG-8.

Pop checking out a Bakeng Deuce.  I was familiar with the name but this is the first example I've seen in person.

1942 Interstate S1-A Cadet.

1947 Stinson 108-3.

I have to admit, I'm partial to checkerboards.

Eddie Price drove over from Pond Branch Airfield.

He took our picture . . .

I took hers.