Although I FINALLY got to bed Thursday evening, rather Friday morning, at 0110 and set my alarm for 0615, I was up wide-eyed and bushy-tailed at 0530, so I decided to get on up, dress, check weather, make a quick stop at the church, and get gas to make it to the airport. Well, I really didn't need to check the weather ~~ the thunder was rumbling and the rain was pouring, so I knew a 0900 takeoff was not going to happen. That was somewhat of a relief; I didn't feel so rushed. After checking the weather, it looked like 1000 would be the earliest we could takeoff, so that was ample time to get to the airport, review my logbooks with Keith, my mechanic, and pack the airplane NEATLY :-).
After arriving, Athina and I carrried out our tasks as if we were on a mission; we were! The plane was packed, fuel was pumped, logbooks were explained, preflight was complete, and we said our goodbyes. Just as I was about to start the engine, Denise from Hetrick Aviation ran out and said Steve Frye from the Topeka Capital Journal was on the line. I ran inside, took his call, and in 10 minutes, he and his photographer were plane side to do a human interest story about our huge upcoming event. Athina and I smiled for the camera and shared many details about how this whole adventure came to be and what we hope to accomplish. It was a wonderful send off and we are certainly looking forward to reading the finished product as seen through the eyes of Steve Frye. We departed soon after, embarking upon a history-making journey of a lifetime!
Athina did another awesome job of flying us to Iowa City! The weather was gorgeous, the flight was smooth and fast, and Athina 'greased' another landing in "The Joybird" from the right seat!!! :-) But prior to arriving, we flew over the airport in Ottumwa, IA and it reminded of the movie "The Tuskegee Airman" because the pilot in the movie played by Laurence Fishburne was from Ottumwa, IA. This is sure beautiful country out here!!!
After arriving, Athina and I carrried out our tasks as if we were on a mission; we were! The plane was packed, fuel was pumped, logbooks were explained, preflight was complete, and we said our goodbyes. Just as I was about to start the engine, Denise from Hetrick Aviation ran out and said Steve Frye from the Topeka Capital Journal was on the line. I ran inside, took his call, and in 10 minutes, he and his photographer were plane side to do a human interest story about our huge upcoming event. Athina and I smiled for the camera and shared many details about how this whole adventure came to be and what we hope to accomplish. It was a wonderful send off and we are certainly looking forward to reading the finished product as seen through the eyes of Steve Frye. We departed soon after, embarking upon a history-making journey of a lifetime!
Athina did another awesome job of flying us to Iowa City! The weather was gorgeous, the flight was smooth and fast, and Athina 'greased' another landing in "The Joybird" from the right seat!!! :-) But prior to arriving, we flew over the airport in Ottumwa, IA and it reminded of the movie "The Tuskegee Airman" because the pilot in the movie played by Laurence Fishburne was from Ottumwa, IA. This is sure beautiful country out here!!!
After arriving, we went through the airplane inspection, which can have you sitting on the edge of your seat or biting your fingernails down to nubs :-). But, "The Joybird" came through the inspection with 'flying' colors. Well, she did have one minor hiccup; the landing light didn't work on inspection, however, it was operational when I did my preflight before leaving?????? The mechanics worked on/repaired it (it wasn't the bulb, but, they eventually got it working by jiggling the switch???????? Definitely gonna have Keith figure that out when we get back home.
Following the airplane inspection, we had credentials check and I'm pleased to announce we had every 'i' dotted and every 't' crossed; that was a near effortless process. Boy, if the whole race goes this smoothly, we can't help but come out the winners :-). The only thing left to do that day was fly the handicap flight. And that, I was nervous about. After waiting a few hours, it was finally my turn to fly the leg. I flew it with Terry Carbonnell, one of the ARC board members as well as the winning pilot from the 2010 Air Race Classic. That was enough to intimidate anyone :-). Anyway, she made me feel VERY relaxed, walked me through every little detail of the process and what to expect and off we went. The idea for the flight was to determine my true airspeed at 6000' density altitude, running full throttle with the mixture leaned for best power, maintaining a constant altitude and heading for all phases of the flight. (You aviators know what I'm talking about; for the rest of you, give me a call and I'll explain :-)). I would fly a cardinal heading (EAST) for 5 minutes while Terrie would take a reading of my airspeed every 20 seconds. Then I would turn to the next cardinal heading and she'd do the same. This continued until we made a square/rectangle. After she obtained all the readings she needed to calculate my handicap, the flight was done and she directed me to proceed back to the airport. As I mentioned before, no matter how well you fly, pilots are judged by how well they execute a landing. Terry mentioned that she doesn't grade landings, I was just a regular pilot, so get us back to the airport. I maneuvered back to land on Rwy 12 and although Terry said she wasn't judging my landing, I KNEW I had to finish the flight off nicely with a sweet landing. My approach was nice and stable and when I crossed the threshold, I felt a 'greaser' coming on :-). The next thing I heard was Terry say, "I don't grade landings, but if I were grading that one, it would have been an A+". Coming from Terry, I know you can imagine the grin that was plastered on my face.
I got to my parking spot on the grass, tied "The Joybird" down for the night, and believed I was looking upon the 2011 Air Race Classic winning airplane.:-)...Joyce
Following the airplane inspection, we had credentials check and I'm pleased to announce we had every 'i' dotted and every 't' crossed; that was a near effortless process. Boy, if the whole race goes this smoothly, we can't help but come out the winners :-). The only thing left to do that day was fly the handicap flight. And that, I was nervous about. After waiting a few hours, it was finally my turn to fly the leg. I flew it with Terry Carbonnell, one of the ARC board members as well as the winning pilot from the 2010 Air Race Classic. That was enough to intimidate anyone :-). Anyway, she made me feel VERY relaxed, walked me through every little detail of the process and what to expect and off we went. The idea for the flight was to determine my true airspeed at 6000' density altitude, running full throttle with the mixture leaned for best power, maintaining a constant altitude and heading for all phases of the flight. (You aviators know what I'm talking about; for the rest of you, give me a call and I'll explain :-)). I would fly a cardinal heading (EAST) for 5 minutes while Terrie would take a reading of my airspeed every 20 seconds. Then I would turn to the next cardinal heading and she'd do the same. This continued until we made a square/rectangle. After she obtained all the readings she needed to calculate my handicap, the flight was done and she directed me to proceed back to the airport. As I mentioned before, no matter how well you fly, pilots are judged by how well they execute a landing. Terry mentioned that she doesn't grade landings, I was just a regular pilot, so get us back to the airport. I maneuvered back to land on Rwy 12 and although Terry said she wasn't judging my landing, I KNEW I had to finish the flight off nicely with a sweet landing. My approach was nice and stable and when I crossed the threshold, I felt a 'greaser' coming on :-). The next thing I heard was Terry say, "I don't grade landings, but if I were grading that one, it would have been an A+". Coming from Terry, I know you can imagine the grin that was plastered on my face.
I got to my parking spot on the grass, tied "The Joybird" down for the night, and believed I was looking upon the 2011 Air Race Classic winning airplane.:-)...Joyce