Though Antique Airfield and surrounding areas were under a flash flood warning due the reported 3+ inches of rain received since around 4:30 Saturday morning, the annual mowing party went on (though delayed a few hours).

Along with that, a major step forward was taken in work on the APM Restoration Center, the new ceiling was installed. Then early Sunday our new wind tee arrived and was installed. Built by well known Ercoupe builder/pilots Jack Arthur & Mark Kokstis, it will actually be marked as a memorial to our favorite Ercoupe pilot Mike "Cowboy" Abrahams (Jack's brother-in-law).

"THANKS" to a loyal group of volunteers, much of the necessary work to get Antique Airfield ready for the AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in was accomplished. And while there’s still more to do, things are looking good and on schedule for the start of the event this coming Wednesday.

The first piece of steel goes up on the ceiling of the APM Restoration Center Friday evening about 6pm

By dark, almost half the ceiling steel had been installed (from the left, APM Director Steve Adkisson, Larry Phelps, Brian West, Ben Taylor, Steve Hendryx & Scott Christiansen)

Time for a break at the end of a long day.

Saturday morning work resumed on the APM Restoration Center ceiling and by noon that project was completed (from the L, APM Director Steve Adkisson, Scott Christiansen, Larry Phelps, Steve Hendryx & Ken Marth

Even though there was water standing in lots of places on the airport the mowers were fired up and began the business of getting IA27 mowed. Ben Taylor gets John Lossner checked out on the Bad Boy.

Lunch time

APM director Aaron Klugherz and APM President Mike Gretz

Tim Verhoeven knocks down the big stuff with the Dexta and brush cutter.

No matter if behind an old fashioned push mower or a weed eater, Brian West was seen all over the airport.

While Holly Vanorny and Jessica Fuller finish the repainting of the Pilot’s Pub sign, APM Directors Luke Pieper, Mark Lancaster along with Ryan Fritz string new lights on the Pilot's Pub "Angel"

APM Director Mike Lossner flying low on the Bad Boy

Was it wet you say? Ryan & Eric Fritz rescuing a stuck mower.

APM Directors Luke Pieper and Steve Black power washing the floor in the APM Restoration Center in preparations for making it the "Runway Cinema" during the fly-in.

Mark Kokstis & Jack Arthur, the builders of our new wind tee.

Toby Hanson, Steve Adkisson, Tim Verhoeven, Ben Taylor, Mark Kokstis & Jack Arthur, the crew that unloaded and mounted the new wind tee.

The new wind tee will be marked as a memorial to our favorite Ercoupe pilot, Mike "Cowboy" Abrahams.

Once again this year, AAA Lifetime member Ryan Lihs (via his company Red Line Aviation), stepped forward to have Antique Airfield sprayed for bugs, making our fly-in attendees stay more enjoyable. AAA lifetime member Dallas Grimm flew the Air Tractor down from Pender, NE and did the application.

Dallas & the Air Tractor get air born and ....

Go to work!

Here are a couple of Spot tracker links that members have shared. Follow along on the trip to Blakesburg over the next few days.

Kevin Brown and Jerry Impellezzeri

Russell Williams - Ryan SC-W

Pre-registration for the 2014 Fly-In is now closed. If you didn't pre-register, don't worry, you can still attend the fly-in, you'll just have to register on-site when you arrive.

Here's the latest pre-registrations. We look forward to seeing everybody at Antique Airfield in just a few days!

	1947 Stinson 108-3 NC638C Jody Jones Stilwell, OK (G.R. Dennis Price photo)		1991 Cygnet SF-2A N4215G Mike Hargrave Marshalltown, IA (Brent Taylor photo)
	1941 Stearman A75N1 N44JP Charles Parrish Tullahoma, TN		1944 Stinson AT-19 N60058 Tom Bullion Memphis, TN (Jim Koepnick photo)
	1947 Cessna 120 N3114N Shane Vande Voort Pella, IA (Megan Vande Voort photo)

Online fly-in pre-registration ends on Sunday 2014 Fly-In. If you're planning to attend and haven't yet pre-registered, you can save yourself time at the airfield upon arrival by pre-registering online.

	1937 Waco YKS-7 N17457 John Cournoyer Elsinore, MO Flown by Scott Johansson		1947 Luscombe 8E N2587K Michael May Axtell, NE
	1934 Waco YKC NS14137 Dave & Jeanne Allen Elbert, CO (Gilles Auliard photo)		1929 Alexander Eaglerock A-2 NC1121P Glen Cruz/Carl Williams San Diego, CA (G.R. Dennis Price photo)
	1946 Beech D18S N127ML Justin Niemyjski Racine, WI (Brent Taylor photo)		1935 Monocoupe 90A NC11767 Trevor Niemyjski Racine, WI (Nigel Hitchman photo)

Even with the weather being less than ideal (low ceilings, fog, mist & rain), there was a lot happening at Antique Airfield over the weekend and a lot of items got checked off of Fly-in Chairman Brent Taylor's "to do" list.

Saturday's crew (Dave Coop, Dan Quinn, Luke Pieper, Jeff Claypool, Jessica Fuller, Holly Vanorny, Sydney Lundberg, Mark & Gloria Robotti, Mark & Teri Lancaster, Ben, Marcy & Brent Taylor) got the S Showerhouse activated, the Pilot's Pub cleaned and setup along with giving the Pub sign a facelift, the Hy-Vee Mess Hall cleaned and floor painted, the fuel truck serviced and running, new locks on many of the buildings and much more!

Sunday saw Ben & Brent Taylor helping Rick Gritters and Dan Quinn with projects in the Hy-Vee Mess Hall, the Pilot’s Pub, the APM Restoration Center and on the APM's Great Lakes.

But there's still much to do! Hope to see many of our loyal volunteers this coming weekend for the Annual Mowing Party and the final push to have Antique Airfield ready for the start of the fly-in on Wednesday August 27th!

Dan & Luke work on getting the south showerhouse up and running.

Sydney & Holly put their artistic talents to work on re-painting Pilot’s Pub sign.

Lunch time!

Not certain what Mark and Dave are doing but it looks akin to seeing how many people you can stuff in VW...

...Or it could have something to do with getting the booths setup in the Pilot's Pub.

Jesse said something about, "Same old thing every day....clean up the bird cage"?

Jeff works his magic on the fuel truck, to bring it out of hibernation.

Addison Pemberton had an unusual guest at his hangar at Felts Field, Spokane, WA. Addison says:

We have had a pleasure of baby sitting the QED in our storage hanger for the last 2 weeks in prep for the AOPA event at Felts Field this past week end. The airplane is magnificent and always a shocker when we walk into the hanger. Here Jay and I show the size of the monster.

Now for your viewing pleasure, the short film, "Dimensional Shift".

"Dimensional Shift" is the name given to the short film produced by Whatever Works Productions, filmed at Antique Airfield and featuring AAA Lifetime member Jim Jones along with his Meyers OTW.

This film is an entry into the worldwide 48 Hour Film Project.

It takes a lot of planning and even more hard work to get ready for the AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in. With the Fly-in just nine days away, the staff and volunteers here at the Antique Airfield are quite busy working to complete all preparations before the arrival of our members and guests starting on August 27th.

Over the last several weekends we have been hosting work days to help prepare the field and facilities for the event but much remains to be accomplished. We hope many of our local members and more distant volunteers will be able to be with us this coming weekend (August 23rd & 24th ) for the Annual Mowing Party. So plan on joining us with your tractors, riders, mowers, weed eaters and other implements of destruction to help have Antique Airfield looking its best for the Fly-in.

Please let us know if you're able to come and help, mow, weed eat, clean etc. to help us plan the food (smoked pork), drink and refreshments for the day.

See you this coming Saturday.

Brent Taylor
Fly-in Chairman

Are you flying out to Blakesburg in a few days? If you have a Spot tracker, send us the URL so everybody can see your route.

Also, if you've got a GoPro-style video camera strapped onto the airplane or in the cockpit please make sure to bring it. We're collecting video this year and would like to edit it into feature videos throughout the fall and winter for everybody's enjoyment. So contribute your video and be featured on AntiqueAirfield.com and Facebook!

Here's an example GoPro video from Antique Airfield:

So please, if you attend the AAA/APM Invitational Fly-in and capture photos/videos of the planes, people, activities and flying, please consider sharing them with us here at AAA Headquarters for use on the website, in the Antique Airfield Runway and in future videos from "Brent Taylor Productions". Proper credit for use of any images or videos will be given.

Thanks,
Brent Taylor
Fly-in Chairman

This is the last week to pre-register online for the 2014 Fly-In. If you're planning to attend and haven't yet pre-registered, you can save yourself time at the airfield upon arrival by pre-registering online.

If you are planning to get a hotel or car in Ottumwa during the fly-in you should ensure you get reservations very soon. Please see the Accommodations and Activities list for contact numbers and details.

	1950 Piper PA-20 N7491K Rob Stoinoff Osgood, IN		1939 Luscombe 8A N22091 Ron Shank Greensburg, KS (Nick Dean photo)
	1946 Luscombe 8E N2101K Al Manley Longmont, CO (G.R. Dennis Price photo)		1942 Boeing Stearman A75N1 N966CD Chuck Doyle Webster, MN (Gilles Auliard photo)
	1941 Interstate S-1A NC37369 Mathew Northway Eugene, OR		1938 Monocoupe 90A NC19423 Ted Goettl Clarkdale, AZ (AAA Archives photo)
	1948 Stinson 108-3 N6679M Merle & Joan Marshall Shakopee, MN		1943 Taylorcraft L2M N46112 Gene Lockwood Glencoe, OK (G.R. Dennis Price photo)
	1934 Aeronca C-3 NC14096 Wilbur A. Womak Jackson, LA		1955 PA22-150 N2540P Michael Reed Parsons, KS
	1947 Luscombe 8A Clipwing NX2133K Bill Bradford Independence, MO (G.R. Dennis Price photo)		1930 Great Lakes 2T-1A NC647K Paul Fuller Pendleton, IN (G.R. Dennis Price photo