Re: Why do YOU do Reno???
How do I get to Stead I asked in 1974.
That came about because of my love for engines and airplanes. As they say, I was in the right place at the right time with the right attitude. However its a real love/hate relationship. I love the friends and people, the challenge to do better and faster each year, to be able to see and hear an engine I got to work on in the air. Sometimes to win. Sometimes to weep over the terrible price it can cost.
I hate:
The cost in relationships, time and money. Having the final say on the go fly or not. Looking at the filters or whatever and making a life or death decision. That this is combat and we fly a mission every day. And every night we patch up whatever they bring back.
I love the deep friendships that come out of the long nights of getting ready for tomorrow. Of being friends with some of the legends of aviation and the wars. Getting there and seeing old friends but seeing time running out for them. Going from guy talk to hearing about families, and children and then Grandchildren. Being on the ramp as the engine is warmed up while the sun is still below the hills. Being in the pre-dawn light while the plane is in the sunlight and making the valley shake with it thunder. Seeeing a clean belly and exhaust stacks when the plane lands. The look on the pilots face that says it all. Checking spark plugs after the flight or race and their witness that we nailed it. Walking the ramp with my life partner and wife of 40 years. Who has been with me for it all.
I go because I have been blessed beyond belief.
MN
How do I get to Stead I asked in 1974.
That came about because of my love for engines and airplanes. As they say, I was in the right place at the right time with the right attitude. However its a real love/hate relationship. I love the friends and people, the challenge to do better and faster each year, to be able to see and hear an engine I got to work on in the air. Sometimes to win. Sometimes to weep over the terrible price it can cost.
I hate:
The cost in relationships, time and money. Having the final say on the go fly or not. Looking at the filters or whatever and making a life or death decision. That this is combat and we fly a mission every day. And every night we patch up whatever they bring back.
I love the deep friendships that come out of the long nights of getting ready for tomorrow. Of being friends with some of the legends of aviation and the wars. Getting there and seeing old friends but seeing time running out for them. Going from guy talk to hearing about families, and children and then Grandchildren. Being on the ramp as the engine is warmed up while the sun is still below the hills. Being in the pre-dawn light while the plane is in the sunlight and making the valley shake with it thunder. Seeeing a clean belly and exhaust stacks when the plane lands. The look on the pilots face that says it all. Checking spark plugs after the flight or race and their witness that we nailed it. Walking the ramp with my life partner and wife of 40 years. Who has been with me for it all.
I go because I have been blessed beyond belief.
MN
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