First flight of summer

Summer started around 5:30 PM this afternoon. After my banjo lesson, I decided to go for a late evening flight.  While it was warm, the air was smooth.  It is nice to have the long days.......guess we will start going the other way now.

                          Our house at the end of the main taxiway

                   First selfie of the summer.......flying into the sunset

2016 Stearman Field Fly-In

Today was the annual fly in and car show here at Stearman Field.  The weather cooperated and the rain passed west of us and cloud cover kept temperatures down for a few hours.  It eventually got hot, so I taxied home.  Here are a few shots:

                                                    Our Stinson on display

                                                   A nice looking Taylorcraft

                                                            A V-tail Bonanza

                                     A SIAI Marchetti S-211 flew in......cool

                                 The yellow 1948 Crosley Station Wagon was made

                                              in my hometown of Marion, Indiana

Year 1 in the Books

The first flight following restoration of the Stinson was on June 5 of last year.  In the past year, I have logged 102.7 hours, made 134 flights, done 180 landings, and given rides to 85 different people.  All in all, a great year!  Thanks to Quicken, I kept track of all the costs, which includes fuel, oil, parts, maintenance, and insurance.  It works out right at $60 per hour.  I celebrated by fueling the Stinson last night and then giving it a bath late this afternoon.  So, we are ready for the next mission!

 

60th Anniversary Flight

Our friends from church, Xury and Valeta, recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary.  Xury put in over 37 years at Beechcraft and has been an avid follower of the Stinson restoration.  Tonight the weather cooperated and we were able to do Stinson rides over Andover and the surrounding area for them.

I took Xury first and Valeta second.  I realized just how hard the back seat is to get in and out of for myself during the recent annual, so thought I would make it easier for them by not requiring this gymnastic move.

The skies were silky smooth and we finished at sunset.  A great night of flying.

Mad Max at the controls

This is a picture my friend Mark took Monday evening during our flight.  An interesting perspective that shows the cockpit lighting towards sunset.......as well as the mad man flying😀.