Upon arriving I sat just outside the Wings Cafe patio and struck up a conversation with a couple pilots from the Concord, CA area. While chatting about my air show adventures and our respective flight experiences, I saw an unfamiliar airplane with a dark green accent taxi by. It's paint scheme made it stand out. While watching the pilot and passenger deplane, I told the guys I was talking to that I wanted to find out what dind of plane N20GK was. I walked across the ramp toward the people and the plane. I struck up a conversation with them, learning their airplane was a Socata Trinidad, and that they were coming back from western Oregon, and returning to SoCal.
After returning to the patio area, I saw a polished metal airplane that looked like a Navion. I asked the pilots next to me. One said it was a flying Coors can. That got a good laugh from me.
Next I spotted an AirCam. Now, I'm used to seeing those with amphibious floats. This was the first time I'd seen one with wheeled landing gear. Besides, the red, white, and blue AirCam was twin-engined. That made it rather unique as well. I was told it was featured in an AOPA magazine recently.
After the two pilots' friend landed in a DA-20, they went off to lunch.
I then struck up a conversation with a man standing nearby who had come to see if any of the air show warbirds had arrived. He told me about his desire to fly when much younger, but being denied by the Air Force due to his color blindness. He said he went into computers instead, and had a great career.
After our conversation finished. I was eager to check out that "flying Coors can" which I saw taxi to the other end of the airport. I walked across the ramp, admiring the airplanes as I went. Upon reaching the plane, I checked its identification label on the port side of the airplane. I became very pleased with myself when I confirmed my guess that it was a Navion.
Not too far away from the Navion was a dark blue airplane that looked a little like one of the airplanes at the Aerospace Museum of California. I didn't have a reason to approach it, so I passed by it once my eye glimpsed a small Pilot Park nearby. I sat there and watched a couple planes takeoff, and then decided to return to the other end of the airport. As I left I heard, then saw, the twin AirCam climb into the sky from runway 25.
Upon returning to the other end of the airport, I stopped at Sierra Aviation and said hello to Gary. I had talked to him last month when I visited AUN. Then I walked over to Mach 5 Aviation, where I met Abby, and saw Mike and Dennis again.
While talking to them, the navy blue airplane taxied up to the airplane washing station. Mike, Abby and Dennis encouraged me to ask him if I could help wash it, when I mentioned that I'd like to. So I approached the man who was still in the cockpit, and asked hime if he was going to wash his airplane- a T-28C Navy Trojan. He said he was, so I asked if I could help. (Later he told someone he was smart enough to accept the offer of help). :-) Turned out that recent surgery was going to make this a very tough chore, and my offer to help saved him a lot of time and effort climbing up and down the ladder. While he scrubbed with soap using a broom shaped scrubber, it was my job to keep the airplane wet and rinse off the soap. While washing, I told him of my opportunities working with Corkey Fornof, meeting Howie Keefe, and flying the Challenger II, Seabee, and Sonex. He told me that his uncle flew Hellcats in the World War and that he became interested in airplanes after he built his first model and painted it red. He said his Uncle often gave him a ride in the airplanes he flew... Those were the days!
While washing this T-28C, I came to like it and appreciate it more. When we were nearly done, Evan says to me that we need to take it out for its drying phase. I couldn't believe my ears! The rest of the time, I tried to imagine what it would be like to fly in one of these old Warbirds. That's when I started learning! First thing Evan had me do was strap on a parachute. It was my first time ever. He showed me how to attach it and briefed me on aircraft egress and parachute deployment procedures.
With my parachute strapped on, I entered the aircraft. Foothold doors opened to make way, first for my right foot, then left. A hand hold door did the same. I held on to both rims of the sliding canopy and climbed into the rear seat, about 12 feet off the ground. Evan handed me a Telex noise-canceling headset and I plugged the in as directed. The four point harness was much unlike any I had ever used- the loops weren't made of metal, but the material was tough.
Strapped in snug, and headset on snug, I waited until Evan had started the prop. My heart raced as fast as that prop spun! The pre-flight, taxi to the runway, and the run-up inspections were done ever so smoothly. I listened to the ATIS and checked the altimeter 1536 feet above sea level. We waited for a Cessna Cardinal to land, the canopy closed, and then it was our turn for takeoff.
I didn't feel the wheels leave the ground, but I certainly felt Evan's bird climb! We went around the pattern once. Upon approaching the runway again, I assumed it was for landing. Instead we flew over the runway, gained a little altitude and veered off the pattern at what appeared like a southeastern direction.
Next thing I knew, I felt the nose of the airplane pitch up as Evan initiated an aileron roll. I cheered for joy and savored every moment of the whole duration of the roll which lasted about 5-10 wonderful seconds! Amazingly I was able to snap a picture in a nearly inverted position. On the return, I snapped a picture of the instrument panel. I figure we had descended a little bit within the minute between the aileron roll and the picture.
The flight was 15 minutes of pure bliss! We landed on runway 25 and taxiied to the airplane's tie-down location on the ramp. At the nearest hangar, the N2N Stearman belonging to WWII P-51 (Old Crow, now based in Duxbury, England) ace, Bud Anderson was outside its hangar. The people were running its engine. I didn't have the opportunity to greet Bud because we were busy debriefing the flight, but I was able to get a good picture of his plane from my seat in the T-28C.
I am looking forward to watching Evan perform at the upcoming Auburn Air Show this Saturday.
Gates open at 8am and the show continues until 4pm. There will be a number of good old warbirds at the show, as well as antique aircraft, air racers, helicopters, jets, and radio controlled aircraft- something to satisfy every aviation enthusiast's expectations! The Patriots jets will perform a demonstration, and there will be plenty of aerobatics to watch. Sierra Vista will be giving airplane rides, a representative refered to the price as "fire-sale prices"
Admission to the airshow is $10 with special rates offered to various groups. Kids 5 years and under have free admission.
Speaking of kids, you can sign your kids up for Young Eagles rides through the EAA while you're there. For the clssic car enthusiasts, there will also be a car show event on the airport property.
For more information about the Auburn Air Show, Thunder in the Sky, you can call, Mach 5 Aviation (530) 889-2000 or visit the website www.thunderinthesky.org . There is some accomodation for transient aircraft for pilots who want to fly in.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
No comments:
Post a Comment