Final Stearman Flights

Before Dave sold his gorgeous Stearman, we spent some time flying it in the early part of September.

It's hard to believe that my boring ol' Spam Can once lived in this same hangar.

Continental-powered with wooden prop elegance.

Taildraggers spend every moment on the ground pointed skyward, perpetually longing for flight.

Shortly after take-off.  With that helmet on, the whole "wind in the hair" feeling really just isn't there.

The Lake Michigan shoreline from the Stearman.

The South Haven pier viewed through the wires of the Stearman.

We flew low over the corn maze at Carpenter's Dairy Farm in Bangor, MI.

The shadow of Dave's Stearman observed while on final approach to South Haven's runway 14.  I would like to cite my photographic prowess as cause for getting the shadow directly on that lighter-colored tree, but it was just dumb luck (especially with digital camera shutter lag).  Pretty nifty, though.

I literally hung off the side of the Stearman to take this photo of its shadow over South Haven's runway 14 (though I did not hang off so far as to create any undesired right yaw).

With the disappearance of the Stearman from South Haven, it was the end of an era.  But, oh, what a magnificent era it was!