Chapter 33

Bill’s turn:

The boss is coming. Well, 1.5 bosses. And Dan Richards is among equals, he being one of the three that started 3Sigma, according, as the story goes, to an idea brewed up in the first meeting of Cindy and Tina.

And of course, we DO have a CEO, Anders Solheim, father of Johanna, father-in-law to Stoney Jackson, one of our engineers.

Silly place – other than calling Anders CEO, the place has NO titles among the engineering staff, making me one among equals.

The “0.5” is Cindy, Dan’s wife. Strange creature, she is, and with MY two, Haley and Deena, at my side, my world is populated with strange creatures.

Cindy, though, is like the sphere at the top of a ten-foot tall Tesla coil. When she charges up there’s no telling where the lightning bolts will fall.

Dan got hit with one of them, but she discharges energy into engineering, robotics, and the back story to this visit – flying.

I got my private license. That lets me fly with passengers in the plane, but sadly, the only planes we have in our stable are two-seaters, and one of them’s that old dinosaur of a Stearman. I’m not rated to fly tail-draggers and that old thing definitely drags its ample tail.

Cindy’s coming here to rectify that one hurdle, but I’m still limited to two-seaters.

“We’re looking. You’re looking,” Dan told me. “But don’t jump on something without us talking. You never know what’s gonna come up.”

Coming up was Cindy and Dan flying in, five million dollars of Pilatus now sitting on our ramp, arriving mid-morning.

I questioned the choice of aircraft. Their old Cessna 180 would’ve made the trip for a fraction of the cost – a small fraction, but would’ve taken twice as long.

“Halfway expecting to have to move a crew back from Oklahoma on Saturday,” Dan said.

Minor issue – there wasn’t an argument about who’s staying where. Dan’s still retaining his old home.

“I keep thinking about selling it to my cousin, but he’s not pressing hard and I really like the place.”

“Yeah, until somebody’s house burns down,” I said.

“Yeah, Alan had incentive. I don’t. And since we have THIS field, the place is a bit more convenient.”

“You thinking about moving back?”

“Oh, heavens, no,” he said. “Cindy’s a professor at Auburn. That’s where the robotics lab is. Her sisters – the originals – are there ... her home-built family is there, her MOM is there ... But we will be here more than we used to be.”

Cindy was out with MY wife, thoroughly preflighting the Stearman.

Dan laughed. “She got hers last Friday. Now I’m part of a vanishing breed – guys who’ve flown those things. You will be, too...”

“Oh, yeah, but Little Darlin‘s talking about doing her private test in that one.”

“Can she do that?”

“Oh, you’re married to one like ‘er. She already called the guy. He thought it was hilarious. Said as long as her IFR training hood didn’t fly off...” I laughed. “She and Deena did a chin-strap mount on a 3D printer. Tested it by standing behind the 152 while we ran the engine up.”

Dan shook his head. “Bet you didn’t see any of that coming when you first met ‘er, did you?”

“Nope, mousy little shy thing...”

“Cindy, too. Well, red hair and green eyes. I wandered into a forest and collected a pixie. But the mind? No idea. Thought I’d just be a nice guy helping out a kid who needed it...”

“And seven years later...”

“Yeah. Lord, what have I done...”

“Uh, the other stuff ... slowed down?”

“Not in the least. She quotes Johanna – “Familiarity doesn’t create boredom, it creates virtuosity”. She is right. My poor imagination was so inadequate.”

“That’s the way Haley is...”

We heard that radial engine start outside so we walked out to watch. Cindy’s in the front seat. You solo a Stearman from the rear seat. I don’t think Haley’s world existed past the edges of the runway in front of her. She was wearing the helmet and goggles. So was Cindy, and I could see they were talking.

“Y’know,” Dan said, “that old plane probably carries the most important stuff on the planet.”

“You got that right,” I said. “Haley ain’t smiling, though. She’s concentrating...”

“I know that mode. Shoulda seen Cindy, especially when they dumped that physics PhD offering on ‘er.”

“Haley’s not there yet.”

“Yeah, she is,” Dan said. “Sitting in that Stearman is her aviation PhD.”

“Cindy doesn’t get tired of this?”

“You mean flying? Are you kidding? Shoulda seen ‘er Friday picking up HER Stearman. She kissed everybody in the place and SKIPPED out to crank it up. Put her parachute in the back seat and made me sit in the front seat. Tina came along with us to fly our 180 back.”

“Uh, we don’t have ‘chutes...” I mused. Then “Tina’s tail-dragger qualified?”

“Got everybody signed off. Between Cindy and Wally, we keep everything legal. Cindy’s got the only students you’ll see with hours in a turboprop before they get their private.”

He read my face. A bit of apprehension.

“Don’t fret,” he said. “She’s not gonna do anything on this flight. And I have two certified ‘chutes in the plane.”

“Uh, don’t leave ‘em here...”

“Or, you could get in that thing, fly over to Greg Bertrand’s place and let Hanna give her some fundamental stuff. Cindy did. I did. Won’t hurt. Makes you a better pilot.”

“Now that’s a thought...”

“Call it ‘recovery from unusual attitudes’ and you get the picture ... And Greg or Hanna either one would LOVE to get their hands on that Stearman. Might swap you some hours in their Extra.”

“The girls already know what those things cost,” I sighed. “Don’t make me have to buy one.”

Once they were out of sight we went back inside, looked over a couple of upcoming projects. It’s always a kick to get a drawing package and look at whose initials are at the bottom. Seeing ‘SE’ or ‘NG’ and getting a picture of a young and quite attractive mommy as your project engineer is sort of a leap, but you can bet on the quality of the work.

Manning up these jobs is a big topic.

“Much as I hate it, I’ve gone out a time or two,” Dan said.

“Won’t be my first time, but I hate to leave the girls.”

“Problem?”

“Not between them. They’re amazingly compatible and responsible. Just that...”

“Oh, yeah ... Things get enthusiastic, making up for lost time,” Dan said.

I’m thinking that he’s got just Cindy to take care of. I know my two will play together, but that just seems to prime them up for when I get home.

“THIS!” Haley said, grasping my dick. “I love me some Deena, but THIS...”

“Uh, they make...”

“Not even close, Dad,” Deena added. “This’un’s LIVE.”

Of course I couldn’t relate that little bit of detail to Dan. Officially, Deena’s my daughter, and even if it weren’t for that particular hurdle to sensitivity, she’s barely fifteen now.

Forty-five minutes later we can hear the Stearman returning. They didn’t stop. The BIG difference between tail-dragger and tricycle gear is the landings and take-offs, so there’s thirty minutes of touch and go landings. Practice. Training.

Finally, the pocketa-pocketa of the radial engine taxiing to the apron, then stopping.

We walked out just in time for me to see my Haley doff her helmet and shake her head to mitigate the ‘helmet hair’. Cindy was doing the same thing. They hit the ground and Haley practically ran into my arms.

“How was it?” I asked.

“Tough to land. Tough to taxi. You can actually SPIN if you get lazy in a stall...”

Cindy released Dan. “Lemme have a break, then it’s YOUR turn,” she said.

Almost like a threat.

“Just as well go inside and have a drink of water.”

“Check the fuel level,” Cindy tossed over her shoulder as she and Dan walked to the door.

That’s easy on a Stearman. The fuel level is read from the bead in a tube under the center section of the upper wing. If you grab a wingtip and give the plane enough of a shake to get a little slosh going on inside the fuel tank, the little bead bobs, telling you it’s not stuck. And if the bead and the stalk that hold it break loose, they fall to the bottom of the tube, an ‘empty’ reading. Almost foolproof and about as low-tech as you can get.

Cindy saw me shake the wing, hollered “Cheat!” before going inside.

I went inside. Haley was at Maddie’s desk, prodding her. “Maddie, you GOT to let me take you for a ride in that thing when I get my license.”

“Haley, my dear little sister, I suffered through trips home all through college at the hands of Alan and Tina and Cindy and Dan. I just barely get excited by light aircraft. Now, if you wanna put me on a 737 headed to Honolulu, we’ll talk.”

“You’re just afraid you’ll like it too much,” Haley picked.

“Yes, I need another hobby,” Maddy retorted.

Cindy took a twenty-minute break and then herded me out the door, watched me do a pre-flight inspection of that behemoth of an airplane. It’s huge compared to the Cessna 152 I’ve been training with, basically twice the horsepower, twice the weight. Almost intimidating, except that this pixie was flying it like it was just a part of life as normal.

“Have you been in the cockpit before?” she asked.

“A few times. I do have an imagination...”

“Good boy,” she giggled. “Then adjust the seat and the rudder pedals. Make sure you’re comfortable with the rudder, because you’re gonna give it a workout on takeoff and landing. Taildraggers brook no inattention. You’ll ground-loop if you get complacent.”

And off we went, southeast to the training area. We got to eight thousand feet.

“Kinda high...” I said over the intercom.

“Method to the madness, Bill. Stalls. And spins. And you can get out of a spin in a turn and a half if you’re ready for it, but if you ain’t, you’ll lose a thousand, fifteen hundred feet before you get right. So let’s start. Power-off stall. Make sure your wings are level and you’re not slipping or skidding...”