Local Area RV Group Halloween-Themed Movie Night - Scary Fantastic Time!

Kudos to the folks that decided the time was right to put together a movie night at the traditional location at Gary Zillik's Hangar at KFTG. What was somewhat UN-traditional about this one is that it was a total Halloween - themed party AND movie night, complete with scary food and drink, and yes, even a scary movie or two to cap it all off.

It seems to have been a very busy and event-filled year for just about everyone that I know. As a result, this was the first movie night for the entire year that was held at the Zilik Hangar, and about the only one I know of that was put together at all by anyone in the local area. The timing could not have been better, as it seemed that everyone was ready for a good bit of Halloween fun.

Little did I know that the spiders in charge of this event were planning to make it a much more special occasion that I was expecting. The first clue that this was going to be a really fun evening was when we walked in the door of the hangar, and this is what we saw:

Wow! A fully decked out table setting - Halloween style! How cool was that.

Some of the aircraft that call this hangar their "home" had been moved outside to allow the masses of ghouls and goblins to infiltrate the space for a short time. Here is the "theater" seating arrangement:

And a glimpse of the Movie screen to give a truly wide screen feel:

Next was the food table. Deb had mentioned that sub sandwich fixings would be provided, and if anyone wanted to bring a dish they certainly could. Then she provided a small list of Halloween-themed dishes, and wow, did the group ever deliver on that!There was not a single inch of space left on the entire work bench!

When she said "sub sandwich meats," I had no idea they would look like this. Do I REALLY want to make a sandwich out of this????!!!:

Now for a tour of the other food items.First was a spider web 7 layer dip:

I think this next one came from the Rettig family - Caprese eyeballs I think they were called. Very tasty by the way:

Next was a healthy supply of salty bones. To the right of the bones is my contribution - Monster brain stuffed mushrooms. Ed. Note - there was nothing to bring home - everyone loved eating all the monster brains! Not sure what that says about pilot-types!:

Next were some bloodshot eyeball eggs. When I pause to try to figure out how these were made I realize that these must have taken considerable time to prepare.What truly and amazingly talented folks we have in this little RV group of ours!

What? A pumkin-orange you say? Believe me, they really DO exist!

Bloody cheese and crackers, anyone?

Purple people eater cake, anyone? All I can say is - I shouldn't have, but I did. This was at least a 3 or 4 layer cake - filled with all kinds of yummy no-so-good-for-you frosting and fillings. My taste buds could not decide which part of this thing they liked best - they just kept saying "MORE PLEASE!"

Fruit punch from the caldron,anyone? All I was told is that this was supposed to be an "adult" beverage. Everyone knows there are no "adults" in a room full of pilots, but I decided to have some anyway. Very tasty!

How about some slime sauce with your apples?

There were lots of spider webs at this party. I really have to tell the hangar hosts to do a better job of cleaning up before we all show up!

Creature cup cake anyone?

All I can say about this next dish is WOW! Are these potatoes? Apples? Something else? Whatever they are, someone in our group is a true Halloween artist. How cool was this?:

This next dish was so scary-looking that I was afraid to eat one. They were "finger" licking good though....

Whew! Now that I got through all that, how about a few normal human shots-well mostly anyway.....

Adam and his girl friend. This also happened to be Adam's birthday, and so we made certain that he was adequately embarassed when the whole group sang happy birthday to him. Happy birthday son!!

Next was the star of the show in the lady bug outfit, in the company of parents Mike and Aneta Rettig, taken while on a pretend flight in Gary's RV-6A that is affectionately know as "PAPA ZULU."

And finally a pic of what can happen to you if you are not careful when using riveting tools! Sean Blair posing as "The Rivet Man". Way cool Sean! Before the party, how on earth did you????? More importantly, after the party,  How on earth did you....? Whether putting them on or taking them off, it all looks painful to me! This is a best costume award as far as I am concerned. Also note the red bags under the eyes. This is a sure sign that you are working way to many hours on an airplane. All airplane builders should take note of these tale-tale signs of "builder fatigue," and also take note that the only way to cure this problem is to ocassionally stop working on the airplane, grab a beer, and just relax!

 

Gary and Carolyn and Scott and Deb, and all the rest of you that I am sure contributed to such a fantastic time, thank you so much for deciding to put this together. After everyone was well fed on all the Halloween feast, the movie Ghost Busters was served. It was fun to see that movie again in its uncut full feature version.

Deb and I were discussing the party after the movie, and we already started talking about next year. She then said that she just wasn't sure how they would top this for next year. I told here not to worry about topping anything. This was such a wonderful time that I simply told her that I am down for a complete repeat of this same thing next year. Many of us needed a break for some fun after a long hard year, and you guys delivered in spades! (Halloween pun intended!)

Latest Major Distraction Out of the Way - Getting Ready to Build Again

This will be the only reference I make to a project that literally almost brought me to my knees and severely crippled my ability to work on the plane. A before and after pic of the upstairs bathroom should take care of it, and then it is time to talk airplane building again.

Before the remodel from hell:

And after:

Took way too long and cost way too much in time, money, and sanity,but it is done. Still have a downstairs mess to take care of but will tackle that next year AFTER my wings are done.

Yesterday I finally managed to put together my new large paint table. One of the things that all the bathroom stuff did provide as a small contribution for the airplane build, was a very big box that the downstairs shower kit came in. I saved this box with intent of turning it into a very large paint table that I can use to prep and prime many large wing parts at the same time.

I used 36inch wide 2x4 inch wire fencing that has been laying around the house forever doing basically nothing, some 1x3 lumber, and a variety of different screws to complete the project yesterday. Just as was the case for the smaller table I built, the hard part about this is stretching the fencing out tight enough so that it will not sag when all the parts are placed on it.

I also had to close up the open end of the box on one side by using a short 2x2 piece of wood and some gorilla tape. This paint table should serve me well for many other priming and painting sessions to come. I started by cutting the top off, then I cut the flap on the end of that piece off and taped it to the end of the table. Then I measured, cut and screwed the wood frame together, then attached it with screws to the cardboard,and then cut, fit, and attached the wire fencing to the wood frame that surrounds the cardboard box.Simple but effective.Still, this is a very large item that I will have to be able to store safely somewhere.

Next step - prepare to get very sore arms and hands after all the scuffing, cleaning,and priming  of the wing ribs. All this while the next winter storm is bearing down on me. Great, just great! But, hey, at least I am building a plane again.

Photos from Airventure 2013

Finally have some time to post some photos from Airventure 2013.

One of my many goals during this trip was to explore how and where folks were installing their heated pitot tubes on their RVs in relation to the wing tie down rings, and, more importantly how were they tying down their aircraft. The location is important because the tie down rope may interfere with the heated pitot tube if it not tied down properly. Varying distances and locations of hardpoint tie downs on concrete ramps at different airports also has an impact on this.I now know exactly where to place my pitot tube,which was about where I had planned to install it all along.

What I found is that most are tieing downwell forward of the leading edge of each wing and at an angle that should not interfere with the heated pitot tube. Some of the aircraft I stumbled onto had some - shall we say - unique approaches to tying down their aircraft,as in this first pic with its unique pitot tube cover:

Those of you familiar with the hit movie Avatar will recognize this next paint scheme on Paul Dye's beautiful RV-3B.

This next aircraft is probably in my top 3 list of the most beautifully painted ANYTHING I have ever seen. There is a very detailed story behind all of the art work on this RV-8. It is detailed in articles in Sport Aviation magazine and elsewhere, so I am not going to detail it here. There are remembrances of fellow pilots, war heroes, and of the pilot's wife all over this gorgeously painted aircraft.

Next is an odd shot of a B-24  - first one I had seen at Oshkosh in 4 years - called Diamond Lil. I caught the sun light facing in the completely wrong direction for an interesting photo effect

And next was a Vietnam era Caribou - a rare sight indeed. When I first started my career at Jeppesen several years ago I worked with a man that was a pilot of these aircraft during the war. This was a key work horse cargo aircraft that can operate on short unimproved fields with amazing performance capabilities.

Next is a Japanese torpedo bomber - code name Kate:

Next is the Terrafugia Transformation flying car that I actually got to see transform from car to an airplane that actually flew and then back into a car again. Very cool indeed and a hilight for me on this trip.

Next was the Kiddie Hawk flight simulator that I volunteered to help man at Kid Venture this year. This was a wonderful experience. The simulator is designed and built by a chapter 301 member and it rotates around all 3 axis just like a real airplane. It has a control stick and rudder pedals that will allow a young person to experience much the same sensation as climbing, descending, banking, and yawing gives to a pilot in real flight. A very ingeniously designed aircraft.

Then on the final Saturday of the event, I decided to try to run my first 5k by signing up for the Runway Run/walk event that helps support the local Oshkosh area United Way. You get to run on a service road from the Ultra Light park, across the threshold of Runway 36, up the other side of the runway, and back again to where you started from. I also conned Mike into signing up to run it with me, but he blew me away during the first 1/4 of the run as I just could not keep up and had to walk a few times to catch my breath. I did not do too bad for an old fart that does not ever run very much.


Balloons were supposed to launch but winds were not favorable so they remained tethered.

And Mike and I "recovering" after the run:

Note the paragliders flying in the background. They were just chomping at the bit to get the balloons off the ultra-lite runway so they could fly.

And then finally I capped it all off by attending the memorial service for the induction of fellow chapter member Brian North, whom we lost to a bad aircraft accident at KFTG earlier in the year. A plaque added to the wall along with other 2013 inducties. Brian never actually made it to Airventure in person before the accident, but his memory lives on at the memorial wall. If I ever have to depart this earth,I think this is an honor I would like to have fulfilled someday.I can't think of a better place for a pilot or aviation enthusiast to be remembered.

And then the deed was done. Here is the final sunset from Camp Scholler,the campground that becomes the largest single camp ground in the world for one full week. It empties out in a hurry starting Saturday evening and all day Sunday. I read an article in Sport Aviation recently where somebody summed up the general feeling when the end is finally here - it does make you feel a bit empty inside after having experienced total sensory overload at an event that forces you to run at a blistering pace just to experience a small portion of everything that you want to do while you are there. But I look at it this way, Wehave to take a break from it all each year, otherwise we would not realize just how special it really is to attend Airventure Oshkosh each year. There is ALWAYS something new to experience, and I most certainly did not even come close to doing everything that I set out to do. So I can hardly wait till next year to do it all over again!

And lastly the somewhat ghostly image of things that used to be..... a shadow of undisturbed grass forms the outline where an aircraft that attended Airventure once stood. Oh the memories it would divulge if it could talk. I guess that is another reason why airplanes still need pilots - only they can tell all the stories that both plane and pilot have experienced during this awesome event.

Planting seeds for future aviators, or just a fun outing with my niece and her kids and Mike and his family

A couple of weeks ago I finally hit the weather jackpot and found enough sunshine and fair winds in the forecast to be able to to take my niece and her kids for a fun ride down to KCOS, and Mike Rettig came along in a separate C172 with his family. Here are some pics of my young relatives having a really fun time in the cockpit of the KC-97-turned into a restaurant.

First is a pic of Mike's daughter - she was just barely able to climp up into the pilots seat, and I did not do this justice by getting a frontal happy face shot, so the one from the rear will have to do. I think that Mike probably has much better pics that he took!

Next are the pics of My niece's two boys - I don't think I could have made them smile any bigger!