Gaston's 2013 Arrival Thread

I am back home too. Danielle still has a 4 hour drive, but she will have company.

Until we all meet again. . .
 
I'm in Topeka Kansas right now and have flown 5 hours of tach time so far. Headwind has been painful. I made it 90 miles between fuel stops on the last leg. Hoping to be able to nonstop the remaining 130 ish miles in 2.5 hours or so.
 
I'm in Topeka Kansas right now and have flown 5 hours of tach time so far. Headwind has been painful. I made it 90 miles between fuel stops on the last leg. Hoping to be able to nonstop the remaining 130 ish miles in 2.5 hours or so.

Oh.

My.
 
This is where I won't chime in and mention that my 516nm flight (a couple zig zags for airspace) took 3 hours on the button.

Hey, it's a Gomanche, not a Slonanza.
 
This is where I won't chime in and mention that my 516nm flight (a couple zig zags for airspace) took 3 hours on the button.

Hey, it's a Gomanche, not a Slonanza.

As opposed to the hour and thirty-three minutes, in air-conditioned comfort, I had?

Thanks, Dave!
 
Haven't seen hide nor hair of the parabolic demonstration floating duck. Thought I seen everything, but.....
Great to see all. David is a great stick and rudder guy. Greg got King Air Current. Kim and Becka got some turbine time. Sorry I wasn't there when a couple others wanted to fly.
That was the best weather weekend as far as temp I remember.
Nice to catch up with all.

Best,

Dave
 
Got a chance to meet some of you. Was a pleasure. My loss and regret that I couldn't stay around longer to meet the rest and socialize a bit.

Are there pictures posted? I think I saw a reference to a Facebook page. Anyone got the link?
 
Good to see everyone. :)
I gather that neither Wayne nor I died from the food.

That said, glad we got out when we did....here's the "pic"...the weather is actually from when we cancelled out of 4,000 to get into CTK for fuel and would represent us running right IN the front (not so!).

But not a minute was to be wasted!.
 

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I'm in Topeka Kansas right now and have flown 5 hours of tach time so far. Headwind has been painful. I made it 90 miles between fuel stops on the last leg. Hoping to be able to nonstop the remaining 130 ish miles in 2.5 hours or so.

On the bright side, your operating costs per hour have plummeted precipitously over the last three days! :wink2:
 
Good to see everyone. :)
I gather that neither Wayne nor I died from the food.

Well Wayne almost didn't get his food in the fist place. :rofl:

Kathleen and I made it back safely. We arrived at her house around 2:30Am. I was amazed how meny people were on the road.
 
I was tail-end Charlie out of Gastons, bases were ~4,500' enroute Tulsa. Dropped by Muskogee to say Hi to Stephanie but she wasn't there. Saw another pretty 195 with paint almost identical to Larry's.

It was good to see everyone. It's raining pretty good along the return route right now, lotsa stormscope hits. It would appear that neither Wayne nor I died of the brunch :).
 
Kind of. Did rain at Gaston's while eating, but it seemed firm. Didn't make sense to put a lot of fuel on with a full load and launch out of there. We would have had to go to BPK anyway.

Best,

Dave
 
Spike sent me a text saying the rain started at about 11. I was almost home by then.
 
Thanks to all for making my first Gaston's trip well worth it!

Some notes....

According to Kimberly, it really takes balls to land at Gastons (reference to the spheres on the power lines surrounding runway).

Andrew, Jesse, and David have very pretty girlfriends.

"Keep your eyes on the duck" is a new catch phrase.

The "no pants dance" demonstrated by Becca made me laugh.

Someday, Danielle needs to re-explain how an "over the shoulder bolder holder" comes into play in finding your cabin after you've indulged in adult beverages.

Thanks to EdFred and David W. for giving Kathleen her first ride in GA Aircraft.

Big thanks to Dave S. for the ride in the King Air. That style of flying is really cool and I can see why the folks who can use that level of GA really like it.

And super cool for me to meet Dr. Bruce in person.

Finally, thanks to KimberlyAnne for being such a good sport and putting up with me as a roomie.

(PS. Kimberly is now a fan of Fried Pickles from Love and War in Texas.)
 
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It was great meeting you all. We got out of there a little ahead of Greg, I think, but all wound up waiting out some of the weather at BPK. 30 kt headwind the ENTIRE way home, but we made it just fine.

That was my longest X/C to date, and it taught me a few things. Chief among them: I need a faster airplane, and IR. Bouncing along under a 4000' ceiling at 80 kt ground speed sucks (unless you're in a Flybaby, I guess). Gonna be a busy year.
 
Haven't seen hide nor hair of the parabolic demonstration floating duck. Thought I seen everything, but.....
Great to see all. David is a great stick and rudder guy. Greg got King Air Current. Kim and Becka got some turbine time. Sorry I wasn't there when a couple others wanted to fly.
That was the best weather weekend as far as temp I remember.
Nice to catch up with all.

Best,

Dave

Hate to say it - Dave - but you were right. Flight seriously delayed, I'm not going to make the last shuttle, I will need to hire a private ride for around $80. Oh well, they said there was significant weather last night and this morning and just about all DFW flights were an hour behind all day. I land on the 10th of June in SFO instead of the 9th. I hope to be in bed by 3am and have to be at work tomorrow.

I'll upload the duck videos just as soon as I can but in flight wifi is better for uploading photos first. It may have to be in a few days. Stay tuned, I'll post in this thread.

Oh and Greg - I really thank you for your "bravery all the way until short final." My 737 first officer got out of his seat, took my photo, and I gave the captain and FO my cards and asked them if they knew anyone to email me. I think his daughter wants to fly and he is going to email me. I'm going to say bye to him on the way out. As he sat me down, he said to me "OK now you stay there and I'll just go home."

More than sweet. Such a difference from the pilots at SFO!! These guys were old and gray haired and super happy to talk flight. I told them I flew a King Air over Paris and went to Gastons and they said they have landed at Gastons too. Great guys, can't wait to visit with them after the passengers deplane.
 
Haven't seen hide nor hair of the parabolic demonstration floating duck. Thought I seen everything, but.....
Great to see all. David is a great stick and rudder guy. Greg got King Air Current. Kim and Becka got some turbine time. Sorry I wasn't there when a couple others wanted to fly.
That was the best weather weekend as far as temp I remember.
Nice to catch up with all.

Best,

Dave

Dave, you're an aviation inspiration. Your generosity knows no bounds. I gotta get back much closer to that area, SOCAL is just too far... unless, of course, you have a King Air. And a couple Credit card.s...<g>
 
Dave, you're an aviation inspiration. Your generosity knows no bounds. I gotta get back much closer to that area, SOCAL is just too far... unless, of course, you have a King Air. And a couple Credit card.s...<g>

When I told Becca the very first plane she would get to fly (almost) was a King Air, I'm not sure if she believed me. I told her over lunch that Dave would let her fly. And he did. Can you even imagine, your first time flying a plane, twenty years old, and it is a King Air????

I totally flew from after takeoff from Addison / busy spots to flight level 190 on a pre filed IFR flight plan with waypoints which was beyond awesome, but she got to learn about flying and all the flight controls in a turbine!
 
I finished flying about 5 yesterday, and boy are my arms tired........

Seriously though, this year was awesome. First and foremost I would like to thank Dave S and Greg B for letting this Texas country bumpkin fly their aeroplanes - and getting to log King Air and round engine time is a treat of the most rare variety. Thank you all for your company and friendship this weekend, and thank you for making Becca feel like a member of the group. She really enjoyed herself this weekend - and can't wait for the next fly in!

Dallas folks - I should be passing through sometime in the next couple weeks flying my mooney back north, and would love to have a dinner with y'all. I should know more towards the end of this week and will keep you posted.
 
I finished flying about 5 yesterday, and boy are my arms tired........

Seriously though, this year was awesome. First and foremost I would like to thank Dave S and Greg B for letting this Texas country bumpkin fly their aeroplanes - and getting to log King Air and round engine time is a treat of the most rare variety. Thank you all for your company and friendship this weekend, and thank you for making Becca feel like a member of the group. She really enjoyed herself this weekend - and can't wait for the next fly in!

Dallas folks - I should be passing through sometime in the next couple weeks flying my mooney back north, and would love to have a dinner with y'all. I should know more towards the end of this week and will keep you posted.

You know how to get there.
 
Dave, you're an aviation inspiration. Your generosity knows no bounds. I gotta get back much closer to that area, SOCAL is just too far... unless, of course, you have a King Air. And a couple Credit card.s...<g>

You sir, have an open invitation for a ride anytime we may link up. Any chance you can make Greenville SC week after next?

Best,

Dave
 
For got to add to my list....

Based on where I was told the duck was stowed during the flight in the 195.... that was one lucky duck...
groucho.gif
 
I had no idea - none! - that there was a Groucho smiley.
 
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