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By Percy G. Wood
Late again, as usual. The ceiling did not raise until noon! And when it did, it was real quick about it. I had been working on 29H at Alan's place. I moved it there to avoid the Northwest Antique Airplane Club fly-in. The 43rd one was August 16 to 18, and one must move one's plane, or the NWAAC'ers will do it! One of Alan's neighbors was pacing around his Maule. The ceiling was reporting 900 overcast at Troutdale, just across the river. Since TTD is 300 feet lower than Evergreen, you know what we had! Not good. It seemed that it was getting light one minute, and the next minute was glorious sunshine. The Maule persons yelled "Clear Prop," and departed. I quickly finished my work and we preflighted our birds. The plan was to formation to Elma; 29H lead and 08H wing. 4500 feet provided a smooth ride, and GPS gave us a good course. Alan served as "mission photographer" on the way up. An hour and a quarter later, we were there.
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The Elma Airport fly-in had started at seven or eight with a pancake feed. We were much later than that, of course. There were a good number of planes when we taxied in - including two Ercoupes. The roster: N number Persons 3048G Linzy and Marcy 7535C Patrick 3408H Alan 2129H Percy Drove Bruce and Candy Lives there Kurt Flew Cessnas Curtis and other names I didn't get, of course. Well, four Ercoupes from three different airfields makes a `coupin' event to me!
Shown above, left to right, is Patrick, Linzy, Candy and Marcy. They flank Patrick's plane, which he had flown all the way from Issaquah. Don't you right-coasters just love some of the quaint names we have for places out here? By now it was thoroughly lunch time! We retired to the local burger barn, taking up two booths with the ten in our group. Stan and Vera enjoyed fixing the extra food on what could have been a slow day. I elected for the B-52 Burger. This is the one they used to call the Logger Burger when they had trees and cutters thereof around here. Now there are about as many Loggers in Elma as there are B-52's...
Here is a shot looking out from the restaurant. Talk about dining on the airport! Alan's plane is on the left, with Patrick's and Curtis's. After lunch and more conversation, persons started to depart. Patrick went first, with his Cessna flying friend.
Next, Linzy and Marcy flying 'Bad Girl.' There must be a story behind that name that I should get one of these days.
After a quick look, Alan took the active. He orbited until I got into the air, then it was "Two for the Road." At least the road to Chehalis-Centralia. We got gas there and just enjoyed the day. A T-6 (SN-J for the Navel aviators among us) wandered up to the pump after we got done. Good thing we got there first as he might not have left us any! The pilots allowed as how the `6 was good to "yank and bank," but you better have a substantial "bank" account come fueling time. Departing CLS was real polished in my opinion. My GPS had run out of battery, so Alan flew lead. We took the runway for formation departure, and it was at least as good as the Thunderbirds. :-) I kept rather close to Alan. We probably impressed that Cessna that flew over the top of us. He was probably checking his charts to see which TSR he had violated! Total time on the way home was one and a tenth by my tach. We did have a tail wind. One does not sightsee too much in formation. Have to keep lead in sight; keep close, but not too close. Because it was the end of August, I returned to my regular spot on Evergreen Field. I park next to Don, so there are two Ercoupes right in a row there. Really a super day! Good flying. Good friends. All-around Good Time! |
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