Last Friday we flew the Staggerwing to Tullahoma Tennessee for the Beech Party at the Beechcraft Heritage Museum. The Staggerwing had about 30 minutes of local testing time on it and we found it fit for what it does best, cross country. We left Faribault full of fuel,climbed to 9,500 and set up cruise. With a nice tail wind we made it non stop in 3 hours and 20 min with a average ground speed of 190 kts. Not bad for a 1944 Biplane! Everything performed great and we found the engine to be excellent as it used only two quarts on the way down and left the belly dry and clean. It was great to bring the Stag back to where it came from. This was a nice opportunity to visit and exchange information with other enthusiasts. Our hosts showed us a "big time" with the finest of hospitality. There were Beechcraft airplanes of all models and years present and I must say, what a great group of people. I highly recommend this event to anyone, its first class all the way and one of the best events I've been to in years. The museum is well worth the visit. If your ever in the area be sure to check it out. http://www.beechcraftheritagemuseum.org/
We were delighted to find out that David Oreck was going to arrive in his G model Staggerwing that RARE completed in 1994. The paint scheme and paint was designed and executed by the man himself, Roy Redman. This is the last paint job Roy executed completely by himself. It still looks fantastic. We ended up having our new completion and Davids airplane parked next to each other entirely by coincidence! Davids airplane still bears Dads original logo. We enjoyed looking the G over as it has been a few years since we've crossed paths.
David Oreck and Frank Ryder give the thumbs up before departure.

The Travel Air Mystery Ship was on hand and has returned to the museum. This is THE one and it was a real treat to take in. This is a wonderful addition to the collection. This is a great restoration with nice details.

It took me a while to notice the green pinstripe since gold is usually used with red/black. I like it!

Morrison's F17D Staggerwing. Restored and owned by a pair of brothers. It was their fathers airplane.

The local Porsche club stopped in for a visit to the fly in. Lots of shiny cars.

I like to think the cars are looking on at the Stag with envy wishing for wings!
A absolutely beautiful Twin Beech owned by the Parish clan. My favorite airplane on the field over the weekend.

What a trip! We made new friends and caught up with some old friends. Perfect weather, flying and fun. It doesn't get any better! On the way home the batteries conked out on the hand held GPS. Of course no aux power plug in the panel because it wasn't there in 1944! So, I navigated home by RPS, Roy Positioning System. We dead reckoned like we use to when he was teaching me to cross country. As they say, this was one for the books!
Where to next? The Staggerwing goes home to Seattle!