The Adventures of Big Red, Tilly and Max

08/27/2017

Max, Mad Max, the new addition to the vintage vehicle fleet!

08/27/2017

05/05/2017

This weekend!!! Come visit and bring the family for this fun day! Amazingly it looks like it's not going to rain. YEAH!!!

05/05/2017

02/28/2016

This Captain about to get on a large Airbus and relax for 16.5 hours. Big Red will await my return and get her skirt lifted in annual.

Can't promise I won't cheat on her with a Tiger Moth.

02/07/2016

Tore up the sky a bit this morning, before heading back into the pattern and having the fun shear make for a sporty landing. However, was worth the effort to fly circles around a Champ.

02/06/2016

Each of the last three flights have been work. But good for testing my comforts, I suppose. But all I really want is a nice smooth day to tear up the sky.

11/28/2015

Ok, worked on windshield wipers today. Out with the old vacuum pump and with new electric motor. Everything works fine until I put the wiper arms on. Then, seems that the arms have too great of tension??? Who knows, but its cold and dreary, will have to work more later.

11/27/2015

Well it sure has been a while since we've checked in on here to do an update! Hoping all are well and that you had a terrific turkey day yesterday - with temperatures like that, it sure was a good day to be outdoors or flying.

Not a great deal to report honestly - Big Red hasn't been flying as much due to Captain Scott and Co-Pilot Sammy's crazy schedules but the times Big Red has been up, it's all been good. Had quite a few new passengers of late and a fantastic photo shoot that included Tilly the Truck as well.

Tilly is still in progress with new running boards and fenders and other bits added but things have come to a screaming halt with the upcoming silly season taking up time and funds. Hoping to get the old girl fully nipped and tucked next year with a facelift (paint job) to boot! She runs great and it's fun to see the smiles of people driving by. She and Big Red are grand old gals and we love them dearly.

Added to the fur family too which has made shenanigans a bit harder to schedule - a little itty bitty rescue beagle from Kentucky called Nellie. She's a handful, not real fond of letting us get a full nights sleep and will destroy any stray sock left unattended. We love her to bits through and she's been a great joy for us both and her big "brother" Bernie.

So thats all the news at this end really. Will try to get more active on here and post photos of all the fun adventures but until then, have a happy Friday and stay warm!

07/31/2015

Not much longer now until the Flying Heritage Festival at Moraine! Be sure to come and enjoy this fun event and view some amazing aircraft. Entry is free so bring along Grandpa, your dog, your mechanic...everyone is welcome!

There is a pancake breakfast at 8:00am, some of the Dayton food trucks will be there, awesome teeshirts for the event for just $10 and a great selection of vendors from Antiques Village.

Classic cars, planes and lots of fun!!!

07/26/2015

Tilly now has ball peen hammer for toolkit!

07/25/2015

And the Adventure continues. Tilly and I made our first drive to the airfield. That was fun. Flew to Indiana and back. Fixed the seat so it is in a more comfortable position in Tilly, then headed for home.

Unfortunately, dummy here managed to stall it out about two miles from home. I was in the left turn lane and blocking traffic. Try as I might, will and wishes would not get Tilly to crank over.

Capt. Alan comes to the rescue in Mom's Subaru (sorry Ma) and tows Miss Tilly into a Church parking lot. We try to jump the battery, but it is soon evident that its more than the battery.

60 years of crime and dirt and wear, the old starter is kaput. Ironic, when we bought Red same problem!

Capt. Patrick Hilt to the rescue! Swinging into action, Patrick whisks into the parking lot and says, "where's your hammer?" Mental note, when driving old truck, have hammer. Yes, Jeremy Clarkson is finally correct!

We tap and knock on the old starter, but it's just a no go. So using the ingenuity only Patrick can muster, we salvage an old padded railing from a water bed out by the church donation box, I jump the in the bed of the Truck. Capt. Alan in the Truck, and crazy Patrick in his truck. Using the padded rail as a bumper, Patrick gets Miss Tilly rolling to a whopping 10 MPH, Dad promptly pops the clutch and she roars to life!

Now Tilly sits in the garage, resting and smiling. She knows we will be getting her bits fixed and repaired. Patrick is helping source a new starter, and once complete, she'll hit the roads for her next big adventure.....

PS...Red ran fine and is laughing in her hangar right now.

07/24/2015

As you can see, we've updated the name of this page to include the newest member of our family - the grand and gutsy "Ms Tilly" - a 1952 Chevy pick up.
She started her adventures with us recently and was immediately sent off to get some work done to make her a bit easier on the road. And it's not really an adventure without some chaos of course....went down to Acme Springs this morning to pick her up (Captain Alan behind the wheel with CoPilots Brenda and Sammy bringing up the rear as support crew), she'd only just chugged a few miles down the road when a BIT FELL OFF!!

Brenda executed a stunning slide move into a parking lot while Sammy did the 500 yard sprint to the busy road to fetch the bit while Captain Alan plugged along unaware that we'd gone rogue.

Thankfully he noticed our absence and returned. We examined the bit (which was identified as a breather), texted our good buddy Captain Starfish of the Champ Fleet for assurance and then waddled on down to Acme in Dayton which was only 6 minutes from our scene of chaos.

The gent at Acme strolls out and says "Oh, I recognize this truck from while it was at the other location" so that was assuring. Her breather was hammered back in and we were back on our merry way. Thumbs up to the fellas at Acme for the quick fix!!

Copilots Brenda and Sammy could breathe a sigh of relief as no more bits fell off and Tilly is now tucked into the garage, waiting on her Captain Scott to get home so she can have another adventure.

So we now have a plane from the 40s....a pick up truck from the 50s. Copilot Sammy is thinking it's her turn now to get a Cushman scooter from the 60s!! Yeah baby!

Anyway, if you ever visit Moraine Airpark and see Big Red and Tilly hanging out, be sure to come on over and say hi!!

07/11/2015

07/05/2015

What a great group of passengers to take up. Our friends from Minnesota enjoyed their flights greatly. Young Soph was most reluctant to leave Big Red, do we have a future aviatrix on our hands?

07/05/2015

Two of the most handsome lads at the airfield last night. They were rollin' and having a grand time.

07/05/2015

Hoping everyone had a great 4th July yesterday and that your festivities were safe. Big Red sure had a busy day, sky hopping with a few new passengers. Co-Pilot Sam had some wonderful visitors all the way from Minnesota and they all got to take rides and one young passenger who was so relaxed, she fell asleep on her second flight. Snoozing away happily in the front passenger seat!!

Then home for Captain Scott so he could have an aviators nanna nap after all that flying. Back to the airfield to fly some more in the evening with more guests and then Big Red happily snuggled away amid all the fun shenanigans before the fireworks began!

A terrific day was had and we'd like to thank our guests for their excitement and enthusiasm - and for flying with Big Red Airlines.

05/24/2015

Okay - we have a date set for movie night on the big screen down at the airfield. Saturday June 20th at 7pm with the movie starting as soon as it gets dark enough to view.
BYO snacks to share and comfy chairs to sit in - we have plenty of beverage (wine, beer, moonshine, sodas etc) so we've got you covered unless you fancy something else.
Hope to see you at Hangar (theatre?) 35.

05/24/2015

So we seem to have a very excessive amount of beer and wine left over from last night which means there may have to be some more entertaining to be done at the hangar.....maybe an airfield movie night sometime this June? Who would be up for something like that?

05/24/2015

Big Red and Captain Scott got to enjoy the beautiful skies last night with two very young and excited passengers. Miss M is a seasoned aviator and has been up many times before with her Dad and others but this was the first time for Master M and judging from the video footage, he enjoyed every minute!

04/19/2015

Adventures and Shenanigans continue with Big Red and Hangar 35

01/17/2015

Fifty degrees in Jan. It's sunny. However winds are getting stronger. But I got one loop of pattern in and made beautifully executed crosswind landing. So on that note, Red (Ginger) is tucked back into the hangar for a nap.

Come on spring! Wake the f*** up and get on with the warming already!

01/11/2015

First flight of 2015 in the bag. Perfect landing with the Hartman and Hilt show watching from the moraine deck. Followed by a little hangar chat in the office. Going to be a good flying year.

But next time, need to remember toe warmers.

01/01/2015

Just got some new tunes for the warmer days at the hangar. Can't wait for spring.

12/24/2014

A little Christmas Magic

Life in Tennessee is generally peaceful and serene, people are a bit relaxed, and the atmosphere around Nashville generally electric. At Christmas, a time to be with friends and family; a time to b...

12/14/2014

I saw my old plane today, sitting peacefully in her hangar. The door never opened and so those beautiful red wings didn't get to soar the skies.

However, Red and I are patient. We'll deal with the gray, gloomy, and torturously cruel cold winter. And when the blades of grass start growing, and the snow melts, and the sun finally shines, we'll ride the wind, skirt the treetops, living new adventures that will take us beyond the borders of our imagination once again.

Should it so happen that the skies will turn blue, and the winds shall be manageable, while the temperatures remain modest, I am quite certain that the Ginger will fly quite soon.

12/01/2014

So, for those four or five followers of my blog, some of you may have surmised that I am in the process or writing a story. And if you haven't guessed that, perhaps you should pay attention to the ...

11/28/2014

Writing. Flying. Writing.

11/28/2014

Olivia had the main hangar all perfectly decorated for the last day of this fly in, all gearing up for the main even this evening. I walked into the hangar and felt like I had traveled back to a ti...

11/27/2014

A loud bang of the door knocking against the wall, clatter of nails on the wooden floor, and the wet, hot, moist tongue on my cheek. That’s how I was awoken this morning. It was immediately followe...