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Gastonia Fly-In
Ray Petty has volunteered his Hanger at Gastonia for a Chapter Fly-In on Saturday, June 19. We'll have Breakfast or Hamburgers depending on what the Fly-In Leader Decides. Oh, by the way, we need someone to take charge of this!!!
A Jaunt to Florida
This year was the first time I have flown down to the Sun N Fun show after many years of driving. The plan was to leave on Monday April 12, to be there for opening day on Tuesday. I also planned to go on to Naples, FL after the show to visit some friends and Dick Healy arranged to come along on the trip down to Lakeland. The weekend weather was most unpleasant and there was no chance of leaving on Monday, but late on Tuesday morning, the rain cleared and I set off. Because of the delay, Dick unfortunately was not able to come along. I had hoped to make it down to Lakeland before dark but that was not to be. A solid overcast at about 2,500 ft. kept me low and in the strong winds and gusty conditions I got tired of banging my head on the canopy so I set down in Barnwell, SC after an hour or so. One of the nice things about travelling in a small plane is that when one sets down at an unfamiliar small airfield, the folks you meet are always very hospitable. Wendall Gibson and his staff there made me feel at home let me have the courtesy van and directed me to the recommended small family motel in town.
In the morning, the wind was still strong and gusting to 25 kts but the clouds were breaking up and I was soon able to climb above
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the haze layer to about 6,500 ft where the air was smooth. I could have made the trip to Lakeland in one hop but I chose to stop at Gainesville, FL for a break. I was a little startled to be paged in the FBO and to be told that my plane was blowing around. I had chocked the mainwheel and the control stick was secured but the tailwheel can caster when encouraged and this was causing the problem when the tail was hit by a gust. I pulled the plane to a nearby tiedown, secured the tail and finished my coffee. Memo to self: Make new rudder lock.
The trip on to Lakeland on Wednesday was uneventful and I joined the aerial ballet from Lake Parker to land on runway 27R at about 1 pm. I think the landing frequency is somewhere around one touchdown every 15 to 20 seconds at the busy times. I pulled over to the Home Built Camping area and set up my tent. The area is similar to Oshkosh in that it is in the back 40 but that is no problem. The nearby showers had plenty of hot water - great. Many of the tents in the same area were blown flat when I arrived; the previous night had been a bit wet and wild. I helped Ken Murphy, a Cozy IV pilot, to get his tent back up and Ken made my mornings very pleasant as he had a rental car and went to the terminal restaurant on the other side of the field for a civilised and inexpensive breakfast. Since I try to avoid the concession food, this was a big plus.
The show seemed a little quiet but got busier as the week went on as more planes came in. I can't improve on the AVWEB description of the arrivals :-
"With the weekend on its way and the sun finally blazing down in all its Florida exuberance, Sun 'n Fun started to live up to its
(Continued on page 3)
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