AirVenture Oshkosh
It was a first for me! It
was a first for Open Throttle Ministries!
Every pilot dreams about their first trip to Oshkosh, WI for the annual
EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) convention called AirVenture. It is a journey that every pilot must make at
least once. Our schedule had never
permitted us to attend. This year the
schedule opened up! I was allowed to
take vacation from work during AirVenture.
Mrs. Hollywood and I talked about the trip and prayed about the
trip. We were going to just enjoy
Oshkosh. However; we told God that we would be available for His use in any way
He saw fit.
WOW!!! What an
unbelievable trip! We met some wonderful
new friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, air show pilots, and a slew of
aviation enthusiasts! We were invited to
speak at the prayer breakfast at Fergus Chapel on the grounds of AirVenture on
Tuesday! Mrs. Hollywood sang and I spoke
about OTM and the fact that we are all called to share the Love of Jesus. Fergus Chapel was our starting point for each
day. It is a beautiful chapel and we met
some wonderful people there. It was
wonderful to start each day worshiping and praying with others!
We were also invited out to the flight line to pray with one of
the air show performers and pray a blessing over his plane! What an absolute honor and privilege!
We also found ourselves meeting and praying with folks
throughout the convention. It was one of
the most amazing weeks I/we have ever experienced! And it all started with a simple prayer, “God,
we are just going to enjoy ourselves. We
have no contacts there. But, we make ourselves
available to You. Use us however You
choose.”
Needless to say, we have worked and planned and figured. We are returning to Oshkosh for AirVenture 2013!!!
Hoosier Hoedown
Upon our return home, I had one week to prepare for the Hoosier
Hoedown. The Hooiser Hoedown is the only
IAC Competition in Indiana. And with our
schedule that meant only one day in the practice box; Friday before the
competition on Sat. and Sun. However,
there was more to prepare for than just flying.
The Hoedown would be the first competition where OTM would hold a Sunday
morning service.
Friday was a beautiful day.
I helped set up in any way I could.
That meant, among other things, walking into the middle of a very dry
and very pitiful looking cornfield to help set one of the box markers.
Then it was time to crawl into the Super D and see what I could
do. Wow!
I really flew pretty well. I
filled out an application for a SMOOTH Award.
There are two different kinds of awards for each level: SMOOTH and
STARS. SMOOTH award is for flying the
maneuvers of your level of competition at a certain level of preciseness. STARS award is for flying all of your
sequences at a competition at a certain level of preciseness. Giles Henderson was to judge me for my SMOOTH
award. Giles is an amazing person and
pilot. In fact, he was the 2012 inductee
to the IAC Hall of Fame! Giles is the
first Hall of Famer I have ever met! But
how would I perform in front of him? I
passed with “flying colors” (pun intended)!
Giles said it was the best he had ever seen me fly! And he knows how I fly as we compete in the
same class! Doesn’t seem fair that a
Hall of Famer would fly in my class, does it?!?
Saturday, the first day of competition, we got to the airport
early and waited, and waited, and waited.
It was a total washout! However,
we got to spend many hours just talking with the other pilots. It really was a wonderful opportunity to
build relationships.
Sunday, I was up early and at the airport setting up a mini
chapel in one of the hangars. We had a
few pilots come to service. I really
felt that God had arranged who would be there.
One of the attendees, proclaims to be an atheist! I find that most “atheists” are really just
people who are mad at God about some injustice they have seen or
experienced. Such is the case with this
gentleman. We had a good service and a
very good time talking afterward.
Then we finally got some good flying weather! The competition would be one flight for each
of us. No room for errors… so much for
that competition… I erred. But most
importantly was getting to share Jesus with others!
Time for Us
All ministers need to take time for themselves and their
spouses. And the best way Mrs. Hollywood
and I could figure to do this was to go jump out of an airplane! We have been skydiving before and loved
it. So we decided it was time for
another trip to the “drop zone.” The
last time we went, do to my size (I’m thin but fairly tall) I was the last guy
in the plane which meant I was the first guy out. It occurred to me on the climb out that I had
never seen anyone jump out of a plane before!
Yes, I’ve seen it from the ground but I mean I hadn’t seen anyone jump
out of a plane that I was in! On this
trip, I would be the last one to jump.
That meant watching my wife jump out!
First, there was an experienced jumper.
I loved the way he just threw himself out the door! Mrs. HW and I are still at the stage where
you hang on the wing strut and let go.
It was crazy how fast he just disappeared! I realized then that I would be watching Mrs.
HW do the same thing. It was then that I
wondered how she felt that first time when the only person she had ever seen
jump out was ME! Our Jump Master, Carl,
was fantastic! As I watched Mrs. HW
vanish before my eyes, Carl hung out the side of the plane and watched. He looked back in at me with a great big
smile and a thumbs up. “She did
great! She’s under a good canopy!” he
said. Very reassuring!
Now for those who are wondering, skydiving is extremely safe
these days. It is nothing like the early
days (much like flying airplanes). We
even have small computers on our parachutes that will deploy the parachute if
something happens and we don’t get ours opened manually! That being said, we would never jump at the
same time. One will always go first and
once one of us is safely under canopy then the other will jump.
Next, it was my turn. Yee
Haa! I love the entire process of
jumping: the ride up, the free fall, and the slow glide down. Now for the landing; how would I do? The last time, we were not very pleased with
our ground instructor. He stands on the
ground and via radio talks you into the landing zone. He waited too late to tell me to flare (why
didn’t I flare sooner? I was following
his directions.). I landed on my backside!
It was safe. It didn’t hurt. But, I wanted to land on my feet. This ground instructor was great! He talked me right into the landing zone and
I knew when he said, “Flare, Flare, Flare.” it was gonna be good. I stuck my landing!!! I shouted, “Yeah!!! I stuck my landing! I stuck my landing!” Everyone laughed! It was a great day of fun for Mrs. HW and I!
Then the Rain Cometh!
It was a VERY dry summer!
We were very concerned for our farmer friends and family! Still we were glad for good flying/riding
weather on the weekends. We did have a
washout day during the Hoosier Hoedown and a wet day in Oshkosh, but other than
that weather did not alter our schedule.
We always look forward to Labor Day weekend! There are always at least two events we love
to attend. There is a VERY large fly-in,
pancake breakfast, benefit, car show, bike show, tractor show in Marion,
IN! It is enormous! One year, a very dear friend of ours came
along as he loves aviation as much as I do.
I keyed up the radio and announced my position and intention to
land. As I let go of the radio button,
my buddy, pretending to talk on the radio said, “Marion International this is
Skylane…” It was hilarious! Marion has a
good size airport. It is not; however, anywhere
near the size of an international airport.
But on the day of the fly-in, it is as busy as an international airport.
We fly because the second event of the day is another
wonderful fly-in/air show in Waynesville, OH.
There is no way we could drive and make it to both events. We have friends who live at and run the
airport in Waynesville. We also have
friends who fly this show including our own Cliff Robinson! We cannot do our routine there as it is a
grass strip. This is a great family
event and is put on for free to the public.
They have a wonderful evening meal that is provided on a donation basis.
So this year, as every year, we got up with excitement
and drove to the airport and drug the plane out. However, as we did, the sky started to get
dark. Then, it just kept getting
darker. I checked the weather… It was moving in fast! Flying in rain is no big deal. On the other hand, Low Ceilings are a big
deal! We pushed the airplane back in the
hangar. We decided to drive to Fort
Wayne where they were having a 2 day airshow.
We intended to go on Sunday but weather up towards Fort Wayne was better
so we thought we’d try. Another friend
of ours was performing at Fort Wayne so it would be a good show to see 2 days
in a row. We ended up sitting in the
truck watching the guys perform in rain!
We returned the next day.
We were able to remain relatively dry… until the end of the show. Here came the rain again. In bucket fulls this time! But we did get to see our friend perform and
got to talk with him briefly and remind him that we are still praying for him!
CMA
Indiana State Rally
Our next event was the Christian Motorcyclists
Association Indiana State Rally. Cliff
and I performed at this event in 2011 and were invited back. The youth were excited and invited their
friends to come see Hollywood race a plane.
Cliff and I performed our routine and then took the youth into the FBO
to talk to them about Jesus. 6 kids made
decisions to follow Jesus! That is what
OTM is all about. Telling others about
God’s love for them in the hopes they will decide to live for Him!
It is not cheap to perform this routine. It takes a lot of fuel and smoke oil. Many people and some businesses gave in order
to have this airshow routine at State Rally.
I cannot begin to name them all.
However, each and every one who gave had a part in these kids making
decisions to follow God! I know God will
bless them for their generosity! I will
make mention of one business without which we absolutely could not have done
this event. Air Marion: Thanks
guys! You are awesome!
Glenndale
Days
Some of the best events take place at the smallest
venues. Such is the case with Glenndale
Days at Glenndale Airport. Glenndale is
a small airport community with one grass runway. Each house along the runway has a hangar out
back. The people at Glenndale are
wonderful people. Each year at Glenndale
Days they invite the community to come out and go for airplane or helicopter
rides. They even have two T-6 Texans
that folks can get a ride in. There is
food! And I mean lots of food! There are bounce houses for kids. The great thing about this event is that it
is a fund raiser for SMA Support! SMA
Support helps families who are dealing with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. You can learn more at: www.smasupport.com
Last year was our first year attending Glenndale
Days. We had a great time. Over the last year we have gotten to know
Steve and Laura Stants much better. They
are great folks! Steve asked us to come and
perform the opening ceremonies. But,
over the last year, Steve heard me do some airshow announcing. Soooo, he asked me to do some announcing for
Glenndale Days. We arrived on Friday and
set up our camper. Chuck was very
gracious to allow us to set up in his backyard and even ran a power cord out to
us! Thanks, Chuck!
Saturday was cold and wet. There was very little movement on
Saturday. There was; however, a large
tent with lots of food! We spent most of
the day in the tent. Then, as evening
fell, the clouds gave way to sun for the last hour or so of daylight. We were invited over to one of the houses
where they had a huge fire. We sat
around and watched kids play while we enjoyed the warmth of the fire.
Sunday was much improved.
We had a wonderful breakfast and then we had a church service. Mrs. HW sang while a local preacher was
invited to speak. After service, the
airplanes took to the skies. At the end
of the day, when the event was scheduled to be over, there was still an hour
worth of flights to give to folks who had paid and were waiting in line. In all, it was a great weekend and a large
amount of money was raised for SMA Support.
Madison
Airshow
We were again invited to attend the Madison Airshow in
Madison, IN. Mrs. HW and I performed
opening ceremonies with prayer, National Anthem, and a tribute to WWII
vets. Then Cliff and I performed our
routine. Afterwards, we talked to folks
and signed pictures and posters. Then at
the end of the day, Cliff took me up in his Stearman. It is hard to believe as much time as we have
spent together performing that I had never been up in a plane with Cliff. He had the front control stick out to give
rides so I wasn’t able to fly but it sure was fun. The Stearman is such a big bird to do
aerobatics in compared to the planes I usually fly. You could park a Decathlon or Pitts on the
other side of the Stearman and no one would even know there was a plane there!
As the day was wrapping up and we were getting everything
put away, a couple flew into the airport in an Eclipse Jet. We had a very nice time talking with
them. We told them about the love God
has for us and for them. They left with
a full load of fuel and a signed poster of Cliff and I.
Changing
of the Colors
We love returning to the CMA Headquarters for the
Changing of the Colors Rally! It is a
week of wonderful worship and preaching!
We were so very blessed to see our dear friend Coyte standing and
walking! As you may remember from our
trip to National, Coyte was in a tree cutting accident and the fact that he is
alive is a miracle. When we saw him in
June, he still had an open wound and could not stand or walk!
Mrs. HW and I always compete in the Bike Games. This year the games were reduced to a kind of
skills riding course. We competed as
single riders and then as couples. I
finished 2nd in the singles and Mrs. HW and I finished 1st
in the couples. The guy who beat me won
by a few tenths of a second! And he and
his wife were the 2nd place finishers in the couple’s
competition! It was great fun!
Wedding
Bells!
Upon my return from Colors I had to prepare for a
wedding. I was privileged to perform the
wedding ceremony for a childhood friend of Mrs. HW. She and her new husband are very nice folks. Mrs. HW and I enjoyed our counseling sessions
with them. They had a very nice ceremony
(no, I’m not bragging about my part of it!).
We had great fun at their reception!
We wish them God’s Blessings on their marriage!
The
End of Another Wonderful Year Serving God
With that we wrapped up another year of ministry. We are glad to have some down time and it is
nice to spend some more time with our church family. Mrs. HW is singing on the worship team and I
am assisting with prayer and Scripture reading and whatever else Pastor comes
up with for me to do. It was an
incredible year that found us doing things we could have only dreamed of at the
beginning of the 2012! We can’t even
begin to imagine what God has in store for us in 2013!
