I'm heading out on a business trip shortly and wanted to leave a few words before my flight leaves. Aside from being busy with annuals (Brian, with Travis and Matthew's help, wrapped up the Red Baron yesterday with no red flags), I have little to report. So I thought I'd share a tip... 
If you have a pet with multiple dog tags (e.g., ID tag and rabies tag), they often jingle with every step. With a high-energy breed like a Gordon Setter, that's a lot of jingling. To bring sanity back to our lives, Brian riveted Annabelle's tags together, with the text facing out on each. We've discovered riveted tags works almost too well. Now, Annabell, AKA Stealth B-2, has scared the beejeezus out of us more than once by silently flinging toys at us. Consider yourselves warned.

Divers just came across what is believed to be a Curtiss Helldiver SB2C, a very rare World War II warbird. Only one remains flying today. For details, visit the news article and video.  

Welcome to 2012! Anyone out there with New Year's Resolutions you'd like to share? I'm all for resolutions. What are my goals, you ask? Well, I want to log at least 50 hours between the Tri-Champ and Stearman this year, and, oh yeah, I need to get this ole body back in shape. 

How was your New Year's weekend? We spent ours working at the hangar (took a break to go out friends on New Year's Eve), but we had no chance to fly... I think someone up there conspired with the weather to keep us on the ground, if the howling winds were any indicator. Surprisingly, I did see an RV-7 take off when the winds were gusting to 38 (*shivers*), although I never saw him land (he may have ended up in China on that tank of gas). 

Happy New Year's! May 2012 be your happiest year yet. We'll be out of pocket this weekend with friends and family so this will be our last blog update until 2012. The weather looks great so we hope to get in a bit of flying over the long holiday weekend, too. 
We'll leave you with this (not-so-good-quality) picture of Annabelle chasing one of Brian's Christmas presents on Christmas morning; an Air Swimmer shark (which is bound to be hanging around the hangar this weekend). 
Signing off for now... have a nice flight, folks!

As a quick heads up, we do NOT have a New Year's Eve hangar party planned. We thought we'd try a change and plan out something bigger during the summer. Hopefully the warmer weather will make it easier for more to attend. We'll keep you posted as we work out the details.

We hope your holidays are going fabulously. We celebrated Christmas this weekend with plenty of food, some fun gifts (although Annabelle has destroyed or eaten most of her presents already), and a solid Playstation marathon. And now it's time to look forward to 2012. If you're a resolution-maker like me, now's the time to start thinking of what you'll resolve to do (or not do) this next year. Or, you could just wing it. :) 

Brian and I are taking a break for the holiday and wish you all a very happy Christmas (or Hanukah or Kwanzaa). Whatever your beliefs, we wish for you happiness and peace.

Governor Branstad just signed a proclamation recognizing December, 2011, as General Aviation Appreciation Month in Iowa.  Here's the full press release. So get out there and fly!   

Do you get frustrated thinking of decorating ideas for Christmas each year? Well, frustrate no more. Matthew (AKA Merlin) sent us some great photos... these folks get kudos for not only having the coolest ideas but in carrying those ideas out with style. 
Since today is the shortest day of the year, you'd better hurry to get your decorations up. :) 

It's always chaotic right before the holidays. For a stress relief break, here's a fun holiday video for you with two of the greatest pilots of all time... Baron von Richthofen and... Snoopy!

From Shane Vande Voort, KPEA's President / Airport Manager:
As you know we at Classic Aviation love to celebrate our freedom to fly each year on the anniversary of the Wright Brothers first flight, December 17th.  This year the 17th falls on a Saturday so we wanted to do something to share the fun with you. So come out to Classic Aviation on this Saturday, December 17 and have a bowl of chili on us!  Classic Aviation staff will be serving chili from 11:30am to 1:30 pm, and there will be lots of ways to have fun.Tell your friends, and fly or drive out this Saturday for some winter airport fun!
By Car: 501 West 15th Street, Pella, Iowa, 50219, Exit 40 off 163
By Air: KPEA, CTAF 122. 8, AWOS 118. 87
***
The weather looks great for this weekend, so hopefully you can make it to the fly-in (via plane or car). Brian and I will be showing off the tri-champ at Manchester (KC27) for a family Christmas.