I loaded the truck and was on the road before noon. The first stop was Panama City Florida where I had dinner with John Black and his girlfriend. John and I flew together in Colorado. He was training in Colorado Springs and did well there. Later he started Beach Blast which has turned into America's Premier Fly-In. I was hoping he has a good trike friendly place for me to fly in the morning but no such luck so I drove to Pensacola and crashed at a cheap hotel.
The next morning I drove through New Orleans, stopping on Beale Street for oysters and some street Jazz. I made it to Galveston Island late that evening and mad arrangements to fly with Andy McAvin and his gang in the morning.
Three hours outside of New Orleans, I saw a biplane fly slowly across the highway, then another and another. My head was on a swivel, aviation was happening around here, somewhere. A minute later I passed the fly in. dozens of Stearman biplanes were lined up in a field alongside the highway. I got off at the next exit, turned around and drove into the fly-in. It was the 36th Annual Jennings "End of Season", Stearman Fly-in. What a great venue for a fly-in. There was a nice hotel next to the field so that you could taxi to the line and walk to your room. I must have seen the last of the arrivals because there were very few people around the line. I did speak with one fellow who told me a little about the event. The planes were all Stearman so there wasn't much variety but the surprising thing was that they almost all had the same yellow paint job. I don't know, unless there was some crazy squadron rule about color scheme, I would have chosen another color.
The next morning I drove through New Orleans, stopping on Beale Street for oysters and some street Jazz. I made it to Galveston Island late that evening and mad arrangements to fly with Andy McAvin and his gang in the morning.
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| The Cathedral |
