Biscuits and Biplanes? Please allow me to explain that unlikely combination.
A rainy morning is the PERFECT time to stay in bed, but my, how times have changed. Kids no longer grab a comic book or watch cartoons in their pajamas. They are now glued to their electronic devices! And biplanes were the farthest thing from their minds when I snapped this photo.
Even though all three sisters have “their own rooms” when they come to our house for GrandCamp it’s common to find some or all of them curled up together…this time in the only twin bed in the house!
I was in no hurry to leave home either, so I told the girls I would make a “stick to your ribs” type of breakfast. So Biscuits and Sausage Gravy and Home Fries were on our menu on that rainy morning.
I started a pot of coffee and I requested some Cat Stevens music on our Google Mini device on our kitchen counter. I feel sorry for you young folks who’ve never heard of Cat Stevens…it’s your loss. (Just Google him!)
“Middle Sis” Lolo was quick to offer to make the biscuits.
She is a joy to be with in the kitchen, and we already make a great team. So it wasn’t long before she was ready to pop her yummy biscuits into the oven.
I began to make the gravy. But I must admit I was a little bit nervous to serve sausage gravy to those girls since our son Nick (their dad) makes the BEST sausage gravy I’ve ever tasted. But I worked through my terror and whipped up a batch anyway. The secret ingredient we both use? Chicken or Beef and/or Vegetable Bouillon Cubes to add flavor to the gravy! (Shhh….Don’t tell anybody!)
That gravy turned out pretty darn good. And so did my home fries.
First I parboiled some diced up spuds before I dumped them into a skillet with extra virgin olive oil, onions and garlic. And I added some salt and pepper and some smoked paprika from the Amish Stringtown Store. Then I threw in some fresh herbs from my herb garden found right outside our front door.
It was a wonderful lazy, rainy morning (spent in our pajamas) around our dining room table. And that breakfast was just what the doctor ordered.
We took our time over that breakfast, and eventually the clouds parted and the skies cleared enough that I could share my idea for an afternoon adventure nearby.
That weekend marked the 100th anniversary of the Iowa City Airport located just a couple of miles away. In fact we had been seeing and hearing vintage biplanes flying over our house the entire weekend since pilots were giving rides in various types of vintage airplanes during the celebration.
So off we went to check out the festivities and to learn a little bit about the history of the airport.
The Iowa City Airport is the oldest civil airport west of the Mississippi River still in it’s original location! It opened in 1918 as a hub for Air Mail letters being flown all across the country, as seen in this photo hanging on the wall in the building.
In fact, the very first Air Mail flights made stops in Iowa City, including biplanes piloted by the likes of well known aviators including Wiley Post, Charles Lindbergh and Will Rogers!
That biplane photo gave me an opportunity to tell the girls a few tall tales about my Uncle George…one of the earliest local airplane pilots in the area.
As the photo shows, Uncle George was a flight instructor during the war. But long before that he was the wild and crazy daredevil pilot of his own airplane. He loved to do nearly impossible stunts…like flying his plane UNDER bridges! (Don’t try this at home.) But the stunt he pulled at an air show was the craziest story I ever heard about him.
Uncle George offered to take a local man up for a ride during an air show in a nearby community. The man was happy for the opportunity since airplane flights were still a novelty for most people. The excited passenger quickly climbed onboard as his elderly mother proudly watched from the ground. Unbeknownst to the man, Uncle George had previously installed a “dummy” in the airplane. (The mannequin was dressed in men’s clothing.)
The plane took off without a hitch, and as it circled and dipped and then rolled above the crowd Uncle George threw the “dummy” out of the airplane!!! It tumbled to the ground, causing shock waves of panic from the crowd. I can only imagine the shock that poor mother suffered as she watched the “tragedy” unfold before her eyes. HOLY MOLEY! Let’s just say that lady was mighty glad to see her son emerge unscathed from that airplane once Uncle George brought him safely back to terrafirma!
Since telephones were also a novelty back in those days, Uncle George had a unique way to announce his arrival to his parents. He would fly his airplane out over the family farm (about 18 miles from Iowa City) and he would “buzz” the house. He would fly very low so my grandparents would hear him, and he would “dip” a wing in greeting. That was the signal that they should climb into their old vintage Ford and drive to Iowa City to pick him up. I think he also sometimes landed in a field behind the house if the field was pasture land that year to allow a landing and take-off.
Uncle George eventually died doing what he loved…flying his airplane. He was flying through a powerful thunderstorm somewhere in Oklahoma when lightening struck his small plane and it broke apart in midair. He was truly one of a kind…my daredevil Uncle named George.
But back to the Iowa City Airport…
Our grandgirls had an opportunity to view the airplanes from the observation deck inside the Art Deco inspired terminal.
And we were even allowed to head outside onto a runway to view the planes up close!
The vintage biplane was offering rides to those who wished to pay for a short bird’s eye tour of Iowa City. (Biplanes and vintage aircrafts are spotted quite often flying over our house.)
The girls were even allowed to climb into a corporate jet.
We were all surprised at how small the interior of the jet turned out to be.
I am somewhat claustrophobic, so I’m not sure how comfortable I would be in that small space. And the bathroom facilities would certainly take some getting used to as well! This is the “toilet” in the photo below. Just lift the cushion and buckle up!!
That Iowa City based corporate jet had been used the day before to collect and transport a human heart to a Midwest hospital for implantation. And it is also used on some Hawkeye sports recruiting trips, as well as many other types of corporate trips.
It was a great way to spend an hour and to learn how important aviation has been (and still is) in our small Midwestern city.
It was a high flying GrandCamp day…from biscuits to biplanes!
Leave a Reply