Here you can slide open the window and smell that 60-weight oil burning off the engine. When I first started flying with the airline, all the captains were World War II bomber pilots. Some 50 years ago, that's exactly what tour member Dick Dinning was. He has a warm smile, a sympathetic ear, and the deep respect of everyone on the team. When the three airplanes land at a stop, everybody pitches in, including the pilots.
Ladders have to be lowered, and signs displayed to guide visitors through the aircraft.
Fuel and oil levels are checked, oil wiped off of engine cowlings and wings, and Plexiglas windshields cleaned with Lemon Pledge. Yet the first visitor steps aboard less than 15 minutes after the propellers stop turning. We have to move fast or we lose them. With riders scheduled from first light to dusk and a constant stream of visitors, there are few idle moments. The team set a record of 21 local flights during a 1996 stop in Fort Collins, Colorado.