Jim Delveau has finished building his RV6.  After several years of hard work he's now flying the red and white RV6 he built on his own (with quite a bit of help and moral support from Jennifer of course).  In fact, I believe he may have set a new world record for burning the first 40 hours off a new plane in just one week flat!  When Saturday rolled around, quite a few of us got in line for the first rides in his RV and to help him celebrate his hard earned milestone... and much deserved - his RV (N529RV) is a great looking, fun flying airplane.  We'll load pictures of Jim's RV as soon as we can get our hands on some.  As for the celebration, it was a great time to be had by all - although Lisa's tasty home made chocolate rasberry port left one helluva headache Sunday morning.  :)

As an added bonus to an already great day, Jeff Beckley gave the keys of his newly finished, pristine RV7 to Brian to take her for a ride.   Brian had fun getting back into a tricycle gear airplane... Thanks Jeff!

There were plenty of small adventures to be had during the great weather this past weekend.  Brian kicked off Saturday morning bright and early by flying down to Knoxville in the Texan for breakfast.  Jim Delveau, who's currently in the running for setting a new record for how fast he can burn the first 40 hours off his newly finished RV, joined him as I had a couple other obligations.  From the sound of things, Knoxville had a great breakfast and put on the full dog and pony show... literally - they offered pony rides and had Shelter pets available for adoption in the midst of all the fun. 
Returning to Ames, Brian hung around the airport and visited with a few curious hangar visitors.  Friends Jay & Deb stopped by, and Brian gave Deb her first Stearman ride (sounds like she's hooked).  Now we're nagging Jay more than ever to add an airplane to his large collection of muscle cars.  For more good news, we learned that our hangar neighbor, Christian, just bought a two-seater Pitts (S2A), which we're looking forward to seeing that energetic thing in the air.  Sunday was too windy to fly, but it was a good excuse for some hangar "housekeeping."  Now it's back to the daily office grind and looking forward to the next adventure...

So there we were, in our Ames hangar freshening up the Stearman before heading out to last week's National Stearman Fly-In, then all of a sudden we hear the sound of a radial engine flying low overhead.  In a flash, Brian had dropped his cleaning rag and was outside looking to sky.  Lo and behold, it's Addison Pemberton touching down with his brand spanking "new" eighty-years-old Boeing 40.  Now based in Spokane, Washington, the Boeing 40 is the oldest flying Boeing today and did a fair share of mail delivery in its day. 

On this day, Addison was stopping through Ames - for work of all reasons! We oggled the plane for a bit and had a great conversation with Addison and Wendy, who - in addition to being aviation enthusiasts just so happen to be an awesome couple.   Discovering that Addison had just been signed in as an official mail carrier, we jumped on the opportunity to mail a letter via the U.S. Boeing 40.  Looking back on this day and imagining what it would be like having a Boeing 40 as a business plane - sure seems like Addison has found the perfect job.  

We're back from a our latest aerial adventure: the 37th annual National Stearman Fly-In.  Due to weather, only 71 Stearmans made it to Galesburg, Illinois, for the event - compared to nearly 130 in attendance last year. With a little more rain than usual, we still had a great time at the Stearman Mecca of the world.  Below is our timeline from this year's fly-in. 

And, if you want to see more photos from this event, check out Jerry Ryberg's great site: http://gburgflyin.shutterfly.com/.

Wednesday: It was a chilly 53 degrees went we took off from Ames, making the 2-hour open air flight a cold one.  We landed and taxied to the front line where Jim had saved us a great spot.  Clouds had already begun to roll in when we landed, so we tied down and covered the Stearman to prepare for the impending rain.  Feeling assured we did what we could for the plane, we called it quits and headed downtown for pizza with Jim and the Valleros.

Thursday:
It rained from sunrise through sunset. We hung around the airport for awhile, but then spent most of the day at the hotel.  Humbug... no flying today.

Friday:
72 degrees and sunny!  We started the morning with the flour bombing contest; we didn't win - must've had a wind gust :).  And then it was off to the Wolford farm for their annual picnic.  Here's our 429 taking in the sunshine there. 

Paul Fries' 450 "Don't Fence Me In" Stearman looks right at home on the Wolford farm.

The Wolford picnic brought a sea of yellow wings. #343 is Jim's Stearman, and we enjoyed some formation flying back to Galesburg after a great lunch provided by the Wolfords - some of the nicest folks around.  

Later in the afternoon, we went for a ride in Mark and Celia Godsil's AT11. Brian got some stick time in it, and we both got to enjoy the close-up view of the props out the bomb-sight compartment.

Saturday:
Another beautiful day!  We overslept (like usual) and missed Dawn Patrol, but Chaurie Shekels snapped this beautiful photo of Stearmans in the early morning mist.

First flight of the day was back down to the Wolford farm for the aerobatic contest (Brian was a judge).  The show was great, and I even tried to institute a Fan's Favorite award - maybe next year...  Back from Wolfords, it was immediately time for Brian to head out for the Formation contest.  His foursome - the Goofs - placed third, which is great considering they flew together for the first time the day before.  Here's a photo of Brian and Les (in his Recall Stearman) taxiing out for the contest.

Brian didn't get much time to catch his breath because as soon as he landed, we were invited to join the 450 crew on an adventure in the Mississippi River area.  Brian learned an exciting new maneuver from Rick, and I learned how to do a roll - thanks to Jim.  The afternoon was a blast, and I'm looking forward to trying out plenty of new things...

Returning from our flight down the river, Brian hopped rides for Chaurie, Bri, and Stephanie Shekels (Poor Scott was odd man out this year). With her 16th birthday just one year away, we're keeping our fingers crossed that there may be another woman pilot in the fold. They're an awesome bunch, and we look forward to some Minnesota flying adventures with them this next year.

Sunday: It's a cold, cloudy morning.  We woke early to beat any of the weather rumored to ruin the day.  It's a little sad to fly away from the airport the last time for this year.  Only 364 days until the next migration of the odd, large yellow and blue/yellow birds flock back into Galesburg!

Snoopy wrench? Check.  Extra oil? Check. Tie-downs? Check.  Clothes? Check.  Air horn? Check.  It looks like we're ready.  And so off we go to the National Stearman Fly-In in Galesburg, Illinois, for the week.  We'll check back in after we return on Sunday.  Have a great week!

Blakesburg Band
It looked like a record year for the Antique Airfield's 2008 fly-in.  With over 300 planes of every vintage and style, paired with perfect weather, the weekend literally flew by.  During the day we enjoyed taking in the scenery... everything from a rare Jenny to seeing a Bamboo Bomber do a roll. And in the nights we put up our feet to enjoy the company of fellow aviators (and aviatrix) - this picture shows our friend Matt Sawhill trying on the Banjo for the first time and making some pretty darn good music.

Hanging With Jenny
When we were coming in for landing at this year's Antique Fly-In, we had quite the welcome committee.  It looked like just about everyone there was standing by the runway watching us land.  That seemed a little odd since a Stearman doesn't exactly stand out at a fly-in known for attracting the rarest birds.  Touching down, we noticed that we were just the warm-up act for the Jenny, poised for take-off.  This Curtiss Jenny was trucked in from California and reassembled just for the fly-in.  She was a sight to see in both the air and on the ground. Throughout the weekend, this old gal went flying several times, and every time she attracted the attention of every guy in the place.

Camping in Style
At the recent Antique Fly-In, we found the perfect spot to pitch our tent. However, we learned one new thing about Stearmans during our first dewy night.  Heavy droplets of water falling from top to lower fabric wing on every Stearman around our tent presented a night that reverberated a percussionist symphony in surround sound.

Being Watched
If you look closely at this picture, you may notice a small RC helicopter checking out a polished Cessna 195 at this year's Antique Fly-In in Blakesburg. Our guess is that Matt Sawhill and Paul Austin were having a little fun.