335 As The Crow Flies

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.

Plan E: Ben and Bruce took the 140 for a spin to the local area
airports. No pictures.

Plan X: fix supper, leftovers. No pictures.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

15 March, 2009 -- Spring! well, almost again

BBQ chicken, the first day this spring it's been warm enough,
and the wind wasn't blowing the house down.

Cardinals were fretting because I had the deck
occupied and they couldn't get to the sunflower seeds!

In five days, the grass has sure greened up a bunch!

Saturday, March 14, 2009

14 March, 2009 -- Shootout

Well, I took Lloyd's new 40 caliber pistol and my 22 pistol down to our landfill this afternoon, and stirred up some dirt. Hit a few targets, too! The 40 didn't kick as much as I thought it would.
Saved the casings. We might have to hammer them down to make new money!

At the EAA meeting tonight, Clint put on an aerobatic demonstration, at least as much as can be accomplished indoors, and even without a prop. Each member had a "stick" to follow along with his instructions. That's Shannon holding up the cue cards.

Then, Jim auctioned off the St. Patrick's Day cake. Twice! Proceeds go to a fund for a student to attend an aeronautical camp in Springfield this summer.

Lots of green food, but no green libations for this group.

Friday, March 13, 2009

13 March, 2009 -- EEEEEk Friday the 13th Run! hide!

Friday the 13th. Oh, well. I started my garden.
Eight whole tomato plants, early variety. Should I plant 13?
Pelleted seeds are white, and are a lot easier to handle than plain old seeds.
I'm being optimistic, too; only one seed per peat pot.

Vandalism at the airport again last night!
Two areas are evident where a truck drove around in the soft
new grass. Not as much damage as the last time in November.