I love to fly

[Willja67]

As the title say I love to fly and in March or April of this year I decided to puts some words down about it and this is what I came up with:

Escape.

The sun hasn’t yet come over the mountains but it’s light enough to see. The air is fresh and there is a slight breeze. The grey sky is tinged with pink that slowly changes to gold as the light chases the last vestiges of night away. There she sits in front of me a silent white bird tied to the ground. I walk up to her and undo her tethers lovingly running my hands over the smooth surfaces of her wings, looking for any sign that she has been abused and finding none climb aboard and pull the canopy down over my head shutting out the fresh air and for a moment I miss it but soon the tasks of bringing this sleeping bird to life consume me and then the peaceful morning stillness is shattered as she coughs a couple of times then comes fully awake.

As I ease her out of her resting spot I can tell that she is not in her natural element. The ground is not where she belongs and she makes it known by the clumsy manner in which she moves so I guide her with care towards the gateway to the realm where she can finally be free. Before we can pass that thresh hold however more checks must be made to make sure she is truly ready to enjoy that freedom. Having performed those necessary chores I guide her through the gate and line her up on the long stretch of pavement called a runway.

The world has become very narrow all of a sudden. Nothing seems to exist beyond the edges of the pavement, almost as if there are walls blocking the rest of creation from view. Looking down the runway it almost seems that there is nothing there. Just a vague unknown that we will soon be hurtling towards. There is a moment of hesitation and anticipation, then I push the throttle forward and hear the roar of the engine and feel her leap forward. The controls that had been limp until now stiffen and come to life in my hand. As air begins to flow faster over her wings it grants them strength and she senses that her shackles are being released and tries to throw them off, but it’s not time yet. She wants to wander from side to side searching it seems for the way to be free of this prison but I keep her straight biding the time until she’s ready. All the while the end of the runway which had seemed so distant is now fast approaching and the realization that something must happen soon becomes more and more apparent. When the time is right I slowly ease back on the stick and she raises her nose slightly, and then it happens. The shackles have been severed, a great weight has fallen away and we can actually see it falling away below us. At the same instant the world that had ceased to exist beyond the runway now suddenly unfolds before us and we realize though we have little time to think about it how limited our vision has been. A grand vista opens before us that only gets larger as we climb.

I twitch the stick back and forth slightly and feel her respond by rocking her wings and I know that she will take me where ever I desire. Mountains that once seemed so daunting fall beneath us as we soar onward. The cares of the world no longer concern us and we enjoy the solitude and freedom that for many thousands of years were denied to man.

It’s imperceptible at first but the farther we fly and the closer to our destination we come we feel the weight of the shackles we thought we had left behind reaching for us pulling us down again. Soon another runway comes into view gradually increasing in size until it like the one we left behind becomes our whole world. The walls spring up from the sides as we come lower and lower closer and closer. I do my best to ease us back into her shackles as gently as possible. But no matter how gently I do it and I have done it with extraordinary tenderness there is a always a screech almost like a cry of pain as the tires once again are reunited with terra firma and the shackles once more firmly secured.

It’s with a heavy heart that I guide us through the portal that will take us where we no longer have the option of removing the shackles that we were free of so briefly. Even though we are once more firmly bound to earth there is still some defiance left in me and I prolong the moment when I will have to part from my companion on this journey who so graciously gave me the keys that allowed me even though briefly to escape the prison which held me. Finally I can prolong it no longer and I shut off the fuel essentially strangling her and she falls silent. I climb out and once more tie her tethers. I can’t help looking back as I walk away hoping that we will be able to share another adventure some day for not one is ever the same.

[GreMir]

Will,
You not only love to fly, but you also have pretty good hand at writing about it.
I do not fly myslef, but I bought a ride on New Standard D-25 at Fantasy of Flight and eventhough it supposed to be only 15 minutes, we were in the air for 45 :D
Open cockpit, wind in your face leaving only hand gestures as means of communications and some very basic aerobatics we did (after few minutes of steady and level I gestured to the pilot for some action and he was happy to comply :D) showed me what I always new deep inside - there is magic in being able to leave the mud and soar free............

[Willja67]

Oh how I envy your experience. My dad has a friend with a small aerobatic plane and he took me up when I was about 12 for a ride and we did some loops stalls and spins and that was awesome! But I haven't yet flown in an open cockpit plane but I have the plans to build a small one so hopefully someday...

[contourcreative]

Nice bit of writing there Will...better than your average thread...:-)

[Don Boose]

Classic aviation writing, Will.

I soloed in 1959 in a classic yellow Piper J-3 Cub and got in about eight hours of solo time, but never continued with lessons. I was an aerial observer in Korea in 1963 and put in a lot of passenger time in Hueys over Vietnam 1966-67, and Korea 1975-78 and 84-87, and Japan 1987-90. My Japanese counterpart knew that I liked to fly and arranged for lots of flights in various JASDF aircraft. In the early 90s, one of my fellow Army War College faculty instructors and co-author of my first book had a Cessna 150 painted in pre-war AAC blue and yellow colors and I logged a lot of time flying with him. But I often regret that I did not continue on with flying lessons and become a pilot. I envy those of you who fly -- and those who can describe the experience with the precision, clarity, and grace of your short essay.

Don

[Willja67]

Well Don I also envy your experience. I have a feeling that despite the fact that I am qualified to operate an aircraft that my experience will never quite equal yours in scope. Your seervice to our country is enviable.

But if I may suggest the FAA just came out with a new rating that you may have heard of that opens the door for a lot of people who couldn't get into a cockpit before. It's called the Light Sport category. Whereas Private requires 40 hrs minimum and a medical certificate Light Sport only requires 20 hrs and no medical. If you have a drivers license you are considered healthy enough to fly. Obviously there are more limitations but if you love flying as much as you say I would look into it. It also has the advantage the airplanes are smaller and cheaper and the government has yet to regulate Light Sport Aircraft production. I strongly suspect that will not remain so for very long considering some of the things I have read and the governments inability to keep it's hands out of anything that gives people more freedom. Point is if you're going to do it you had better do it soon before the price shoots way up.

[Don Boose]

Thanks, Will. I appreciate that info and will give it some serious thought. Meanwhile, anytime you'de like to do some more aviation writing, I'm sure you have an eager audience in this Forum.

Incidentally, my best cadged flight was one trap and one cat in a US-3 aboard the Carl Vinson (CVN 70) in the Sea of Japan in 1990. I got to fly in the right seat on the way out to "the boat" and was right behind the pilot snapping photos as we made the break and snagged the wire. I have photos someplace.

Don

[Willja67]

Of the small percentage of the population that are pilots or have ever even soloed a plane even fewer can say they've experinced a trap and cat shot. I might almost be tempted to give up my pilots license for that opportunity. Almost

[willygoat]

Great writing Will. I felt as though I was sitting in the right seat with you. I too love to fly, but never have had the time or $ to get the card saying I can do it whenever I want. I have a few friends that fly, and I get up with them every so often. Mostly in Cessna 172/182 stuff. Those are fun though. Looks like you've got yourself a very nice little plane. I'm guessing a Cirrus or maybe a Diamond? Looks like it anyway.

[Willja67]

It was a rental but you are right it is a diamondstar. So far it's my favorite airplane that I've actually flown. It has a stick instead of a yoke and the view out of that canopy is incredible. It's almost peripheral to peripheral. And it has a G-1000 in it (glass cockpit) so you feel kind of like a fighter pilot. I wish I could afford a real airplane.