The Eye of Kris

Yesterday was the July meeting of the MTUG, this time a fly-in event at Lawiki Airfield. It was a very nice place - better than I expected. I've been told so many times that T-Top Airfield (where we usually meet) is one of the nicer fields in this area, that I don't expect any other facility to even come close, but this one did. The runway is not quite as long, and not quite as smooth, but the hangar and grounds were very nice, and the area was beautiful.

Unfortunately, the weather was somewhat uncertain, and no one ended up flying in to the "fly-in". Pleanty of people drove in, though, and a few of the pilots took turns with the planes that were already there. They had a few competitions, such as dropping small bean bags on a target that was painted on the runway and throwing softballs down to hit wooden ships (as if they were torpedos). I'm sure it would have been a lot more fun if more people had brought their planes, but I can understand not wanting to fly somewhere and get stuck there because of the storms and stuff. It ended up being a pretty nice day, though, aside from the heat and an occasional, very brief shower.

I drove out there by myself pretty early in the morning, but around 11 o'clock, I was sitting in a chair and all of the sudden Owen came over and climbed in my lap! Mary and her friend Amber drove out to watch some of the competitions and let Owen and Madison (Amber's daughter) see the airplanes. Owen was very intrigued by it all. He sat by the runway and watched them take off and land and drop things, etc. He was very good dispite the heat and lack of nap.

I was able to get another ride in a Quicksilver, but unfortunately, it wasn't until later in the afternoon, and Mary and Owen had already left. It was the same Quicksilver I rode in last month, which is owned (and piloted) by the owner of this particular airfield, so he knew the area really well. It's a beautiful part of Tennessee, with a combination of some rolling hills and large, flat farm areas. You can see the speedway from there, but we didn't fly close to it because there was an event going on and you can't fly near it when there's a lot of people there.

More importantly, though, is that I got to talk to some more people and get to know some of the experienced pilots better. I've realized that it's going to be some time before I can get my own plane or even be able to fly by myself, and there is a lot that I need to learn between now and then. Some of these guys waited until they were retired to even get into aviation. It may be that long before I can devote a great deal of time to it, but I can at least get started learning and get a little experience before then.