Jeff Scott sent me a note asking if I was back, so I figured I would let everyone know I'm finally home from my latest military deployment to Iraq and that my KR2S is back in the air. But I didn't get home until last Tuesday the 29 of Sep, so I've missed two KR Gatherings in a row, and yes I was bummed. I've stayed on the KR Digest and I did see where "Old Blue" and the one other plane crashed, very sad news but good to see Dan is recovering well.
Just this week I managed to get N1852Z back in the air. I had to replace the entire exhaust system due to corrosion and age. I bought a few tubes from Steve Bennett welded it myself. Yesterday was her 1st real flight in over a year after a thorough Annual Inspection. She was happy to see air under her wings again and so was I. Deployment went very well. Things in Iraq are in much better shape than my deployment in 2005. The Surge did a good job of cleaning out the bad guys, and the Iraqi Security Forces are now in charge in all the cities. While it will never be perfect, the violence levels are pretty low compared with previous years. I'm taking a month vacation before I head back to work at my engineering job. I dropped by there yesterday and it looks like no issues with going back. The economy has caused some layoffs, but my job was held for me. Thanks, Rob Schmitt N1852Z Kansas City, MO _www.robert7721.com_ (http://www.robert7721.com)
