Indy 500

I scored a once in a lifetime invitation to the Indy 500 through the main sponsor, NTT, with whom I helped as a guest speaker for an event they had. I flew up there in bubbles and landed at Greenwood (KHFY) with my recently minted pilot buddy Justin doing most of the flying. We filed IFR because there were some clouds, but as always since I got my instrument rating the weather was perfectly fine for a VFR arrival. I shouldnt complain, but it would be nice to do some actual IMC approaches on some of these trips :)  They put me and +1 up in a hotel and we got to meet and greets with drivers, tour venues like the NCAA hall of fame, and the Eiteljorg museum, and were wined and dined. We even bumped into some folks at the bar who after we got to chatting just so happened to be a pilot and crew for the Thunderbirds, who were doing a fly-by for the race day! We had a great time chatting with them.

On race day we got ushered to the Pagoda Suite with stunning views of the start/finish line and plenty of amenities. We had pit passes and even a special race mode badge, which let us be down in the pits during the race! We had royalty access and it was absolutely incredible. 

While at dinner with some of the other guests, a newly made friend at our table discovered he needed to return back home to Pittsburg area sooner than expected and he was going to have to drive 5.5 hours from Indianapolis. We offered to drop him off as it was a 90 minute flight for us and he was floored and really excited about it. We decided to go into Pittsburg International (KPIT), which was one of the bigger airports I have tried and they were extremely accommodating and it wasnt difficult at all. We set off for home after a racing weekend that I will likely never top. 

 

 

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