335 As The Crow Flies: 3/15/09

Saturday, March 21, 2009

21 March, 2009 -- To Iowa, 450asthecardrives

Lloyd & I stopped by to see Dyer the Flyer (ag pilot) in Marshall on our way to Iowa. Dyer's collected crocks, all sizes from the biggest to the smallest. Also has a collection of license plates from all over the country!

Murals in Chilicothe

Tractors along the way.

After ribs at Hickory Park in Ames, LAD picked out some new goldfish at WM. Of course, "I want THAT one! NO, THAT one." Well, not really, it was just scoop & dip & here ya are.

Scenery

Friday, March 20, 2009

20 March, 2009 -- Spring sprouts

Tomatoes are sprouting!

Finally finished the dvds for Saturday's Celebration of Life for Gene
at the hangar in Willow Springs. We'll be on our way to Iowa, so somebody
will have to pick them up on their way through town.

19 March, 2009 -- Friends around the campfire

Our MO Pilots' Assn. finally got to roast hot dogs over an open fire
(last year, too much wind).

The campfire picture has a painterly look to it, I was
demonstrating my Blackberry to Pat.

Hey, lookie... I'm the cook! Now, that's scary.
That's the VFW bingo crowd next door.

Jerry P brought his new puppy, what a little cutie!

Kate makes a point about something, and Tom threatens May
(I don't think she's afraid) with his bamboo hot dog cooker stick.

Kate managed a wave to me before Ben cut her off.
Ray's talking politics, frothing and raving, but that's just Ray!

It was just cool enough to really enjoy the campfire.
Everybody was inside eating before the meeting. Thanks, Jerry P,
for conducting a good meeting. But they all missed the sunset.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

18 March, 2009 -- Daffodils for Gene

This one's for Gene Pascoe. His celebration of life will be Saturday,
at the EAA hangar in Willow Springs.

There are still two crocus blossoms hiding under the rubble of grass
at the airport sign, near the clump of daffodils.

The FAA King Air flew the VOR/GPS instrument approach into Mtn. Grove
today, went around on the missed approach, then flew
off back to the Dogwood VOR west of Ava. They fly the approaches
around the state periodically, checking the technical details.
I hope they were impressed with our new grass, which is greening
up more and more every day. They probably didn't even look down.

I thought I caught it with one main gear hanging out, but didn't.
That's black paint on the forward underside of the gear/engine
compartments. The gear doors are the blue farthest back part of
the nacelle. The gear retraction would have begun after throttle up
at the missed approach point, west of the runway. We are half a mile east of the
runway, so it took that long to retract. Perhaps a mile and a half to 2 miles.

17 March, 2009 -- A friend is gone

Gene Pascoe was a good friend in our EAA chapter
in Willow Springs. He passed away on tuesday, after a
battle with heart disease. He recently had open
heart surgery. Gene was 83. He was always an active
hand on the ground crew when we flew Young Eagles,
and was a past treasurer of the Chapter. We'll miss him!

Monday, March 16, 2009

16 March, 2009 -- Plan B, or C, or X

Randy and Lloyd were supposed to go to the Ag Pilots'
fly-in over in the bootheel today. So Randy flew the
Cherokee 140 down here from Iowa. Then the plan was
for Randy to fly the Ag Husky to the bootheel, with Lloyd
driving over there. Then the plan was further laid out
to go to Georgia to look at another ag plane they just bought.

Plan B: after getting the mail, just before Randy landed in
the 140, Lloyd discovered the fly-in has been postponed
until mid-April. OK, plan C.

Plan C: Randy returned to Iowa in the Ag Husky, so he
and his "boss" Bill could go to Florida and retrieve a Beech 18.

OK, we'll see if Plan C gets accomplished.

Meanwhile, Ron and his son Chance showed up for fuel
in his nice Beech Skipper.