Bayport NY Antique Fly-In !!

This month we take you back to Bayport, Long Island, NY for the annual Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York Fly-In.

Bayport Aerodrome has been designated a National Historic Site

This sign is a really attractive billboard at the entrance to the Aerodrome.

A prize display is the actual "St. Louis" Curtiss Model 50 "Robin". This airplane set a remarkable record for time aloft. In July 1929, Dale Jackson and Forest O'Brine set an endurance record of 420 hours, 17 minutes in the air, using in-flight refueling. Later, they set a new mark of 647 hours, 28 minutes using the same plane, named St Louis.

Once the flying got underway, airplanes of all descriptions were going aloft. The AACGNY member airplanes are flyers! There are a few that are on museum display only (such as the Robin above) but most are actively flown all year round.

Mario "Yogi" Barra spent his professional life with the airlines and we found him very happy in his retirement, getting his Aeronca Champ ready for some fun flying ...

John and Max had a great time watching the airplanes. John is an instructor who has been bitten by the antique airplane bug.

Oh boy ... now here's a collection. Gene and Ed and President Stu and Dave ...

Kaitlin and Stu on their way to the wild blue yonder ... Stu just loves the Cub, which was pried away from an unsuspecting owner who was about to retire ... (me)

Some of these pictures look eerily like others from earlier posts ... "Ace" had his N3N and Ryerstahl out in the sunshine ...

The Ryerstahl - top of the line fighter in the Royal Vulgarian Flying Corps - is actually a tweaked EAA Biplane, complete with machine gun and - somewhere to be installed - a bayonet.

The south flight line on Saturday afternoon ...

This gorgeous PT-22 just begs for pictures ...

Our Russian colleagues, Vladimir and Andre, found this YaK-18 on the west coast and flew it back to NY ... many hours and 4-5 days. The engine is a Russian version of a Kinner. Brave men. Note the rotation of the engine is clockwise as viewed from the cockpit ... just like the American Kinner. Most engines of Russian manufacture turn the opposite way.

Steve's Fleet 16 with a new engine from Al Ball, exhaust collector and - gasp - a starter!

Here's another picture of the YaK-18 ....

... and the instrument panel from the YaK ...

Boy, was it hot in New York for this fly-in! Temps in the 90s had to be cooled at the Sheep Shagger Baaa ... doesn't this remind you of the bar scene from Star Wars?

Sunday morning was "Pancake Day" and Mike was on hand to cook 'em up ... Dick has a plate full and one of our guests is chowing down ... sorry mate - I didn't get your name.

The north flight line on Sunday morning with Tom and Eileen's pink L-16 right in the middle ...

What a treat to fly with this guy ... Jack is back in Cubs after flying them when they were new and graduating to Air Force transports and TWA ... at TeeWee he flew most of their inventory from Convair 220s to Constellations to the Boeing 747 ... and I got to give him his Biennial Flight Review in the Cub! Welcome back to the low and slow club, Jack, and Happy Landings!

Bayport Aerodrome is located just south of the Sunrise Highway at Bayport NY. For maps and more information about the aerodrome and the Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York, look them up at www.aacgny.org

The Ugly Duckling

Once upon a time there was a really good Bonanza that had what was left of a dated interior. The seats looked in pretty good shape for the shape they were in and Captain John said he could live with them but I know both of us well enough that a new interior was just around the corner.

The back seats were not too bad ... the front seats were pretty tired ... and the overall yellow and rust and brown just screamed 1970s.

We looked high and low for an interior shop. One shop wanted to re-use our old foam and promised an outstanding result (how?) and a reputable vendor said they'd make up the covers and we could install them ourselves (I know how those things go).

Finally, we settled on Enrique's Custom Upholstery at the Levy County Airport (X60) in Williston FL. Henry (Enrique) and his family came to the US years ago and eventually found their way to a horse farm near Williston. They had been in the upholstery business in Mexico before coming to the United States and after trying to make ends meet for a long time, returned to what they knew best. The transition to aircraft interiors took some time but they have created some beautiful work and have an impressive portfolio. Henry, his wife and son work together in the family business and the work is coming in!

Henry and Dave (Fisher) worked together for a helicopter operator and went out on their own later. They've been in the service hangar for several years and are now leaseholders. The dream is alive for these guys and they work hard - even harder in these historic economic times. Dave installed a new windshield, new front side windows and new door seals while Henry and his family did the interior


The old front seats were not in all that bad of shape. Maybe some slipcovers would have been OK but we'd still be stuck with the sidewall panels and all that yellow.

SHE took one look and decided not to fly in the airplane. It smelled old. The carpet had a lot of old oil in it from who knows when.

Where I saw classic, SHE saw dated.

Son John's bride to be has been tactful enough but I saw something similar there.

There was only one way out.

Henry and Dave to the rescue!

The old interior was removed completely. The old insulation was removed and with that all the "old airplane" odor was effectively gone.

Dave took out the old front side windows and windshield and replaced them with new ones, tinted light grey.

The old insulation was replaced with a new product that is not only a temperature insulator, it also is a noise attenuator. Super soundproofing, he calls it, and it WORKS!

The difference is just astounding.

The new side windows are made without the metal frame that came with the original windows. The difference in the size of the window is really apparent.

I think Henry did a great job of re-shaping the rear seats to bring them into the 21st centuryThe overall effect brightens the airplane considerably and gives it a much more pleasant first impression.

SHE says she likes it.

And I like that.

Air Fair Weekend at 0A7 (Hendersonville NC)

What Fun! The Air Fair was a great time for everybody. The project is a fund raiser for the Western North Carolina Air Museum - tours of the museum, airplane and helicopter rides, hot dogs and burgers and belly washers of several descriptions ... it's a weekend blast.

The lemonade and ice cream stands are up early - on a warm day those rake in good money for the cause. On Saturday we had 18-20 airplanes fly in before noon ...  

It wasn't possible to catch a picture of the airplanes that were flying rides because they weren't on the ground together ... there was a 182, a 172, a Tiger and (of course) Champ ... all together I suspect a couple of hundred rides may have been given to paying passengers at $25 each. The helicopter was busy constantly -  a Robinson R44 - no way to know how many he flew because I was busy with Champ ...

The local newspaper photographer snapped this one of Bill and me getting ready for our "Dawn Patrol" flight (OK, it was a little after dawn - we called it an "advertising" flight)

This was my view of the Air Fair most of the weekend. Different hairdos, of course, but you get the idea.

The trees at the south end of the field make for interesting departures when flying rides, so we generally takeoff to the north and make our approach over those trees. With 3000 feet of runway (half paved, half grass) we have plenty of room as long as the pilot minds his airspeed. I like using the grass for landing with Champ, of course.

Sunday was a little quieter but was still a terrific day ... a Bell JetRanger from one of the local racing celebrities dropped by for awhile ...

The kids love riding the museum's ornithopter ... powered by an old farm engine that pops and clatters its way along a taxiway behind the hangars ...

The Air Fair for 2009 is history ... Champ flew 23 paying passengers and gave gratis rides to some of the volunteers ... we won a lot of friends for a friendly little airplane. Talk was heard from some people about learning to fly and from others who were finding possible ways to put together partnerships for some affordable flying fun ... that's what it's all about ...

Fly safe, Y'all.

Springtime is for flying (or ditching made easy)!

I don't know what's better - flying in springtime or just hanging around the airport watching other people fly ...

Son John (on the left) spends a fair amount of his spring getting ready for the Joe Nall giant scale RC meet at Pat Hartness' place near Woodruff SC ... it's the Oshkosh of giant scale flying. The meet started on a Wednesday this year and the field began filling up on the Sunday before. By Tuesday afternoon, there were over 600 RC pilots registered and a LOT of airplanes.

The rare air John breathes when he's flying a Citation X corporate jet must get to his imagination ... he has an airbrush artist friend who creates some far-out cowling cartoons:

As for dear old Dad, I finally dragged Champ out of the Hendersonville hangar and flew a few takeoffs and landings to get back into the swing of things. There were appreciative scores from the hangar rats as landings equalled takeoffs in reasonably short order. Back in Florida the Bonanza had some work done on it so I gave it a good wash and dried it off in the accepted fashion .....

After so many years flying corporate jets and going to regular recurrent training, I realized with a start that I would be due for a Biennial Flight Review this summer! The recurrent training sessions and new type ratings took care of the requirement for many years and I also realized that I had never taken a stand-alone BFR since the rule was created! I've conducted reviews many times but never took one of my own! Being of healthy attitude and all that, I decided that a good review would be a good thing and also decided it might help if I added a seaplane rating to my ticket ... so it was off to Jack Brown's Seaplane Base at Winter Haven FL for some training, some learning and a dash of positive reinforcement from the great people there.....

Note the birds perched on the wings and tail of my assigned J3C-65S (the 'S' is for Seaplane). I think they took a look at me and decided to add some supplemental lift.



A flip of the prop (performed gracefully from the deck of the float) and we're off and floating.

The course is given at Winter Haven FL year-round. Jon Brown carries on his father's work with well-maintained Cubs - every few years they are hauled out and completely refurbished.


The old guy got some great instruction from Lauren. I haven't had that many takeoffs and landings in a short period of time in many years! The Seaplane Rating is mine at last!

Fly safe, Y'all!

Forward ...... MARCH!

Well, if it's March 09, it must be 6 months after hanging up the jet keys and letting the kids have all the fun.

 

Here I am, recruiting a new pilot to the fold. Note the technique of enticement, a small bit of cheese-stuffed hotdog in hand. Typical recruit ... the bugger gave my fingers a nasty rasp with his beak which quickly got ugly but finally healed.

Since March comes only one month before April (I counted), I have to practice for my checkride in the Wright Flyer if the simulator comes to Sun-n-Fun again ...

Even after applying all the skills of a theatre major (apologies to Dave Barry) the results of my last checkride were humbling ....

Son John, Citation X Captain and hot stick, did better ....

No dings at all ... the old man must have done something right ... (when your student turns out OK the instructor always takes the credit) ...

Last January was pretty cool ... the Light Sport Expo was held at Sebring FL and was a huge success. My favorite was this nifty Sport Cruiser from the Czech Aircraft Works. It has all the goodies in the panel and room for the puppy in the back. Maybe I'll get a stimulus check so I can run out and buy one or two (or three).

February was also a neat month ... Old schoolmate Ed flew over for lunch in his Glasair TD. Ed raced at Reno and Lakeland and was recently seen in a Yak-52 ... the Glasair is a tweaking project - a little glass here, a little more horsepower there ... Ed is an inveterate tweaker and will eventually get it Right (and faster) ... 

Stu and Bill C. came all the way from Bayport NY to Florida for a little R&R this weekend ... spent Saturday and Sunday glider flying at Zephyrhills with Gino. It was great to see these guys again and we spent some time looking over some beautifully restored antique and classic cars.

Champ is biding its time in the Hendersonville hangar while the Bonanza gets a workout with John (and, occasionally, me) ... I did manage to get a color match for a small paint repair job for Champ so dabbed a little color on before rotating back to Florida for awhile. Next trip to NC, Champ will launch its summer flying season.

Fly safely! Fly often! Spring has sprung!

January 2009 - Time do fly!

It doesn't seem like a year since I found the Bonanza out in Arizona, but that's exactly how long it's been ... Since, we've flown to New Mexico, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, New York, Virginia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Kentucky and fuel stops in between. What a great bird! I've added a few goodies to the panel (Garmin 430 WAAS, a new PS Engineering audio panel and intercom) and there may be a new interior on the horizon. The main reason I bought her was to run back and forth between Florida and North Carolina after I retired ....

Which happened on September 1, 2008. After 28 years of flying on someone else's schedule, I'm on my own time. Maybe it sounds funny but I'm turning out to be a day/VFR pilot at heart. I sure did love the jets (Cessna CitationJet, Falcons 20 and 50, Gulfstreams 2-3-4 and 5), but the Bonanza and the Champ are just what I wanted at this stage of life.

Above are the flags of the countries I visited over my career. 

When I was a kid growing up on the family farm, I listened to short wave radio quite a bit, heard a lot of foreign languages and music, and pored over my books to find where these faraway places were. I got to see more than I ever dreamed I'd see. Nowadays, whether it's low and slow in the Champ or a little higher and faster in the Bonanza, the landscape of the United States has all the magic I thought I'd have to travel the world to see.

I hope we cross paths one of these days.

Fly safely

Alex

November 10 - Marine Corps Birthday
November 11 - Veterans' Day / Armistice Day

This year, on November 11, I remember James Lundin, who we lost in Iraq, and ask you to pause and give thanks for the men and women who serve our Country at home and abroad on this day. Another James, our son-in-law, James Coughlin, is set to return to the Middle East next month. Last time it was Iraq, this time it is Afghanistan. Save a place for him in your prayers, too.

Thanks.

Alex.

October in the Mountains

I missed the mountains more than I knew

This is a view of my home field, looking down runways 15 (there are three!).

The paved runway on the left is, in reality, the left side of the airport runway. Half is paved, half is nice, smooth sod. Further to the right is Johnson field, privately owned, and used by the members of the Western North Carolina Air Museum. It's an interesting arrangement. I've been in the pattern with skydivers (not many of those around here anymore), ultralights, business twins and antiques, all using the runways more or less simultaneously.

Flying around the mountains reveal lots of beautiful scenery, especially this time of year ... and a few sights that are decidedly seasonal. This is a hillbilly corn maze next to a pumpkin patch and petting zoo ... the lot looks pretty full - I guess they're doing OK.

This is my corner of the museum's long hangar at Hendersonville ... I like it here.

The company is pretty good ... all ragwings and all but one a taildragger - the Ercoupe down the way is the only exception. All the guys are great and we take turns closing up at the end of a day of flying ...

More pictures to come ...