We're back from another fantastic year at the Quad Cities Air Show. Brian and I loaded up the Texan and left Ames on Friday morning, after a slight delay to a couple local 'mustangs' stopping by the field. Once in the air, the skies were smooth as glass - a beautiful flight to Davenport. On the ground, we mosied around, watching the other planes fly in, including Craig Sommerfeld who brought his T-34 for the first time to the show. With the weather forecast, the Sokos chose to make the long drive rather than than fly, leaving the Stearman tucked away safely in its hangar at Crete. With the storms on Friday night (and again on Saturday), there was no doubt they made the right choice.
To keep a long story short, despite some on-and-off weather, the air show was fantastic... despite a DC-3 flat tire and a much too close call with an Air Force T6 that wasn't tied down during the high winds on Friday night. And, the evenings were full of great company and splendid stories (and even a bit of good natured av-smack talk). Hope to see you there next year!

We're packing our bags and cleaning the Texan for a weekend in the sun at the Quad Cities Air Show.
Hope to see you there!

Brian and I had the privilege to talk with a reporter last summer at the Greenfield fly-in. We didn't expect to find our story in the latest issue of The Iowan. The article is called Airborne, and you can read the text-only version on The Iowan's website at www.iowan.com. Or, just click here to go straight to the article.

It was a weekend forecast for plenty of thunderstorms and little sun. So we set the bar pretty low for flying plans, especially after all the tornado warnings on Friday. Fortunately, Sunshine woke us up Saturday morning. We hustled up to Ames and pulled out the stock Stearman and made the 10 minute flight to Boone for their annual RV day. Even though we need an extra wing to fly, they still let us join the party, and we enjoyed checking out a couple dozen RVs (and then some BBQ).
I pulled out my camera to snap some cool custom paint schemes, but NO! I forgot the charge the blasted thing,  So, unfortunately all I can give you today is a photo I snapped of the stock Stearman, the Green Lantern, and Sokos' Stearman. I tied a string to my finger so this next weekend I'll have a fully charged camera.
To make the weekend even better, the weather stayed in our favor, and we fit in a couple more flights in the afternoon (yes, both Brian and the Stearman survived a couple more landings done Rachel-style). The evening wrapped up perfectly with Brian and Matthew playing vapor wars (vapors are ultra-light RC airplanes).
Sunday was another great day for flying. Brian and Matthew flew up to the Minneapolis area to give a ride to a 90-year-old pilot - who has over 1000 years logged as an instructor in Texans. He enjoyed the flight, since the last time he flew T6s, they were fresh out of the factory. To wrap up the afternoon, they enjoyed a lunch of fresh bass. Hands down, it was a perfect half-fast flying weekend.

When we heard rumors about a movie called The Red Baron, Brian and I did a high five. So I googled the very next minute, only to be disappointed to discover that it wasn't coming out for awhile yet. Well, life went on for the next month or so... and then.... We received our latest product to test for the EAA. You see, I signed us up to be EAA product reviewers for the freebies such as little finger magnets. Anyway, back to the story. Brian opened the packaging to find... (drum roll)... a copy of The Red Baron! I know, how lucky is that?! So we shredded the plastic wrapper and had it in the DVD player before you could say, "awesome!" We loved the movie. If you'd like to see Brian's official review, it's on page 18 of the May issue of EAA Sport Aviation.
Now the best part for all you Netflixers out there... it is available for instant view on Netflix right now. Can I hear a "woo hoo!" 

June is Annabelle's birthday, and she wanted to do something special this year. So we took a break from flying and let her strut her stuff on the wings (and cockpit) of the Stearman. What a brunette beauty!

With storms on and off this week, we haven't had a chance to do much flying. So I thought I'd open it up to you. Any fun flying (or ground) adventures to share this week? 

Our weekend turned out slightly different than planned. First, Saturday morning storms prevented us from making the Newton fly-in. And then the Texan was a little temperamental so Brian and Travis worked on getting it back in shape on Sunday. Not much flying but a productive weekend nonetheless. 
At least Brian was able to fit in a quick flight between storms last night when he brought the stock Stearman down to Ankeny for the Dave Funk campaign (Dave's our brother-in-law). And, if the weather holds, tonight should be a great nice for a bit of flying... especially now that the second runway is open again in Ames. Yay! 

If the weather holds, it looks like it will be a great weekend for fly-in breakfasts. Newton is Saturday, and Sunday you have your pick of Audubon, Denison or Washington. We'll probably shoot for Audubon since they sometimes have omelets. num num!
Off to the hangar now... have a great weekend!