I have students pass checkrides all the time — but I never write about it. That changes now.
Congratulations to Ben. I trained him from hour zero and he just passed his private pilot checkride yesterday with 42.1 hours Total Time.
Spring is always an exciting time for me. The air is warm, the grass is green, and the Pilots of America annual Gastons fly-in is right around the corner. Each year pilots from across the country descend into the river valley to make a soft touch-down on one of the finest grass runways in the country. The purpose is simple: to enjoy a weekend with like-minded pilots.
The 2012 fly-in was held on June 7, 8th, 9th, with most folks departing on the 10th. The last four years I’ve flown a rental Cherokee 180 there but this year I decided to do something different and took the Debonair instead. I couldn’t really stand to leave my black lab at home either, as I knew he’d love the Gastons resort.
Danielle, Bentley, and I departed from KLNK for Gastons at around 7am. I wanted the smoothest flight 
possible for my dog which meant avoiding the afternoon convection and heat. I was sure to give him a very thorough bath before the flight and also gave him some drugs to calm him. Since he absolutely loves riding in cars I didn’t expect there to be a problem.
After departure Bentley settled in pretty quickly and went to sleep. Since we departed early there were no thunderstorms yet and we enjoyed a smooth ride. About 30 miles out I cancelled IFR and we touched down gently on runway 24. I taxied into the first tie-down spot and shut down. We were the first to arrive.
A Gastons employee met us at the airplane with a van a few minutes later. We loaded all of our luggage up, checked in, and he took us to our cabin. 
Shortly after that David White arrived in his 172 “White Lightning”. He had flown from Texas to Gastons via Arizona (picked up a fellow pilot there). After a few minutes of rest we proceeded immediately to the Gastons restaurant where I enjoyed a fish sandwich (which I always order for lunch after arriving..year after year).
Gastons does everything one could want to accommodate you, which meant they had no problem borrowing us a van so that we could make the 30 minute drive into town to buy supplies from the Walmart. Since aircraft performance can be a challenge on the hot humid summer days I prefer to “pack light” and buy what we need after we arrive.
I took on the responsibility this year of hosting the pizza party which has been occurring on the Thursday evening of the fly-in for the last several years. The expectations for the pizza party are quite simple: Show up, bring beer, and pizza will be supplied. It generally lasts into the wee hours of the night.
The next morning pilots slowly start to drift out onto the flight-line where a “base” is established. Chairs, something to block the sun, and a cooler. My girlfriend Danielle is always sure to have airplane cookies on hand. 
Add great people and you will find it’s quite comfortable to sit there throughout the day chatting about life and airplanes. You also have a front row seat to watching people arrive and depart. There simply isn’t a better place to spend the first weekend of June.
I spent most of the weekend either hanging out on the flight line, flying throughout the area looking at the beautiful terrain, or taking my dog for a swim in the river.
Sunday came quickly and the event ends with brunch at the restaurant. Eggs, chicken and biscuits, cheese cake, chocolate covered strawberries, they have it all. Brunch is very tasty but always a little sad. It marks the end of the weekend and you won’t see many of these great people for another year.
So what does this all mean? It means you should attend Gastons 2013. For more information see: http://www.gastonsflyin.com
