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5/10/08 Day Trip to Indianapolis Motor Speedway - Our airport manager received an invitation to a get-together in Indanapolis from the Bullock Agency, an aviation insurance agency. They offered to provide transportation from Eagle Creek Airpark to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where we could watch some of the time trials for the Indy 500. Of course I thought this whole idea sounded fun and was glad I found a student who wanted to go. Very early in the morning of the 10th, three planes' worth of people including me got ready to go to Indianapolis. Ted and three others in the Archer, myself, a student, and his friend in the Arrow, and one of our airport tenants Roger and crew in the Warrior.
Ted and Roger took off first. Ted kept throttled back a little to stay near Roger. I departed last but passed the other two planes enroute. A fourth pilot friend would also join us from Milwaukee in a Mooney. I heard him depart and get ahead of me, but somehow I landed five minutes before him in Eagle Creek. Maybe it was his altitude.
We had a little bit of a tailwind on the way down, making the total flight time 2.5 hours. While there, the Bullocks treated us to a great cookout with all kinds of picnic goodies in the parking lot near the track. Then we watched the cars go in circles for a while. By the time we left in the afternoon, we somehow had a tailwind again, and our flight back was only 2.2. It was pretty neat that we were able to fly all the way to Indianapolis, enjoy a day at the race track, and be back home in time for dinner. A big thank-you to the Bullock Agency!
New wind farm south of Fond du Lac, WI
Chicago at 8:30 a.m. - Click for larger version
Racer entering the track
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