I got a wild hair to take the Mrs on an overnight before we get busy in the field, and saw TN was going to be sunny and mid-70's mon-tue. Decided it would be a good time to go down and see the Beechcraft Heritage Museum and finally see a Starship in real life. For anyone considering flying in, THA is awesome. I called to find out about the best way to rent a car, and the airport manager said Enterprise is about a mile away and gave me their number. I then reserved the car online and called the local office to see if they could deliver it, which they agreed to. Turns out my card had expired. The airport manager noticed that there wasn't a there car for me, and even though he had no way to know I had actually rented one, called enterprise, found out my card was expired, and told them "he's on his way, get the car over here and bring your tablet to get his new card". Gas is cheap...$5.17 ss and 5.42 off the truck. No fees otherwise for the one night tie-down. There's some pretty good hiking at a couple state parks nearby with lots of waterfalls. We did that, hit several antique stores, and ate way too much amazing food. THA is also the closest airport for the Jack Daniel's and George Dickel distilleries if you're into whiskey. Several wineries nearby as well. The usual chain hotels are there, but we found a nice B&B. Only negative was that probably 75% of the shops and restaurants in the area are closed on Monday, including the Beech museum. We spent most of the day hiking so it worked out. Anyway, it's a great GA destination. I didn't know the first staggerwing had a split rudder to act as a speedbrake
Outstanding! That’s on my “must visit” list. They have a Musketeer on display that’s owned by the Beech Aero Club and is the plane called “Threesie” that was flown by Gene Nora Jessen during the “Flight of the Three Musketeers.” This was a tour of the lower 48 to introduce the Musketeer when it first entered production. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Nora_Jessen https://www.amazon.com/Fabulous-Flight-Three-Musketeers-rollicking/dp/1439231516
The Beechcraft Heritage Museum is worth a visit any time of the year, but if you can align it with the annual Beech Party in October, you'll have guided tours and experts on site to make it even better. - Martin
