Greetings Loyal Airmen, well, this year’s Pulp Fest has come and gone. The Air Chief and Chief Engineer were delighted to fly the old Airship 27 back to this show for the first time in four years. And getting to see lots of old friends was the best fun of the entire weekend. Whereas the trip to and from was a modern day travel nightmare we don’t ever want to repeat again. So here’s some pix of the good times.

After Rob’s two day drive on the road from Missouri to Pittsburgh, he arrived in Steel City midday with plenty of time to set our tables at the con and then ride to the airport to pick yours truly up. Southwest got me there only an hour late, which was no big deal. We had a late dinner and then called it a day. The picture above to the right is the Air Chief talking with talented New Pulp writer Joab Steilglitz.

So Friday got things rolling fast and we were thrilled to have writer Wayne Carey and his lovely wife Brenda across the aisle from us. Wayne is one of the most talented writers in the New Pulp field and Brenda is so lively and vivacious. They were also our dinner partners both Friday and Sat evening.

One of the first dear friend to greet us was Kim Turk. The last time we’d seen Kim, was at the first year Pulp Fest was done in Pittsburgh, along with her wonderful husband Scott. Both were familiar faces at this cone and would attend the Air Chief’s panels on New Pulp Writers. Shortly after that show, Scott passed away, a shock to all of us. For obvious reasons, Kim, didn’t return to the show until this past weekend and seeing her smiling and having fun again. Touched our hearts. The two amigos to the right are Frank Schildiner (in black) and Greg Gick. Both veteran Airship 27 writers who, during the weekend, assured us we’ll soon be seeing lots more of their work.

Another face we never see any more at Windy City was Bill Maynard (top left) and as ever he was jovial and fun to talk with. He was also kind enough to let the Air Chief tag along with him Sunday morning to a local Catholic church for mass. Michael Brown (to right with Air Chief) is a long time New Pulp fan and reviewer. He’s reviewed so many of our Airship 27 titles, plus does from Pro Se, White Rocket Books and all the other New Publishers. He’s very good at it. Getting finally to meet him in person was a pleasure.

More old friend included John Bruening (top left standing) and Jim Beard (seated) of Flinch Book. Both are great pals and terrific writers. Top left almost needs no introduction as he’s a well respected historian of pulps and damn fine writer, Mr. Will Murray. Will and the Air Chief have known each other for ages.

Another familiar face was Mr. Bob Deis, expert on MAMs (Men’s Adventure Mags) whose blog Mens Pulp Mags is extremely popular (at top left) and his publishing partner for # new texture books, Mr. Wyatt Doyle. To right is the latest paperback cover painting Bob acquired at the show from the artist’s widow was there lots of great pieces.

Of course the second the Air Chief stopped by, Bob had Wyatt snapped a pix of us together, wherein Bob tells everyone he’s saluting the Captain. Chuckle. To the right is another super talented duo. On the right is none other than Fred Adams Jr., one of Airship 27’s most popular and prolific writes. Fred has so many great novels and short stories, we can’t remember them all. Whereas he showed up at the show not only to see us again, but to introduce to his pal, Jo speh Ferret, a fellow musician and song writer (at left). He and Fred co-creator a little horror community cable program called Terror Night Theater where they play host to old, black and white horror movies. What with Fred’s constant lecturing him about Airship 27, Joe is looking at contributing stories to us. We can’t wait to see what he submits.

Finally we’re going to wrap up this section with the wonderful news that not only was our deal amigo Rick Lai at the show, from which he’d been absent for a long while due to a progressive health condition, but on Saturday the Pulp Fest committee awarded Rick with the Munsey Award for his Lifelong Contributions to Pulp Fandom. Shortly thereafter, as Rick entered the hotel lobby holding on to his walker which he now requires, pulp attendees rose to his feet and gave him a long, boisterous standing ovation. It was a scene we will never forget. And another reason why we love this amazing community.

Okay, then came nightmarish trip home. The only direct flight back to Denver from Pittsburgh Valerie could book for us was one leaving at 8 p.m. on Sunday night. Whereas Rob had a long two day drive back to his home in Missouri, we told him to drop us off at the Pittsburgh airport and go on his way. That was 2 p.m. We’d have six hours to wait. No problem to us, as we had several books in our pack. Time went by then around 6 p.m. the board announced the flight had been delayed by a half hour. No problem we thought. Along about 7 p.m. they announced another delay. So we wouldn’t be leaving till 9 p.m. Again no sweat, we thought. Then at 7:30 p.m with 188 passengers waiting, Southwest CANCELED the flight. The place erupted, as totally angry people rushed to the counter demanding what would happen next? And were told the airline would do its best to get them out at the next available flight to Denver. Which just happened to be TWO FULL DAYS LATER ON TUES MORNING.

The Air Chief left the area, found a quite spot and called home. Valerie had seen the cancellation on-line and we both knew the Air Chief was stuck. We suppose we could have left the airport, found a taxi and gone to a nearby hotel, but we were not inclined to do so. We decided to spent an all-nighter at the airport. Meanwhile Val, and our daughter-in-law Nicole, were scrambling on their PCs to find me a way out of Pittsburgh. They called me an hour later having booked me on a Delta flight leaving at 7 a.m. the next morning for Minneapolis with a three hour layover and then a connecting flight to Denver. Thank heaven. The night in the empty terminal was long, difficult, but we survived. Thank you Lord. The next morning, tired and achy, we happily boarded that Delta flight and started our journey west. We got into Denver at 2 p.m. where Nicole and Val were awaiting me. The Air Chief was home by 3 p.m. Immediately took a long hot shower and took it easy. At 75, these little adventures have lost their luster. Am starting to look at Amtrack a lot more closer in the future.

BEYOND THE STARS # 1 & 2

The really good news after that awful night was finally getting home Monday afternoon to see my copies from the Silverline Comics Kickstarter had arrived in the mail. In which was Beyond the Stars # 1. It is always a rush to hold one’s completed comic. Artist Andrea Bormida and penciler Mike Belcher did such beautiful work. The Air Chief will have copies at our next two con appearances. The Fort Collins Con at the end of this month and the Rocky Mountain Con in early Nov. Oh yeah.

Meanwhile Andrea continues to work on issue # 2 and finished his roughs and inks for page # 10 seen above. Going to certainly be another wonderful issue.

DRACULA UNFANGED

Finally, “Dracula Unfanged” is here. Envisioned and devised by Christopher Sequeira with a short story by yours truly and many other great writers. Now available at Amazon. If you love vampire tales, you don’t want to miss this one.

Phew, and there you have our Flight Log for this week, Loyal Airmen.  As if it wasn’t enough. Chuckle. Things never slow down here at Hangar 27. As ever thanks always for stopping by and your support. God bless and see you next Friday.

Ron – Over & Out!