People at Bayport Aerodrome

It occurred to me in a flash of insight that all the time I've been writing these notes, I've been putting a lot more pictures of airplanes in the blog than pictures of people. To me, the people at the aerodrome make it ... the airplanes make it just that much more fun .....


So I decided to start with Bill Taylor ... Bill started flying a long time ago and got out of it for many years ... then he retired from the New York City Police Department, retired from fishing, and got back into flying. What a nice guy ... his first day at the Aerodrome was spent helping after a Stearman lost power and reshaped some trees at the end of the runway. Bad for the Stearman, but the pilot and his son made it out with just a few scratches. Bill pitches in when nobody is looking. His 85 horsepower Piper Vagabond is a real performer and he just made it better with the addition of two 8.5 gallon wing tanks!

Stu Bain is President of the Antique Airplane club of Greater New York, based at Bayport Aerodrome. He's a native New Zealander, former NZ Air Force guy who jumped out of airplanes and other strange things before settling in New York in the technology business. He somehow found himself on the big screen at Times Square in the front of Bob's Stearman, promoting his company, e-media of New York. We kid Stu about his English Auster, but it gets him out to the airport and that's the important thing.

I have to get a closeup picture of Bob Fritts. A guy that good looking just deserves better, but somehow I think he'd rather be pictured in the cockpit of his beloved Stearman. He's owned it for over 30 years, rebuilt it piece by piece, and it shows all the care it's been given. You could eat off any part of it. Bob's been flying a long time and has owned at one time or another a Commanche and shares of other airplanes ... he's a Navy man, served aboard the same ship as former President Ford and is a retired executive with Ford Motor Company and Purolator. Bob is one of the original members of the Bayport Aerodrome Society and a former president and board member of the club. He and a group of pilots developed the north end of the Aerodrome and built the hangars that house the antique and classic airplanes that are kept there. Wednesday afternoons around five o'clock, members drift toward hangar 6 and find a table laid with cheese and crackers and chairs aplenty for good conversation ... I can't imagine Bayport without guys like Bob.

All the fellows at Bayport are good guys ... I'll get some more profiles together pretty soon and introduce more of the pilots and airplanes that make this a truly special place - the last, publicly owned, grass runways on Long Island NY, a place that is truly the cradle of modern aviation. More on that, too, in a future post.

www.bayportaerodrome.org

www.aacgny.org

Antique Airplane Club Fly-In 8/17-19/2007

The third annual Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York Fly-In is in the record books! Thanks to Bob Mott for providing some of the (better) pictures for this report ...

Nick and Dick find parking spots for our visitors ....

Mike Strieter, our faithful attendee from Horn Point VA, finally brought his fabulous Fairchild 24 all the way to Long Island. This was the very same F-24 that would have been here last year but for some unforeseen engine trouble. The Ranger Wizard of New Garden, Joe DeNest, put it in good order and it purrs like a kitten today.

Now here's an airplane that's good for a few Yaks .... Craig Sampson and son Cory pass in review ...

Saturday, we got off to a great start when this magnificent Bamboo Bomber flew in! I don't know how Tom did it, but the engines stopped at the 1100/0500 positions, perfectly aligned, first time. Friday afternoon was rainy and breezy ... then on Saturday we had fabulously blue skies but were still stuck with the gusty winds. Everyone who came said they'd be back, and that's a good thing. More friends = more airplanes every year.

This 195 gets one of many once-over inspections in front of Billy Sindell's hangar and Cub

This line of inverted engines wasn't just sitting still ... the airplanes were flying all day, especially President Stuart in his indefatigable Auster who tested the atmospherics a number of times

Around noon, I noticed the tide was turning toward the south end of the hangars and then I discovered why ....

Somebody brought a pig to the dance!

There's nothing that warms a pilot's heart more than roast pig, fresh Pennsylvania corn on the cob, potato salad, cole slaw, dressing (called stuffing by yankees) and other goodies on a plate ...

Eating under the shade of the trees is just the ticket ....

And our faithful CAP cadets were on hand to help out ...

Sunday saw this beautiful Fairchild 24 taxiing in for the day ...

The front row seats for the bomb drop contest were rewarded with an exhibition of skill and teamwork by pilots and bombardiers. The 100' minimum altitude was only rarely infringed upon. (The safest place on earth that day was the target ...)

The end to a perfect day with good friends, good airplanes, and movies on the hangar wall. I wish I could have stayed later ...

Some of our new friends:

Tom and Eileen from Connecticut and the Bamboo Bomber

John and daughter Amelia from Kalamazoo, Michigan!

(Winners of the tired tush award - a couple of club shirts)

Happy Landings!

The Bayport Aerodrome Picnic

If you're going to have a picnic, you first have to have a place to take the burger and dog money and keep the sun off, so you build a shelter. Bob seems to have the right idea.

And when you finish, you have this really nifty place to anchor the doings of the day...

If you're going to have people around, especially kids, you have to have an airplane for them to have their picture taken in ... the SE-5 replica fills the bill nicely.

Vladimir and George discuss the finer points of reattaching struts on the Fairchildski after a little bit of rework and we're all looking forward to the next first flight of this beautiful airplane.

What's an airport picnic without airplanes ... I had to leave early and didn't get pictures of all the club planes that were out and on display, but Steve's Fleet was in position to taxi around to the runway side before we got too crowded.

I didn't get an audited count, but I'd estimate there were a couple of hundred people at the Aerodrome when I left at 1:30 ... children of all ages watching the airplanes takeoff and land, dropping flour bombs (the target was safe) and participating in the spot landing contest. Most important, about 50 children and adults took airplane rides - many of them in the Young Eagles program sponsored by EAA.

The next big event is the Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York fly-in and pig roast on the weekend of August 17, 18 and 19. Come one, come all, fly in and camp or wangle a sleeping spot, baste the pig, tell lies and enjoy yourself. Lots of good airplanes invited and we hope more will show up just for the fun of it.

Son-in-law Jay arrived in the Middle East last week. He rejoined the Army National Guard after 15 years away from the Service - couldn't stand by and watch. We're so proud of him.

Summertime is flying time!

A Summer's Sunday at the Aerodrome .... Bob F's Stearman and Bill C's Bird watch as my Cub makes a feathery-soft approach and landing before their very cowlings ....

Pretty soon everybody gets into the act ... Russ has the Legend out in the sunshine, Ace has the N3N ticking over and Bill J adds to the Stearman lineup. What an incredible day to go flying!

There are actually more airplanes in the air ... I just didn't take pictures of them ... Steve had the Fleet and the Aeronca Chief flying, Bill T hauled the Vagabond out for a spin around the Great South Bay and Bob M flew just about everything there was to fly. Stu coaxed the Auster in the air and thrilled the folks along the beaches. All in all, there were about 11 of us out flying one thing or another.

Finally, Bob F and Bill J cranked up the Stearmans with a couple of excited passengers and gave rides they will always remember. There's just nothing like a turn out over the Bay in a biplane.

The last flight of the day was Bill C and me, repositioning the Bird from the north end of the hangars to the south end, maybe 300 feet, by way of a circuit around the patch. If it gets better, I don't know how. In all, we put 1.4 hours on the Cub with 4 of us flying it and I got a chance to try out Russ' Legend ... a great treat.

The Frittsburgers and brats were pretty good, too.

There's no such thing as "just another day at the aerodrome". Not at Bayport. Come see us.

We Fly in July!

Bob and Shirley pose with the Red, White and Blue cake that has become her signature dish for the first Sunday in July ...

I had an ear problem that started last December and this was the week for the fixup job. So far I can report that the healing is going just as expected and I'll be ready to fly later this month. For my fellow pilots, I had a middle ear infection that was caused by a cyst of sorts that formed behind my eardrum. Look up "cholesteatoma" on Google. It's not all that common and not all that uncommon, caused by the failure of the eustacian tubes to adequately ventilate the middle ear. The resulting infections could be treated with antibiotics, but they'd return. The fix is to go in and clean the goop out of the middle ear, remove the cyst and fix what damage the cyst might have caused (bone tissue is eroded by the enzymes from these cysts and can result is loss of the little bones in the middle ear and a loss of hearing. It gets more gruesome if left untreated, but you should read more authoritative sources about that). Very good news: no disequilibrium, no bone damage, none of that stuff. The condition requires a review by the Medicos at FAA, but I foresee no problems.

Bill T and Bob are rib stitching the new cover over Bill's wing tank installation. It's already painted and Bill should be in the air in a few days with his Super Vagabond ER (85hp, extended range). When he goes away on flights now he can stay gone longer, though I suspect the average flight will remain an hour or less. It's just that when he goes to places like Lock Haven from Long Island he can make it nonstop. I know the agony of multiple fuel stops, but I don't mind since just about everywhere I go in the Cub people welcome me (or at least the airplane).

It's July 4th week and since the 4th falls on a Wednesday this year not much is going on at work. That's a good thing - gives me time to enjoy the company of the great people at Bayport Aerodrome and time to reflect on the blessings that our freedoms make possible. The men and women who are serving us overseas, far away from home in circumstances that are unimaginably difficult both physically and mentally are the best of our best. I thank God for them every day and I hope you do, too.

Father's Day '07 (weekend)

Ahhhh ... the sound of Wrights and Continentals and Kinners ... the blue oil smoke ... the smiles on the faces of pilots and passengers and bystanders ... this is the stuff that makes for a memorable Father's Day weekend at Bayport Aerodrome.

Ace's N3N is the first picture and the first below, with Steve's Fleet framed in the struts. Walter and Ace are just about ready to hop in for a flight to John's farm strip where the barbecue is held every year.

Next, Bob and Nick mount up in Bob's Stearman for the flight out to John's. Bob has owned this airplane over 30 years and knows every nut and bolt by its given name.

Bill's 1930 Bird is framed in the struts. You might gather that I like these kinds of pictures and you'd be right.

What a fabulous day! Look at that blue sky !

Next, Bill gives the Kinner a spin on Steve's Fleet.

These old engines are so easy to start (when they start). Richard Bach wrote about the old ones in his classic cross-country book "Biplane". The way he described hand-propping one of these was you just pull the blade through and let the impulse coupling take it out of your hand. Most people think they have to give it a mighty whirl; not so.

The next airplane in line is Bill C's Bird. The Bird holds 2 people in the front seat. It was a popular airplane back in the late '20s and '30s for that reason. That extra seat meant an extra few bucks for pilots who made their meager living hopping rides. It also helps those of us who have had one or two too many Big Macs.

If I were ready and/or willing to part with my Cub, I'd love to have a Bird.

Finally, Stu and Bill T. clatter off in the Auster. We give Stu a lot of grief about his airplane (?) but it's a neat flying machine and not one commonly seen in the U.S. Our cross-pond cousins like to build 'em strong and this airplane is no exception. The sound of the Gypsy engine is distinctive - sort of like a Merlin with a real bad cold.

That's the menagerie for Father's Day ... we hosted a benefit for St. Jude's hospital on Saturday that netted a nice sum for the cause. I don't think there were any kids left out who wanted rides and a few more "Young Eagles" were born.

The Cub is purring like the kitten it is, but I am reminded of an observation in a magazine some years ago that it's wise to remember that a Cub is still a baby bear.

We're Flying! We're Flying!

Just me and Bill and the Cub, doing our thing.

There is nothing, simply nothing that is quite as much worth doing as messing around in a Cub.

...and on a nice spring day on Long Island, there is no place worth doing it more than off our little grass runways at Bayport. The gang was out in force today, it was meeting day for the Bayport Aerodrome Society, and everyone was in a fine frame of mind.

It's at this time of year that the phone starts ringing, people asking about tours of the hangars and airplane rides, picnic spots by the runways and so on. We have a great bunch that take the visitors around and show off the airplanes ... 24 hangars filled with treasure. One of these days I'll post pictures of what we have there ... or you can go to the official web site to dig around for yourself ... www.bayportaerodrome.org

Tiz time to fly and time's a wastin' ...

Happy Landings!

If this is April, give me Florida

I can't believe it. I flew back to New York so I could enjoy the blossoming of spring, but so far the only spring I've seen is on TV. This is nuts.

For all the really moderate weather we had during the early winter, April has given us all the nasty stuff in spades. It's cold, it's windy, it's wet, it's this, it's that. I'm glad I made reservations early to fly back to Florida for the 33rd annual Sun-n-Fun fly-in.

No need to finish the annual on the Cub (although it's mostly done) ... there's certainly no hurry. Maybe in 10 days or so we'll do the last of it and launch the flying season on Long Island.

One bright spot in early April: I was at the home base (Clearwater Air Park) and got a look-see at Chip's new CTsw Light Sport Aircraft (S-LSA) ... and what a beauty!

That little bugger has a full glass cockpit, autopilot, bells and whistles you wouldn't believe. www.flightdesignusa.com is the place to learn about them. I'd get one for myself if the Boss would let me (but she's made noises about my having to sell the Cub first and that isn't going to happen).

Patience, then fly when the weather is right.

Spring will come, Granny said. It always has.

Forwarrrrrd .... March

In case you're wondering, March is a good time to look out the window for any apparent (or wishful) sign of decent flying weather if you live or work anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line. People Down South have no need for such ... they (we, when I'm There) simply open the hangar doors and let the sweet air of an impending spring freshen the airplane(s) and workbenches ... lawn chairs are best aired out when placed in the open doors, preferably occupied.


Up yonder (north), the yankees are still grumbling about the lousy weather, snow, slush, ice, and so on. They make excuses for going to the airport and the best excuse I know of is covering a Stearman wing. Bob is the master, usually gets things pretty well along before anybody notices and offers to help. One of Bob's pet peeves is all the "help" he gets, but he also likes it that we want to learn from him.

Learning rib-stitching is a big part of the process of covering a wing. Once you get the knots down, it goes pretty well. I'm all thumbs ... Bob watches over Bob2's shoulder and somehow restrains himself from jumping in to do it right ...

... but eventually, he has a whole group stitching and threading and tying knots (correctly) and he can throttle us on from a supervisory position ...

The Cub, meanwhile, has the new prop in place and since the cowlings are off Mike and I decided to go ahead and get the inspections items out of the way for the annual which is due next month. The engine runs smooth as can be with the new prop and without the coke buildup on the valve seats (thanks to Russ for cleaning that off) ...

April is a month made for flying and I'm ready ...

Why there is a February.

February starts with an "F", and that stands for Florida ... which is where I spent the month, away from the snow and cold that seems to be what everybody on Long Island looks forward to and loves to complain about when it finally happens. "Oh, I love the seasons" is what I hear a lot. That's a load of crap. If they had said "Oh, I love summer" or even spring or fall, I'd understand, but they can have winter, even if they do love it in, say, August.

February is when the hanger is coldest and when I feel really guilty about pirating heat from my neighbor, Bob, even though he offers so I tend to stay on his side of the wall and soak up his heat along with him.

February is when we spend an awful lot of time hangar flying and very little time actually commiting lift, assuming the hangar is warm. If the hangar isn't warm, we spend very little time hangar flying and a disporportionate amount of time at lunch.

February is a time for making lists of things to do in March or April before the annual is due. Woe be he or her who has an annual due in June, July, August or September because it takes about forever to have the work done and signed off. There's flying going on then.

February isn't very good for cooking on the grills. The fire freezes before it gets to the grillee and makes for lousy eating.

Not that I completely disown February. February I don't have to mow the lawn. February the hedges don't need cutting. February the spider mites don't eat my dwarf Alberta Spruces that line the back yard. Other than that, February is pretty much a write-off.

February gets an "F", and that stands for Florida.

Why there is a January

Number one reason there is a January is that Fred and Bill had to have a month for the Cub rebuild project. Not that they'll be finished by the end of the month, but it gives them time to get so deep into the thing that they have to finish it. No backing out now.

Number two reason for having a January is so Bob can protest that he is NOT going to Florida this year. I saw him today, and he denied emphatically that he would be going to Florida this year. Too many old people there. They don't know how to drive. (Most of them came from New York).

Bill and Stuart don't care about January. They have closed cabin airplanes. Bill even has toe brakes. Steve says he doesn't care. He has a closed cabin airplane, too, but he has heel brakes and they work.

I have a good reason for January - it's for doing all the stuff you don't want to do when the weather is good enough for flying. Now, if I could only get past the temperature in the hangar. It's cold.

More prop stuff ... and an eye toward 2007

I hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas and will have a safe New Year's ... and a safe New Year, too. For my part I've been doing my bit to promote aviation safety by not flying.

I took the wood prop to Sensenich at Plant City yesterday and couldn't have been met by nicer people. Their business manager, Don something, was just great - he's been there for 30 years and knows his prop stuff pretty well. He's also the last guy who signs off the props before they go out the door. He listened to my description (it'll balance with 4 quarters and a penny) and then went right back to the balancing rack - couldn't believe his eyes. He said he was shocked and I believe him. Then we went over to the edge alignment table where they check how straight the prop is and it was out quite a bit beyond tolerance. Again, he was shocked - and I believe him. They're making a new prop for me and I'll deal directly with the shop, thereby taking any middlemen and any possible storage issues out of the equation. No charge.

This is a first for me - and Don said it was a first for him, too. The prop was really out of whack. Good news is I'm on the A list and will get my new one in 3 or 4 weeks.

This is a good time to look ahead ... in 2007, I resolve:

To fly a little more and fix a little less,
To take as many kids of all ages for rides in the Cub,
To encourage aspiring pilots along their way toward their licenses,
To help people without being asked,
To be the kind of friend my friends have been to me,
To spend some quiet time with someone who really needs it,
To write those letters I've been meaning to write,
To let a few of my teachers know that I remember them and their encouragement,
To teach my grandsons to shoot,
To teach my granddaughters to shoot,
To get another dog,
To finish renovating the old family place,
To find the spring,
To clean the cemetery and straighten the stones,
To build a barn,
To make new friends,
To lose the weight I put back on,
To keep my eye on the place I would make for myself,
and
To let you know how it's going.

Thanks for stopping by ...

Alex

On friends, old airplanes, and #3 exhaust valves

The verdict is in on the rough running engine in my J-3 Cub - the exhaust valve on the #3 cylinder fails to seat properly. Just why is a mystery for Lee to divine, but after a week of head scratching and hypothesizing, Russ and Stu and Bill and Bob and Bill and Mike and Steve all pitched in and we found the problem. I wrote George, who flew with me when I brought the Cub to NY:

Hi George ..Well, I went out to the airport and fired up the Cub last weekend … engine ran rough. I couldn’t believe it. It felt like the motor was running on three cylinders, it was shaking so badly … There was a lot of muttering and mumbling on my part … the cylinders all felt the same compression-wise … It really felt like there was a miss, but at the same time it could have been an out-of-balance prop (although I store it horizontally) or some other goofy thing. It was the same on each magneto … On Monday I went out and pulled the lower plugs and cleaned them and that seemed to help a little, but only marginally. I’m going to pull the upper plugs over the weekend. The airplane has been sitting for about 3 months while I decide What To Do With The Rest Of My Life and I can see now that letting it sit is probably not a good thing to do. The engine rebuilder guy is all for the plugs – I am completely mystified. Cold up in New York today ... blah blah blah ...

George wrote back:

I believe that airplanes are capable of sulking when they are given insufficient attention by their owners. In this case, though, I’d look at plugs. You did exactly what I’d have done. The other malady that comes to mind, regardless of the apparent compression, is a stuck valve. Can you pull the rocker covers and have somebody prop it while you observe? ... Cheers, G

After glossing over that crack about insufficient attention we scratched our heads and after Russ waved the magic wand I wrote again:

The problem has been diagnosed – partly. At least we know which cylinder it is and maybe part of the cause. You got it – stuck valve. The telephone diagnosis was coke in the valve guide but then my ol’ buddy mechanician took a closer look and it might be more than that – even to a cracked cylinder. So tomorrow off comes the jug and it’ll be shipped maybe to Superior for a closer look. We worked through it all, and without any contesting and everybody finally agreed that the way to do it is the right way. We’ll all end up feeling good about it (if the engine proves good when all’s said and done). What was really strange was that the cylinder held pressure when we checked it the first 2 times … then when we ran it for about 2 minutes with the rocker covers off (what a mess) – just enough to put a little heat in the cylinder – we hand propped it through all 4 and the prop swung right through what turned out to be #3. Pushback into the hangar and tried the pressure gauge again and it held pressure again … backed off the prop a little to unseat the valve and WHOOSH that was that – the valve never re-seated. I can’t tell you what a relief it was to find a specific problem that made sense. Let’s hope the problem turns out to be the cylinder – if it’s tappets, we’re going to have to split the case again. Newly rebuilt engines are new to me – I prefer airplane engines with a couple of hundred hours on them if they’ve been treated well. … Our trip to Hville is going to be another quickie – enough time to be struck dumb by the mess and then back before the Christmas traffic gets ghastly. On the way back, we’re thinking of overnighting at Broxton Bridge Plantation near Ehrhardt … the owners have a little over 7500 acres with an airstrip, meeting house, B&B, fishing hole, shooting, and horseback riding … a real find, if what I read on their website is anywhere close to accurate. I always wanted a plantation. You and I could sit on the veranda, listen to the crickets and the bullfrogs and make friends with a condensation-beaded glass of something cold.

>>>>TODAY WAS THE DAY<<<<

... and here's what I tacked on to my last note to George:

Well, Geo … it was partly the valve (fixed today) and partly an out of balance prop. So we were both on the money. I couldn’t believe it – after pulling the cylinder and cleaning the valve seat and guide, the engine still was a little shaky – not running rough, just shaky. AT LEAST PART OF THE EQUATION WAS SOLVED. (CAPS LOCK off). So Russ pulled a metal prop out of his hangar and bolted it on – the engine is smooth as glass. Just in case the problem was really fixed and the prop change was an illusion, we re-mounted the wood prop and it shook again … remounted the metal prop and it was smooth. Pretty solid evidence. So the wood prop that looked so nice and felt so comfortable in my hand when pulling it through is in the back of the car and will go with us to Florida – by car now instead of Southwest Airlines. More on that. Last week when we flew back up to NY, I had a little ear blockage in my right ear – no biggie, this has happened before and resolved in a few days. This time it didn’t resolve and I’ve had a middle ear full of gunk for a week. No real hurt, but uncomfortable, if you know what I mean. So I went to my local ENT guy who couldn’t see me but another doc in one of the other offices could so I saw him – we didn’t speak the same language but he supplied me with the meds I already knew I needed from my research (on the internet, natch) and I finally got in to see my real doc today – he said no fly, flyboy, so that’s the best excuse I could have gotten – a gift, actually – to drive and take my prop and a couple of rifles and whatnot at the same time. Life just keeps on happening no matter what plans you make … ain’t it a kick?

And that's how my week has been.

It's December ... Where did November go???

OK, I admit it, I'm guilty of goofing off.

But in the middle of it all, I retired and then signed on with an old friend to set up his flight department, so I guess I un-retired. The Cub sat, patiently, through all of this until yesterday, when I finally made it back to the airport after too long an absence and asked Bill to help me get 'er started for a drive around the patch. First blade, it started, then commenced to shake like the dickens ... I thought I was running on three cylinders. This kept up, so I shut it down and asked opinions (which are free at Bayport) and then we tried it again. Same deal. Ran it up and down the rpm scale, same thing. Let it warm up good, taxiied out and did a couple of full power runs. Same thing. Brought it back, took off the cowlings and checked all the intake hoses, plug wires, etc etc ... let everybody get a good look ... and then started it up again after a good pre-heat (it was a bit chilly outside - mid 40s) ... same thing.

Grrr.

Lee wasn't answering the phone this morning at the engine shop - probably busy rebuilding engines since that's what he does - so it'll be later today when I find out what to look for next.

Maybe the wood prop somehow went out of balance?? Maybe. My next step if Lee doesn't have anything particular in mind is to put a metal prop on and see if the vibration goes away. If it does, then I have my culprit. More on this saga later.

Fly safely ...

It's October ... Where did September go??

Simple story. September I sort of changed jobs. Actually, there was this big reorganization and instead of retiring next summer, I 'got' retired a little early. Then the phone rang and I un-retired about 25 hours later. So, the old dog is back in the saddle, only I don't have a saddle yet. I celebrated by taking some time off.

My office, September 2005

The time off was originally planned to find and buy land for an airport where I would spend some time in the sun, sweating and grading a runway, sculpting the grounds around the runway for a park (an air-park, get it?) and plan for the hoards of enthusiastic sport pilots, antique pilots, light-sport airplanes, antique airplanes, campers, parachutists, lunch fixers and eaters and tellers of tall tales. I also hoped to sit around composing long sentences and maybe build a house, a bunk house, and some hangars. It all looked really good on paper but then when I found my 302 acre dream spot, the reality of $$$ set in. Whew! I never thought retirement could be so expensive. It's a good thing I have a job!

SO that's what I did during September and this far into October ... If the muse strikes again pretty soon (I owe the little bugger big time) I'll be back. In the meantime, fly safe and fly often.

August 06, fair August ... ?

You talk about rain ... you talk about wind ... August 2006 had both in spades, at least on Long Island. But ... there were those idyllic August days when the breezes were light, the grass was freshly mown and flying was happening all around. The best news was when Bob and Ace got their medicals back and Bill T's Vagabond was finally signed off for flight with the mighty C-85 in the nose. Talk about a rocket! He pushes up the power and it's off to the races, climbing like a scalded ape. Those short wing Pipers are fun when they have the juice. Bill hasn't stopped smiling.

I'm a little ahead of myself...

The month actually started at the tail end of July on a trip to Brazil in the Big G ... Mike and I made a side trip to San Jose dos Campos where they build the Embraer jets and got a tour of the factory ... this is a picture of a new Legacy corporate jet, which is based on the EMB-135 airframe. We came away with a handful of little jet pins which we parlayed into points with the girls in the office back home and an idea of things to come ... the Embraer people build a nice airplane and apparently a pretty durable one since they're in service as commuter (and larger) airliners all over the world.

There were a bunch of little trips all through August, but the Big Day was the 26th: the day of the Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York Fly-In, pig roast, camping trip and flying/lying fest. The weather stunk! Friday had a tornado touchdown on Long Island (fortunately Bayport Aerodrome is disguised as a long, straight and smooth stretch of grass and the tornado gods don't even notice it - they look for paved runways where numerous all-aluminum Cessnas, Pipers and such are tied down outside so as to make a bigger splash on the evening news). The picture is of a few of the airplanes that turned out ... we actually sold enough wristbands (all you can eat pig and potato salad and slaw; all you can drink belly washers of all sorts) to pay for the pig and fixins so I guess it turned out pretty well. Yours truly and noted bomb-aimer Harry captured the glory for coming closest to the flour-bomb target. Bill T. won the spot landing contest in his hotrod Vagabond. There were some really nice airplanes there - some from as far away as Connecticut! Next year maybe the weather will cooperate.

The first oil change is coming up on the Cub's engine and I'm looking forward to some good news when we crack the filter open ... Oil temps are coming down a little and so far it looks like we have a good engine. I called my engine man - Lee - and he said it sounded like everything is just as it should be.

More later. Fly safe.