Cape Girardeau's Christmas Holiday Float...The Baby Snowbird's Last Installment!!!!!

My bosses are so funny.  First, they hire a somewhat crazed airplane fanatic as a Lineman, and pray that he doesn't put them in a position of having to explain stuff to the City Fathers...(our airport's FBO is owned and run by the City of Cape Girardeau).  THEN, they REALLY Slap the Dragon on the Butt by asking him to help design the Airport's Entry in the City's Christmas Parade.  Seems they consider me to be somewhat of an " artist", and I while I consider that tag a matter of conjecture, I WILL agree to having an artist's temperament.

So anyway, my Line Chief Derrick (the guy on my left), tells me that we're gonna have an "Official, Preliminary Christmas Float Meeting" (got to love small-town politics!) and I respond, "Fine, I've already prepared a "Power Point Presentation!".  Derrick, knowing that I don't know a thing about doing such stuff, agrees, with that wrinkled-brow expression that I've work so hard to perfect over this past ten years.

So, I arrive at the meeting fashionably late...all the better to increase the impact of my VISION !   Packing my gear to the head of table, I take charge with an intimidating display of Charisma, backed by infallible technology...namely; a Sharpie Pen and the lid from a box of office paper.  A hush falls over the room as the anticipation builds:

The parameters were that it be both a Christmas Float AND a Sneaky Promotion for our upcoming Airshow, featuring the Canadian Snowbirds.  Since the funding is to be taken from our Airshow Budget, Bruce the Airport Manager (the worried-looking dude at the opposite end of the table) wants it done on the cheap.  

So, my first proposal was a simple plywood silhouette of a Tutor on knife-edge, pulling a banner with Christmas Wishes (another condition of my participation...NONE of this "Happy Holiday" B.S.), and some Airshow Info.

To my great and happy surprise, Bruce opted for my Original Pet Project...a somewhat three-dimensional, Caricatured Tutor, balanced on two triangle blocks, allowing the truly three-dimensional pilot to bank the jet left and right as she waves to the crowd.!!!  The "she" will be Katrina, Bruce's "assistant", who has some kind of official title, but who I prefer just to call, "The Girl That Makes All the Airport Stuff Actually Work".

Airport Maintenance Manager Ray, the guy on my right, assembled a list of supplies needed to make our plane fly, with construction slated to begin this next week.  Derrick even volunteered the use of his "Fog Machine" to give the Tutor a smoke trail !!

And so...the deal is on !!!!

As "Supreme Director of Construction", I promised to lead with a firm but gentle hand.  There shall be more photos posted as this History-Making Event unfolds (and I may also snap a few time-spaced photos of Derrick to document his aging process) !!!

Then again, I may ALSO be posting photos of myself, sitting in my lawnchair and sipping soda, as I wait for my unemployment check...actually not a REAL bad alternative...

"Fasten your seatbelts!  Here we go !!!"



Notice the intensity of the moment...somewhat like the photo of Obama's Cronies watching Osama's demise...



Redneck Power Point



Posing with my highly-technical Working Sketch, Tutor Pilot Katrina seems agreeable with her Mission Assignment...