This picture has been retouched.
Thursday, January 27 was the first productive day in about a week. John Salz, President Springfield Chapter Illinois Pilots Association had delivered the February newsletters to my home the previous night. I carried them and about 30 AOPA Pilot magazines donated earlier in the week by Warren Stiska into the office and went right to work with the newsletters.
The ones labeled for mailing by John had to be folded, taped at the bottom and stamped, then taken to the FBO’s outgoing mail box. Then I deposited some copies on the service counter overlooking the ramp and walked about 10 copies to the Springfield Airport Authority and put them on the counter at the offices’ entrance. In the past I’ve delayed taking copies to McClelland Aviation in the airport’s southwest quadrant — about five minutes away. But to get the task behind me, I hopped into the truck and delivered them before returning to the Museum. I’m glad I did.
McClelland Aviation Company, SPI
Visible as I approached with the newsletters was a Mooney of some kind on the ramp. I knew it was a Mooney because whether it’s an M-18, M-20, M-21 or Mustang (first single-engine pressurized-cabin lightplane), the tail tells you it’s a Mooney. After delivering the newsletters to the pilots weather-check room, I asked Tami at the counter for permission to take a few pictures on the ramp.
“Yes”
Mooney Ovation 3
She also said the owner is a frequent visitor to McClelland.
from the down-sun side of the ramp
slightly retouched with Photoshop
Also present was a Piper Cherokee, parked on a far-west corner of the concrete.
Piper Cherokee
It was a quintessential winter scene with snow and ice-free parking. I spent 10 minutes in the chill before returning to the warm office, thanking Tami and driving back to the Museum.
I spent the next several hours processing magazines.
an afternoon's harvest
Articles and news clips less than a page are culled from every magazine not added to the permanent shelves. With AOPA Pilot and a few other particularly notable titles, some pages are set aside for processing on the office computer. There were several captioned pictures of first flights, rollouts, FAA certifications issued, retirement from military units, that are separated for that, and I’ll get to them later this week.
I’m spending more time processing than reading and learning. In the future, with help from volunteers who know an Ovation from a Mite and a Centurion from a Hercules this task will be completed by others, and I’ll be able to devote time to tasks that require more expertise, but until that time comes, there is no higher priority than integrating donated material into the system: the files in the Research Room upstairs.
mission in process
The pile on the left will be sorted and distributed to the files as time permits, but for the next few months, they are slated for a “holding area” where they will wait until I’ve finished the initial “sort and file” for the room, the process that started in June. The pile and what’s added to it will be shared with future volunteers if they get involved and completed by yours truly eventually if they don’t. The pile on the right is what was not saved. It will go to the dumpster. The whole point of culling information and articles of interest is so that we don’t need to provde space for what is not needed.
not retouched
About 5:00 I processed the pictures shared here, spent an hour filing clippings in the Research Room and came home to dinner (can of Chili Man chili and all the green grapes I wanted with iced tea, and began reading a fab aviation book loaned by a friend.
It was a good day.
CAVU and soft landings.
Abe Lincoln's Air Force 