My apologies for not having blogged in a while, the last three weeks have kept me busy to the point where I have had to choose sleep over blogging. I am going to try to get you all caught up. I assure you that I have been flying the airplane and even have found a little time to work with Greg in the workshop.
For some reason I found myself with not only one weekend off work but three in a row (thanks to the junior vacation weeks). On February 27th, Bob Collins, a local RV builder and pilot, organized a fly out to western Minnesota for lunch. It just so happened that it was a beautiful Day. We hit 60 degrees in February in Minnesota. And we took full advantage of it.
We had 4 Rvs, the Garaggio Ez, and a Cessna 170 all fly out to Olivia, MN. There is a nice little restaurant about a 5 minute walk down the road. It is sports bar-esque, so it was the proverbial $100 dollar hamburger. Though my Facebook friends pointed out we have to go a lot further than 75 miles to burn $100 in gas in the EZ. True story
We flew out as a 3 ship and back as a two ship. It was just what the doctor ordered. So much fun. I really enjoy flying formation, and I haven’t gotten to in a while, so it was nice to brush off those skills. I got a little practice rejoining, position keeping, and doing cross unders. (I did have the Go-Pro running and have footage, but need to edit it.)
Bob got some video of us in formation, including me breaking out of the formation for the purpose of the video. We need to go out and get better video, we were shooting into the sun. Next time we will plan better so its not as washed out.
Kevin came along with me as my GIB (Guy in Back). It was very smooth and enjoyable and we will mark it up as a successful ride, wetting his whistle and feeding his appetite for more flying adventures. When we got back to KSGS from Olivia, I gave a ride to one of the RV drivers, Vince, and also to my buddy Sam who rode passenger with Bob out and Vince back. Regrettably I didn’t have time to take his wife for a ride, we were running out of daylight, but we will be sure to get her out soon.
Oh and of course when the video camera is out, sometimes you have to do an overhead approach.
There is nothing better than a fun day with good friends and airplanes. It is even better when an impromptu good weather day surprises you in February and you get to go out and commit aviation.
the Garaggio 