Lucky to have been where it’s so hard to say goodbye

Like Jim Nabors sang at more than 35 Indianapolis 500 races, I’m “back home in Indiana” after an incredible week at AirVenture. OSH, you continue to be my favorite hello and hardest goodbye.

What’s that Kelly Jeffries is showing off … besides her husband LD’s “Lil Devil” Microjet?

A cute little hat with a ‘Remove Before Flight’ tag? Oh no, this “hat” is not what it appears to be.

Surprise -  bet you didn’t see that coming!

LD Airshows offers a 9 minute, aerobatic routine flying the FLS Microjet “Lil’ Devil”, the world’s smallest manned jet. The August 2018 issue of ‘EAA Sport Aviation Magazine’ features a spectacular article about the microjet. When Sport Aviation showed up for the photo shoot, they loved Kelly & LD’s RV8 so much they gave it top billing in this EAA photo. Kelly Jeffries is flying the RV8 and LD his microjet.

My theory – A donut a day to keep the doctor away!

Friday at OSH was our LadiesLoveTaildraggers Forum; the topic ‘Gals with Gumption’. I wondered over early to get set up and got all excited when I saw a crowd of men patiently waiting outside.  Turned out my Forum #4 was located next door!  😉

There’s one single thing lady taildragger pilots have in common, and it’s called “gumption”. I had a great time telling the story of gumption while focusing on four of our fabulous members.

 

My selfie with 3 participating ladies who get an A+ for gumption, Kayleigh Bordner, Missy Martin & Sarah Rovner. Unfortunately Wendy Lessig couldn’t be with us but thanks to PowerPoint, I was able to share her story too.

Kayleigh Bordner describing her ISU team’s excellent placement in the 2016 Air Race Classic; 2nd place overall, 2nd place collegiate.

Missy Martin was a hit sharing the story of how she came to fly C-130’s for the Montana Air National Guard.

And a much better picture, two C130 pilots, Missy Martin & Scott Smith, flying from Montana to AirVenture in their Husky.

A lady taildragger pilot with gobs of gumption, Sarah Rovner owns Full Throttle Aviation, a premier aircraft delivery company and also Captain for SkyWest Airlines.

The tshirt frenzie!! Well, not exactly but thank you to Anne Wright, Peggy Tucker & Kelly Jeffries for pitching in to help.

With just 24 hours remaining at OSH it was time to say some goodbyes. So great to see Susan Stewart and Larry King displaying this beautiful Pitts Model 12.

(N26PS also happens to be For Sale!) 😉

There was a loud, fun and friendly crowd carrying flags from many countries at Friday’s International Parade at AirVenture.

You gotta love the pink shirted team of controllers who get us all in and out of OSH every year. We were in a long stream of planes taxiing to 36L told to “Line up and wait” before getting the final call  “Yellow RV cleared for departure.”

And just like that, for me, the frenzied, hectic, crazy week was past and my countdown to AirVenture 2019 just beginning.

I’m lucky to have been where it’s so hard to say goodbye.

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