After looking back at the day, we have decided to call it a success. We finished our first full day in Wichita, KS with a bit of a "bang".
By "bang" we mean causing a ruckus in the town of Rose Hill and having the someone at the local corner store call the police on us! (Don't worry Harv and Bettie, its not as bad as it sounds!). Apparently, six Canadians walking into the store near closing time is not a normal occurence in this part of Kansas. I can't really blame them on that count. The police officer was really friendly, and was extremely intrigued by our trip. "If you guys were up to something bad," he said, "you woulda scattered like the Kansas wind!"
By "bang" we mean causing a ruckus in the town of Rose Hill and having the someone at the local corner store call the police on us! (Don't worry Harv and Bettie, its not as bad as it sounds!). Apparently, six Canadians walking into the store near closing time is not a normal occurence in this part of Kansas. I can't really blame them on that count. The police officer was really friendly, and was extremely intrigued by our trip. "If you guys were up to something bad," he said, "you woulda scattered like the Kansas wind!"
Getting back to the topic of the day, the goals for today were:
A) Tour the HawkerBeech factory in Wichita, and
B) Make it to Dallas, TX
To sum it up, we succeeded with one, and failed miserably at the other. Dallas was showing some pretty wicked winds, so we decided to put that on hold and wait for better, but an American Aviation icon was waiting for us, and we would not disappoint.
The HawkerBeech factory tour was a blast! We had our own personal tour guide in the form of one of our hosts here in Wichita, and it was really great to tour a facility like that. Some of the presses they use to stamp airplane parts are the same machines thats have been used since the 1940's!!! As well, we got to see in depth the inner workings of the new Hawker 4000 business jet. (Adam tried to take one with him, but it wouldn't fit through the security checkpoint)
Unfortunately, we couldn't take our camera's with us because of some top secret things that we saw but can't talk about now...and actually, I'm not supposed to have told you that.
We were able to take a couple of photos outside of the plant however... Note that "Walter" is now with us. Walter is a Beechcraft teddybear, and he elected to join with our squadron after the day's events. He has also decided on becoming a Flight Instructor at Harv's Air Service! (He'll teach in a brand spankin' new Bonanza, of course!)
Unfortunately, we couldn't take our camera's with us because of some top secret things that we saw but can't talk about now...and actually, I'm not supposed to have told you that.
We were able to take a couple of photos outside of the plant however... Note that "Walter" is now with us. Walter is a Beechcraft teddybear, and he elected to join with our squadron after the day's events. He has also decided on becoming a Flight Instructor at Harv's Air Service! (He'll teach in a brand spankin' new Bonanza, of course!)
After a lunch at the local diner, we relaxed for the afternoon with Jason getting to log some circuits. You can see him on final to the upper right of the fancy Citation Jet in the Photo above! (By the way, they call them "Pattern's" down here, not circuits, those crazy Americans!) Doing a few patterns was a great way to burn off some fuel that was overfilled into GPTO. Weather was not a problem, with a high of +15 and clear skies for most of the afternoon.
P.S. Thanks so much Gracia, Guenther, Harry, Joyce, Ruth, Angela, and Steven for all the hospitality and care!
"Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." Psalm 97:11.
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