Lock Haven Pennsylvania is the birthplace of all the old Piper airplanes, from the once ubiquitous yellow Cubs through the Tri- Pacers of the mid fifties and into the sixties. In succeeding years, after switching from fabric covered airplanes to all- aluminum planes, Piper moved its factory to Vero Beach Fla.

For years now, there has been a Sentimental Journey made by owners of the old Piper airplanes, returning for some part of a week- long gathering each summer. There is much of the ambience of an old car show, with row after row of classic planes parked for display or casual viewing. People who fly in look around to see what others have done to modify or maintain their planes, and to sort of check and see how their planes match up against the other planes that are there.

There are pilots and non- pilots who drive in for various reasons, ranging from idle curiosity to a serious look for planes or people they once knew, or to shop at the flea market. It is quite a crowd, with plenty to see, do, and eat. With camping areas right on the airport, the activity stretches through the evening hours as well. Last Saturday, just as I was leaving, a country band was starting up. I was hot, tired, and a bit sun- scorched, and an evening of cold beer, live music, and new friends was a tempting thought.

My airplane isn't a Piper, but so weren't a lot of others. There was the whole range of vintage planes there, and Sentimental Journey is as much a tailwheel gathering as a it is a Piper gathering. I had always wanted to attend, and this year I was encouraged by a flurry of E-mails among the members of our own Commonwealth network. The plan was to have a little gathering of our own.

In the end, only one other Commonwealth flew in, and I missed him by a few hours. I knew he was leaving mid Saturday, but my plan was to arrive before breakfast. Friday evening I flew my plane from Dundee to Elmira so that I could quickly jump from my "work" airplane directly into my "fun" airplane on Saturday Morning. With any luck I could be on my way before seven and arrive not much after eight; plenty of time to visit, eat, and enjoy. Visions of an idyll summer day spent among airplanes danced through my head.

The Friday flight to Elmira started with a dead battery and ended with a flat tailwheel, and in between the control tower guy grumbled at me about what a lousy radio I have. It was an inauspicious start, yet only a hint of things to come. When I arrived at Newark, I checked the new forecast for Elmira, and saw that a short period of fog had been added to it for the early morning. Valley fog is not unusual for Elmira on days that will be sunny and bright, and recently it has been forecast much more often than it has actually occurred.

Saturday morning's forecast as right in regards to the fog, but wrong about how long it would last. I came back as far as Ithaca, and waited on the ground there for three hours before Elmira had enough visibility to make an instrument approach. It was after noon before I got the tailwheel fixed, rearranged my radios, and got on my way. I had considered caving in to all the misfortune, but instead turned the frown upside down. In a rare show of optimism, I rationalized that going to Lock Haven made even more sense now than before, because I would be able to buy a new tailwheel tube at the flea market. I would reward my perseverance with an extra sausage with peppers and onions.

At first, my arrival was like a homecoming. I called my position in the traffic pattern, and a familiar voice called "Hi Bob" in reply. Just after I parked, I heard a plane taxi past tooting a bicycle horn; That was one of the fellows in our local lunch group. Things were going great until I saw that the tailwheel was flat again, and then discovered that there were no tubes to be had in the flea market. I had only a short time to stay, and it turned out that almost all of it was spent fixing the tailwheel.

Staying close to the airplane made me easy to find though, and I was met by one of the E-mail correspondents, a fellow who knew and flew my airplane in the early 60s, during its first life. He gave me details of how it was damaged and taken home for repairs which languished for 20 years, until the mid 1980s. We had a good visit talking about our planes. Fifty years ago, he built a new Commonwealth from inventory parts that were auctioned after the factory was closed in late 1946.

So yes, I had fun. I made a lazy flight to Lock Haven, following the railbeds all the way from Elmira, through Pennsylvania's grand Canyon, and turning right when I reached the Susquehanna. I was able to appreciate the excitement and camaraderie of Sentimental Journey... but I sure had to work for it.