Fall is for Flying!

Maybe it's the transition to cooler weather, maybe it's just that we get a little spring in our step when the airplane seems to leap off the runway and climb performance is quicker to put more air between the ground and the seat of our pants,  but I sure do welcome fall as a season. The barbecue tastes better, the hot eggs and grits and coffee go down better, the jokes are fresh and there's always a new paint job or a new airplane to admire on the field ... wherever the field may be.

Woody and I missed the fly-in on September 27th with a mechanical problem, but here's a picture of Flying W at Bushnell FL on a sunny day in April of this year. The picture came from the Flying FOOLZ website and a link to that and more from this outstanding EAA Chapter appears below.

The field fills up pretty quickly with airplanes of all descriptions

The Florida Order Of Lightplane Zealots (Flying FOOLZ) is also known as EAA Chapter 1489, and their fly-in breakfasts are a magnet for central Florida pilots. Take a look at their web calendar and all the goings-on at:

http://www.flyingfoolz.org

Tinker Toys

When I was a young(er) squirt, one of my favorite gadgets was a box of something called Tinker Toys. Pilagiarizing shamelessly from Wikipedia, the toy was simple, designed in 1914 by a fellow who fashioned circular blocks of wood about two inches across with holes drilled on the outside of the blocks at 45 degree angles and a transverse hole through the middle. I built all sorts of things with mine - one fellow even built a computer that played tic-tac-toe with his.

For everything you always wanted to know about Tinkertoy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinkertoy

Malcolm must have had or admired a Tinkertoy set when he was growing up because he has displayed the CallAir fuselage in his maintenance hanger for all the world to see. It's resting on sawhorses now but will be "on the gear" pretty soon. First things first, there are control cables and tailwheel assemblies and main gear assemblies to - ahem - assemble, a firewall to build, attachments for things to be attached to and so on. This is when people who are restoring airplanes reach a point when they decide to sell their project as "90% done". Experienced restorers take that tongue in cheek and usually remark that "90% done" means there is only 90% to go.

The CallAir fuselage, ready for decoration. Tinkertoy experience helps.

For everything you always wanted to know about this CallAir, go to earlier posts on this blog.

Meanwhile:

Woody is in for his yearly condition inspection and so far has passed with flying colors ... he'll be back in the skies over Central Florida this weekend.