That night, I was at the Missouri Aviation Historical Society (https://moavhist.org/) meeting at Creve Coeur Airport (http://crevecoeurairport.com/). Members from the Gateway Chapter of the Army Aviation Historical Foundation (https://armyav.org/st-louis-missouri/), based at Creve Coeur Airport, spoke about their organization and presented a short film from the mid-1960s of US Army Aviation aircraft on maneuvers prior to the Vietnam War. The Chapter also plugged its Barbecue Fundraiser on Saturday, 21 October at Creve Coeur Airport. Proceeds from the event go to their restoration of two Vietnam War-era helicopters, an OH-58 and a UH-1 Huey.
Work at the branch at the end of last week kept my colleagues and I plenty busy. Fortunately, all went well.
Saturday night (23 September), I was at Smugala's Pizza Pub (http://www.smugalas.com/smugalassunsethills) in Sunset Hills for a beer before catching the Pub2Park shuttle for World Wide Technology Soccer Park (http://www.saintlouisfc.com/soccerpark) for that night's Saint Louis FC (http://www.saintlouisfc.com/) match against FC Cincinnati. I took in the St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/) tailgate in the parking lot before we marched into Toyota Stadium for the match. Saint Louis jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but could not hold it as Cincinnati scored twice--leveling on a penalty kick in stoppage time--to earn a 2-2 draw. A disappointment for sure, though we had fun during the match.
Sunday afternoon found me back at World Wide Technology Soccer Park, this time to referee youth soccer matches. I worked two under-12 girls matches, 9-a-side on a small field. It was a very warm day, so my crew granted water breaks midway through each half for player safety. Both matches went well.
Work started off well on Monday, which was busy as usual. We had plenty of business going and I did my best to keep things running smooth.
After flexing out Tuesday afternoon (26 September), I went home to take care of some personal business. I went to Marion Morris' house that night for the IPMS/Gateway (http://www.ipms-gateway.com/) business meeting. Besides planning upcoming meetings, we discussed some club business at length. I will disclose that in more detail in due course.
After a full day of work Wednesday, it was a full off day Thursday (28 September). After doing some laundry that morning, I drove early that afternoon to Mount Vernon, Illinois. My first stop was Mt. Vernon Outland Airport (http://www.mtvernonairport.com/), where my flight was waiting in the form of a ride on a Ford 4-AT-E Tri-Motor operated by the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) (https://www.eaa.org/eaa). The aircraft, built in 1929, arrived in Mt. Vernon for rides that day through this Sunday (https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/flight-experiences/fly-the-ford-eaa-ford-tri-motor-airplane-tour). I ordered my ticket online that morning before driving to Mt. Vernon.
I signed in at the airport, then waited with the nine other passengers for that fight. We took in a brief safety briefing in the airport terminal before walking out to the Tri-Motor, nicknamed the "Tin Goose" due to its corrugated aluminum skin. I took my seat in the second row on the right side of the cabin, with the Number 3 engine nacelle and right main landing fear just outside my window. This was the Ford's second flight of the day; the first one had several local press people aboard, and a few press people were on this one. The pilot started the three engines and warmed them up briefly before taxiing to the active runway. We got airborne after a fairly short run and climbed to about 1000 feet (304.8 m) for the 15 minute flight around the airport. The plane flew at its cruising speed of 107 mph (93 knots; 172.2 kph). It was noisy in the cabin and there was vibration and slight turbulence, though the skies were clear. However, I was one very happy traveler, as were the others on board.
We landed and taxied to the terminal, and got out after the engines stopped. It was one great experience for all concerned, a flight back to the early years of commercial aviation. I took a few pictures of the Ford before leaving the airport.
I then drove to the Enterprise (https://www.enterprise.com/en/home.html) branch in Mt. Vernon, where Lauren, my former colleague at Ellisville, serves as assistant branch manager. She was away at a satellite location, one of her colleagues told me, but I did say hi to my colleagues there and gave them a tin of cookies, which they appreciated. (The next morning, Lauren messaged me to thank me for the cookies and for stopping by, and apologizing for not being there when I came by.)
After driving back home and changing clothes, I drove to Forest Hills County Club (https://www.foresthillscc.net/) in Chesterfield, where Enterprise branch personnel in our area gathered for an event celebrating our contributions to the United Way of Greater St. Louis (http://www.stl.unitedway.org/). There was a buffet supper, beer and wine to drink, a raffle of donated gift items (the number of tickets depending on our United Way pledged donations for the coming year), and an auction of some premier items. It was great seeing colleagues working at other branches and in area management. Plus, I got to wear coat and tie to a company event. I didn't win any raffle prizes, but some of my branch mates did. Overall, it was a fun night, and I treated myself to a concrete at Andy's Frozen Custard (http://www.eatandys.com/) on the way home.
Back at work today, it was a busy one, especially late in the day with many vehicles dropped off. We stayed until about 7 pm--one hour after closing--getting the vehicles cleaned up and parked for tomorrow. There will be another Vehicle Service Agent joining us a week from today. This person will work mostly on Mondays and Fridays, our busy days, and will help ease the burden on my colleagues and I.
This morning, I picked up my former colleague and branch manager David Abraham, who was in town for a friend's wedding. We got caught up as I drove him to the branch for the rental. David apparently asked for me personally to pick me up. I am most flattered by that.
Later.
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