The Breakfast Club
An Affiliate of
the
The Knife & Fork
Breakfast Club Visits Show Low, EAA Event
10 June 2006
by Warren McIlvoy
To a pilot, a blend of food, airplanes, and a plethora of
other pilots, will make a fly-in pancake breakfast a sure bet and will attract
his or her attention like a pack or starving dogs to a meat truck. The Show
Low EAA Chapter was hosting just such an event and, well, it made perfect
sense to switch our August and June event schedule so that we could enjoy this
opportunity. I did not yet have my airplane back from the shop where it was
getting a World Class GPS by Garmin, so my wife and I had the distinct pleasure
of joining Paul Fortune (BC-201) in his nicely appointed turbo Arrow.
The 0600 weather at Show Low indicated clear conditions with a light and
variable wind. Paul was going to use runway 6 as it is the preferred, no wind
runway. For the most part, the first half of the ride as pretty nice and smooth
but as we got within 30 miles or so of Show Low, conditions changed to
scrambled. We were finally able to pick-up the AWOS and it informed us that the
winds were now out of the southwest at 15 gusting to 22. That little tidbit of
information quickly scrubbed any plans for runway 6. As we came closer to the
airport, aircraft were getting in line for the left downwind for runway 3. That
is to say that most of us were with the exception of a Baron that was going to
use right downwind for runway 24. Following Paul's usual (?) greased landing,
we taxied to the far west end of the south ramp.
The last large hangar on the south ramp was the hosts cite of the pancake
breakfast and the multiple rows of tables were mostly filled but we found a few
chairs where we could claim our spot. I saw a number of Breakfast Club folks
scattered about the hangar but only a few at our location. The chow line was
not too long and the EAA folks were a beehive of activity cooking sausages and,
most importantly, pancakes and scrambled eggs. Orange juice and coffee
complimented the morning's menu.
Following our pancake breakfast, I strolled around the hangar to meet with
other Breakfast Club folks and had them fill-out my attendance sheet. Out on
the ramp, there was an abundance of people milling about but I only noted 2 or
3 planes that could be classified as "experimental" but on the other
hand, I have no clue as to the nitch that the Show Low Chapter is
affiliated with. The wind had become just a tad more enthusiastic and walking
up and down the ramp gave it plenty of opportunity to
dislodge my hat. Following our "inspection" of the many aircraft that
lined the rows and winding-up our greetings with many of the other Breakfast Club
members, it now time to bid adieux to Show Low.
The wind was now pretty steady at about 20 knots and favoring runway 21 and
without further formalities; we taxied out for out departure. The snarly air
stayed with us most of the way back but smoothed-out somewhat by the time that
we reached the
The Show Low Gang
What's Next?
The July event for the Breakfast Club will
see us traveling north to Valle, AZ and the Planes of Fame Museum.
Our August event will take us East to
Click on the Show
Low link view photos of this
fly-in event.