Chapter 50: Buying An Airport. Selling An Orgy

Mark

If Elsa and Cindy were going to fly, I wanted them in the safest planes with the best training possible. I had their instructors checked out several different ways, and they received exceptionally high ratings as instructors who imparted an attitude of safety to their students. Both men had been military pilots and so had several thousand hours of flight time.

The planes and the flight school were another story. An absentee manager who showed up once a month to audit the books owned the airport, hangars, maintenance shed, and planes. He kept a steady pressure on everyone not to spend money, and I surmised that apparently meant that some maintenance got deferred.

To put matters to rest and ease my concerns, a new shell corporation of Worthington Industries clandestinely bought the Air Ranch Airport and Flight School, including all assets that included the land, hangars, buildings, maintenance facility, and ten aircraft. The absentee owner made a killing, but I got control of the situation.

My first action was to make Scott and Wes co-managers of the facility, including maintenance. I had them hire two new full-time A&P mechanics, and the edict was to bring every plane up to peak operating performance, with safety the primary concern. I also asked that they start with the Cessna trainers since there were going up everyday with student pilots in them – including Elsa and Cindy.

I hired a local marketing company in the name of Air Ranch, Inc., with instructions to work with Wes and Scott to beef up the advertising for the flight school and charter flights that used some of the larger aircraft. I also found out that Wes and Scott were ecstatic about the changes, and working five times harder than they ever did to make things a huge success for the secret investor who was different from the last one in that he cared about safety, growth, and morale. Everyone got a long-overdue raise. I’d asked for weekly progress reports from the airport managers, and daily reports of any significant problems. I wanted to know not only the financials, but also what was happening to the planes and other airport activities.

I used the marketing company as my bridge to Wes and Scott. Through them I suggested they buy some new aircraft to use in flight training, and gave them a budget for the purchases of five million dollars. Several almost new Cessna 172s soon graced the flight line. I was told by my chief pilot John that they did very well in their purchases.

One day, a construction crew rolled onto the scene at the airport. The men stripped out the moldy interior of the offices, shop, and waiting areas in the Air Ranch buildings, and by week’s end, had refurbished the interior into modern, well-lit areas and added both landside and airside porticos that oozed welcome and success to prospective customers. The following week things were painted, inside and out, and flashy new signage added, including a large LED sign out by the highway touting what fun it is to learn to fly. A week after that an asphalt crew showed up to make both auto and aircraft parking areas look well cared for.

I received a report at the two-month mark that business at the airport had doubled. Wes and Scott wanted to hire two more flight instructors. Approval came down to them, provided only candidates with the highest qualifications were added. Safety was the primary concern above all else. I kept beating that drum.

Separately, I suggested to Elsa and Cindy that they take a week off work and do a concentrated program of study and flying to complete their private pilot’s license and to put them through part of the training they needed for their commercial and instrument ratings.

Thus, just after all the facility improvements had been made and time booked with Wes and Scott, two of my girls reported everyday to Air Ranch for all day flight training and ground school. They were making good headway, and on Thursday of that week they each passed the flight test for the private pilot’s certificate. They could carry passengers for the first time.

As a congratulatory present for the two of them and since they could fly with each other for the first time as each other’s passengers since they were officially signed off, Wes and Scott led them to a large hangar and opened the large mechanical doors. There waiting for them was a Cessna 210 with a big red bow wrapped around the nose cowling and a huge tag that read ‘Congratulations Elsa and Cindy’.

I happened to be standing beside the plane as the hangar doors opened with a smile and two keys – one for each girl. Elsa and Cindy were all over me. Scott and Wes went over the plane again, very carefully, even though they’d had their maintenance facility go over every inch of it even though it was a new aircraft fresh off the factory floor in Kansas. The girls probed every detail of the plane too, particularly its instrumentation. It held six passengers, some luggage, and was loaded with state of the art instrumentation and had retractable gear. I’d also ordered the available larger engine for it, so it topped out at over three hundred horsepower. I never asked Sheila what it cost.

Cindy and Elsa hurled themselves into my arms with kisses and hugs that made all of us blush. I’m sure the guys wished they were the recipients of such affection. After that, the girls spent the rest of the day getting qualified and signed off in the new high performance plane.

Of course, there was one further improvement area I had being completed for the girls at that very moment. It had started on Monday when we were all staying at the city condo, so was finished by the time they got their certificates. Having been in the city, the girls hadn’t seen it. Wes and Scott had been let in on the secret so they could be sure the girls could handle what I’d done.

What had been the three-thousand foot grass strip at the farm had become a wider paved six-thousand foot long runway. Further, FAA-approved runway side lighting had been added to make it acceptable for night use in visual meteorological conditions. Lights had also been added to the grass helicopter pad adjacent to the runway.

After the requisite training to be signed off on the Cessna 210, Wes had Cindy, who was flying at the time, head for a particular set of GPS coordinates. As she got closer, she said, “Hey, our farm where we’re going to build a home is out this way. This is Dillionville, right?”

Wes confirmed, “This is Dillionville. See anything you like?” He nodded in the direction of The Farm.

Cindy yelled into the backseat where I sat, “OH GOD, SIS, LOOK OUR RUNWAY IS PAVED. IT’S SO BIG.” Of course, she’d also yelled into the microphone for the noise-cancelling headset we all wore and her voice broadcast over the plane’s intercom in a loud way; Wes and I had to rub the pain in our ears away after she realized her goof and apologized.

I’d left Air Ranch Airport and driven straight out to the farm. I was on the ground watching by the time the Cessna circled overhead for a turn before setting up for the downwind leg of her first landing on the new runway. Lucas and I passed the binoculars back and forth as we watched the small plane start its approach.

Lucas said to me, “You’re now on their good side for the rest of their lives.”

I smirked, “I think I was before, but I know this is special for them.”

I heard the squeak as the two tires of the main gear touched down nearly on the numbers. The plane came to a gentle stop not even using half the runway length and taxied back to where I stood next to the limousine and a nearby war wagon. Several other security men were also close at hand. Cindy cut the engine power, and it shuddered to a stop.

The girls were out of the plane and back in my arms again with more kisses and hugs. Lucas even got in the act, as did Wes because he kept the secret about the plane and runway.

When the girls calmed down, Wes talked about what had been done to improve the runway, and how to make the new FAA-approved lights come on when we were flying in the area by clicking the microphone five times on a certain frequency. He also talked further about using our new airport given the overlying airspace dedicated to flights using city airport.

As we were standing around talking, Wes turned to me and asked in a knowing tone, “You’re our owner, aren’t you? You own Air Ranch and not just the new airplane, right?” I had to give him points for figuring out and voicing what might have become obvious.

I smiled. “Yes. I think it turned out well. I had some excellent help making it come together. I hope you and Scott are happy with it.”

“Oh, we are way beyond happy,” he crooned.

“It is a business. You’ll have to make it profitable now. You’ll find a new profit-sharing deal for you and Scott when you finish the girls’ commercial-instrument ratings. I think you’ll like what I’m thinking about. My mantra through all of this is ‘Safety First.’ I love my girls and want them to be the best of the best when it comes to coping with any situation.”

The girls came back from the plane. Elsa enthusiastically asked, “What now?” She gestured around the runway, plane, and general area.

I gestured to an open area on the other side of the runway. “Well, a hangar for your plane will go over there. It’ll be large enough to hold the Citation too, and if parked carefully maybe even a third plane. If the weather is right, John tells me the small jet can use the runway as well as your smaller craft.”

Cindy asked quickly, “Will we be able to fly the Citation sometime?”

Wes answered, “If you get checked out in it. Jets are a completely different breed of aircraft. You will have to go to school for those. We’re not equipped to train in those.”

I just shrugged. “Talk to John about it.” John was my chief pilot. He’d become very interested in the operations at Air Ranch Airport, so I suspected that Wes and Scott were going to get to know the older man very well. John had just been waiting for a go-ahead so he could start to play in that sandbox along with Wes and Scott.

Elsa

“Hi Troy, this is Elsa. I hope you and Dan remember my sister Cindy and me from a couple of months ago.”

“You’re not pregnant are you?” he retorted with a tone of both worry and humor in his voice.

“Well, actually, ... no.” I thought I might have worried him for two seconds. I did hear a little catch in his breathing when I hesitated.

We chatted a little about what we’d been up to. I didn’t mention becoming a pilot right then, but did talk about helping design a huge house a few miles outside the city – a work still in process.

I finally got down to business. “First off, I need to ask you a personal question; are you married?”

“Errr, yes. You don’t sound like the type of person to make trouble though, I hope.” The worry was evident in his voice.

“Oh, I’m not. I wanted to invite you and your partner or wife to a party the last Saturday of the month here in the city.”

“That sounds intriguing. Tell me more.”

“Well, it’s a special kind of party with a lot of our friends – maybe about thirty people. We’re going to ask Dan and his wife too. The thing you need to know is that it’ll get kind of sexy ... like real sexy.”

After a silence, Troy said, “You mean this is kind of an orgy? You and your sister talked about some sex party the night we were together.”

I teased, “Precisely, that’s the word I was struggling for - orgy. Your wife can just watch, but we’d really hope you’d all participate. It’s a safe group. No one is into anything really kinky, if you don’t count having sex with others as kinky. Some of the women play together, but mostly it’s boy-girl coupling. Some people know each other well, others don’t; so you won’t be out of place not knowing everyone. Besides you’ll know Dan and his wife and the two of us.”

Troy shared, “His wife’s name is Sandy. They were high school sweethearts.”

“Did you tell your honey that you met Cindy and me?”

“Honestly, no. I ... I’m not sure how to do that.”

“You could show her our videos. They’re really hot. We play them all the time here with the people I live with.”

“Who’s that include?”

“Well, there’s Cindy of course, Melanie, Sheila, and KC, the rest of the girls, and then our main guy, Mark and some of our other guy friends. You saw most of them the night you asked us to dance at that dance club. We were with them at the time.”

“Mark?”

“Yeah. The party is in his condominium where we all live together. It’s in the penthouse of the Worthington Towers.”

“I thought that was where Mark Worthington lived ... wait...”

“Yep, same Mark.”

“Like the billionaire?”

“Yep.”

“And he and you all enjoy sex with other people, I take it – like swingers?”

“We do, but please don’t spread that around. In fact, we’ll ask that you all sign NDAs about what you learn about us. You can say you came to our party, that you met Mark, but not who else was there or what went on. We want to preserve our privacy and not become the object of some scandal.”

Troy was quiet for a long time. “Send me our video. I’ll have to think about how to do this with Janet. Send me Dan’s too. I’ve got a huge hurdle to get Janet to agree to something like this. Left to her own devices, I think she’d become a nun.”

I added, “You’ll be staying with us overnight. Come up Friday, meet everyone, help us decorate and prepare, party Saturday into Sunday, and then you can go home Monday morning. You’ll have your own bedroom with ensuite – it’s very nice; like a five star hotel room, only the room service often involves sex in the nicest of ways.