On Saturday, we're hosting the monthly Iowa Ninety-Nines meeting at our hangar. The Ninety-Nines is the international organization of women pilots. Touch-down is at 11am (there's plenty of room to park around the hangar and on the ramp at AMW), and we'll drive over to Dublin Bay around 11:30 am for lunch. Everyone (men, women, even children) is welcome. You don't need to be a member or become a member to join us for lunch!

If you are a woman with your license, student license, or considering getting your license and would like to learn more about the 99s, this will be a great time to visit with other pilots! 

A short 99s meeting will be held after lunch, so anyone who wishes to join us just for lunch will be free to head out immediately after we return from Dublin Bay. 

In case of inclement weather, Brian and I will still be at the hangar and will plan on doing lunch at Dublin in case anyone can drive in and join us. See you on Saturday!

Tomorrow morning, from 7am to noon, the Iowa State Flying Cyclones are having their annual fly-in/drive-in pancake breakfast at the Ames (AMW) airport--at Hap's maintenance hangar. We'll be there. Weather permitting, we'll have a couple planes sitting out to welcome you. If the weather is not so permitting, we'll at least have the hangar open 

With how social media continually evolves, we're making a change to keep up. 
Regular updates will be made to the Half Fast Flying Adventures page on Facebook, so please "like" us there to see all the updates and pictures from both Brian and Rachel. What this means to the blog is that you'll see fewer posts here, and a new home page will be coming soon. Don't worry, we're not going anywhere, and we plan to share plenty more great stories!

Wow, where has the month gone? You may have noticed that blog activity has been nonexistent this month. Things got hectic in February (staph infection, book deadlines, and job changes, to list a few), and so the blog had to taxi and hold for a few weeks, in true half fast style. The good news is that it's almost March, and things will be quickly returning to normal. As things are still chaotic, I have little to update.

To tide you over, here's a documentary-like video of a Lufthansa German Airlines A380-800 Super coming in for approach/landing in San Francisco. It's pretty impressive, and the cockpit is a bit more advanced than a Champ's. Oh, and to add a bit more emotion to the video, this was the pilot's final flight before retirement. Click here to watch the video. Enjoy!

Over the past week, Brian has scanned in a few hundred slides from the 70's, many from National Stearman Fly-Ins. Here's a random sampling of some of his pictures. More to come!

I'm an organizer, through and through. I love to know that I have everything I need with me when I fly. I'm also a minimalist, so I hate bulk. There are a number of items I stow in the baggage of each airplane we own, for the "just in case" scenario of being weathered in somewhere inconvenient. These are in addition to the all the FAA-required stuff you need, like the POH (Pilot Operating Handbook).

Here's my list of twelve "must have" things that should be in the baggage of every airplane:
1. Fuel checker/strainer
2. Tie-downs
3. Canopy cover (if appropriate) & pitot cover
4. First-aid kit (band-aids and tylenol, especially)
5. Sunscreen (unless you're one of those naturally blessed with darker skin)
6. Swiss army tool 
7. Snack bars & bottled water
8. Emergency blanket (those metallic silver kind that take up no weight or space)
9. Ponchos
10. Extra flashlight
11. Dzus tool (pronounced "Zeus", but I prefer to call them Snoopy wrenches because of their canine profile) 
12. An extra rag if you fly the old stuff or simply lack grace (like me) when fueling planes

Anything to add to the list?

Fly safe, because you never know where your adventures will take you.

This weekend, low temps and high winds are going to bombard much of the Midwest. Even with Christmas behind us, there's still plenty of winter lingering. If you plan on flying, be careful. Here are two quick tips to keep in mind for winter flying:

1. Keep warm. That goes for your airplane's engine, too. The cold is as ornery to engines as it is to our joints. Pre-warm your engine to give the starter and the battery a good boost.  

2. Keep your fuel tanks topped off as water can get into your fuel easier in winter, no thanks to condensation. As a rule, condensation should be on beer mugs, not in av-gas.

Plane and Pilot magazine offers a few more winter flying tips. Have a great weekend!  

We haven't been hiding out (though by the lack of blog posts, it would seem that was the case). We've been working on hangar projects, and we're pleased to say we're finally done with the walls. They are now covered with knotty pine on the lower half and corrugated tin on the upper half. Additionally, we've completed painting touch-ups and some serious reorganization (which is Brian's job... it doesn't work well when I try to organize his tools by color rather than function).
Up next is literaly "up." The hangar is about to be endowed with a gazillion (well, quite a few, anyway) new lights as well as new fans. Once that's done, all that will be left is the floor. In the meantime, stop on by and see how it's coming along!

I'm still setting my aviation goals for this year (I have my writing and personal goals already set and underway). My aviation goals will take a bit longer. They will definitely include logging time in the Champ and discovering at least one new airstrip in 2013. Last year, we stopped at Beaumont for breakfast as well as several other new places. Any recommendations for "hidden gems" or must-land places to visit in the U.S.?

How about your goals (if you're a goal-setter, that is)? Anything aviation-related on your to-do list this year?

2012 has been a busy year. We kept four airplanes in the air and three new books published. We saw familiar faces and made new friends. We worked on the hangar... and worked on it some more. And now we're excited to see what 2013 brings. For starters, we're planning on having a hangar shindig on July 4 (you're all invited!), and have two books scheduled for a spring and summer release. 

I predict 2013 to be a busy, fun-packed year. Rather than setting a resolution, I'm just going to set a reminder for myself: "Strap in and enjoy the ride." 

Your turn. What words of wisdom do you have for 2013?

May 2013 bring blue skies!