The B-17 Aluminum Overcast visited WVI May 3-6. The visit started with a press flight on Monday for the local papers and KION 46 weather reporter Tamara Berg. Click here. The SC Sentinel story is here. Tuesday had the first two flights for paying passengers and a couple of freebies for EAA 119 volunteers. Afterward a lot of visitors came out to the airport to tour through the plane, EAA119 volunteers doing a great job keeping the visitors interested, educated, informed and flowing through the plane. We all learned a lot and I think passed on a lot of information to the community what it was like in that plane. Tony and Thad literally spent hours in the cockpit talking to folks. Tuesday night had the Mexican dinner from Said's Little Tampico and short talk by the B-17 crew that was very well received. A group photo was taken and chapter meeting held afterward. This was very successful. Wednesday was much like Tuesday, two passenger flights, a lot of visitors to 5pm. On Thursday, the flight to Napa was perfect. Chuck, Mike Nelson, Thad, JR, Mike Corder, myself and Dennis Thomas (who just happened to be standing in the right place at the right time) rode to Napa. Takeoff included a pass over the field while we were already walking around the cabin. The view of the coast and Golden Gate was perfect, and in an hour, we landed at Napa. Chris Laws (who rode on Tuesday) picked us up and drove us (after a Jonesy's lunch) home.
The crew several times complimented EAA119 on how well we did hosting the B-17 and said many chapters could learn from us. A lot of that organization and drive came from John Davi, to no surprise to anyone. Thanks John for all the effort to make this the big success it turned out to be!
No comments:
Post a Comment