Thanks, Tony!

Jay Honeck

Jay Honeck

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Jun 6, 2008
Messages
11,571
Location
Ingleside, TX
Display Name
Jay Honeck
Home Airfield
KTFP - Ingleside, TX
So Mary and I dropped in on Ames, Iowa today, in hopes of visiting our favorite restaurant, Hickory Park, for lunch.

It was a beautiful, calm day to fly, with some interesting weather features. A haze layer extended from the snow-covered surface to about 3500 feet, with visibility at just 8 miles below, and a million miles (of course) above. More unusual, however, was a fairly dramatic temperature inversion, with temperatures well above freezing above the haze layer, but just 15 degrees at the surface.

The wind was stiffly out of the West at about 20 knots above the layer, so Mary stayed low to avoid the worst of the headwind. The snow-covered surface and light winds kept the ride smooth as glass, even at 3000'. (On the way home later, I climbed to 5500' and enjoyed 162 knot ground speeds on the way back to Iowa City...)

Anyway, after landing in Ames we discovered to our dismay that someone was already using the courtesy car, and that the nearest cab was 20 minutes away. This group's own Tony Condon came to the rescue, introducing himself to Mary and me, and offering the use of his car to run to lunch!

I'm happy to say that we took his offer, and enjoyed the best pork tenderloin sandwich in Iowa (along with great onion rings, Wisconsin Cheese soup, and -- of course -- a hand-dipped strawberry malt!). Thanks, Tony for proving once again that pilots are the best group of people in the world!

:cheerswine:
 
So did Tony recognize you from the board before he came over? Not that I don't think he'd go that extra mile for just anybody; I'm just curious.
 
Cool, So you got to experience "the Alero" first hand....
 
Jay Honeck said:
So Mary and I dropped in on Ames, Iowa today, in hopes of visiting our favorite restaurant, Hickory Park, for lunch.

Dang! Sorry I missed you guys. I've been working in the Haps maintenance shop full time the last few weeks so was at the airport.

One of these days I gotta meet you Jay.

Matt
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gprellwitz said:
So did Tony recognize you from the board before he came over? Not that I don't think he'd go that extra mile for just anybody; I'm just curious.
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Yep, Tony was standing at the FBO counter when we walked in, and met me with a questioning "Jay Honeck...?" He then introduced himself.

I dunno if he recognized me or the airplane...
 
vontresc said:
Cool, So you got to experience "the Alero" first hand....
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Tony's Alero ran and handled quite well. (I especially liked the "Jet A Only" sticker on his fuel door!) It's certainly better than a lot of "airport cars" we've been subjected to over the years...

Go to Maquoketa (KOQW) sometime, and borrow their car. It's a 1974 Chevy Nova! For a long time they couldn't get the hood opened, so no one knew when (if?) the oil had ever been changed...

They've recently fixed it up some. New oil/filter and brakes. It's really kind of fun to drive...:yikes:
 
Jay,

it was no problem, and it was pretty ridiculous for you to get me lunch AND put gas in the car! totally unnecessary.

I sorta recognized Atlas's tail number, and saw you with the Alexis Park Inn propaganda, and put 2 and 2 together. great seeing you guys today, wish i could've visited more, but i had to go flying. ended up with about 7 hrs today!
 
You're one hell of a guy, Tony. I don't care what Felix says about you.
 
tonycondon said:
Jay,

it was no problem, and it was pretty ridiculous for you to get me lunch AND put gas in the car! totally unnecessary.
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No problem, Tony -- you really saved the day for us!

Just curious: How was that sandwich? We asked Hickory Park to "build" it with the barbecued meat separate from the bun (so it didn't turn into mush before you could eat it) -- but they packaged it up and stapled the whole thing together before we could inspect it.

If they didn't keep that "saucy southerner" stuff separate from the bread I'll bet you were able to suck it through a straw by the time you got back on the ground! :P

I'll bet they did it right -- that is the best-run restaurant I've ever had the privilege of visiting. I've never had anything but excellent food and service there.
 
Jay Honeck said:
No problem, Tony -- you really saved the day for us!

Just curious: How was that sandwich? We asked Hickory Park to "build" it with the barbecued meat separate from the bun (so it didn't turn into mush before you could eat it) -- but they packaged it up and stapled the whole thing together before we could inspect it.

If they didn't keep that "saucy southerner" stuff separate from the bread I'll bet you were able to suck it through a straw by the time you got back on the ground! :P

I'll bet they did it right -- that is the best-run restaurant I've ever had the privilege of visiting. I've never had anything but excellent food and service there.
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the sandwich was great. all the BBQ meat was seperate from the bun, as requested.

theres a special place for people who feed CFIs :) Let me know when you and Mary are ready for some dual. Ive got a good amount of ercoupe experience. Flight Reviews will be on the house!
 
tonycondon said:
the sandwich was great. all the BBQ meat was seperate from the bun, as requested.

theres a special place for people who feed CFIs :) Let me know when you and Mary are ready for some dual. Ive got a good amount of ercoupe experience. Flight Reviews will be on the house!
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Thanks, Tony! I don't think either of us is due for a couple of years, but I might take you up on that offer in 2010.

Doing a flight review in the Ercoupe would be almost like cheating... That plane -- as it was designed to do -- almost literally flies and lands itself...
 
Jay Honeck said:
That plane -- as it was designed to do -- almost literally flies and lands itself...
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Im glad that you recognize that. Most people transitioning to Ercoupes have a real hard time getting a grasp on that.
 
tonycondon said:
Im glad that you recognize that. Most people transitioning to Ercoupes have a real hard time getting a grasp on that.
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I chuckle every time I land the 'Coupe, cuz it's just so incredibly simple to land. Those big trailing link gear just soak up any downward velocity, and it can handle as much (or more) cross wind than I can.

It really should have revolutionized personal flying. I'll bet you could solo someone in the Ercoupe in 4 hours or less.
 
>I chuckle every time I land the 'Coupe, cuz it's just so incredibly simple to land.

Do other people also laugh when you land the Ercoupe? ;-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)









(sorry, I just couldn't resist this morning... Merry Christmas Jay)
 
Bob Noel said:
>I chuckle every time I land the 'Coupe, cuz it's just so incredibly simple to land.

Do other people also laugh when you land the Ercoupe? ;-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)


(sorry, I just couldn't resist this morning... Merry Christmas Jay)
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Same to you, Bob! (You really owe it to yourself to catch a ride in an Ercoupe some day. Preferably on the hot day with the top down...)

:)
 
Bob Noel said:
>I chuckle every time I land the 'Coupe, cuz it's just so incredibly simple to land.

Do other people also laugh when you land the Ercoupe? ;-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Well I did! First time I flew one was with Tony a couple years ago. Had wanted to try for years as I've been a long time fan of the design. First landing was mild cross-wind and I was a fairly new single engine pilot. I just did as told and let it land in the crab (but dropped it in from what looked like 6 feet and FELT like 6 inches) pushed the yoke forward as it yawed straight down the runway and steered it like a VW beetle, and LAUGHED OUT LOUD!

Freeking amazing airplane. Truly astonishing.

I know a retired air force guy who flew U2s among other things and still owns a hanger full of planes of various ilks who swore the Ercoupe (2 control) could safely handle more cross wind than anything else he'd ever flown period. Called it one of the greatest airplanes ever.
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For some reason flying with the top down doesn't appeal to me right now. It just might have something to do with the 12 deg temps and 10" of snow I have right now.

:-)

Who knows, I might get out to Iowa again someday...
 
Bob Noel said:
For some reason flying with the top down doesn't appeal to me right now. It just might have something to do with the 12 deg temps and 10" of snow I have right now.
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Good choice. We've discovered that flying the 'Coupe in any temperature less than 25 degrees requires long underwear -- unless it's a sunny day. Then you get some greenhouse effect. There's just not much heat being put out by that little 85 horsepower engine.

Mary and I hope to see you again one of these years. We've added a lot of stuff at the hotel since your last visit.
 
I've got a feeling that all of us are one day gonna be saying we knew Tony way back when. He is destined for greatness.

I'd like to point out that I'm one of the first to recognize the talent. :D
 
I'll point out that this isn't the first time Tony's done something like this. When I was the straggler out of Ames, he was tracking me on FlightAware and waiting for me at the airport when I returned, then even fed me dinner and provided me a place to sleep.

Someone who I'll gladly buy a drink for anytime. :yes:
 
mikea said:
I've got a feeling that all of us are one day gonna be saying we knew Tony way back when. He is destined for greatness.

I'd like to point out that I'm one of the first to recognize the talent. :D
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whatever, but if thats the case, find me a job.
 
Ted DuPuis said:
I'll point out that this isn't the first time Tony's done something like this.
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Yep - When Kate and I flew down there in March of '07, Tony was standing by the runway, watched us go missed off the ILS, and told DSM approach on the AMW clearance frequency that he'd be driving down to pick us up, and if we missed again, would pick us up wherever we went. (Luckily, we just barely squeaked in to DSM a few minutes before the weather went below mins there.) Nice to take a little bit of pressure off. :yes:
 
flyingcheesehead said:
Yep - When Kate and I flew down there in March of '07, Tony was standing by the runway, watched us go missed off the ILS, and told DSM approach on the AMW clearance frequency that he'd be driving down to pick us up, and if we missed again, would pick us up wherever we went. (Luckily, we just barely squeaked in to DSM a few minutes before the weather went below mins there.) Nice to take a little bit of pressure off. :yes:
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yea, i like to take care of my friends, and i dont like it when pilots feel pressure to do ANYTHING.

and the job thing...there are other options out there, ill still manage to have shelter and food. im surprisingly not too worried about it.
 
Diana said:
Tony, I'm sorry that job didn't work out the way you had planned. :(

Well, you could always make a lot of money flight instructing in the meantime. ;)

Well, that's good to hear. Are you still moving to Wichita?
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Diana, no plans to move to Wichita right away. I was one day away from signing a lease. WHEW!

Ill stick with the getting rich flight instructing for now unless something else turns up. If leah still has her offer from Beech, I will probably move down there with her in June.
 
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