|
Hello, WIXers,
It was a big week for the old Harpoon. We flew the pants off the old girl, and the more we did, the better she liked it. The engines are strong and clean, and you know she looks and sounds great flying past.
The airshow crowd have been just loving it, and we have had an endless stream of visitors at the door. People--airport neighbors, former members, people we don't even know, but who know Hot Stuff--keep coming by to smile at us, and at her, telling us how happy they are to see her back in the air where she belongs.
Heck, we're pretty darn happy too, as you can probably tell.
We've flown her twice a day every day but one since we first flew on Tuesday, and she's been shaken down well. This coming week, we'll continue with proficiency practice for Long Tall Glen, who will be going for his type rating checkride as soon as he's ready.
So, we're finally seeing the payoff for many months of toil, and it sure is great. Even though we're not getting paid for the airshow appearance, donations at the door seemed to be fairly good yesterday, so maybe that'll continue today (last day of the show), and the financial pressures will ease up for a while. Our next scheduled gig is in early July, I believe, but we're hoping to get a pop-up show or two between now and then--a lot of our appearances in the past have been as replacement for a cancelled bird.
All in all, this has been one of the best weekends I've had in a good long while.
Which is saying something, considering the crippled-up state of yours truly at present.
IndyJen had a bit of a mishap at the end of the day yesterday, and is sitting here typing with her broken foot up on a stack of pillows. I was able to have the very first ambulance ride I've ever had, and that's why no pictures just now--all my stuff is still out at the airport. PJ stayed over last night to help out, and in a while she's going out there to get her jeep (restored 1946 Willys), and she'll pick up my camera then, and email my pics to me. So I'll post up a supplement later on with the extremely excellent images of Hot Stuff doing what she does best.
We had one technical glitch yesterday morning, when we re-spotted the plane for the morning flight. Number two started right up, but number one wasn't happening--the starter wouldn't accelerate at all. So we had to pull her back into the corner where they had us stashed. While the tourists lined up to look inside her, we got to work in the aft nacelle support bay--that's where the starter relay is located, and that was our immediate suspicion. About an hour to take it apart in place, clean and reassemble, and we were good to go. The afternoon flight, when the airspace opened up again, went just great.
While this was going on, many old friends came by to see what was up with us, and kibitz and hobnob, and it was fine. Craig H., who trained IndyJen as a crew chief back when, came in with his son Tyler, and it was great to see them both. Craig's been an inactive member for several years now, but he's still with us in spirit.
Bruce N., who was our treasurer back in the day, came up to me smiling a smile that was bigger than his actual face. He works right close to the airport, and heard us go overhead Tuesday, and knew that sound immediately, and reports that he darn near cried tears of happiness right there on the spot.
And the Leslies, Mark and Nan, tooling around the ramp in their role as official photogs of the show, came by to share their own pleasure at seeing the big blue bomber up in the sky again.
We had a number of WIXers come by to see us, too, including MustangDriver. It's always fun to meet and greet, and I'm sorry if I'm missing any of you by not being out there, but there is is.
We also had several old PV vets on hand, telling their stories, and it is always great to see those old gents. One fellow showed up early in the day, as I was still pulling covers and plugs. He was a radio operator/gunner on Harpoons back in the war, and I had him inside the plane in no time flat. The poor old fellow was overwhelmed by memories as soon as he stepped over the flap actuator carry-through. It's very affecting, seeing the memories come flooding back in their eyes. It's another one of the big payoffs for all this work.
Anyhow, that's just a sampling of how it was, and the days from Thursday to Saturday have already become in memory just a blur of smiling faces and people waving as we taxi past. The old girl may look a little tubby and odd on the ground--the plane, I mean, although that could just as well describe IndyJen herself!--but once she takes off, she looks and sounds like All Business, and she lights the people up. To know her is to love her.
The show continues today. We've gotten our three pilots--Steve Rider, our left-seater, and Long Tall Glen and Scotty, our two guys who will shortly go for their type ratings--their three takeoffs and landings, and they've each had the pleasure of a nice airshow pass down the show line, too. As all our fuel was out-of-pocket--we passed the hat among the team, basically--we'll wait now until after the show's over to move on to the next phase of proficiency work, to get the most out of every gallon. No use just boring holes in the sky.
I expect that my Mom, who was out to see her fly Tuesday and Friday, will bring me her old crutches later today, and then I'll be a bit more mobile. Right now, mobility is not my strong suit at all. Even with the crutches, it's going to be a while before I'm climbing up on the wing again. No problem--we were planning to start training up some new crew chiefs anyhow, and we'll just proceed with that. A lot of the load will fall on PJ for that now, but I know she's up to the task.
That's the news, WIXers. I'll put up some pics as soon as the people get to me. If you're in the neighborhood, go on out to Mount Comfort and see the goings-on, which are going on for one more day. And take a look at the big blue bomber!
till next time,
_________________ IndyJen ------------------------------ Support "Hot Stuff" Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon of the American Military Heritage Foundation http://www.amhf.org
|
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
If anyone needs it once in a while, it's him. 
). So... when are you gonna bring her to Texas? 
Fortunately, I wasn't injured beyond some bruises (and a bruised ego, since several of our folks saw me fall!). As soon as the gang made sure I was unhurt, Steve (WIXer "akflyer") grabbed up that accursed ladder, headed straight outside to the dumpster, and tossed it in! Anyway, I sure hope you're back in shape in a jiffy and back into flying duties.
