Paine Stewart Crash Site Memorial: Bucket List Item

Paine Stewart crashed approximately two miles south of Mina, South Dakota.  The landowner, after talking with his family put up a small memorial at the site of the crash.  After searching the appropriate area, I believe that the divot on the left of the watershed area to the right is the memorial.  The crash site investigation measured the crash scar as 20-feet wide, 40-feet long with a depth of 8-feet.  (It hit the ground at supersonic speed going from right to left/east to west.)

Need to get there to pay my respects someday - Mina
is west of Aberdeen.

A Long Time Ago, I Met the Legendary Bobbie Bailey, the Inventor/Designer of the Dragonfly

I get more sentimental with age of course - George Bush Senior made it easier for all of us old guys to tear up talking about our sons (and daughters) and their efforts to make the world (and the  family) better.

I flew in a Moyes, Bobbie Bailey Designed Dragonfly, even before it was "normal acceptable" to do so (perhaps, I may be exaggerating based on old white man memory).  At any rate, on one of our trips to Florida, Carol paid an outrageous (to me) amount of money (for my birthday) to get an unnamed airpark to fly me in a Dragonfly which has always been on my "bucket list"... perhaps since 1985, when I first saw them fly in Florida at Wallaby.  I will make my second series of flights this upcoming February with Bobbie Bailey himself.  I have made arrangements to fly for one week with him on his legal-to-fly-students-Dragonfly-Hanglider-Tug (SLSA).  To say that I am excited about this event, is to vastly underexagerate.

More to come... sure of that.

Its Official: I am trolling my relatives from Bad Walssee...

We are going to Europe this upcoming May with friends Steve & Patty and I just realized that I have another reason to go there.  As I get through another batch of treasured pictures that my mother Maxine saved for us amateur family historians, I find that many of Maxine's relatives came from this beautiful community.   "Yes" that is the Waldsee Catholic Cathedral where they went to Church on Sunday (and of course other required Holy Days).

See if you are conversant enough with Eaton family history to follow this trail:  Maxine's Mother Josephine's Father Joe Mueller from Germany had a Catholic Priest (of the Holy Ghost Order) Brother named Johann Nepomuk Müller that sent her a postcard showing this very scene - noting that her Father's Sister Mathilda and Nieces Aliesa and Mary lived in this town and went to Church in this Cathedral.  (That was a long sentence.)  So I am trolling Johann (and Mathilda) who taught music and languages at the Irish College of Rockwell in Tipperery from 1898 - 1928, to see if I can find relatives my age to visit (also grave sites) while we are there next summer.  (BTW...  I suspect that Johann was "brilliant" as he taught piano, strings and woodwin instruments as well as many languages (French, German, English and others?) at the senior university level.)  He wrote many very nice letters to Josephine Mueller Eaton which I have displayed in my Ancestory Family Tree:  Douglas Eugene Oleson Family Tree.   (For the very observant, I offer that Joseph changed his surname to Mueller upon arriving to America. The Germany Müller Family obviously did not change their spelling.

The Florida Flyfecta!

We went to Florida for what I dubbed the "Flyfecta."
Since we had expiring SWA credits, we thought what
the heck... "why not spend $1000 to not lose $300."
You know the logic as you have done it yourself - maybe
just not with air mile credits!

As a bonus, we went to the Tampa area to see friends, Cathy and Bob, from Canada.  We stayed a couple of days and had a great time.   (Bob finally fixed up that old shed after we left!)

Then the Flyfecta started in earnest...  

Leg # 1 of the Flyfecta stool... visit Captain Kurt and see what flying German FreshBreeze Paramoter equipment is all about.  I did that, unfortunately it was soooooooooo cold that no actual  flying went on.  Just a visit with the Captain and his pretty wife (along with a great supper of pork ribs).  Also met a gentleman from Douglas, Wyoming - I like that town for some reason - that was there to pick up his Monster with trike.  Cool dude, this guy already knows how to fly a real airplane as he owns one!

Leg # 2 - Wings and Wheels Air Show - Met the main principals from the Zenith 750 experimental light sport aircraft industry.  Since I had my time with their main pilot again, (he has given me rides) I asked him if he has more miles in Zenith airplanes than anyone else on the planet.  He said, "I have no idea... but I have 7-8 thousand hours in a Zenith."  Humble guy but at least he sort of keeps a log book in his head.

Leg # 3 - Well the Flyfecta fell apart as the Viking Engine
Forum did not take place for me.  Long story short... not
sure of the short or the long story.  Still feel good about
Viking/Honda airplane engines though.

We had a great time.  Carol is still my favorite travel partner!

Was going to put a bid on this airport beauty but Carol wouldn't help me with the shoveling to get the wheels out of the ground.  So I just decided to pass on this bargain aircraft.

Took My First T-38 Ride the Other Day (USAF Trainer)

It was awesome!  For a short time after take-off,
as we were ascending through the clouds into the
clear sky, my high speed drone - which I invented and have since
sold to Amazon for their 2-hour grocery delivery
service - was able to keep up with us to take our picture.

Many of you probably already know that this T-38 was used
by the USAF Thunderbirds from 1978 - 1982, the year of the
infamous Thunderbird accident.  The color scheme shown above is a tribute to the colors that they flew that year.  This plane also
happens to be on static outdoor display at the USAF Academy if you ever get there.  Tell them that Doug's blog sent you.