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Our 1950 Cessna is a polished aluminum 170A. Not being the pilot in the family, my appraise of an airplane is mainly aesthetic and at first I wasn't very impressed with the polished aluminum (preferring the glossy shine of a fancy paint job). But, after many hours spent polishing and waxing, I have grown to appreciate the simple beauty of this airplane.

We have searched and read numerous articles on how to polish and retain the aluminum finish on our aircraft but the bottom line remains the same, a lot of elbow grease. One very long and informative article we read on this subject talked about the pure joy of owning and flying one of these fast disappearing beauties. The owners were asked and subsequently displayed their air craft at a Cessna factory function. A foot note to the article stated that after this event they took their Cessna on a cross county vacation and shortly after returning home they had it painted! Unfortunately, at times, I can empathize with them.

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For my own point of reference I like to place private pilots into one of two categories - 'point to point' or 'pleasure'. Although there is a lot of cross over, most generally pilots fit pretty snug into one or the other. 'Point to point' pilots are on a destination mission. They are always going somewhere for something: meetings, vacations, visits or whatever and if they get socked in they will drive. Pleasure pilots on the other hand fly for the pure pleasure of flying. That the plane actually takes them somewhere is just a happy consequence. Pleasure pilots may land at an airport where there is a fly-in going on, where they can easily get to a restaurant or were someone they want to talk to might be, but, they don't fly there to participate, eat, or visit, they fly there to be flying and if the weather is bad they stay at home. This is our category and below are some of the places we like to fly to (they just happen to have very good restaurants close by):

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Call the restaurants from the airport
and they will send a car for you at:

Richard's in Casey, IL
Lamberts Cafe in Sikeston, MO
French Lick Springs Hotel in French Lick, IN

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The restaurants are within walking distance at:

Rough River Dam State Resort Park and
Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park in KY.

After lunch you can rent a boat or go for a walk.

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For an afternoon of puddle hopping we enjoy
landing at places like:
Dozier, Godahavit, Marchino Airport,
Piper Landing or Snyder Field.
*Links*

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