A GREAT Saturday at our NC26 Flyin!

Breakfast behind – time to get those taildraggers out of Julie’s hangar.

Kathy and the Carbon Cub was last in so first out this morning.

9:00 a.m. departure, flight of 6 aircraft to 5NC2 Sugar Valley Airport

Yes! We have arrived and what do we find, a beautiful Carbon Cub waiting to great us.

We selected this as our morning flyout because Susan Dusenbury was making a very special presentation. Her special guy, Zeke Saunders, received the FAA’s Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award. Susan was an MC and spoke about Zeke’s lifelong love of and commitment to aviation. It was a pleasure to attend and witness this wonderful testament to Zeke’s life; the “heart” of Piedmont Airlines and a man passionate about general aviation.

Everybody seems to know Jim Zazas. He flew his Cub in for the ceremony and I was lucky enough to be standing by when he needed a prop. I hate to admit how many years it’s been since I propped a plane but I was happy to accommodate Jim. I love my starter but appreciate the years I spent propping the Aeronca Chief I soloed in and my first airplane, a 65 hp Porterfield.

Of course, thing’s don’t always go according to plan and when the ladies started departing Sugar Valley my Rans S7 decided it wasn’t ready to fly. A 550 rpm left mag drop kept me on the ground longer than expected. These great guys came to my rescue. We quickly discovered a detached spark plug wire can cause all kinds of havoc. A short 45 minutes later and I was in the air and caught up with our group.

We fit in a tour of the Hickory NC control tower this afternoon, a NFCT.

And a tour of the Hickory Aviation Museum, in the shadow of the control tower. Stop by for a visit if you’re in the area.

Back at Long Island Airport I got my flying fix! What a great evening giving Rans S7 rides off this beautiful strip and watching Kathy hopping rides in the Carbon Cub too.

Thank you to Bob Perkins for the fantastic ride in his Cabin Waco!

Days just don’t get much better than this one. Tomorrow we’ll all be heading for home. For those that didn’t make it, so sorry we missed you. Keep your fingers crossing Julie Jetzer invites us all back again next year!!