We have definitely made excellent progress in this trip: initially we thought it would be another 5 states as American Expedition # 1 was, but I can see the odometer counting and counting miles, and we are in Kansas!!
This chapter tells the story of an entrepreneur that converted the dream of flying into one of the largest small aircraft manufacturers; how the weather (once again) made us flee to avoid being hit by hailstones and a bit of preparations for the upcoming storage of Scotty and the toad while we are back home in Spain!! Enjoy
This was leaving from Nebraska City.
To be honest there was only one particular place / city I wanted to see, and it was Wichita. I’ve known this name for years as it is the home of aircraft manufacturers and birthplace of companies like Cessna, Beechcraft, Mooney, Stearman and even Boeing in the past. But, I have to confess, it’s been ages since I lost track of the aircraft activities in Wichita, and to my surprise, a few things happened: Cessna was bought by Textron… Learjet doesn’t exist anymore!! The last jet ( a Learjet 75) was delivered on March 2022, after 60 years of production. It appears that the parent company (Canadian Bombardier) didn’t find economically viable the continuation of business of private jets from Learjet (company that was created by Bill Lear, inventor from Missouri). And, to make things worse, Cessna stopped plant tours for the public due to the infamous COVID… AGHHHH
Nevertheless, we decided to visit the Kansas Aviation Museum and make the visit worthy. This was a good visit, and the good thing is that it uses the old airport of Wichita!! At some point you feel transported back to the 50s as you walk the terminal.
I feel like I am an Air Traffic Controller!!
Sadly a visit to the interior of this B-52 was not allowed, but we still can see its belly!!
Speaking about Learjet, it looks like private jets suit me!! 🙂
And of course I had to see a Cessna. I flew as a passenger on a Cessna 182 back in Colombia going from an oilfield airstrip to an airport in a small city. It was fun!!
And here is the story of Mister Cessna
Cessnas are so popular in the US, people use them as private planes, or commercial or trainer planes. There are more than 40,000 Cessna 172!!
And here’s a smaller version circa 2007 in Aberdeen, Scotland 🙂
In the good old days, Cessna produced single engine, twin engine and jets. See the complete range below
The museum also offers a good sample of old airplanes, perfectly preserved
And a good number of model airplanes as well … music to my ears!!
Now, back to the campground. It appears that summer season came strong to the mid areas of the US and when I say strong, it definitely is!!
Once again we are on the TV and the weather announcements interrupt the normal TV programs just to show that there is a storm approaching our area and this time hailstones are on the menu….
And because we were right in the edge of the green and red zones, we decided to pack and go north, about 70 miles…. that reminds me of Dallas when we had to leave west running away from tornadoes!!
We are the blue dot; caught right in the middle.
That’s us safe and sound preparing lunch at Salina while the hailstorm is underway south of us.
Tree number 14
Speaking about trees, see this strange root array we found at the campground where we planted the tree number 14
This is the result of roots protruding from the ground up. It looks like The Needles in miniature!!. They look even better being decorated with dwarf figures. Kids must be delighted to walk along the area!
This conifer was planted at the Spring :Lake RV Resort in Halstead, Kansas. Have a good life lovely tree!!
And definitely the map looks now busier and busier…
Scotty RV Adventures 
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