High Flying Homeschool

Her Daddy's Mohawk

Our mechanic was in the Army long before we met.  That's where he had his first hands on training with aircraft.  He was a crew chief for the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk.  If your not familiar with this slightly awkward looking plane, it was used for photo observation and electronic reconnaissance.  Created to meet requirements of the Army Equipment Development Guide of 1954, it was the first turboprop plane to be used by the US Army.  They took their first flight in April of 1959 and continued to fly missions until 1996.  They were used in Vietnam and during Operation Desert Storm as well as peace time missions around the world.  Currently they are being flown by Argentine Army Aviation.  At a recent airshow we were able to see this one.  After checking the numbers, we found out it was one our mechanic had worked on while in the service.

 

{Mohawk's have a very recogniseable silloette}

 

{It's great to have an expert give you the tour} 

 

 

{Talking about hydraulics}  

 

 

{Checking out the de-icer system on the wing}

  

 {A peak in the cockpit.  The man beside them was a Mohawk test pilot.}

 

{Two of my mechanic's favorite things}

 

They spent about an hour covering every inch of that airplane.  Between the pilot we met and our mechanic, every possible question my future pilot had was answered.  The best part was seeing our baby got hands on time with part of her daddy's history.  She had seen the pictures and heard the stories,  but I think being able to walk around it and touch each part as it was explained  created memories that will stick forever.

 

 

Favorite Songs

A year and a half ago I took my mechanic to the airport for his first trip overseas to work. On the way home my future pilot and I stopped at Target for some Starbucks and a little shopping to distract us from the thought of being without our spider killer and trash taker outer for a month and a half.  I think I may have bought some new flip flops or some earrings.  My future pilot picked out a cd, The Band Perry.  This cd became the constant soundtrack to all of our activities over the next six weeks. 

When I found out they would be performing just two hours away from our house at the Strawberry Festival I knew we had to go.

 

{This is her excited face}

 

 

 

{The band is made up of a sister and 2 brothers}

 

We had an amazing evening, and needless to say that cd has resumed heavy rotation.

How Did We Miss the Strawberries?

After looking forward to our trip to the Strawberry Festival for a month (and keeping it a secret from my future pilot <- a miracle! I can't keep a surprise secret EVER!), I some how made it through the entire day only consuming half a strawberry!  It came on a toothpick in the mechanics drink.  We did however have fresh squeezed lemonade, pina-coladas, gyros, prehistoric sized turkey legs, and a fried chicken tenderloin on a stick that had to have come from poultry the size of an ostrich.  Now that the important stuff has been covered we can move on to the pictures.

 

{My Dr. Doolittle had to tour all of the animal tents.  Her latest career plan is to obtain a vetrinarian license after her pilot's license & treat people's animals in locations that can only be flown into.}

 

{It took some negotiation, but she finally let me take her picture if I promised not to make her wear the crown}

 

{My sweet and wonderful Aunt Diane let us stay at her house and joined us at the festival.  She and my future pilot had a little retail therapy.}

 

{Her cautious driving style isn't so great for bumper cars.  She never wants to hit anything!}

 

{This ride was like a tilt-a-whirl on steroids.  We rode it three times in a row.  I thought I was going to die.}

 

{Our pterodactyl leg and and ostrich-sized tenderloin}

 

After animals, shopping, rides, and food, I had one more surprise up my sleeve.....

March Madness

March is a wonderfully busy month for our family. It seems like every activity we have been looking forward to is packed into these 31 days. Add in three family birthdays (my Dad , my sister & my step-son), an uncooperative computer and preparing for company at the end of the month all means I'm incrediby behind in my posts! 

So far this month we've been to:

•  the Grant Seafood Festival
• the Strawberry festival
• The Band Perry concert
• the TICO Airshow. 

Over the next two weeks:

• my future pilot will be performing at the Brevard County Fair
• we'll be going to the New Smyrna Airshow
• we're going to try out indoor sky-diving
• my wonderful brother and sister-in-law are coming in from Missouri
• we're all taking a mini vacation at our favorite resort on the beach 

(I plan to sleep all of April)

 One of my favorite memories of the past few weeks was my future pilot trying to convince the mechanic that a soda, some donuts, a snowcone and some cotton candy did not constitute too much sugar and that they needed more cotton candy.  Here's what I saw from across the picnic bench:

 

{I really think more cotton candy is a great idea}

 

{My persuasive speech will sway you to my side...}

 

{No, well how about my pouty face...}

 

Pouty faces don't work in our house, so there was no more sugar for the day.  We did eat real food at the 46th annual Grant Seafood Festival.  In addition to the yummy sweets we had fried shrimp, scallops, crab cakes, lobster bisque and conc fritters.  I look forward to the festival and an excuse to stuff myself with tons of seafood.  The calories don't really count due to all the standing in line to get food, walking to the next food booth and wandering through all the craft tents.

 

 

 

A Helicopter?!?

Last July while the mechanic was busy fixing airplanes someplace sandy, my future pilot and I were driving back and forth from our home on the Space Coast to national dance competition in Orlando.  If you're not familiar with the scheduling of dance competitions it is a requirement that they will always be the same weekend as the Super Bowl, Daytona 500 and 4th of July.  Driving back to the house on the 4th we were having a very unfair discussion about "because your call time is very early we won't be going to see fireworks."  I offered a special treat of her choice to make up for missing the fireworks and going to bed early.  She was amazingly mature in her response and even slept in the recliner so we wouldn't have to get up extra early and re-braid her hair.

After competition was finished the next day, we headed over to I Drive for lunch.  She immediately noticed the air traffic in the area and asked why there were so many helicopters.  Just then we were passing the building where the helicopter tours were leaving from and I was told "I think I want to do that.  It scares me but I have to do it."

So, the mom that had at that point never left the ground in anything other than a commercial plane walked into the helicopter office, booked 2 tickets and stood on a scale in public! 

After an hour and a half wait and a free tour of the model train museum we were off.

{Notice my almost believable smile}



{My baby chose to sit up front with the pilot instead of in the back holding her momma's hand}

I new it wasn't going to feel like my commercial flight to Seattle, but I wasn't quite prepared for how it did feel.  Helicopters don't want to fly, they can't glide like a fixed wing and instead beat the air into submission.  This does not make for a smooth and reassuring experience.  I quickly realized that I could pretend I wasn't there if I looked only thru the little screen on my camera. 

My baby wasn't so sure about it either.  I did some quick talking over the headsets and pointed out that you could see the dolphins at Seaworld.  (All future career talk lately has been a combination of aviation and animals.)

 

After seeing the dolphins she was all smiles and was already planning another flight for when our mechanic came home.

That smile makes any anxiety worth every moment. (but it doesn't make me comfortable enough to let go of her arm, why did I think that was helping!?!)