Chel and I were walking our dog Woody around the walking track at the reservoir the other night when I happened to think about taking an evening flight. I thought of my friend George, and how the last two times I invited him to go, he was unable. Well, I texted him and he was available to go. We agreed to meet at the airport at 7pm for our ride.

When Chel and I returned home from our walk, I noticed that the sky seemed pretty dark to the west, so I opened one of my weather apps on my phone to see a storm moving in. I texted George and asked him if he could come out any sooner so we could get our short ride in before it arrived. He agreed to meet me at 6:30.

I arrived at the airport at about 6:15 to do my pre-flight inspection so we’d be ready to go by the time George arrived. Two other friends, Jason and Jeff, happened to be at the airport to take a ride in their powered parachutes. We stood there looking west and the dark clouds were almost on top of us. Jason and Jeff decided to cancel their flights, and I felt George and I should cancel as well.

This would be the third time I’ve invited George to go flying, and the third time that it didn’t work out. At least he made it to the airport this time though. He wanted to see my plane, so we spent some time checking it out as he asked questions about it. About 20 minutes later we noticed the bright sunshine on the hangar directly in front of mine. We walked out of the hangar and looked to the west to see a clear blue sky and no wind, so we decided to pull the airplane out.

George had been texting with our friend Dave on and off during his visit to the airport. Dave is also a pilot based out of Mansfield. When George told Dave that we were going to go for a ride, Dave decided to join us.

George and I took off from Shelby and flew east toward Mansfield. We had to hold for a little while, as Dave taxied out to depart. Once Dave was airborne, we met up in the air and flew in formation west toward Crawford County. It was incredible! This was my first time flying in formation with another plane. When we got close to Crawford County Dave made a right 360 to provide separation between us as I descended for a touch and go. Dave followed behind me and did the same.

After departing Crawford County George and I headed back to Shelby, as it was getting dark and I was not night current. Dave followed, and we all landed and went to my hangar. We spent the next 30 minutes debriefing our flight and having a good time just talking. This was an experience I could not have had if I were not on vacation.