A Day In Knoxville

Here we are nestled in the hanger. This was the original American Airlines hanger when this airport was the Knoxville Municipal Airport. You can tell from a few remaining feet of track that it once had large rolling doors. It was slated for demolition but is leased to RAM for $1 a year. Their headquarters is housed in a 1930's school also leased for $1 a year. To get here one drives through a most charming 1930's neighborhood called Island Home which features mostly tudor, cottage and craftsman styled homes. On one side of the street, they back up to the river. Their yards are looking fantastic. Breathtaking really with all the various things blooming. There is also a park with a trail that goes right by the airport gate and leads to a nature preserve. We will walk it if time permits.

Stan shows up, having ridden over on his bicycle from his office a couple of miles away. He is 76, a vegetarian, and in incredible shape. Martha Lunkin, who writes for Flying Magazine, was to have flown in today to give check rides to Stan and his co-pilot. She is a retired FAA examiner and has been given permission to do this although Gene is the official check airman for RAM. This gives her a chance to get some flight time herself to stay current and to fly an airplane she loves. However, the winds are high and so she has postponed until the next day. We decide to stay another night and make sure she arrives, if not, then Gene will do the check rides.

So we head out to see some of Knoxville. There is a small bridge that leads to the airport and three large ones that connect this side of the Tennessee river to downtown. The river, by the way is wide and blue. We head to the downtown river front, having been warned there is construction in the area. Sure enough it is a "you can't get there from here" situation, but after going round and round and up and down, finally we do. We drive through the UT campus and are glad we went to AU and not in an urban setting. The river area is quite pleasant. We had lunch overlooking the river and tarried on a swing watching the antics of various water fowl and some humans whose behavior was as entertaining. Then we went to the log compound of James White, founder of the city. We were the only people there and so got a lot of attention. The two story house and kitchen are original buildings from 1786. The other recreations are done from logs of the same vintage gleaned from structures in the surrounding area. A lovely garden is cultivated in the courtyard and their peonies, dogwood and redbud are blooming. There is a great view of the city. From there, we toured the Mabry-Hazen home located on 6 acres nearby and occupied by the same family from 1858 to 1936. The last survivor left it, all its furnishings and some money to make it into a museum. This was a hot headed family, several of the male members having lost their lives in gun battles, duels and bar room brawls. The last survivor, Miss Evelyn, was known to pack a loaded pistol at all times.

Not finding anything else that drew us in, we returned to our camp and Gene took the obligitory nap, while I continued my pitiful painting. I have done watercolor with some success, but each time I go back to it from oil, it is like first grade all over again. To me, spring needs to be protrayed in watercolor, however, it may be Halloween before I feel comfortable with it.

I made a pasta salad and we cooked bugers on the grill. Just as we were about to take them off, we were surprised by a well dressed couple who walked up and greeted us. They were considering a move to Knoxville from Panama City, and were trying to explore a place to keep their airplane. We could be of no help, being strangers here ourselves, but we did have a nice chat.

After supper we explored a trail on the airport itself leading into those woods in front of our camper. It was an old roadbed so easy to walk. It was so lovely in there with the very intense hues of early spring. We circled around and exited in another part of the field.

The next morning we had a good breakfast in the hanger and Martha arrived in her little plane. She is tall and wiry with short grey hair and piercing blue eyes. I met her last year in Shelbyville. Gene went up to the airplane with the other folks and I started breaking camp. After they took off, he returned to help. Then the tractor trailer driver, Tom and his wife, Judy, showed up. RAM is doing a mission in LA next weekend and the truck will leave early on Wednesday to go. One of the Flagship Detroit pilots met Stan at ground school last week and volunteerd to drive another truck. RAM works mostly with volunteers. Tom and Judy offer a tour of the rig and we are happy to take them up on it. This truck is an '07, used two years for a racing outfit. It has a liftgate that would lift two racecars into the upstairs and downstairs was a completely outfitted machine shop. Now upstairs holds 30 someodd dental chairs and other equipment which will be offloaded into a gymnasium or other large structure (they have done it in tents) and downstairs is a fully equipped optical lab for making eyeglasses. They can make over 1000 pair in a weekend. They only had to replace one bank of cabinets to do the transformation. If you want to see RAM in action, go to ramusa.org and view the 60 minutes segment. It is pretty amazing!

We finally pulled out at midafternoon and arrived home before dark. Another nice day for driving and some good mountain views near Chattanooga. We were tired and Gene was really ready to be home. He was only home a few days between the barnstorming tip and the annoversay trip three or so days between the anniversary trip and ground school and one day between ground school and this trip. So, I think we are here at least until May 1, the Scottsboro air show.