First Frost

We had our first frost of the fall last night. It didn't last long as it only got down to 30 degrees and as soon and the morning sun hit it, it melted. I was able to get a few of these leaves in the shade before the warmth of the sun got to them.

Puttin' silver on the fuselage and gear.

Glenn put silver on the fuselage and landing gear today. The fuselage looks great! The landing gear looks perfect! He did such a good job. I can't paint with a childs watercolors and he made this look easy.

Now comes the fun part...sanding. I can do that. I don't even mind the drudgery of that. I'll take Sky out to the airport this weekend, put on some tunes, bring a box of donuts and we'll get it done. I'm getting excited because he says it'll be yellow by weeks end.

The tail is ready to spray also. And the sheet metal parts. That leaves the wings and engine and we're flying.

Starting to cut fabric for the Standard.

Glenn has the fuselage of the J-1 Standard ready for cover. Today he cut out the fabric that will go on the fuselage.

Bird Biplane

Went out to try and reshoot Ken Thomas's Bird tonight. The light went to c#$p right after we left but we hung out for a while over the prime hunting grounds and managed to get a few.

Ground Fog

I had forgotten how beautiful it is to fly early in the morning. Yesterday when I pulled the airplane out of the hangar, it was still dark. Only my car headlights provided illumination as I opened the hangar door. She was heavy, nearly full of fuel and took quite an effort to get her rolling out the door.

I let the engine run at a low-power setting for 10 minutes to warm up the oil and wait for the sun to come up. I have enough night time, thank you. Taxiied out and picked up my friend and photographer Gilles Auliard and took off. It was as smooth as a baby's bottom!

This fog was in the river valley, just west of Creve Coeur airport.

Dawn Patrol

Had to get up early to see these guys off this morning. And what a beautiful morning! Took off right after sunrise and had these two as escorts. I turned back just east of Lake St Louis and they continued on to their fuel stop at Boonville. They're trying to make it to Denver today.

Thanks Andrew and Mark.

Piper PA-12 Air-to-Air.

Rudy Haug's Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser.