As a very little kid, I thought clouds came from the chimneys of factories. Not an entirely unlogical conclusion, I think. It’s probably because for a couple of years, when I was still in kindergarten, we used to live in a little valley with a huge paper factory. The river downstream used to be colored in weird colors, like pink, depending on what color toilet paper they used to make at the point. As a kid I thought that was really funny! But now I’m glad that we have stricter environmental protection rules!

Oh, and talking about smoking chimneys… Is anybody else annoyed, whenever there’s a tv news or documentary piece on pollution or the evil CO2, that they show smoke stacks emitting water vapor on an obviously cold day? I mean there is enough crap and pollutants being emitted, why not show the really nasty stuff?

Careful what you wish for! I know I would really like to listen in to what other people are talking behind my back. Although I assume that in 99% of all cases I wouldn’t make an interesting enough subject and they’d probably talk about something completely different. And with some people I know, I’m probbably better off not knowing what their true opinions are.

Decisions, decisions. I might react similar to Chuck here, because as a libra, I tend to be indecisive. Fortunately my ascendant sign is sagittarius, which means I don’t believe in astrology!

When it comes to humor and comedy, timing is everything. And, as so often, I really sympathize with Chuck here, because I couldn’t tell a joke right if my life depended on it. Considering the job I have, this may sound pretty counterintuitive, but it’s true! Ask my friends and family. Maybe that’s why I like the format of comics so much to express myself, because when you draw a comic strip, you can calmly think about it and re-work the wording a hundred times before you put it on paper. And then it stands for itself, even giving the reader the opportunity to read his own timing and emphases into the text. And now imagine some final thought, preferably also including a pun, that rounds up this blog and brings it into a logical conclusion. That’s also not one of my strong points, it seems!

Considering his skill set, Chuck really has come a long way, especially for a chicken.

But I’d venture to say it wasn’t all completely without help. Any aircraft, small or large, needs a fair amount of support to keep flying. Working for a small outfit such as Roost-Air, can be very challenging because a lot of different responsibilities fall on the few people who work there. I have been there myself. A lot of people thrive and welcome these challenges and so have I in the past, but I am currently enjoying working for a bigger outfit that has a great support structure.

Should I get bored and crave to be in charge again, I might apply to fly the Hughes 500 for Roost-Air one day. I hear they have a great mechanic over there.

It’s about time Chuck bought another part for his Corsair. Although at this pace it will still take a few more weeks than expected.

I personally would like to see him buy a fuselage or at least an engine but we don’t always get to tell him what to do anymore. By now he has completely taken on his own persona and we’re all just along for the ride.

Here is another strip from the “not invented” category. This exact event took place during the 2011 Chino Airshow in front of our booth during the F-15 display. THe ice cream hit the side of the guys head and then ran down the back of his shirt. It was even more comical than it can be drawn. Maybe we will use it for our animation series if we ever manage to get it off the ground.

Speaking of Chino: The Chino airshow is this weekend! Make sure to check it out! It’s still one of our favorite shows because of the high amount of warbirds and the Corsairs flying around. And our friend Rob, the Tumbling Bear will be flying as well. Come see him fly at 1:20pm!

I have my own logbook, with exactly one hour of instruced flying logged. The (very patient) flight instructor was a close relative of mine (guess who), and the model we flew was the Schweizer 300 that is featured in today’s strip. I sure thought there was a lot of glass around the cockpit too!

Oh, and sorry for the slight delay with today’s upload,. Some days, it just seems that everybody wants to talk to you at the same time, and as soon as you hang up the phone, the next person calls you…

Those of you who fly for a living or even just for fun should at least know what a NASA form is, while at the same time not be as intimate familiar with it as Chuck is. I think it’s best to have an idea where to find it but not “need” it every time you go fly. Nobu almost sums up its purpose in one sentence but check out this link for more info. This guy also has other great articles that may come in handy one day.
http://richardtmillerlaw.com/FAA_Filing-a-NASA-Report.htm

Tomorrow I will pack my bags and head over to Friedrichshafen, Germany, to visit the AERO expo on Thursday an Friday. I’m really looking forward to it! Thanks to everybody who already got in touch with me! We won’t have a booth there, so I’ll be roaming the halls and there’s no fixed place to meet me. But I now have a (rather disorganized) list of people I want to meet, and I am sure somehow we’ll all manage to meet up at some point.

And if you see a short blondish guy with a Chicken Wings t-shirt, chat him up, it will probably be me! Or you can also send me a text on short text to my cell phone (my number is on our contact page here) and I’ll see if we can work something out. See you there!