I was supposed to work a fight yesterday evening. About an hour before I was to leave I got a call from my running buddy, who is also a boxing coach, and she told me the fight was cancelled due to the opponents pulling out. Since I didn't have anything else planned, I went to the local airport to get a ride in a bi-plane that a friend had kindly made me aware of (thanks Barb). There were two planes there, one a 1928 the other a 1931, if I remember correctly. They both were returning from the EAA show in Osh Kosh, and in the true barnstorming tradition, set up shop across the road from the county fair for a couple of days giving rides.
It was a beautiful day to be flying. The air was a little choppy but the pilot handled everything well, including the landing on the grass strip. I showed up by myself and neither plane wanted to take a single up, so I said I'd wait until they had another single and go up then. I was all set to go up right after the pilot took a quick lunch break when my cousin's wife showed up. We traded partners around and her and I went up together. We both enjoyed the flight immensely, probably even more so because we both were able to share the flight with someone we knew.
I've now flown in quite a variety of aircraft: B17, B24, B25, Ford Tri-Motor, glider, helicopter, small planes and large commercial airliners. I've thought of becoming a pilot myself but I've got no sense of direction - I can get lost in a phone booth. Two of the pilots there yesterday flew from Virginia to Wisconsin before stopping in Indiana on their return barnstorming trip. I realize the technology has improved greatly since when these planes were built with modern radios, noise cancelling headsets and GPS, but flying in an open cockpit plane half way across the country still has to be quite the adventure.
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