Jay Honeck
Touchdown! Greaser!
For the second time in three years, we flew to this outstanding little fly-in, held annually in Rochelle, IL.
What makes this fly-in irresistable? It's held on SUNDAY (not Saturday), and it DOESN'T END AT NOON. This means that the organizers are wisely taking advantage of one (of two) days that most people have off. For reasons that remain a mystery to me, most fly-ins are held on Saturday mornings, before noon -- a time that (a) Mary and I are working, and (b) no normal human wants to be up and awake.
Rochelle, therefore, captures a market that few occupy; as a result, they have a FABULOUS crowd. Better yet, they serve pork chop sandwiches and fresh-picked sweet corn, a FAR better repast than rubber eggs and stretchy pancakes.
This year they had the "George Bush" Avenger (familiar to all who attend OSH) on the line, along with a good selection of T-6's, T-34s, and a smattering of interesting civilian planes. Topping it off was our own University of Iowa's L-29 jet trainer, painted in full Blue Angel regalia. This plane is slow as hell, but makes a great show of noise and smoke, so its presence is all worthwhile.
The weather was PERFECT -- calm winds, 80 degrees, a scattered layer at 3500'. Up at 5500, it was just gorgeous, since all the rain of late has made the entire Midwest into an emerald green paradise, as far as the eye can see.
After determining that we hadn't won the drawing (despite spending a whole $10 on raffle tickets), it was time to head for home. I had flown in, Mary flew out. Our departure was made all the more interesting by the EXTREMELY low pass made by the TBM-Avenger, flying in very close formation with a T-6. Best of all, the pilots made their approach directly at the terminal building, perpendicular to the runway. If they were 50 feet off the ramp, I'll eat my hat -- they were SCRAPING the asphalt! It was awesome!
The flight home was sublime. Stuffed full of pork, corn, and ice cream, I dozed most of the way, playing with the XM radio as needed. Landing at our "home-away-from-home" in Washington, Iowa (our airport has been entirely, 100% closed for the last 20 days, while they repave our only two remaining runways), we sadly tied Atlas back down outside (parked right next to Sweetie, our Ercoupe) where he can get hailed on, crapped on, and sprayed with chemicals from all the crop dusters. I will NEVER park my plane outside again, after this airport re-do is complete!
Anyway, it was a great day of flying. It made me forgive the 45 minute drive to get to -- and from -- the airplane!
What makes this fly-in irresistable? It's held on SUNDAY (not Saturday), and it DOESN'T END AT NOON. This means that the organizers are wisely taking advantage of one (of two) days that most people have off. For reasons that remain a mystery to me, most fly-ins are held on Saturday mornings, before noon -- a time that (a) Mary and I are working, and (b) no normal human wants to be up and awake.
Rochelle, therefore, captures a market that few occupy; as a result, they have a FABULOUS crowd. Better yet, they serve pork chop sandwiches and fresh-picked sweet corn, a FAR better repast than rubber eggs and stretchy pancakes.
This year they had the "George Bush" Avenger (familiar to all who attend OSH) on the line, along with a good selection of T-6's, T-34s, and a smattering of interesting civilian planes. Topping it off was our own University of Iowa's L-29 jet trainer, painted in full Blue Angel regalia. This plane is slow as hell, but makes a great show of noise and smoke, so its presence is all worthwhile.
The weather was PERFECT -- calm winds, 80 degrees, a scattered layer at 3500'. Up at 5500, it was just gorgeous, since all the rain of late has made the entire Midwest into an emerald green paradise, as far as the eye can see.
After determining that we hadn't won the drawing (despite spending a whole $10 on raffle tickets), it was time to head for home. I had flown in, Mary flew out. Our departure was made all the more interesting by the EXTREMELY low pass made by the TBM-Avenger, flying in very close formation with a T-6. Best of all, the pilots made their approach directly at the terminal building, perpendicular to the runway. If they were 50 feet off the ramp, I'll eat my hat -- they were SCRAPING the asphalt! It was awesome!
The flight home was sublime. Stuffed full of pork, corn, and ice cream, I dozed most of the way, playing with the XM radio as needed. Landing at our "home-away-from-home" in Washington, Iowa (our airport has been entirely, 100% closed for the last 20 days, while they repave our only two remaining runways), we sadly tied Atlas back down outside (parked right next to Sweetie, our Ercoupe) where he can get hailed on, crapped on, and sprayed with chemicals from all the crop dusters. I will NEVER park my plane outside again, after this airport re-do is complete!
Anyway, it was a great day of flying. It made me forgive the 45 minute drive to get to -- and from -- the airplane!
