Conrad's first Stinson flight

The winds dropped late in the day and we decided it was a good evening for Conrad to experience his first flight in the Stinson.  Kristin came along and sat in back.  Conrad did not want to wear the headset, but he did wear his blue noise muffs.....just no intercom.  He enjoyed looking until we were returning and about 5 miles out.....then he reached for the control wheel.  He banked lazily back and forth, and put a little elevator in as well.  I tried to limit the motion so Mom would not get sick in back!  It was a fun time for all!

Papa.....I've got the need...for speed!

Sorry Conrad, this is a Stinson.

Some people bring a comfort animal on a flight....

Conrad brought his binky

Hey Papa!  I didn't know you knew how to fly!

Bandits...4 o'clock low.  Let's get them!

Conrad with hands on the controls

 

New panel trial fit

I shipped the new instrument panel home through the post office.  It arrived a week ago and I arrived today.  Of course I had to do a trial fit this evening.  It looks great!  A few mounting holes are off a little, but I think we can work with it.  I’ll put in more screws tomorrow and get a better idea.

Instrument panel cut

My friend PR had his guys cut the instrument panel yesterday for the V-77.  They would have done it sooner, but had an issue a few weeks ago with the cutting head on their machine.  I drove up to Arlington before work this morning to pick it up.  It came out really nice!  I will take it back to Benton and double check the fit.  If all looks good, I will get it powder coated and then be ready to start installing items.

Nice to see the final product after drawing this up on paper over a year ago.  I made a few changes along the way, so it’s probably good it took some time.

Heritage Flight Museum

We drove to the Heritage Flight Museum at Skagit Regional Airport today near Burlington, WA.  They were having a “fly day” we thought Conrad would enjoy.  It is a very nice museum for its size.  They have an Interstate Cadet that was airborne in Hawaii during the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941.  There is a picture below that explains the history.

Bill Anders is one of the founders of this museum.  He was one of the astronauts on Apollo 8, which was the first mission to leave earth orbit.  Frank Borman and Jim Lovell were the other 2 astronauts.  They circled the moon during Christmas of 1968.  I remember they read from Genesis on Christmas Eve during a live broadcast on TV.  Bill also took the famous earth rise photo, showing the earth rising from behind the moon as they orbited.  Their mission paved the way for the Apollo 11 moon landing 7 months later.

Conrad enjoyed hearing the big radials of the T-6 and Skyraider rumble to life.  The fly bys were also a great hit.  It will be interesting to see his reaction when he visits Stearman Estates in early July as sees all the flying activity!  He will also get his first Stinson flight with Papa.  Here are some shots from today:

4 Year Anniversary

Four years ago today was first flight of my restored Stinson 108-2.  Times flies.....as well as airplanes!  I went for a short flight this morning.  There was a gusty crosswind, but it was smooth above 1000 feet.

So far, I have 216.72 hours on the tachometer.  I have logged 245.7 hours.  The difference is the tach only reads accurately at high cruise RPM.  When operating below that, which I do most of the time, time slows down.  Pretty neat....there is a life lesson there!  The difference is about 13%.

I have flown 310 flights, done 426 landings, and flown 133 different passengers.  Many folks have flown multiple times, but they only count once in that previous number.  I have over 1660 total hours.

I circled El Dorado Lake this morning

Coming in to Stearman

Tach just before shutting down.

Papa’s favorite co-pilots

I took the granddaughters for rides last night.  Emma went first and brought her cheetah with her.  She was happy to just cruise around and show cheetah the sights from above.  Amelia went next and wanted to fly from takeoff.  We have a rule only Papa flies close to the ground.  Once up at a safe altitude, she enjoyed banking and using the elevator.  At one point she was pulling and pushing and saying up....down....up....down as she practiced......all on her own.  So I suggested a left...right....exercise, which she did very well at.  Amelia is living up to her namesake!

Amelia.....wild and crazy

Emma....more sedate this flight