Hi Nick,

I thought you'd be desperate to hear news of Dave's progress.
(Curious, Kevin - but not desperate yet! - Nick)

He arrived in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the Midwest, just beside Omaha, Nebraska (for anyone following Dave''s progress on an atlas -- look right in the middle of the USA) on Sunday just before noon.

Steve Tweedt a local Trike (Flexwing) flier -- actually the only trike flier for possibly a hundred miles in any direction, (and proud owner of a Pegasus Quantum 912 -you can't beat the Brits for the best flexwings) flew out to meet him.

Dave spent the next four days with myself and my wife Anne, and over-nighting with Steve and his wife Julie.

Dave had seen my Letter from America, and read my book Flying With Angels, and had become a good friend over the Internet. We never expected him to fly so far inland, but the offer of a place to stay was always there.

The problems he had with the mini tornado cost him six weeks of valuable time, as he totally rebuilt his Mainair Blade 912 machine after receiving parts hurriedly shipped from the Mainair factory. Dave was delighted with the ease of reassembly.

I'll not steal all his thunder by telling you about his journey to us. Just make sure you check out this site in a few days time.

To squash the idea that Dave had backed off sending in reports I should say that he came over to my house and we worked solidly for several hours over two days trying to get all his exploits onto the computer ready for uploading. Even then the time beat us, and he felt that he had to get moving again. It is hard to get down to writing when a person has to contend with us taking him out to meet people and trying to show him Midwestern hospitality, but he really did try to please everyone (and even treated me to breakfast!) The weather kept him on the ground, except for an unexpected lull in the winds that allowed Dave to give us a flight around the local area one evening. We did manage to pour some draught Guinness and bottles on Newcastle Brown ale into him though to stop him from talking - didn't work very well!

Thursday 27th June came around far too soon and we were all up at the local airport at 6:00am to see him off. Steve flew in and together they departed at 7:00am Steve accompanied Dave for the first part of the journey northwards.

Dave is now heading north into Minnesota where he will visit other contacts before arriving at Oshkosh at the end of next month. He is altering his original plans, due to the mishap with the mini tornado which grounded him for six weeks, and now intends to visit at least thirty States, before leaving in Florida later in September. Still a long way to go!

We had already typed several pages of news for the website, and Dave has many pictures to add, so you can expect a bumper report very soon.