By Michael Stephan
Fall weather can sometime be unpredictable, and that was the case with the Cedar Mills Splash In/Safety Seminar.
Most years we have beautiful weather and other years it just doesn’t cooperate. This year we had a little of both. The weekend started on Friday with a beautiful but somewhat warm afternoon and evening.
The Dinner in the Hangar was delicious, as always. But the low pressure was bringing some instability on Saturday. The day started with flyable weather, but turned quickly to low ceilings and rain, which lasted for most of the morning and into the afternoon.
With my coach in the shop. I opted to fly the fastback and tent camp with other chapter members. Greg Kochersperger was the first to arrive on Friday in a Nice Bonanza. and later that evening David Brown bracketed me in with his super nice RV-10.
In the campground, Bruce and Mary Ann Fuller brought the coach and set up our gathering area. Parked beside was Carl Walker and Jay Pratt and Carol were also nearby in their RV trailer.
Even with the wet weather, our Chapter lunch prepared by Bruce and Mary Ann was incredibly delicious. We had hot dogs and Bruce’s award winning Chili. I could have eaten that all day. But I did save some room for the Octoberfest themed dinner in the restaurant that evening.
Saturday afternoon the weather cleared out yielding an afternoon of walking the flight line. Even though the weather kept many at bay, there were plenty of planes that came in early as well as a few the joined Saturday afternoon. A nice aspect of this fly in is the variety of airplanes. It is a good mix of certified, experimental, tail wheel and seaplanes. This year a local Icon amphibious airplane attended that is owned by an instructor and is available for all kinds of flights out of Denton Airport.
The Badlands Traveller out of Decatur was there. It is a very beefy version of a big tire airplane with a metal wing. It has a Youtube video if you want more info.
All that walking around made us hungry, and dinner was ready in the Pelican Landing Restaurant. That dinner requires tickets, and is very good. The evening ends with nearly 30 door prizes; most being very valuable. We had another pleasant night camping, although a bit cooler than the previous night. It was worth the stay because just up the runway in the hangar a pancake breakfast awaits. The Sherman Chapter hosts this meal and it is a great way to start a Sunday. Several big tire cubs flew in just for the morning festivities. The flight line was growing again. After breakfast the only thing left was to break camp and head home.
Another fun event in the books. Thanks to all who came and joined in. A special thanks to Bruce and Mary Ann for that lunch.
