Majors Field Flyout - 17June2017

The Majors Field Flyout to the Mid America Flight Museum at the Mt. Pleasant airfield (KOSA) was a well attended and very enjoyable event. Scott Glover is the owner and ringleader of the museum and he and his staff of volunteers could not be more welcoming and accommodating. We have been working with Scott for several months trying to arrange this visit. They are now open on Saturdays from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. which made it much easier to schedule a trip.

For several mornings prior to Saturday, the skies had been overcast. Friday morning was clear so we were hopeful but of course there was some cloud cover on Saturday morning. The ceiling was high enough to launch at 0900 from KGVT although the cloud cover at about 10 NM west of KOSA required descending through a clearing to a lower altitude for the last segment of the trip. The flight home was uneventful but not exactly cool at the lower altitudes caused by cloud cover. Word is the Cessna found clear skies and cooler temperatures at 4,500 ft.

The morning started with fourteen (14) folks and five (5) airplanes signed up to make the trip. Actually it was only four (4) airplanes. On Friday evening it was decided that a lack of parts was going to prevent the Harvest Aviation Cherokee 140 from being airworthy. Some scrambling ensued Saturday morning trying to figure out how to get everyone in a plane. Bob Thomas was asked to stop by Majors from Caddo Mills in his C-170 in case we needed his two spare seats and ten (10) gallons of fuel was pulled off the Archer to give us a bit more useful load. By the way, be very nervous if you see Tom Hubert walking around with an Arkansas credit card. As it turns out several personal issues and some changes of heart occurred before 0900 and with a total of ten (10) folks flying and four (4) airplanes (the two club planes, the Price's Cherokee 180, and Bob's C-170 from Caddo Mills), we were able to get everyone on a plane and no one had to drive.

It was a great tour. So many beautiful vintage and WWII airplanes and such an enthusiastic group of volunteers giving the tours makes it a great way to spend a couple of hours. Many thanks to Scott Glover and company.

The KOSA staff deserves a shout out as well. We talked with the manager, Paul Henderson, several times before the trip and he was more than welcoming. He offered courtesy cars, use of the conference room, ground transportation, and anything else he thought we might need. Paul was not there that morning but the gentlemen on duty (sorry, I forgot his name) was equally friendly and welcoming. Hopefully he has fully recovered from his carpal tunnel surgery.

Thanks to Bob and Benjamin Thomas, Derek and Beverly Price, Dennis Guinn, Ned Howard, Tom Hubert, Dennis Mathis, and Robert McEnaney for participating in this fly out.

Here is what we sent to Scott and the folks at the museum in an email:
Scott,

Thank you for setting up our tour on Saturday, June 17th. We ended up with a few less people and one less airplane than originally planned but the ten (10) of us in our four (4) airplanes from Majors Field (KGVT), Majors Flying Club, and Caddo Mills (7F3) really enjoyed the tour and the hospitality. Wayne gave us a great tour and John, Buddy, and Linda showed us some excellent hospitality.

Little things that contributed to the overall experience, over and above the magnificent airplanes, stand out like Buddy and John meeting us at the planes with ground transportation, and John taking the time to start all three of the courtesy cars and turn on the air conditioning to cool down the cars for us for our burger run to Herschel’s!

You have a beautiful venue staffed by great folks. Our hats are off to you for the tribute the WWII side of the museum gives to our veterans.

Take care and thanks again.
Majors Flying Club
Majors Field (KGVT)

Our fearless leader, Mr. Dennis Mathis, had this to say about the fly out in an email to the members:
For those of you who made the trip Saturday, I don't think you were disappointed ! We saw some magnificent aircraft in almost pristine condition. The most notable point is that all the aircraft are flyable. The big disappointment is that the Corsair was not there but was at Breckenridge. Seeing those old airplanes with the round engines was eye-watering. The assortment of aircraft ranged from a tiny RV-3 to the B-25, "God and Country", a Douglas A-26B "Invader", a Ford Tri-Motor, an Albatross, a C-41 (DC-3) and a host of other bi-wing aircraft, some of which I was not familiar with.

A little side note about the C-41 and another version called the C-41A. Both were based on the DC-3 and were probably the first DC-3s purchased for the military. These were one-of-a-kind aircraft and were used by the Chief of Staff of the Army, Gen Hap Arnold

After the museum tour, we went to Herschel's Family restaurant and had a good time with the food and chatter. One thing for sure, if we go back to Herschel's we are NOT MOVING TABLES !!!!