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Typical Day in Retirement |
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First, let me say my job required I be at work starting at 3pm and my weekends were Wed/Thurs. Now, how much activity would you miss if those were your hours? I bet you would miss out on a large portion of any activities in your life. I recently retired and I can't believe the living I've missed by working such terrible hours. This little note simply shows the pleasures of doing nothing at a local airport about the time I would normally have to be at work. Any particular day, as long as it's a nice one, can bring untold pleasures and surprises. I'm sitting in my hangar looking at the scenery, which includes a DC3 that participated in WWII as a C47 for the British forces, when a beautifully restored Stearman lands and taxis up and parks near me. Turns out he flew in from Richmond, In for something to eat.
The owner says he bought this from a guy here at the airport long ago and had restored it and wondered if the man was here. "No, he isn't but I will tell him you stopped by" was my response. The pilot and his wife head for lunch at the local diner while my dogs and I admired the craftsmanship in the restoration of this aircraft.
Soon after the landing of this wonderful airplane, my hangar neighbor shows up to fly his T28 painted in Navy colors. This is another beautiful airplane and it's big. The only way to appreciate it's size it to stand next to it.
This aircraft has a built-in ladder that drops down when the hatch is opened to permit inspection/adjustment of the magnetos. They are located behind the engine so the inspector climbs the ladder into the fuselage between the engine and firewall. Now that's big ... |
So I'm now looking at a DC3, a PT-17 Stearman and a T28 Trojan, both in Navy colors. It so happens a Piper Cub, flying overhead, saw what I did and decided to land to see what was going on.
I talked to the pilot of the Piper Cub and he was from Springfield, Ohio but was flying out of Hamilton, Ohio. That man spent some time on the road but I fully understood why a person is willing to give up so much time just to fly. There are few places left where one can rent a Cub for the afternoon. I love Cubs. I have time in Cubs and that's my favorite aircraft. Not much for travel but for the shear enjoyment of the art of flight, it can't be beat. The T-28 fires up. You don't want to be parked behind a big round engine when it starts. You won't understand why until you turn on your wipers during the next rain. Everything gets a liberal coat of oil. Did you notice the flaps retract while idling? The flaps have to be down because they contain the steps required to gain access to the cockpit. As the T28 starts to taxi out, a glider flares and lands on the grass strip as seen in the next clip.
Just look at the picture above. This picture represents the end of an era. I can't begin to describe how lucky I am to have witnessed this event. Unplanned and totally at whim but it happened never the less. This is what I missed for years because of my work schedule. Just look at that picture. The history, the work, the money, the love, and it all happened in front of my hangar on a nice day in May at Hook Field and I was there! As I state in the t28taxi clip, "oh what a sight. Look at the old airplanes." Allen |
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