An actual interesting portion of the trip - corn, soybeans and windmills!
We stopped for the night in Fayette County, OH (I23), very close to our destination of only a couple months prior – Middletown, OH (MWO). There, we crashed in the FBO for the night. They have a shower and keep the fridge stocked with food (even the pizza place 3 miles away won't deliver to the airport). In the morning, we woke up and set off on our way. Our first stop was Indianapolis Executive (TYQ) for fuel. Our next stop was Rantoul (TIP). Here, we found a hidden treasure.
Rudolph with his air museum buddies on the ramp.
Former Blue Angel A-4. It has my name on it, so it's mine. Right?
Rantoul is an old Air Force base (Chanute) which was closed back in the '90s. The airport has a feeling of disuse. We picked a runway, landed, and found the FBO. We were the only plane there, but were told that during the crop dusting season, they can't fuel the planes fast enough. From the ramp, we saw a fence with many old military planes languishing behind it. It turned out to be a VERY neat little museum. They have many exhibits about the history of the base, and a hangar filled with some unique planes and part of a missile silo in addition to those outside. If you're ever in the area, Rantoul is definitely worth a stop.
The marsh by the Mississippi River. Yes, that is all corn.
The mighty Mississippi.
Unsure of the fuel status at the Antique Airfield (IA27), we made one last stop at Pekin (C15) before heading into the field. We purposefully did not take on fuel in the wings to come in light, which proved to be very fortuitous. About halfway between Pekin and Antique, we crossed the mighty Mississippi. This was a welcome sight. What I found to be most interesting is that we were crossing at an area where the river was braided, and in one place, corn had been planted on every little spit of land which was (my guess) dry enough to drive a tractor on.
Antique Airfield off the left wing.
We finally made it to Antique in the early evening, set up camp, and enjoyed the peace. The weather was perfect and it was a beautiful evening. This, unfortunately, was not to last. The AAA fly-in this past year was affectionately referred to as “Lakesburg”. After our first day there, it started raining and didn't stop. Many planes were waved off because the runway had turned into a marsh, and we weren't sure when it would be dry enough to leave. The whole place was a swamp. Once I gave up on trying to keep my feet dry and ran around barefoot though, it actually wasn't bad. One guy with an especially large puddle in front of his plane put out a “No Diving” sign.
Airplanes lined up down the taxiway.
As for the airplanes, the ones that made it in were beautiful. A family flew down from Canada in their 195 and unloaded a wonderful VW bus tent. It definitely made you look twice! There were many rare and beautifully restored antiques that did make it in. There was a good showing of Howards, Interstates, 195s, Luscombes, cabin Wacos, Stearmans and Aeroncas. One guy flew in from Washington State in a polished aluminum Ryan SC-W, and proceeded to spend the remainder of the fly-in polishing it. My favorite airplane there was a Call Air. I had never heard of these before, but according to the owner, only about 15 were built, with ranchers in mind. It was a neat little plane and the owner was friendly and welcoming, even taping a “Please Touch” sign to the airplane's side.
It's a VW. Wait...
Ryan SC-W
The Call Air
Despite the dreary weather, the people were mostly happy and very friendly. We were told that the focus is usually on trading rides in unique airplanes with other attendees, but this was not possible due to the weather. Instead, everyone hung around and chatted. There was plenty of camaraderie. There was also plenty of time for checking out the AAA library, the aeromart (used airplane parts, some of them very rare) and browsing the wares of the few vendors. One day, the local church ladies brought pies to sell for a fundraiser which were divine. There is also a pub on the field.
Camping with Aeronca Chiefs and trying to dry out our stuff during a break in the showers.
Overall, despite the weather, we had a good time. When it came time to leave however, there was some concern. We didn't know when the runway would dry out enough to get out. Finally, they began letting lighter planes go. I had the longest takeoff run I've ever had in Rudolph, being heavily loaded and in the muck. When we accelerated enough to get the tail up, the airplane surged forward and we finally made it off. I was glad we were light on gas – some others were not so lucky and drained and sold their excess gas for cheap.
Some nice blue tennis courts on the way home.
We stopped for gas about 20 minutes out and continued on to Galesburg, IL where some people had already arrived for the Stearman fly-in, scheduled for the following weekend. About 15 or so planes were parked on the field. We took the courtesy car into town and had a nice lunch. Afterward, we walked around and saw another guy with an L-16 that we had met at Blakesburg. We chatted for a bit, looked and the Stearmans and headed out. Since we were in no hurry, our next stop was Danville, IL (KDNV) where Midwest Aero restores P-51 mustangs. We got to take a tour of the shop and admire the P-51 they are currently working on.
Rain off the wing we near home.
The rest of our trip home was fairly uneventful. We stopped for the night again at Fayette County. In the morning we went to Upshur (W22) and stopped for lunch at my favorite restaurant. We were disappointed when we pulled up and the place was deserted, but they leave the key to the courtesy car in the visor. When we got back to the plane, all the yellow parts were covered in tons of little beetles. We tried getting them off but they just kept coming back. We decided to take off anyway. Most were blown off and left on/near the runway, but some made it all the way back to county. Not wanting to import what were potentially nasty bugs, as soon as we shut down on the ramp, we made it our mission to stamp out the survivors. We then put Rudolph back in his hangar and went home for a very welcome hot shower and comfy bed.
