1 Breakfast Burrito
1 Parachute Repack
1 IAC Chapter Meeting
1 Flat tire
+ 1 Pitts S2C =
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A Good Day
Yesterday was my first day off from work since April 18th. I don’t mean to whine and moan but that’s and awful lot of work without a reprieve. I could have got caught up with laundry and all that normal crap yesterday BUT there were better things to do. I rarely mosey up to New Hampshire for the New England Aerobatic club meetings but I thought what the hell…its only 100 miles away.
Nashua, NH is right up the street from Don Mayer’s Parachute Shop. Don is a really cool guy. He has been packing parachutes since before they were invented and knows everything about everything. He has a small herd of dogs that hang out in the shop with him and keep you entertained for the duration of your visit. He has some great stories about packing Goulian’s gear and seeing him practice right overhead at Pepperell Airport. On my way up to Nashua, I dropped off my rig for its 180 day repack. Don only charges $75 and I trust his work. Kind of a big thing when you are dealing with parachutes.
The IAC meeting was great. I don’t get too many opportunities to talk shop with folks so it was great. I think I had a perma-grin on my face the whole time. We ate some breakfast (Breakfast Burrito per recommendation of Seth Griffin. Delicious. Messy. But delicious.)
I was sitting with guys that own Pitts’s, Extras, Decathlons and even Stearmans. Well worth the drive. At the end of the meeting Wes Liu, IAC Chapter 35 mentioned he was in the middle of doing an annual inspection on his Pitts S2A. He invited us all over to his hangar to see the airplane all torn apart. For whatever reason, probably because I’m the only one that doesn’t see this stuff everyday, I was the only one that tagged along to go see it. We headed over to Wes’s hangar and lo and behold….he shares a hangar with my favorite Pitts of all time. Not just any Pitts…N727AZ. I saw it the last time I was at Sun N Fun in Lakeland, FL (2008?) and fell in love. It’s the prettiest one Aviat has ever built. I want it. Now. And it lives in NH. That alone was worth the drive up.No treat is without its cost though. On the drive home I was merging from 495 to 95 and felt a tremendous shaking coming from my car. I thought I blew a tire. I pulled over onto the shoulder and took a look. Nothing was flat. I could hear air hissing, but nothing was flat which was odd because the car was shaking and buffeting and making this awful thudthudthudthudthud sound. The culprit? A half inch NUT AND BOLT somehow managed to lodge itself in my tire…the same tire that had blown out back in October. Now I get to drive around with a donut on the car until I get the tire fixed. Whatever. I saw “my” Pitts S2C.
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