Work, Play and School

Can you see that shine??

On Friday, April 13th a dedicated crew comprised of Dave Buffington, Gene Christian, Steve Jacobson, Neil Goodfriend ( a new pilot/mechanic member) and Jeff Selby turned out to spiff up the Flagship for a special charity event to take place the next day. Earlier in the season Zane Lemon, Dave Buffington, and Jeff Selby had put in countless hours and gallons of elbow grease buffing and polishing the entire plane and the results are stunning!!
On Saturday afternoon The Arts Guild of Denton arrived at Alliance only to be whisked from the gate to the hanger in several beautifully restored classic cars, among which were a 1924 Rolls Royce Silver Ghost and a 1938 Packard Touring Sedan.  Many of the volunteers and guests were dressed in period style to match the modes of transportation of the day.
The guests were then treated to a tour of the Alliance facility, a lovely hanger cocktail party and a sightseeing flight of their hometown in the Flagship Detroit. Jim Skelly and Larry Jamison helped to welcome and register guests. Pilots of the day were Gene Christian, Dave Buffington and Steve Jacobson.  Stewardesses were Peggy Fairchild and Lynn Buffington. I swear the photo of the plane with the old cars looks like a vintage post card. Thanks to Jim Skelly for the photos in this post.
As always, much help and cooperation was given by the staff at Alliance, who acted as tour guides and found a space for the Detroit in the hanger.  This was especially difficult as the facility was overwhelmed with airplanes requiring repair from the DFW storm damage of the previous week.
On Sunday, again a dedicated group returned to Alliance to continue working on an ongoing maintenance list. As you all know with the Flagship, continually chasing down leaks is a good part of it and several were found and dealt with, among other things. Many thanks to Steve Jacobson for installing a rear light switch for the emergency lighting....no more groping your way the front! Also many thanks to Ken Graham, an American employee at Alliance, who joined the crew that day and lent valuable assistance.
The school bells were ringing on Monday as Gene Christian convened ground school at American Airlines Academy.  Everyone was glad to see Tom Taff back after a long recovery from his hand injury.  Rick Smail and Jim Skelly were at ground school for the first time.  School continued on Tuesday with the "old hands" showing up for recurrent. And finally another work day on Wednesday rounded out the "spring cleaning."
A good week of work and school  and for fellowship amongst the Flagship crew.