Sunday, July 6 Monday, July 7 Tuesday, July 8 Wednesday, July 9 Thursday, July 10 Friday, July 11 Photo Gallery

Thursday, July 10: Efficiency Race and Luau Pig Roast We started the Pilot Breifing for the Efficiency Race at 8:00 as usual (I can't believe how early we get up on our vacations, most people are up and about at 7:00am!). A flew safety pilot for Clyde Fancher this time. We had a little problem with Clyde's handheld GPS at the beginning, but we got it figured out and flew a pretty accurate course. There was one check point where Clyde and I both thought we had the airport made about 30 nm out so I entered the next waypoint in the GPS. As we got closer we both realized that we were lining up on a road that runs parallel to the runway! Technically we turned just a little early but the airport passed under the right wing so we figured we were close enough. Unfortunately someone who I won't name (but he flies a Twin Navion) was not far behind us in the race and teased us (well, mostly me) about cheating all day. :-) To judge the Efficiency Race, all competing aircraft have to have their mains topped off before the flight and again after the flight to determine fuel burn. This created quite a line at the fuel pump after each race (and a lot of pushing of airplanes since no one wanted to burn any extra fuel)! After the race, and the fuel line, and a quick bite to eat at the over-worked cafe on the field, Clyde and I were fishing for a ride back to the hotel. We ran into Herb and Melanie Hancock (who had a rental car). They gladly offered us a ride but shyly mentioned that they had considered going by the local Dairy Queen first. Given our 100 degree day, this caused a minor stampede and soon two car loads of people were headed for some cool refreshment at the DQ. Our Thursday evening dinner event was a Luau Pig Roast sponsored in the Drake's spacious hangar at the Caldwell airport. The food was tasty (as long as I didn't make eye contact with the pig) and the company was great!