I Donated, Then Received

Soon after I finished my flight training, my instructor and I flew in his plane (a Cessna Cardinal) up to Edenvale.  We wandered around the ground plane and car displays.  I bought some raffle tickets and ended up winning a flight in a Tiger Moth.  I really wanted to go, but I knew that my flight instructor would love it.  He did a lot for me with my training and I really respected him, so I gave him my flight prize.  I flew back with him to Edenvale and was so happy to see how much he enjoyed the flight.

Present day: I was contacted by someone from the Guelph Airport, that he saw my joyous ice rink runway landing.  The videos from my solid ice landing and take off seem to be missing from Facebook (post from back in February).

A pilot with a hangar and plane at the Guelph Airpark, saw the video and contacted me on my FaceBook.  We got to chatting and found out that he wanted to try out some aerobatics, and I would love to go up in his beautiful 1945 Tiger Moth.  Hmmmm….  Seems like a nice trade-off!  So I contacted him recently and we set up a date for a flight out of Guelph in his plane.  I had a nice, bumpy (which I love!) flight to Guelph for noon today.  I should start a business where I announce where parking spaces are at Costco:

When I landed in Guelph, I saw a man and a young boy watching the planes.  I called him over to check out Vyctor.  I let him sit inside too.  (I did not ask permission to post his pic, thus the blurred face):

Most pilots I know love showing their planes to kids, to hopefully get them involved in aviation later in life.

My pilot for today is Paul Marot, who keeps his Tiger Moth in Guelph.  Check it out:

Once we got it out of his hangar, Paul showed me how to climb aboard.  I was a little disappointed when I asked him about the in-flight meal and he said there would not be one today.  Oh well.

We took off and climbed beautifully up to around 3000′.  Paul allowed me to fly the plane for quite a good chunk of our flight.  I was so happy!  I learned a little something as well.  Being a pilot, I was still a little apprehensive to do anything abrupt or too severe.  I know what my and MY plane’s limits are, but I don’t know what Paul’s limits or those of his plane are.  So I still did some fairly steep turns and such, but didn’t push things too much.  I’ll demonstrate mine and Vyctor’s limits when he comes to St. Catharines for an aerobatic flight.  I’m really looking forward to it.

Thanks again Paul!

I had such a blast.  Then I had the pleasure of flying home.  Mike was at his sister’s house today and was deciding whether to take the QEW or back roads.  I gave him a bunch of traffic updates as I flew along the highway back home:

Hopefully it helped with his decision.

So I am totally pooped, as I knew I would be, but it was worth it for the fantastic day I had.

I got home and spent about an hour and a half putting stuff away and tending to all the animals.  As always, when I walked in the door, Mya immediately begged for food.  How many times I’m feeding her wet food during the day is paying off.  She has gained about a pound.  So I really don’t mind giving in to her begging for noms:

Peanut gave me the “I’m hungry” look so I grabbed some crickets for him to dine on.  I really don’t think he’s too bright.  He had a cricket on him for over five minutes.  Dork.

Today’s symptoms:  I had a really good sleep over the few nights and it’s really paid off.  I felt quite good today, just a lot of nerve pain on my left side.  My headache became quite bad starting around 5:00 this afternoon.  Hopefully it doesn’t keep me awake tonight.

Fantastic Week!

I cannot believe how well I have been feeling this week.  My fatigue level has been far more tolerable than normal.  I have not experienced full body weakness like I have been on and off for quite a few months.  My headache has been less too.  I have been able to take advantage of almost every second while feeling this well.

On Monday, I met up with my friend, her husband and six year old son.  He loves cars and airplanes, so they came by so he could see the Flying Club planes, and mine.

Perfect photo op, as he sits in the pilot seat:

After seeing Vyctor, they went up on the observation deck as I did some aerobatics above.  Here is the link to the post on Facebook .

It was a wonderful morning, to say the least! The next day, the weather remained iffy throughout the morning.  I had a charity fly-over at a golf course in Port Colborne.  It is a special charity event for me because it is for the MS Society.  The annual Fred Legg Golf Tournament was taking place.  I was able to do a little show for them, while listening to other aircraft in the area divert from the lightning storm north of me in St. Catharines. 

Once done my show, I couldn’t get back to the Niagara District Airport, so I decided to divert to Welland. 

The skydivers came down from their jump just as I was landing.  My aircraft mechanic was kind enough to let me put Vyctor in their hangar, while waiting out the storm:

I met up with my friends and was able to keep good company with them, while we all waited out the weather.

Péter and I ran out and gathered the flags from the drop zone:

The ironic thing is that I had to be back here – at the Dorothy Rungeling Airport (Welland Airport) for 5:30 that evening for an Recreational Aircraft Association meeting.  Sooooo….I just waited there from around 1:15 to later that evening.

My friend Péter, his daughter Enikö and I hung out around the hangar.  Mike had to drive in due to the weather, and met up with us around 5:00.

My mechanic has an adorable five year old daughter and he often brings her to these social summer meetings.  The last time I saw her was at our last summer meeting (September) and she asked if I could bring my Barbie doll to the next meeting.  No problem!  For some reason, I decided to keep my Ken doll.  I asked my mom to crochet one of my dolls a nice dress.  She did.  What she didn’t know was that it was for Ken, now Kendra.  She brought her Ken, who happened to be naked.  Of course, I had my awesome copilot Donkay with me for my flight earlier.  His daughter created this lovely tower of awesomeness:

Good times!  (tee hee!)

Fortunately, the weather was clear enough for me to fly back to St. Catharines.  Péter suggested that his daughter Enikö, could fly back with me.  He would drive to the Niagara District Airport to take her back home.  I thought it was a great idea, as did Enikö.

She hopped aboard and we flew back toward Lake Ontario, hitting a couple light showers on the way.  Free plane wash!

Hehe!  I’m afraid it didn’t rain hard enough for that.  Vyc was looking pretty dapper anyway, as they take excellent care of Vyctor and I.

We flew over one of her places to go in the area – the Niagara Outlet Mall, close to the airport:

She is really looking forward to going up with me for aerobatics, so was very excited when I did a fairly steep turn:

I was very grateful for my friend, the manager of the Flying Club, to come back to the airport and open the hangar for Vyctor.  I slept better knowing my Aerobat was safe for the night.

It was a very long but very good day!

Wednesday was to be another charity golf tournament I fly over every year.  Unfortunately, the weather was not in our favour.  The clouds were too low to fly, plus there was a risk of a thunderstorm in the area around the time of my fly-over.  Next year will be better.

I had the day off today and unsurprisingly, I was quite weary after my previous busy days.  I managed to push myself though and had a very nice visit with my mother.  We went to the PEN Centre and had some Timmies before slowly wandering around.

While at the mall, I recreated a picture of his daughter, that Péter sent me last night while they were in Sephora.  Tee hee:

I got some Christmas shopping done, so that was a nice little bonus!  Since being back home from our adventure at the mall, I have just been resting.

Today’s symptoms: I felt quite weary and had a lot of bad nerve pain all over, but my spirits were high!  That made it a rather nice day. 

July Is Going Well…

I have had a fairly good couple of weeks.  Recently, I had a wonderful trip to Niagara Falls with a couple of friends.  We wandered down to the Falls…

…and then up Clifton Hill.  I have not been on Clifton in many years and it sure has changed!  Crazy busy, as it always has been.  We stopped for dinner, then gingerly headed back to the car.  It was a fantastic evening.

On Friday, I took up the son of a co-worker for a flight.

The weather was not the greatest, as the clouds south of the airport were less than 3000′.  So unfortunately, we were unable to do a tour over the Falls, but I instead did a low and over at my mechanic’s grass strip.  I then let him fly the plane back over the airport in St. Catharines.  He seemed to get a big kick out of it.  Once overhead of the airport, I took back control and rolled up through most of my aerobatic maneuver repertoire.  He handled everything well and was fun to fly with.

I relaxed on Sunday, surrounded by cuteness:

And we have this charming action shot of Boo grabbing and trying to eat her sister, Mya:

In all fairness, Mya started it.

Today’s symptoms:  Things have been their usual up and down for the last few weeks.  My headaches have been a bit worse than usual, plus some new areas of nerve pain, but my fatigue has been a bit better.  I am not going to complain because for me, fatigue is my most disruptive symptom.