Straighten Up and Fly Right – a belated Fathers Day post featuring pancakes and planes

I sent this Fathers Day card to Dad and called him, too – but the post I intended in honor of all the Dads who take their daughters fishing with safety pins tied to wooden rulers (or with pikepoles and pistols if they’re after muskies) – that post got lost in the rush of events. OK, what passes for a rush around the Township. That’s why I live here.  I digress.  Here’s the post.

Small plane enthusiasts from the Experimental Aircraft Association flocked to the Torchport for the Father’s Day fly-in.  A pancake breakfast netted over $500 for the NMC Aviation program’s scholarship fund, and the pilots had a good time peering into the innards of each other’s planes.  I am not what you might call mechanically knowledgeable.  I can tell you this – these planes are just lovely to look at.  Fun to ride in, too.

OK, maybe more fun to ride in after they’re actually finished. But apparently completely fascinating while they’re still Projects in Process. Santa Claus has nothing on Duane Jorgensen’s workshop.

George Grissom was there showing off the Swick Clip-T. The Traverse City entrepreneur bought the rights to the classic design, and is gearing up to market kits for components or for the whole plane.  (If you’re handy at these matters, you could have your very own Clip-T for less than $30,000. If you’re really enthusiastic you can buy a house at the Airpark and tie down your Swick-T right in your own front yard.)

Jim Lagowski was there, helping out.  He’s finishing a homebuilt plane that he plans to bring to the fly-in next year. Here he is with Gwen and Craig Sawka (Craig is president-elect of EEA). Everyone was talking about Oshkosh – a huge gathering of homebuilt aircraft enthusiasts, right across Big Blue in Wisconsin.  Lots of people wanted to be ready for the Big Show this year, but have settled for 2009 instead.  I may have to go see it for myself, and drop in on the ancestral lands on the way back. What do you think, Dad – meet you there? Maybe we can catch a muskie.

Edit: 6-24-08. Never underestimate the power of Dadness.