I don't know what your plans are this weekend, but if you're near Smyrna, TN you should get to The Great Tennessee Air Show. The air show gates open at 8 a.m. this Saturday and Sunday at the Smyrna Airport. There are still tickets are still available for $20 at the gate or $10 for kids under 12 and kids under 4 are free. The good news is that parking is free. ... Read more »

I'd like to begin this post by asking a question. How many people would like to be taken from your vehicle at gunpoint, handcuffed and detained because several years ago someone stole a car with a license plate number that matches the one the state just assigned your new car? I don't imagine very many... Read more »

The 172 as a model has been around since the mid 1950s.  In the more than 50 years since surprisingly few things have changed. The Cessna 172 is arguably one of the most popular training aircraft around and you'd be hard pressed to find an airport that isn't home to at least one.... Read more »

There were door prizes, which were pretty good but I didn't win anything. This one lucky guy got a ride in a T-6. The coolest part of the day, was after the door prizes when I got to watch a banner pick up. The pattern stayed pretty full considering there were a lot of people getting free flight training and there was a fuel discount, but the banner towing guys were easy to spot. I think that I might enjoy banner towing to be honest.... Read more »

I had booked the plane for most of the day, so I was reasonably certain we had plenty of time. Unfortunately, when we arrived the weekend dispatcher was gone to lunch. We had to wait for him to get back, but after that everything was good to go. I did my (increasingly) typical orientation, safety briefing and preflight. Everything checked out. This was great. We loaded up and I started the plane, radioed for taxi, did a run-up and taxied into position at Alpha 8 for takeoff. After glossing over the before and after takeoff checklists, I handed the book to my brother and asked if he could hold it for me. I explained that I might need it once we were off the ground so he just needed to keep it handy. I waited for the landing traffic to touchdown and roll out a bit before calling ready for takeoff. After they were clear, we were cleared for takeoff. As we rolled onto the runway, I looked over and asked one last time, "are you ready?" After an affirmative response, I applied full throttle and we were off. As we reached the end of the runway a large bird flew around the front of the plane and behind us. I immediately alerted the tower of this since it could be an issue and we proceeded to fly as filed. Our course was basically runway heading, so there wasn't much maneuvering to be done. Just a nice climb.... Read more »