Flying

Saturday morning I was walking Rufus (BOO) and something hit me.... THE WEATHER WAS FANTASTIC!!! Clear blue, cloudless skies. Nice mild temps and virtually no wind. My first thought was I SHOULD GO FLYING SOMEWHERE!!! I remembered there was a massive high over the Great Lakes that would provide good weather almost everywhere I could fly to. Maybe I could visit Jim, WB8AZP in Michigan? Be nice to goto Oshkosh and work on the AirVenture preparations ... NAW JUST STAY HOME... Breakfast at the grill and you need to recover stuff from Sue's hard drive (that you'd been putting off for a week)...

So after returning from breakfast I got dug-in downstairs in the basement. Sue told me there was a message on the phone for me. Chuck Hoisington from EAA chapter 9 in Columbus called looking for help. The chapter was having a Young Eagles Rally at Madison County airport. They had 40 kids and 2 planes. He was looking for planes and must have pretty desperate since I had only flew with them once and only one load of kids. So I took BOO for a walk then called him back... it was 12:30 just after lunch... I told him I probably couldn't get there till 2pm... He said there will probably still be kids there. So I told him I'd head out.

I guess I need a crisis any more to do the things I usta just LOVE to do... Everything fell in place... Plane started right up and I go to Madison County by 2:30pm. Took a little longer than I thought 1 hour and 2 tenths. I flew two loads, 6 kids total. AND IT WAS GREAT. Girls are the best because they are not afraid to express themselves. The younger ones just won't shut up... which is good cause when they stop talking they're probably gonna get sick. They were sisters and it hit me hard that their parents would let all their kids go with me, a stranger, flying.... Almost enough to make me chicken out. But I sucked it up and we had a great flight. The next bunch were 3 brothers... WE'RE COOL... Guys just don't talk and that sucks. The younger boys were in the back and a few times I had to ask on the intercom if they were still there. But after takeoff they all loosen up a bit. One from both groups asked "Will the landing be hard"? "Hope so"!
Gotta keep them guessing. After we landed one of the youngsters in the back said "This is the best day of my life" and his quiet older brother who rode up front with me, a real quiet kid, told his parents he wanted to come the next time for a ride. So that's all the thanks I need. Just to know you did something special for someone.

It was GREAT flying on Saturday... Wish I could do more... Gas cost almost 200 bucks.

73's
Mike, WB8CXO