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Crossing THE Country in a Three Generation SuperCub
By Dana Brejakova

A light-yellow bird with a few thin blue stripes along the fuselage, blue propeller cap, and a picture of Blue Bear on the tail was a happy member of a local group of aviators, the T-Hangar Mafia. Almost every other weekend, this Supercub named Blue Bear would be in the air looking for adventure or stretching its wings flying around enjoying "low and slow" bush flying. However, just like everything in life, what once starts must also come to an end, Blue Bear's time in El Paso was almost up. As we said "farewell" to Blue Bear's owner, our friend X-Ray who had to move to another part of the country, Blue Bear was readied to depart on a 1841 mile long ferry flight to reunite with X-ray up North.

Great news, I thought to myself, delivering an airplane from El Paso, TX to the Washigton D.C. area was going to be a wonderful flying adventure. It did not even hit me how much of a country we would be crossing until I looked at the map. A Super Cub can do 85 mph in the air. This was going to be a long trip.

(Blue Bear-ELP to DC) Our actual flight path with en route stops

With one of the best aviators (Jimmy the Squirrel) behind the controls and me in the back seat navigating and choosing tunes along the way, we departed in the very early morning on August 28th. Our flight plan was simple, constant weather monitoring, planning the stops as the Earth rolled under us, and enjoying the scenery.

Day before departure, Franklin Mountains surrounding the departure airport
Day 1, crossing beautiful Sacramento Mountains of NM (Ruidoso area)
Day 1, still crossing beautiful mountain terrain of NM (Ruidoso area)
Day 1, Alfalfa fields, Texas. Anybody see Miss Pacman, too?
Day 1, literally crossing the official center of "UNITED STATES" on the map

After the total of approximately 6 hours in the air, we reached our final destination for Day 1 which was 1K1 - the charming Lloyd Stearman Field East of Wichita. Had couple of beers, good dinner, spent a night, and after delicious breakfast accompanied by cup of coffee at the airport cafe, we started Day 2 in the air.

Day 2 did not require as many hours in the air as the previous day. We decided to stop at Antique Airfield for the annual Antique Aircraft Association Fly-In in Blakesburg, Iowa. With one fuel stop at Lee's Summit, it took us approximately four hours to land at the rustic grass airport. The air was intertwined with the smell of a fresh cut grass, engine oil, and fresh baked pie - what a lovely landing spot. Happily tired, we were glad to tie down Blue Bear for a well deserved rest, which we needed just as well.

Circling around Antique Airfield. A few hangars, charming antique birds, green grass, no CTAF or coms. Landing and taking off is performed just like half a century ago: keeping to standard pattern procedures, a constant visual scan, and paying attention to the ground ATC team that used red and green flags.
Blue Bear in a row of SuperCubs

The Antique Airfield Fly-In was a very pleasant stop on our great cross country journey with some of the most beautiful views of the antique and classic beauties happily roaring in the sky.

Travel Air 3000s in a lovely formation flight while the sky decided to dress in cotton candy-ish hues

After we waved the Antique Airfield good bye, a well-rested Blue Bear took us above the clouds again and we were back on track. Day 3, September 1st we stopped in Keokuk, Iowa for fuel on our way to the day's destination, Dayton International Airport in Ohio.

Day 3 in the air, stop at Keokuk. I could not take my eyes of this welcoming (or rather a scary?) totem.
Keokuk airport FBO with amazing huge map on the wall with a little "you are here" airplane.
"How many more to go?"
"THIS MANY!"
On our way to Dayton. The topography below us had started having rich green texture with a lot of small lakes and river billabongs.
Pilots and navigators constantly look for clues on the ground. For example, here one can see the smoke is climbing straight up, which indicates no wind.
LEFT Peeking over Jim's shoulder was not only a routine activity as a back-seater, but also served well as a good neck stretch. RIGHT All systems go, all systems looking good. Blue Bear purring just right. Only one hour to go and we are in Dayton, yiiipppeeee!

After completing another 6 hour marathon in the air, we spent the night in Dayton to wake up to the last part of the trip - Carrol County Airport in Westminster, MD - Blue Bear's new home.

Day 4 in the air. Soon, the terrain started slowly curling and rising into rich green hills
Windmills lining up on the top of the hill
A detail on a windmill. Nothing like having a bold contrast on the picture.

Suddenly, I could not believe we were finishing our last leg of the trip. One can get easily used to Blue Bear's roaring engine, blue instrument panel, and figuring out the unique darn seat belt system. This was when I realized, what if we never go on another flying adventure with our friend and his Blue Bear again, just like the good old times? With mixed sentiments, Blue Bear got to her new home safe and sound. We reunited with our friend and his wife to spend a few wonderful days, and once again we realized how amazing an aviator's way of living is: the freedom, the camaraderie and friendships sealed in hangars and flying adventures, and simply the joy of flight with the bird that takes you up in the air and lets you forget about the world down there on Earth.

All those good times with Blue Bear as a happy member of the T-hangar Mafia in El Paso, and I did not even know the whole story this nimble little bird could tell. Only after wanting to write about the adventure, the story was revealed to me. What struck me about Blue Bear the most was her place and tradition in a family. Blue Bear came to our friend's family in 1976. First, owned in partnership between our friend's father and grandfather, and later when the grandfather passed away, the bird was owned solely by the father, and now by our friend who shared the memories. He said, "My father kept it in a hangar about 50 feet from the house and we flew it out of our airstrip in Shady Cove, Oregon - which consisted of grass, mud or dirt, depending on the season - almost every summer weekend to various backcountry destinations in Oregon. One of our favorites was the Steens mountain region in the eastern Oregon desert. Much hijinks and adventure we experienced on these trips with my father and his numerous flying buddies." He adds, "In 2005, my father completely rebuilt the Supercub, transforming it into this dream flying machine. It was at this time that he formally christened the airplane Blue Bear. Unfortunately, he passed away from illness two years later." It took years, but our friend decided to continue flying in his Dad's honor and carry on the family Supercub tradition. He warmly recalls, "Since then, aside from many grand adventures and many new friendships, my daughter learned to fly and has soloed in Blue Bear. The hours we have spent together in the cockpit of that Supercub make up some of my most precious memories. I am sure my father is very proud as he looks down on her."

Blue Bear is more than just a machine, or just a plane. For almost 4 generations, she has been a family tradition and beloved bird that strengthens the family bonds.

Farewell, Blue Bear. T-Hangar Mafia in El Paso misses you, X-Ray.

Written by Dana Brejakova

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