I have lots of great photos and stories to share from a jam-packed weekend (yeah, I could sleep for a week). BUT I left my camera at the hangar! So until then, here's a pic of several of us this weekend with Jason from The Nadas. They played on the deck of Boomer & Kathy's Stone House Tap because Boomer helped save their bus. It had been awhile since I'd heard them perform live, and they are still as awesome as ever. 
More stories to come once I get my camera back!
Any good Memorial Day stories you'd like to share???

During everything you have planned this weekend, be sure to take a minute to reflect on all the men and women who sacrificed their lives so we could be with our friends and family this weekend. Thanks to them, we get to fly around the countryside and enjoy our freedom. Have a great holiday weekend!

Yesterday was a good day. No. Make that a great day. I came home from work to find a heavy box at the front door. I opened it to find paperbacks of my debut novel, Knightfall. Woot! (Brian swears he was the cover model). If you like to read romance with sexy knights, it can be ordered from any bookstore as well as most bookstores online. It's also available for Kindle and will be available on other ebook formats within the next couple weeks. Oh, yeah, and did I mention the heroine is a pilot?

As if that wasn't enough, I logged my first hour of Stearman flight for 2011 (I blame the weather!) and had a great time flying with Brian. Upon landing, we taxied by 3 Cobras and 2 Hueys parked at the Ames airport. Of all times to forget my camera! (*smacks forehead*) Well, just trust us, the choppers were really cool and added a surreal memory to an all-around great day. 
How about you? Any great new stories to share?

Well, the weather didn't cooperate for Boone's fly-in breakfast Saturday. So we hopped in the car and drove to BNW for their tasty biscuits and gravy. From there, we returned to our hangar to find Matt Sawhill hard at work on his nearly rebuilt RV. To the right is a picture he sent us after continuing work on it yesterday. Looks like it's about ready to fly! 

Just a quick post before I head out of town on a business trip... Brian and Matthew spent the weekend assembling Matthew's new RV. The wings and prop are on. Beyond that, they'll have to leave comments to give you an update (I stayed home!). Anyone else out there make headway on a project this weekend???On a side note, there's all kinds of fun events scheduled for this upcoming weekend. Saturday brings us Boone's fly-in breakfast (Brian and I are hitting that one) and open houses at the Ankeny and Independence airports. It's also the official "Learn to Fly" day, so all kinds of events are planned at various airports. Here's the details on this day: http://www.learntofly.org/
Have a great week!

Do you feel the need? The need for Speed? If so, then today is for you! Some creative folks out there designated May 13 as Top Gun Day. What's this mean to us? Well, according to their website, www.TopGunDay.com, you get to quote Top Gun all day, wear aviator glasses, pretend you're a fighter pilot, and play volleyball in jeans (one of my favorite scenes in the movie). Oh wait, we do those things every day! 
If you need a call sign, never fear. You can generate one on their website. I gave it a shot, and found out my call sign is Music. That's right, Ice...man. I am dangerous. 

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Saturday morning brought an absolutely perfect flying day to us. So we hopped in the T-6, hooked up with Craig and his T-34 and flew down to Pella for their annual flight breakfast. Held during the Pella Tulip Festival, this was the first year in a long time that the fly-in was blessed with good weather. The turn-out was great and the breakfast was unbelievably yummy (we were too full to follow a gander of Aeroncas and one Cessna 140 to Sully for lunch). We stayed at Pella and looked at a nicely restored Stinson 108 for ideas for our project, and then we spent some time admiring the RCs, including a realistic T-6 model. 
How was your weekend???

It's spring, which means it's time for the fly-in breakfast season to begin. Brian and I have held off eating pancakes all winter in preparation for this season. First up? In Iowa, tomorrow (Saturday) morning, Pella is having a fly-in breakfast as part of their annual Tulip Time Festival. Breakfast is 7am-10am, and Brian and I hope to make our first one of the season. Hope to see you there!
For details: www.pellatuliptime.com

Today Brian opened the latest issue of the Stearman Flying Wire (that's the news rag for Stearmanaholics). First article? A story of my first flight in in a Stearman... in 429 to be exact. It was a little something I wrote during the cold winter months and submitted for the heck of it. I was (very pleasantly) surprised to read it in print. Anyway, it reminded me of all the other first flight stories out there. Your turn. What memories do you have of your first flight in a particular airplane?