I attended the Wings Over the Big South Fork Air Show (Tennessee) on September 13.  I had not been to the Big South Fork airport before, although it is not that far from my base in Oliver Springs.  The Knoxville Experimental Aircraft Association Chapter (Chapter 17) has a lot of connections to the air show.  The air boss is a member of the chapter and our chapter held a Young Eagles event prior to the air show at Big South Fork.

The EAA Young Eagles programs are a great, grass roots way to introduce kids to aviation.  Generally there is a short briefing or class for the kids and then they get rides in general aviation aircraft.  Chapter members fly the aircraft.  While I think the kids get a lot out of the program, the members seem very energized as well.

Although I couldn’t fly a plane in to Big South Fork to fly some kids for Young Eagles, I got to hitch a ride with Jim Roberts, the chapter President.  He rented a Cessna 172 at the Athens, Tennessee airport (McMinn County) and we flew to the air show.  It’s a lot more fun to fly to an air show than drive.  For one thing, you get the real VIP parking.  I had a great time with Jim, who let me get some Cessna piloting time on the way back, and then introduced me to some great folks at the Swift Museum at McMinn County airport.

Since I just got the new beta for Microsoft Windows Live Writer, I have to check out its ability to insert videos in my blog.  My last attempt, using the Soapbox beta service, did not work out very well.  For one thing, Microsoft decided to change URLs for the videos without redirecting from the old ones.  So this time if all goes well, you should see a link or something to my really cruddy video of the Young Eagles at the Wings over the Big South Fork Air Show.

-- Walter Lounsbery, 9-21-2008

Weeks ago, Lisa and I had planned on a Labor Day holiday weekend road trip.  Road trips are great vacations.  You can take routes that take you to interesting roadside spots (whether scenic, unusual places, little museums, great diners or restaurants, and so on).  You get a better sense of the area you travel.  Often you encounter wonderful things you didn't anticipate.  Better yet, you have the flexibility to deal with bad weather or other contingencies.

As it turned out, the flexibility of our weekend plans allowed us to stay home to do some things at home and take a "road trip" to downtown Knoxville on Sunday.  Yesterday we went to Knoxville Boomsday and had a great time.  Lisa reserved a room downtown that had a wonderful view of the fireworks.  She has already posted some pictures of the event on her blog and a review of the event.  I have to admit that we took time out to have dinner at Chesapeake's Restaurant.  Highly recommended!

While we didn't get to enjoy the full range of an extended road trip this last weekend, there should be plenty of chances to hit the road later.  I'm glad we didn't miss the fireworks in Knoxville.

-- Walter Lounsbery, 9-1-2008