There used to be a ton of local fly ins. There was a good one at KHAF and Salinas. They had started to drop off years ago due to liability concerns. First the Airshows started disappearing around here and then fly-ins sort of dried up. Then with Covid it's been a few years since I've gone to one. So I decided to go to the "Food Truck Flyin" at South County airport E16 with some friends from the NRI flying club.
Got there and used the sidewinder to park. Got out the escooter and went to hit the toilet and get some food for my boy but made the mistake of leaving the airstair down. When I got back to the plane there were two kids in the cockpit and the ailerons slamming back and forth as they played pilot with the yoke, with parents inside taking photos and a line of 30 more people who had queued up like Disneyland for their turn. I needed to go for some blood pressure medication but I couldn’t really say no to all the kids lined up with their excited look on the face… so I grinned and bared it for an hour… ughhh… lots of dirty shoes and probably a COV2 infected plane but eventually I had enough and closed her up. Crikey…. still a great turn out and fun see so many plane crazy folks who peppered questions non-stop. We were the hit of the show, seriously. Everyone wanted to know about the TwinBo.
We had a good time, although it took all the self discipline I could muster not to scream GET THE FU-- OUT!! Haha. The turnout was pretty remarkable. By far most of the folks there were not pilots and did not fly in. I can't blame them for thinking my plane was some kind of organized static exhibit to climb in. I'll be more careful next time, but alls well the ends well... no damage other than a dirty carpet and a bunch of happy future pilot kids got some good photos.
