Welcome To The Friendliest Fly-In In The World!

While no one is claiming that their luck can hold out forever, the 2004 rendition of the nation's friendliest fly-in has started off with great crowds, great weather and LOTS of planes and products for people to peruse.

With 65 degree temperatures greeting ANN's Jim Campbell, who had just arrived from the previous day's nearly 100 degree and nearly 100% humidity (in Florida... The "Sunshine" state), the Arlington Fly-In was, literally, a breath of fresh air. The first day is a special one in that it is traditionally the day that the staff of the NW EAA Fly-In welcomes scads of munchkins from local schools who get a chance to commune with aviation on a very intimate level. Lines of kids, led by teachers and chaperones, were seen all over the fly-in grounds while their excited chatter and giggles were heard loud and clear. You can never get enough of watching kids get excited over aviation. If they could just bottle that sensation....

We've already spotted a number of new planes and products, done some chatting and are looking forward to sharing some intriguing stories with you this week. One of the first sights that made an impression, though, was something we had never seen before at Arlington... an F-104 Starfighter... converted into a land based vehicle to be used for an assault on a number of land-based speed records in the not too distant future. The goal of this amazing apparition is to break the current world land speed record of 763 MPH, set on October 15, 1997.

In September of 1997 RAF Pilot Andy Green drove Richard Noble's Thrust SSC to a new world record (714 MPH) breaking the previous record set in 1983 with Thrust2 (633 MPH) - driven by Richard Noble. The next month, they pressed on to achieve Mach 1.02 (763 MPH) for the first time ever. For 20 years now the British have held the record. This new team, the folks of the "North American Eagle," feel that "it's time to bring the record back to North America, but it will take a team effort of sponsorship to make it happen." You can read more about them at www.landspeed.com.

We noted the return of some oldies but goodies... the wooden (formerly) Buethe Barracuda is back. The original demo bird is on display and apparently still flying up a storm. With some kits now available, this plans-built bird could get a shot in the arm with better support and a few new short-cuts, so that builders can get a faster start on what was once a pretty intense building project. With 260 HP, the two seat (side by side) Barracuda is a 200 mph machine... but one that will still need about 1800 hours of your time to make your own. More info to come...

This year's Fly-In boasts one of the largest roster of exhibitors in their history... so many that they had to expand the area they inhabit. There are scads of forums, workshops, demonstrations and other attractions to enjoy and (as usual) one heck of a daily airshow. This year's line-up includes John Mrazek in his T-6, Tom Ellsburg in the Oregon Streaker, Eddie Andreini, Bud (one of the best we've ever seen) and Ross Granley in the T-6 & Yak-55, Ken Fowler, Lon Arnold, Renny Price in a Sukhoi SU-29, Parker Johnstone, Lyn & Deb Kleen doing their amazing Parabatics parachute routines, Terry Burch in a Zlin 50 and Jerzy Strzyz.

Sukhoi Pilot Price (shown below) provided a little unexpected (and no doubt unwelcome) excitement on the opening day by losing his canopy and helmet in the middle of a performance. The large two seat tandem canopy is a goner, and so his Price's helmet... but Price is fine -- though his wallet may be on the critical list for a while. That canopy is not cheap.

The second day of America's friendliest Fly-in promises to be a good one. The Exhibit area will open from 9 AM to 6 PM, while Thursday's Forum Roster is not to be missed... among our hot picks for the day are:

Thu 9:00 AM

• Forum Tent C: Will Sport Light Aircraft & Sport Pilot's be "Aircraft Quality"
  Presented by Dave Sandoz FAA Safety Counselor for Eastern Washington. How can Sport Light Aircraft manufacturers & operators do it better? Is qualified achieved by people, procedures or management? Learn 5 simple steps to find quality problems.
• Forum Tent D: Flying Aerobatics
  Presented by Renny Price and others.

Thu 10:30 AM

• Forum Tent A: How to Get You Homebuilt Certified
  Presented by FAA Seattle Manufacturing Inspection District Office
• Forum Tent B: Avionics CNX80 Operations
  Presented by Wayne McGhee of Garmin
• Forum Tent C: Van's Side-By-Side Models
  Presenter: Richard Van Grunsven Discussion of the history, the flight characteristics and the assembly of Van's RV-6/6A, RV-7/7A and RV-9/9A.
• Forum Tent D: Aircraft Financing
  Presenter: Jim Blessing of Air Fleet Capital. Aircraft financing overview including the tax advantages of aircraft ownership.

Thu 12:00 PM

• Forum Tent B: Glasair Aviation
  Presented by Ted Setzer
• Forum Tent C: Sport Pilot Updates
  Presenter: Ron Wagner of EAA
• Forum Tent E: Kitfox Group Building of Multiple Aircraft
  Presenters: Sylvan Adamson & Mark Miller of EAA 103. The history of EAA 103 Kitfox builders group and its construction of 15 Kitfox aircraft at one time. How we got started, what we accomplished and what we learned.

Thu 12:30 PM

In the Air: Ultralight Manufacturer's Demo

Thu 1:30 PM

• Forum Tent B: Pure Joy of Flying the Twister presented by Pacific Aerosport
  Exciting Spitfire look alike (shown below). 21st century high technology, safety, & efficiency are features of the Twister that cruises 146 MPH using just 3-4 gallons of gas. A lightweight at 525 lbs empty. Quick & easy removal of the tail & wings for easy storage & more

• Forum Tent C: Mountain Scope: Terrain Awareness and More
  Todd Sprague of PC Avionics will demonstrate MountainScopes unmatched terrain awareness capabilities, plus its planning, tracking and navigation features.

If you're ANYWHERE near the north side of Seattle, dial in Arlington, Washington (AWO) on the GPS and stop on in... it's going to be great day! More info to come...

FMI: www.nweaa.org, www.nweaa.org/flying.html