Cubbin' with Garrett on his overnight layover

Plane: Cub, 85 hp 
Route: 40I, Local 
Weather: Few clouds, 83 degrees, wind light and variable

As seems typical of the aviation community, I know Garrett via numerous small-world connections. We met through my best friend Rob (who's an aviation fanatic and has flown with me many times) but he also graduated from WMU with us. On top of that, he also knows pilot friend Chris from growing up near Kalamazoo and volunteering at the Air Zoo. Today he flies CRJs for a regional airline and occasionally manages to schedule overnights at DAY so we can say hello. This time he was in town long enough for a Cub flight, so that's what we did. Obviously.

Everyone's always smiling in a Cub

To back up a little bit, we went out for a beer last night shortly after he got into town. Their brews speak for themselves (sidenote - Dayton has quite a number of really good local breweries these days) and I love their location, but I partially took him to Warped Wing just for the great aviation references. It was nice to catch up and, well, mostly talk aviation and airplanes.

Back to this morning... I drove downtown, picked him up from his hotel, and we arrived at Stewart around 9:00. Summer is out in force and it was already quite muggy. But we were about to climb into a Cub. And fly around with the door open. Problem solved.

Preflight complete, he performed the necessary contortions to climb in front, I slid into the back seat, and we got the requisite hand-prop to start the fan turning. I departed on Runway 26 and turned south, pointing out the river, valley, kayakers, and bike trail below. Eventually we made our way over towards Kings Island before turning around and following I-71 back northeast.

Flying over the eastern edge of Caesar Creek Lake

I flew over the lake as I often do while sightseeing and, even at this relatively early hour, it was replete with boaters out avoiding the humidity in their own preferred fashion. We then headed north past Waynesville and circled around one of the more ridiculously large estates in the area. Not sure why, but it seems like half the time I forget exactly where to find it. I suppose that may be why they built it there!

No doubt we could've spent all day flying low and slow but Mr. Airline Pilot did have a job to get to on time. So I entered the pattern on a crosswind entry from the north to land back on Runway 26. The touchdown wasn't my absolute best (pro pilot pressure?!) but Garrett seemed satisfied.

We headed back downtown, grabbing Gina on the way, in search of a quick bite for breakfast. Tank's - a local institution - was the plan but they were busy as usual, so we ended up with a nice light meal at differently, but equally, delicious Ghostlight Coffee. Then we dropped him back at his hotel, in time for work and everything! While I'm usually the one visiting pilot friends while traveling, it's just as nice spending the morning committing aviation with friends in my town.

Flight Track: Google Earth KMZ File 
Today's Flight: 1.0 hours
Total Time: 353.0 hours