McG, an indoor heated pool. That’s good. Excellent way to beat the weather. I haven’t been in a good sauna in a couple years and now you have triggered that thought for me.
Oh what a Glorious Day. Not just that it is Saint Patrick’s Day; but the weather was marvelous. The morning started cold at 40F, but we had brilliant sunshine with clear blue skies. So the sun started warming things quickly. By 8:30 it was 51F and just warm enough to drive to the airfield with the top down in the car. Met several friends at the field since we planned on taking a few planes to a fly-in at Leeward Air Ranch FD04. It is a really nice fly-in community with a 6,000 ft turf runway. Very nice houses with hangars. I had 3 in my plane with full fuel and was just about 100 lbs under my max weight. But the cool morning air made for an easy takeoff. The air was glass smooth and the sky a deep clear blue without a cloud. Traffic at the field was swarming and normal space and timing wasn’t in order. No doddering in the pattern and clear the runway on landing. Over two hundred airplanes of all sorts. A couple warbirds were there and it was cool seeing them on a grass runway and taxiway. They looked like that they were on an operational WW2 airfield. The P-51 was a crowd pleaser as it did a couple low high speed flybys then landed. One of the Stearmans was really marvelous and looked better than it would have coming straight from the factory. Just beautifully finished.
We wandered around a bit until it was time to line up for food. Fun to look at planes and talk to the pilots. More and more pilots are flying experimental aircraft and RVs are the majority of them. The day warmed up to 80F and the skies stayed clear. Some impromptu formation flights by people that flew in as groups. Met other friends there and caught up with news. Agreed with others on the next fly-in to go to.
Pretty busy taxiing and takeoffs. Lots of moving parts and aircraft with different air speeds funneling out of there. The sun had warmed the ground so there was some thermals making a little turbulence on the way home.
Stopped at my favorite local brewery on the way home. Busy because of Saint Patrick’s. But I did get to chat with a couple girls who were admiring the Maserati. The car and my pictures from the fly-in (and that I own an airplane) gave me some interesting talk with the girls. They were disappointed I am married.
Then home to the wife and dinner.
A good day. Actually a pretty Glorious Day.
Good people sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.
Someday your life will flash in front of your eyes. Make sure it is worth watching.
