A Real, Live Hallmark Xmas Ornament

If anyone wants to join the crowd at Pinckneyville for the flyin please
drop us an email at to let us know you are coming so we
can be sure not to run out of groceries. :-)

Augh. Another Pinckneyville lost to us -- we've got to be at my nephew's
wedding in Seattle that weekend.

One of these years...

Personally, I'm rooting for a huge fight between the future bride & groom
between now and then...

:-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Highflyer" wrote:
Anyway, I chugged around the countryside at a leisurely 100 knots in luxury
in my elderly but roomy airplane, fondly referred to on the news groups as
"The Red Lady."

"Leisurely," hah!

Those of you who haven't been on board for one of Highflyer's 3-g pullouts in
the Stinson may be forgiven if you don't have an accurate picture of what he
means by "leisurely."



If anyone wants to join the crowd at Pinckneyville for the flyin please
drop
us an email at to let us know you are coming so we can be
sure not to run out of groceries. :-)

The coolest fly-in I've ever beer, er, been to. See you there next month,
John.
--
Dan
C-172RG at BFM

Jay,
you really ought to be doing human interest stories for an aviation
magazine. Lane's got nothing you haven't got, so to speak.

Shawn

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:2FE8e.24433$Bb3.3793@attbi_s22...
80 degrees in Iowa? In April? If this is "global warming" I'm all for
it. And if it's just an early spring, well, all the better!

When we departed KIOW today, shortly after noon, the sun was warm, the
winds light, and my 14-year-old son was in the right seat. Mary, having
worked 25 of the last 48 hours (two weddings at the inn -- on the same
weekend!) was more than willing to snooze in the back seat while Joey
learned a bit more about being a pilot.

Destination today? Hampton, Iowa -- home of the Hampton Aviation
Association, and the most beautiful Gullwing Stinson to ever grace the
skies, owned by our friend Paul Sensor. This beautiful 1936 aircraft,
fully restored by Paul in 2000, was the model for the 2002 Hallmark
Aviation Christmas ornament, which was reproduced with incredible
accuracy, right down to the "NC" number.

One catch: Paul didn't know we were coming. In fact, *we* didn't know we
were coming until 10 minutes before departure, thanks to our incredibly
hectic weekend and a decided lack of planning. Still, we figured if no
one was at the airport, we'd simply proceed on to Fort Dodge -- home of a
Flight Service station, and another Iowa airport that we had never
visited.

Of course, we were in search of food -- when aren't we? -- and truthfully
Hampton didn't look too promising, with AOPA's directory clearly stating
"FBO closed Sundays." But, with enough fuel aboard to fly to Texas
non-stop, we figured we'd take our chances.

After climbing to 5500 feet, Joey quickly learned that flying in
summertime haze was a LOT different than flying in the winter. With ever
growing frustration he discovered that without a well-defined horizon he
could hold heading or altitude -- but usually not both at the same time.
My amusement grew as he quickly learned that maybe flying wasn't the
"slam-dunk" he thought it was, but Mary -- sitting behind the center of
gravity -- soon put an end to my fun by protesting his too-active bank and
pitch corrections...

Approaching the pattern Joey gladly relinquished the controls, perhaps a
bit wiser, and I landed uneventfully. As feared, however, this pristine
airport was deserted, but the FBO was unlocked, so we went inside to look
around.

Everything in the place was neat as a pin, and appeared to be brand new.
The concrete was smooth as a pool table, with nary a skid mark or a stone
out of place. Clearly this was an airport that was well-loved and
thoughtfully maintained, so we were puzzled by its unused condition on
such a perfect flying day.

My eyes fell on a phone book laying on the desk, and I figured "what could
it hurt?" to give Paul a jingle. Only last month he had led his group of
aviation merry-makers on a junket to Iowa City, where the guys and gals
had rented the entire hotel for a wonderful weekend of flying, hanger
lying, and shopping. During his time with us we had hit it off pretty
well, and Paul had invited us to visit "any time" -- so why not test the
waters?

Luckily, he had just stopped at home for lunch, after spending the morning
bringing the Stinson out of "winter mothballs." He immediately offered to
come get us, and within minutes he and a friend were pulling up to meet
us. Outgoing and warm as always, Paul -- knowing we were hungry -- had
taken the liberty of calling his favorite local restaurant to make sure
that they would stay open long enough for us to eat there! (In
small-town Iowa, many businesses are still closed on Sundays, and the ones
that *are* open usually close early.)

He then drove us to "Coffee & Company" -- a small, intimate
restaurant/coffee shop (owned by a guy whose last name really is "Coffee")
with fantastic food -- and left us to our devices while he went back to
work on the Stinson. Before he left, he asked our waitress to CALL HIM on
his cell phone when it looked like we were finishing up, so he could be
back to fetch us before we were done chewing! It just doesn't get much
better than that, and we enjoyed a terrific lunch, complete with home-made
potato/bacon soup and a slice of home-made cheesecake for dessert...

True to his word, Paul was there to pick us up right as the cashier
finished running our card -- and he happily whisked us back to his hangar
for a first-hand tour of his incredible plane.

One of only three left flying (there were four until last week, when one
was retired to the Delta Airlines museum), this incredible Stinson has
been lovingly restored to better-than-new condition by Paul and a
dedicated band of friends and mechanics. He showed us his "restoration
book", a picture-diary which outlined in great detail just how far he had
taken his bird in a very few short years.

While never a basket case -- he flew it for four years before restoring
it -- the Gullwing had been extensively modified over the years. Details
like a wrong engine cowling, the wrong wheel pants, and an inaccurate
interior all had to be replaced and fabricated from scratch -- and you
don't go out and get this stuff from "Airtex"! The end result is so
stunning that, well, Hallmark made a Christmas ornament out of it! You
really just have to see it to appreciate it.

Paul then directed Mary, me and the kids to climb up and in his
surprisingly huge work of art. (Never was I so paranoid about having
children!) Just getting in took some lessons, since -- even though there
is a ladder built into the fuselage for entry -- it's not entirely obvious
where to put your hands and feet.

Once inside we were bathed in fresh leather -- a whole *bunch* of cows
gave there all for THIS bird. The seat was deeply comfortable, although
smaller than modern seats (people apparently weren't as broad-butted
during the Depression as they are today), and we were surprised to be
staring up at the sky! In fact, the pilot's position is closer to that
of the Apollo astronauts than it is to that of the Space Shuttle pilots --
a Stinson really sits back on its haunches! Paul stated that he had seen
"an entire T-28 hide behind that nose" more than once, so he must
constantly S-turn while taxiing to avoid catastrophe.

He assured me, however, that once the nose came up visibility was just
fine.

He then regaled us with tales of the restoration process, and how he had
found expert "faux wood painters" down south to re-create the panel
accurately. (In the 1930s they didn't have veneer woods yet, so they
painted the panels to look like wood.) Even this little detail has been
perfectly re-created, and the end result is a perfect time machine. It
was easy to close my eyes and imagine famed air racer Roscoe Turner
piloting this bird -- as he had, in fact, done. (He owned it for a time,
during which he used it in a short-lived airline that he opened -- and
closed -- within a few short months, after running into trouble with the
CAA for running an illegal airline!)

Too soon it was time to go. I wanted to wait until they were ready for
another ground run, but the kids were getting antsy and the sky was
beckoning. After bidding our friends farewell, and inviting them to a
return trip to Iowa City soon, we launched back into that warm, milky sky.

Mary flew us home, while I gazed out the window, pondering how lucky we
were to be alive, how fabulous everyone in the tight-knit world of
aviation can be, and how fortunate we were to be enjoying this wondrous
thing we call flight...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

For anyone interested in seeing the ornament:

http://www.mxtx.com/hallmark/ad2003/qx8147.htm

Great story Jay. Well-written as always. Seripusly, you should try to get
paid for some of your pieces. If Dick Karl from Flying can write about the
joy in flying his friend's Bonanza and make it sound interesting for a
column, then your stuff is cover feature material!

Marco Leon

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:2FE8e.24433$Bb3.3793@attbi_s22...
80 degrees in Iowa? In April? If this is "global warming" I'm all for
it.
And if it's just an early spring, well, all the better!

When we departed KIOW today, shortly after noon, the sun was warm, the
winds
light, and my 14-year-old son was in the right seat. Mary, having worked
25
of the last 48 hours (two weddings at the inn -- on the same weekend!) was
more than willing to snooze in the back seat while Joey learned a bit more
about being a pilot.

Destination today? Hampton, Iowa -- home of the Hampton Aviation
Association, and the most beautiful Gullwing Stinson to ever grace the
skies, owned by our friend Paul Sensor. This beautiful 1936 aircraft,
fully restored by Paul in 2000, was the model for the 2002 Hallmark
Aviation
Christmas ornament, which was reproduced with incredible accuracy, right
down to the "NC" number.

One catch: Paul didn't know we were coming. In fact, *we* didn't know we
were coming until 10 minutes before departure, thanks to our incredibly
hectic weekend and a decided lack of planning. Still, we figured if no
one
was at the airport, we'd simply proceed on to Fort Dodge -- home of a
Flight
Service station, and another Iowa airport that we had never visited.

Of course, we were in search of food -- when aren't we? -- and truthfully
Hampton didn't look too promising, with AOPA's directory clearly stating
"FBO closed Sundays." But, with enough fuel aboard to fly to Texas
non-stop, we figured we'd take our chances.

After climbing to 5500 feet, Joey quickly learned that flying in
summertime
haze was a LOT different than flying in the winter. With ever growing
frustration he discovered that without a well-defined horizon he could
hold
heading or altitude -- but usually not both at the same time. My
amusement
grew as he quickly learned that maybe flying wasn't the "slam-dunk" he
thought it was, but Mary -- sitting behind the center of gravity -- soon
put
an end to my fun by protesting his too-active bank and pitch
corrections...

Approaching the pattern Joey gladly relinquished the controls, perhaps a
bit
wiser, and I landed uneventfully. As feared, however, this pristine
airport
was deserted, but the FBO was unlocked, so we went inside to look around.

Everything in the place was neat as a pin, and appeared to be brand new.
The concrete was smooth as a pool table, with nary a skid mark or a stone
out of place. Clearly this was an airport that was well-loved and
thoughtfully maintained, so we were puzzled by its unused condition on
such
a perfect flying day.

My eyes fell on a phone book laying on the desk, and I figured "what could
it hurt?" to give Paul a jingle. Only last month he had led his group of
aviation merry-makers on a junket to Iowa City, where the guys and gals
had
rented the entire hotel for a wonderful weekend of flying, hanger lying,
and
shopping. During his time with us we had hit it off pretty well, and
Paul
had invited us to visit "any time" -- so why not test the waters?

Luckily, he had just stopped at home for lunch, after spending the morning
bringing the Stinson out of "winter mothballs." He immediately offered to
come get us, and within minutes he and a friend were pulling up to meet
us.
Outgoing and warm as always, Paul -- knowing we were hungry -- had taken
the
liberty of calling his favorite local restaurant to make sure that they
would stay open long enough for us to eat there! (In small-town Iowa,
many
businesses are still closed on Sundays, and the ones that *are* open
usually
close early.)

He then drove us to "Coffee & Company" -- a small, intimate
restaurant/coffee shop (owned by a guy whose last name really is "Coffee")
with fantastic food -- and left us to our devices while he went back to
work
on the Stinson. Before he left, he asked our waitress to CALL HIM on his
cell phone when it looked like we were finishing up, so he could be back
to
fetch us before we were done chewing! It just doesn't get much better
than
that, and we enjoyed a terrific lunch, complete with home-made
potato/bacon
soup and a slice of home-made cheesecake for dessert...

True to his word, Paul was there to pick us up right as the cashier
finished
running our card -- and he happily whisked us back to his hangar for a
first-hand tour of his incredible plane.

One of only three left flying (there were four until last week, when one
was
retired to the Delta Airlines museum), this incredible Stinson has been
lovingly restored to better-than-new condition by Paul and a dedicated
band
of friends and mechanics. He showed us his "restoration book", a
picture-diary which outlined in great detail just how far he had taken his
bird in a very few short years.

While never a basket case -- he flew it for four years before restoring
it -- the Gullwing had been extensively modified over the years. Details
like a wrong engine cowling, the wrong wheel pants, and an inaccurate
interior all had to be replaced and fabricated from scratch -- and you
don't
go out and get this stuff from "Airtex"! The end result is so stunning
that, well, Hallmark made a Christmas ornament out of it! You really just
have to see it to appreciate it.

Paul then directed Mary, me and the kids to climb up and in his
surprisingly
huge work of art. (Never was I so paranoid about having children!) Just
getting in took some lessons, since -- even though there is a ladder built
into the fuselage for entry -- it's not entirely obvious where to put your
hands and feet.

Once inside we were bathed in fresh leather -- a whole *bunch* of cows
gave
there all for THIS bird. The seat was deeply comfortable, although
smaller
than modern seats (people apparently weren't as broad-butted during the
Depression as they are today), and we were surprised to be staring up at
the
sky! In fact, the pilot's position is closer to that of the Apollo
astronauts than it is to that of the Space Shuttle pilots -- a Stinson
really sits back on its haunches! Paul stated that he had seen "an
entire
T-28 hide behind that nose" more than once, so he must constantly S-turn
while taxiing to avoid catastrophe.

He assured me, however, that once the nose came up visibility was just
fine.

He then regaled us with tales of the restoration process, and how he had
found expert "faux wood painters" down south to re-create the panel
accurately. (In the 1930s they didn't have veneer woods yet, so they
painted
the panels to look like wood.) Even this little detail has been perfectly
re-created, and the end result is a perfect time machine. It was easy to
close my eyes and imagine famed air racer Roscoe Turner piloting this
bird -- as he had, in fact, done. (He owned it for a time, during which
he
used it in a short-lived airline that he opened -- and closed -- within a
few short months, after running into trouble with the CAA for running an
illegal airline!)

Too soon it was time to go. I wanted to wait until they were ready for
another ground run, but the kids were getting antsy and the sky was
beckoning. After bidding our friends farewell, and inviting them to a
return trip to Iowa City soon, we launched back into that warm, milky sky.

Mary flew us home, while I gazed out the window, pondering how lucky we
were
to be alive, how fabulous everyone in the tight-knit world of aviation can
be, and how fortunate we were to be enjoying this wondrous thing we call
flight...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

i 3rd the motion. you're at least good enough as a writer to publish
your stuff and you've obviously got yourself in the situation to have a
steady stream of interesting subject matter.

and thanks to montblack for posting the link to the story and pictures.


just google-up some writers agents, prepare a profile and a half-dozen
of your pieces from here and start sending 'em out. you'd be suprised
how much need there is for product out there. just don't expect much
money. magazine writing is right up there with airplane driving as a
way to have a lot of fun without making money (g).


dan

"houstondan" wrote in message
oups.com...
i 3rd the motion. you're at least good enough as a writer to publish
your stuff and you've obviously got yourself in the situation to have a
steady stream of interesting subject matter.

and thanks to montblack for posting the link to the story and pictures.


just google-up some writers agents, prepare a profile and a half-dozen
of your pieces from here and start sending 'em out. you'd be suprised
how much need there is for product out there. just don't expect much
money. magazine writing is right up there with airplane driving as a
way to have a lot of fun without making money (g).


dan

I hate to be a me too guy BUT "what they just said.I
always enjoy reading your "articles".

Bob Barker N8749S

On Mon, 18 Apr 2005 02:09:02 GMT, Jay Honeck wrote:

Mary flew us home, while I gazed out the window, pondering how lucky we were
to be alive, how fabulous everyone in the tight-knit world of aviation can
be, and how fortunate we were to be enjoying this wondrous thing we call
flight...

Jay,

You have said this so many times so eloquently, more so then I ever could
myself.

I have been honored to the freedom of flight, and have managed to capture
some of my flights on video (with the help of a passenger *smile*.

If you go to http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=mbo, you will see some
of the magic of flying I have experienced.

Feel free to download and upload to your website if you desire. The videos
range from take off to IMC to VFR on top, to a night flight landing.

For me, it's an honor to be able to "commute" to work as I do now, or just
take off and fly from Mississippi and be in Ohio 5 1/2 hours later.....

Allen

Very nice videos, Allen.

I just might steal that night landing video...

Thanks,
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

This from an English major...

Jay Honeck wrote:
Once inside we were bathed in fresh leather -- a whole *bunch* of cows gave
there all for THIS bird.