Picking up a friend's new airplane

November 4, 2008

So, I had a very interesting time a few months ago, and I've been dying to tell you all about it. I went with my friend Simon and Beki and their friend Ron. Simon recently bought a new Stinson, well it's new to him anyways. Simon is one of those people who is of the "you haven't really flown till you fly a tail dragger" mentality. So, I was very excited to go on a trip with him, see how his piloting skills measured up to his talk. Could he walk the walk and talk the talk?

Here's one of my favorite pictures from the trip: Seen the movie ET?


So, to start off our trip, we headed over to DFW, by car. We were going to drop of Beki, Simon's wife, at the airport. She had to catch a commercial flight back to Washington DC so she could go to work. I still say DFW, is an overwhelming airport, even when you are in a car. Did I mention that Simon brought a great companion for me on our trip. His sweet baby girl, Aubergine. Here's a picture of the 2 of us just chilling out.

So, we set out on our Eastward travel, heading from Dallas, Texas to Atlanta, Georgia by car. This was going to be fun, and long! Along the way there were all sorts of interesting sites to see. I only thought I might get carsick once, so we stopped for a while to let my stomach settle. Simon was really worried about me possibly getting sick in his car, and plus Aubergine has a reputation for going "potty" in all 50 states. So, for this potty break, we stopped in Mississippi! Here's a picture of me with the sign!

After our short stop in Mississippi, we headed onward, thought not upward, to Atlanta Georgia. At this point, I was getting kind of tired of the car, and I was eagerly awaiting actually getting to lay my eyes on this airplane. I really wanted to be in the air, though the sights along the way were interesting, I find them even more interesting from the air. Plus, sweet dear Aubergine, as nice as she is, thought I was a pillow, and i was getting kind of tired of being laid on. But on the bright side, atleast I had someone to keep me company. Some pilots kind of forget about me cause I'm so small, and I don't get much attention. But, Aubergine was just my size, and we had a grand ole time.

Finally, We got to Georgia. We stopped at the Georgia Department of Industry and Trade. Here, I tried to sell myself, but turns out, I am not of good enough quality, and I didn't have any marketable skills, even though I'm darn cute, if I might say so myself. After the rejected me, I did however stop to pose with their sign, so that you all would know I wasn't making this stuff up! Here's my with the department of industry and trade sign. Please ignore my low self esteem after being rejected so blatantly.

So, after being turned away an unable to sell myself, my self esteem was so low, that only chocolate and caffeine could remedy the situation. Simon is such an insightful person, he promptly bought me a snickers and a coke. Now, i was in a better mood, and would enjoy my ride. Here's me with my comfort food!

Finally, we got to the airport. I got to lay my eyes on Simon's new plane before all his friends at the Palestine Airport. Everyone has been talking about how bad they wanted to see this plane, and I got to see it first! Envy me! ha ha! So, after some paperwork, finalization and a handshake, we were on our way. We climbed in this plane and started towards home. Here's a picture of the notorious stinson that Simon bought:

So, when we climbed in the plane, I thought to myself, I really hope this guy is as good of a pilot as I have been told he is. I knew it wouldn't take long to find out. I had been told that tail draggers are harder to taxi than other airplanes, so I was hoping he could keep the plane on the taxi line. Amazingly he did. I thought hey, maybe this guy is as good as he says he is. After we taxiied out to the runway and did a brief run-up, we were on our way. As we started down the runway, I thought to myself, "yeah, now I get to fly" then the tail came off the ground, and I could actually see out the front window! Then we rotated up, and we were finally airborne. The moment I had been waiting for while enduring this LONG car drive, I wasn't sure how Aubergine was gonna do in the plane, but she too was an old pro at flying.

Our flight home was uneventful, we had lots of great scenery to look at, and the joy of flying is so much fun. Our landing at Palestine was also near perfect. When we taxiied up to the ramp, Everyone that was at the airport, came to check out this great plane, that Simon had searched so long to find. As everyone was admiring this plane, I took pride in knowing that through enduring the long car ride couped up with Aubergine, I was the first to lay my eyes on this plane, as well as the first passenger.

Now, where to next?