<![CDATA[Half Fast Flying Adventures - Half Fast Logbook]]>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:38:16 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Off to Oshkosh...]]>Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:38:43 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/off-to-oshkosh.htmlPicture
Tonight, Brian and I are packing our bags and prepping the Texan for the 2 hour flight to EAA Airventure in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. We're leaving first thing Thursday morning and plan to bring back plenty of stories and pictures when we return on Saturday evening. Hope to see you there!
]]><![CDATA[Lots of Aviation Pictures From Greenfield 2009]]>Sun, 25 Jul 2010 08:31:03 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/lots-of-aviation-pictures-from-greenfield-2009.htmlAs I mentioned a while back, Brian and I were fortunate enough to be included the latest edition of The Iowan magazine, which included some pix uber photographer Larry Reynolds snapped at the Greenfield fly-in last summer. Larry shared a link to all the photos he snapped from the fly-in, and we saw many familiar faces, including Randy Nyberg, Amy Sawhill and others. Click here to see Larry's album from Greenfield. I hope you're having a great weekend.]]><![CDATA[Is it Monday Already?]]>Mon, 19 Jul 2010 10:40:14 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/is-it-monday-already.htmlThe weekend flew by (no pun intended) as Brian spent his hours at the hangar giving a couple new Stearman owners flight instruction and tinkering on the Red Baron Stearman. I, on the other hand, took advantage of air conditioning and lounged at home for the weekend. Ah, those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer. 
How about you? Any fun weekend flying adventures? ]]><![CDATA[121.5 MHz ELTs are now Illegal]]>Thu, 15 Jul 2010 19:30:27 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/1215-mhz-elts-are-now-illegal.htmlThe FCC (Federal Communications Commission) just announced that the use of 121.5 MHz ELTs are now prohibited. That's a little bit ironic since 99% of us private pilots are still on this frequency, and there aren't enough new 406 MHz ELTs available for purchase (plus they cost an arm and a leg). Now it's an acronym battle as the FCC, FAA and AOPA debate the fiasco. There's a good article on AOPA, which you can check out here. 
How about you? Any interesting ELT stories to share? ]]><![CDATA[Week Wrap-Up]]>Fri, 09 Jul 2010 18:25:37 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/week-wrap-up.htmlWhew! I'm glad it's Friday! After a busy week, the weather looks great for a flying weekend. A few of the Morningstar folks are flying out to Sully for breakfast tomorrow morning. As I type this, Brian is on his way to Cedar Rapids to hook up with a couple guys who just brought a Stearman home with them. Brian will be giving them both flight instruction. They bought the silver #88 Stearman, who you may know used to be hangared in Cedar Rapids and belonged to Steve Redman, a dear friend of ours who we miss very much.

As for me, I took some pictures of old Lycoming 0-435 parts we had laying around. That's about as close as I get to engine work. They're now posted on ebay with hopes to clear some clutter out of the hangar. The parts original came with the Stinson (or the Stinson came with the parts, depending on how you want to look at it). But, if - and that's a big if - we restore the Stinson, we'll put a much meatier engine on it. Hmm... I wonder how a radial on a Stinson 108 would look?

Have a great weekend!
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]]><![CDATA[Tuesday Updates]]>Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:31:49 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/tuesday-updates.htmlPicture
The 3 vapors ready for take-off
This weekend turned out to be three days and nights at the hangar without a single hour logged in the air... not counting RC airplane time (of which there were many hours logged). Since the weather didn't cooperate, we spent the weekend making our own fun, which included some RC airplane wars, pylon races, carrier landings, and many dares, double-dares, and "oops."  I hope you had a fantastic holiday weekend!
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Dan, Brian, and Matthew during the Vapor Wars
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Annabelle chasing the T28. She hates RC airplanes!
]]><![CDATA[Happy Fourth of July! ]]>Fri, 02 Jul 2010 11:51:46 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/happy-fourth-of-july.htmlPicture
Have a great Fourth of July weekend with you family, friends, and/or airplanes. The Sokos are coming to town this weekend, and we plan to spend as much time as possible in the air... or, if the weather turns against us, hangar flying in Ames. See you next week! 

If you can't fly this weekend, make your own patriotic paper airplane here. 
]]><![CDATA[The First Half Fast Fly-In]]>Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:34:33 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/07/the-first-half-fast-fly-in.htmlWe've tossed around this idea before but haven't really given it any serious thought. What are your thoughts on a summertime fly-in lunch at the hangar in Ames? With how fast the summer flies (no pun intended), it would be August at the earliest with October the latest to account for weather. What are your thoughts? Dates? Types of food? Activities (e.g., flour bombing)? ]]><![CDATA[The Quad Cities Air Show]]>Mon, 28 Jun 2010 19:56:10 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/06/the-quad-cities-air-show.htmlWe'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!
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Friday morning departure was delayed due to a couple mustangs doing touch and gos.
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A close call after a windy night when the Air Force forgot to tie down their T6; it swung at us, stopping a couple inches away.
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The fly-in alternated between sweltering heat and strong storms. Good thing for tie-downs!
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Brian and Diane making good use of the built-in T34 mirrors inside the polished engine cowling.
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Flying back home in stylish formation with Craig Sommerfeld in his T-34.
]]><![CDATA[Hi-Ho, Hi-Ho, To The Quad Cities We Go]]>Thu, 24 Jun 2010 19:30:40 -0800http://www.halffastadventures.com/1/post/2010/06/hi-ho-hi-ho-to-the-quad-cities-we-go.htmlWe'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!
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