East Texas/Toledo Bend, La. Fly In and Race!

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GAHorn
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East Texas/Toledo Bend, La. Fly In and Race!

Post by GAHorn »

Well, Jamie and I are back home and here's the report on the Fly In organized by the Texas Regional Coordinator Louise Bickford, and co-hosted by the Toledo Bend renegades Deana and Gary Hanson along with co-conspirators Ron and Connie Massicot!
Now before I get too far into this tale, I want to apologize to all who are interested for my lack of understanding of the RULES OF ENGAGEMENT 8O , re: the so-called "Texas Death Match!" In fact, I apparently misunderstood the entire concept known as "Fly IN". You see, I thought that meant that you were supposed to actually FLY an airplane to the EVENT! I clearly was confused by the term "Fly In", as Buddy McGown so adeptly pointed out, "You mean you FLEW over here?" 8O
Well. Yeah. I guess I did. You see I didn't want to be accused by a certain member of the NORTH TEXAS CONTINGENT of avoiding any planned humiliation by said member of SAID CONTINGENT!
But, alas, it was not to be. When Jamie and I arrived at Many, Hart Field (3R4), we were not only be the FIRST to arrive,....we seemed to be the ONLY 170 to actually challenge the VFR gods to do battle. But, we were properly greeted by the welcoming committee of Gary and Deana Hanson, Ron and Connie Massicot, their good friends JT and Juanita (who clearly should now be having second thoughts about being further involved with anyone even remotely associated with this 8) group).
Before they allowed me to become aware that I was the only person idiot enough to actually FLY to one of their fly-in's, they passed off onto me a fairly believable act :roll: of waiting for Steve and Maria Grimsley. At least long enough to coax me into breaking open and polishing off a half-case of MY stash of Beck's beer. When it became fairly obvious that no one else was arriving, we piled into cars and headed out to Florien, La., and the Emerald Hills Resort to check into the hotel. Imagine how it must have appeared when we arrived there to find that Steve and Maria had actually already checked in. Gary, Ron, and JT didn't even :roll: fein surprise. Of course, the Grimsley's already knew better than to fly to a fly in.
The resort restaurant had a seefood buffet which most of us fell for. Now a seefood buffet is something we don't have in Texas, so if you ever get over to that area of the world, you need to also understand the rules of engagement of buffet-dining in Florien. In Texas we have what is known as a seafood buffet, where food selections are served which originated from actual marine life. The first time I ever tried raw oysters, I had to be taught how to properly devour the things with cocktail sauce and crackers. I learned to like them. The first time I ever tried boiled shrimp I had to learn how to peel, devein and eat them. I learned to love them. The first time I had crawfish, I was almost disgusted by the whole process, but the spices were good, and the beer was cold, and it all became provender. :P It's an art-form,... sort of like turning from base to final in one smooth arc and rolling out exactly just so.....
It was good that Gary was there to teach us the art of eating seefood buffet in Florien, La., because (at least the one served at the Emerald Hills Resort and Golf Club) is apparently prepared in the usual manner by breading and deep-frying, ...but the object of the excersize is to examine, dissect with one's fingers, and try to see what the food actually is. It's an identification ritual. Gary demonstrated the proper methodology, by taking the two ends of the fried object, and by adroitly peeling back the breading, he revealed what closely resembled the standard Office Depot rubber-band. Now, at this point, one has already enjoyed the main benefit of the culinary delicacy thus far described. It's a visual thing. However, it should be appreciated that the breading recipie is unique in that it actually rendered the rubber taste completely from the morsel. It was totally without any hint or smell of rubber, resembling more the fine texture and faint aroma of fully cured RTV. It was a dining experience. Now we know why Gary remains so slender, and also why the seefood buffet is so named. You not only try to see what the food is, ...but also you can truly have ALL you can eat. (Gary demonstrated how to dangle calamari from each nostril>) Thanks for the demonstration, Gary. I hadn't had that much fun with food since I was a swaddling infant. :wink: (Gary kept us all in stitches. We laughed until it hurt.)

The next morning we all got up and had the standard breakfast (which was actually pretty good) and simply drove across the street to tour the Hodges Gardens. Now this was a treat, especially for those of us within earshot of Sheila and Wendell Wyborny, two accomplished botanists and herbologists. We were given a very interesting tour of a fantastic and very large formal gardens created from a reclaimed sandstone quarry. It is impossible to tell the garden's past life without the brochure because of the lush and varied landscape. Everyone enjoyed the morning immensely. By the way, the rest of the group included Goody and Fran Goodrich, Frank and Becky Stephenson, Buddy and Jean McGown, Cleo and Louise Bickford, and David and Sue Dean.
Lunch followed, and after lunch it became apparent I had totally misunderstood the rules regarding the so-called "Texas Death Match". In the period leading up to this "Toledo Bend Challenge" the gauntlet having been thrown by Joe "Speedy" Harris, and picked up, courageously I might add, by yours truly, it has been repeatedly espoused by said Speedy, that his airplane with the outdated wing is faster than my later derivant.
The date was set and the place designated in neutral territory. The judges chosen (if not disinterested and fair then at least unscrupulous and so unqualified as to make cheating pointless), and the rules to be determined. Or so I thought. Ah,...being ignorant of the rules of engagement practiced north of the Trinity river, little did I realize that Speedy's concept of a race winner was simply the person who landed first. Having made a last ditch effort in a high-speed side-slipping dive to cross the threshold and land at the airport (apparently he believes ANY airport as long as it's north of the Trinity), Speedy landed first that day, albeit at Athens, TX. He apparently intended to claim even greater victory due to some handicap! (Failure of a non-TSO'd nitrous-injection system.)
A protest has been entered, and the judges (Gary and Ron) are in conference scrutinizing the rules. It is possible that since the landing occured west of the Sabine, that the contest may have to be re-set. We won't know until the judging committee determines if Cajun rules apply. (If de' party of de' fust part, don' lit eas' of de' Sabine, den de' time zone don' exest wif-out a re-match, an' de' juges have to sample de' nitrous wid cannulas fo' potency.) It's expected that the final ruling will revolve about the theory that Speedy's airplane is not faster, it's merely MAY be less-slow, albeit perhaps range-challenged. [Edit: the explanation/translation of this diatribe is: Joe Harris and myself had initiated a contest to determine which is faster...his green-thing or my red-racer... whoever landed first AT MANY LA would be the winner... but Joe suffered a stuck-valve enroute and landed at Athens, TX.]

At any rate, Louise navigated the route out to Ammon's field with me and kept me east of the Sabine. Gary threw a scrumptious feast of burgers, sausages and all the trimmings, tastefully supervised by the butler Sir William Robert Hanson, who insisted on being called "Billy Bob", followed by musical renderings by Gary and Deana. Fun singing and guitar pickin' by Gary accompanied by Deana on accordian. It was great! Thanks Deana and Gary for having us all out.
After dark, Steve and I flew 146YS back to Many, and tied down, and then it was back to the hotel.
Another good breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausages, hotcakes and coffee, lots of airplane talking and joking. And it was time to head on back. Jamie and I were taken to the airport by Cleo and Louise, and we lifted off and did an aerial view of the gardens again, a low fly-by of Ammons field again, and then while cruising home decided to land at Woodville and eat at the Pickett house. If you've never eaten at the Pickett House, they'll pick you up at the airport (Tel no. is posted at the airport office) and it's all you can eat family style. (Fried chicken, dumplin's, greens, okra, tomatos, mashed potatos and gravy, cornbread, cobbler, etc.) While we were sipping on a sassafras tea who should appear on the front porch but CLEO and LOUISE! Ha! We all had lunch together. After almost an hour of pleasant eatin' and visitin' we stood to leave and as we were walking out, who should enter but Sheila and Wendell Wyborny! Just goes to show, good ideas happen to Cessna 170'ers!
Well, this may have been a little rambling, but it was a run-down on how the weekend "fly-in" went. It was fun. I'll just have to get used to these folks who drive to fly in's, and others who because they land early, claim their airplane is faster! ;Þ
(Glad it worked out Joe. Talk to Steve Grimsley about which mechanic to use at Athens.)
Last edited by GAHorn on Tue Apr 23, 2002 3:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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flyguy
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Post by flyguy »

RE: EAST TEXAS/SEST LOUISIANA FLY-IN!

Well thanks George for some kind words. At least I think there were some "kind words" in there somewhere. It was a long way from the start to the end and I may have missed a part or two during my yawns! :roll:

For the rest of y'all - - If it hadn't been for the ones who drove I would have had to put up with only G A Horn! Because he was the only one flying in to this particular fly-in, he qualified to win all the trophies that were to be awarded! These were awards for farthest distance flown, oldest pilot, youngest pilot, prettiest companion, ugliest airplane, slowest airplane and of course fastest airplane. The problem was that he flew off before the awards ceremony therby disqualifiying himself!

The only other attempt to actually fly to this fly-in was made by a hard luck fellow named Joe. There may have to be an investigation into why he didn't get all the way here. Some one who shall remain un-named thinks it may have been a dodge. There had been talk of a TEXAS style "death match". More on this later!
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GAHorn
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Fly In awards...

Post by GAHorn »

Gary, ...mail the "purse" awards to me. :P
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N1478D
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Joined: Mon Apr 22, 2002 5:32 pm

Post by N1478D »

There is another investigation - someone who looked like George was seen with a ladder and a beaker early Saturday morning at GPM!
Joe
51 C170A
Grand Prairie, TX
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GAHorn
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Post by GAHorn »

Like a few of your other claims, that one isn't gonna fly either Joe! I got too many witnesses who saw me arrive in Looeasyanna Friday nite and stay overnight and have breakfast Saturday morning. My airplane is pretty fast (as you know) but not that fast to get to GPM and back in time for breakfast! Try another one! :roll:
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Bill Venohr
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weight and balance

Post by Bill Venohr »

George, Thanks for the run-down on the fly-in. I'm sure you and Joe will have another opportunity to set the record straight without having to do all the posturing, rumor mongering, etc. By the way, after all that eating how was your weight and balance????
Bill :lol:
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GAHorn
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Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm

Re: weight and balance

Post by GAHorn »

Bill Venohr wrote:George, Thanks for the run-down on the fly-in. I'm sure you and Joe will have another opportunity to set the record straight without having to do all the posturing, rumor mongering, etc. By the way, after all that eating how was your weight and balance????
Bill :lol:
Ok! That's it! I'm writing the article I've refrained from all along! Look at the "Texas Death Match - Results!" :lol:
planepilot1
Posts: 49
Joined: Fri Apr 26, 2002 1:02 am

Many, LA Fly IN

Post by planepilot1 »

I must add my (our) thanks to Louise for once again organizing a great wekend fly in. I think all who attended really enjoyed themselves. I know Becky and I did. Gary, a big TEXAS THANKS for your hospitality. You, Deana, Ron & Connie did it up right! Good food, good friends = GOOD TIMES

I managed not to get my hip out of joint from kicking myself for NOT flying to Many, but a good long drive did provide a lot of wildflower scenery, etc. Wish I was a computer person like so many of you and I would add smiley faces, colored letters (fonts I think they tell me they are called), etc. Maybe I can catch on one of these days.

Oh by the way George you didn't mention the near scalping we almost had when we ran into that band of Indians!!!!!!!!!
Frank Stephenson
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