Always Polishing

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a perfect airport day. Mild temperatures, sunny skies and light winds in the morning. A formation of 4 Rv's and a Swift were out keeping their skills sharp. I took the 170 up for about an hour. The winds aloft were blowing 20 knots out of the West. A sign of a windy afternoon to come. After looking over a few grass strips for activity I made a pass over my house for some pictures. Fun to wave at the family on the ground as I flew over. They are even visible in my picture!
Back at the airport I put the 170 in the hangar and went lunch with some friends. The 170 had been polished by a hired crew back in June and is starting to need some touch up. I broke out the Nuvite polish and worked on the leading edges. The hired crew used their brand of polish and it is starting to show. The shine just didnt last as long as when I do it with Nuvite. So over the winter I plan to go over the whole ship again to bring back that deep Nuvite shine. One area of the wing shined up and I pulled on the dust covers to head to the house. Another great day at the airport.
Thankful for family, friends and God's gift of flight this Holiday weekend!

Bleriot

Wow... take a look at this "kit plane" built by Eric Presten! Knowing Eric and his love for vintage aircraft this "kit" 1909 Bleriot had to be right up his alley! Built with wing warping and all! Take a look at the forum post here. Nice photos by Eric and Roger Cain.

Corsairs New Paint

Photos of F4U-4, 97264 wearing its new colors have been posted on WIX. Check out this forum post. Nice to see a Blacksheep paint scheme.

Antique Aeronautics On My Mind

As the day wore on I had my mind fading from the Learjets and Challengers at work and thinking about vintage Cessnas and Beechcrafts. No more thoughts spent on jets. My mind has wondered off to antique aeronautics!
I left work early to head out to the airport. Hopefully I might catch a few hangars open to see the progress on some antique airplane projects. Ah, good. As I pull into the airport I spot an open hangar. A few minutes are spent looking over a Staggerwing project before I make my way down to my hangar. Looking good. The fuselage, tail surfaces and control surfaces are up thru silver. The owner tells me of paint color options and interior materials. I can almost see the Beech Speed Bird appearing on the fuselage and the smell of leather fills my nose. Maybe she will fly next year sometime, maybe.
The sun is going down so I pull myself away from the Staggerwing and pull the 170 out of the hangar. The engine is running smoothly so we launch off to cruise over some grass strips. Is that Navion still out in the weeds by the lakeside strip? Yep... still there. Wow... look at the size of that mansion down there... it looks like it belongs in India... not North Texas! My thoughts turn towards Richard Halliburton and flying his Stearman C3B, The Flying Carpet, around the world in 1931. He must have flown over some houses like that!
As the sun sets I land and push the 170 back in the hangar. Only 20 minutes in the air but that is enough therapy for today. Well... flying therapy... I have some old magazines to sort back at the house. Wonder if I can find that article on the 1340 powered Staggerwing again?

Skagit Aero Museum

In Northern Washington is another nice collection of vintage aircraft that I have never heard of before. Check out the aircraft collection at the Skagit Aero Education Museum. Two nice ships that caught my eye... their Fairchild 24 and the Ryan STA.

Travel Air 6000 Makes Rare Outing

This Travel Air 6000 made a rare outing to the annual Reklaw, Texas fly-in last month. It is based out of Mount Pleasant, Texas. Good to see the rare aircraft make the rounds at local fly-ins. Sounds like the Reklaw fly-in was a resounding success with over 500 aircraft in attendance. Thanks to Richard Kaminski for the picture.

Another Mustang Returns to the Air

American Aero Services in Florida has completed the restoration of Selby Burch's D Model Mustang. Pictures of the restoration here. While looking up the pictures of the D Model check out the on going restoration of the A-36 Mustang!

Max Shoots The Albatross

Max Haynes does it again with a beautiful photo essay of a Grumman Albatross. If you are a fan of the Grumman seaplanes this is a must see! The paint scheme is one of the slickest schemes I have ever seen applied to a seaplane. The inside looks like a yacht. How would you like one of these to fly around the world in?

See the photo essay here.