Hello again, WIXers,
It seems that everywhere Hot Stuff goes these days, we run into WIX people, and each one of those WIX people invariably want to know 'what's up with IndyJen, and why isn't she writing the Hot Stuff reports any more?' And they look at you with their sad puppy-dog eyes, and there just ain't any good answers for them.
So: okay, okay already! Consider this post to be The Triumphant Return of IndyJen, then, and let the semi-regular Hot Stuff reports resume. And thanks to all you folks (Warren, WIXer Greg, Flyin' Illini, Gaylon's neighbor, Scotty's Dad, the guys from the EAA, et al) who have expressed dismay at not getting your regular Harpoon fix. It warms my heart, it does, to know that the old plane has fans and well-wishers out there.
So, let us get on with the photo-essay covering the recent doin's, shall we?
Last weekend saw Hot Stuff at her second show of the month: the small but enjoyable little airshow at Kokomo, Indiana. Pictured above is the warbird lineup, or a good portion thereof, running up prior to launching. It was a hot day, which is the only kind of weather we've been having here for about the last month. But it was tolerable out there on the ramp, a very fine day for being out at the airport, looking at planes.
This show was a one-day affair, and not too far from home base, so it was an early start to the day for loading up and launching in time to get there for briefing. The crew was Long Tall Glen in the left seat, Machine Shop Gaylon as co-pilot, and Hot Rod Steve riding as crew chief.
There are the boys, right there, on the way up to OKK. This was Glen's first flight as PIC to a show, and he did a fine job, of course. It was also Steve's first show hop in the third seat, and ditto. In fact, I'm thinking that the same applies to Gaylon, so all three of 'em had their first show experience on this trip, and it was a good one for the purpose. You would have thought they all had done this hundreds of times before.
There's Cap'n Bubba himself, shortly after arrival. Glen's put in many arduous hours on this plane, so it was good to see him finally get a little payoff for all his effort.
The rest of the crew making the trip: Sandy (Gaylon's wife, who runs our PX sales with good humor and great skill), Smilin' Nadine (Steve's wife, who I think was making her first hop in the Harpoon), PJ (feet just visible in the photo above; she's riding in her favorite seat, namely the turret), President Rich, Don who is frequently called Bob (and who is not in the pic above), and Electrical Guru Roy (who drove up).
The first order of business upon landing was to give the plane a wipe-down and set up to receive visitors. We have repeatedly had the experience of landing and immediately being swarmed by the visitors, and it was that way on this day. Harpoons look tubby sitting on the ground, but in the air with the gear tucked up, they look and sound like All Business, and the people will come running. We hardly had a chance to start unloading the goods, and here they came.
The Kokomo crowd were good folks--interested, polite, and good natured. Pleasant people to chat with, as a rule, and they were all about learning about PV's and seeing the plane.
There's Sandy, setting up the store. We are already getting a line at the door, and the plane is still half-full of bins and boxes! Shortly after this photo was taken, who should show up but WIXer Greg, and he gave us a hand getting the goods out and arranged for display. Thanks Greg!
Handling the door, there, is PJ. We normally station one person inside the plane, to keep an eye on things and answer questions. The person outside the door gives the people waiting their turn a little introduction to Harpoon lore, and likewise answers questions. Under the wing is where we put the PX. Other crewmembers circulate among the visitors, chatting with them. In general, this seems to work pretty well for giving visitors a good experience.
The fly-by portion of the show was nice and relaxed, but still good to see. The planes did various passes, showing off their lines to the admirers below, and broke away at one point to overfly a parade that was going on downtown. This had the desired effect of drawing people from the parade to the show--we heard from a few latecomers at least that they came over to the airport after seeing the planes over the town.
While the flying was going on, the ramp was secured, so the crew repaired to a grassy verge to relax and watch the goings-on.
That's about it for the show report--like I said, it was a small, grassroots-type show. We made a little in PX sales, and came home with slightly more fuel in the tanks than we left with, and acquired some good crew experience, and in general considered it a good day.
For the homeward trip, PJ allowed herself to be talked out of her favored turret seat, and I got to ride in there, only the second time I've ever flown in that seat. It's a very interesting way to fly, all backwards. Until the tail comes up on takeoff, too, it feels a bit ... well,
slanty in there.
There's the view of Kokomo airport (OKK) as we flew away. A nice day for it, and a good way to start the Independence Day weekend.
And here are a few views one doesn't get to see every day:
Shot over my shoulder, looking forward. You basically sit up on top of the plane when you're in the turret.
Your correspondent--dirty and sweaty after a day's work, but having a great time. I kept the straw hat on for the ride, because I assumed it would be deadly hot under all that glass, but actually, the turret ventilates itself very well once the fans start turning, and it was comfortable in there.
And there we are, downwind for runway 25 at our home base of Mount Comfort. The plane flew good and strong, as she has every time this year. We'll be doing light maintenance today, and then in a couple weeks we'll be taking her to Peoria. That's a big show, one that was hugely enjoyable last year, and we're really looking forward to it.
So that's the report for this time, WIXers. Stay tuned for more!
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