Chapter 34

The Hardware was still open ... it had better be ... it was just after 2pm.

I was looking for acetone ... in the paint department ... when Mr Dean ... he owns the Hardware ... asked me what I was looking for.

“Acetone ... or mineral spirits. A glass spray bottle for Dawn dish detergent. Some Dawn to put in the bottle. A new toothbrush or small paintbrush to get at the cosmoline in the cylinder fins. Maybe Q-Tips and cotton swabs. A heat gun to “melt” the cosmoline,” I said.

“Cylinder fins? What are you cleaning ... a lawnmower?” Mr Dean asked.

“Airplane engine.”

I had to explain ... then I had to prove it.

“Well ... come on, then.”

“Where?”

“Across the street ... I’m building the plane in the old theater basement.”

“That’s Ms Flintkote’s shop.”

‘Gawd ... Adults!’ “I’m Tyche Flintkote ... Surprise is my Aunt.”

So ... yup.

“Holy Cow!”

When we entered through the basement passthrough door ... Mr Dean skidded to a stop,

He had looked at the theater as a possible Hardware location years ago ... before he bought the single story building across the street. He Knew what the basement looked like ... then. He wasn’t prepared for the gleaming white and well lit space it had become when Surprise bought it. Hence ... the involuntary exclamation, ‘Holy Cow.’

Then ... and only then ... did he notice the hydraulic engine hoist with the seven cylinder aircraft engine hanging from the hook.

Mr Dean had been an officer and shop foreman during the late unpleasantness in Southeast Asia. His bailiwick was the Reciprocating Engine shop caring for the R-3350-26W 2,800hp Sky Raider (AD-4) flown by US Air Force and Vietnamese pilots ... this engine was a whole new thingamajig ... Smaller, lighter and FAR less complicated than the monster Wright 18 cylinder he was accustomed to. The entire Scarlett was about the size of the CRANKCASE of the WRIGHT ... Crankcase!

After the cow first mentioned he said, “Ain’t that cute.”

Then ... and only then ... did he say, “It’s used.”

“What?”

“Look at the bolt heads,” he said.

Sure enough ... the black anodizing in the Allen Head Socket Bolts bore evidence of removal and replacement.

Scratched!

Scratched, I say! Someone had been Inside MY Scarlett!

“It’ll have to be torn down,” Mr Dean said.

“Torn Down?”

“Yes ... and inspected.”

“Inspected!”

And that took weeks!

Mr Dean INSISTED I attend the tear down and inspection.

I wasn’t flying this summer!

AAARRRGGGHHH!

University and Graduate School conspired against me ... I wouldn’t be flying MY Pitts until I was a legal adult!

NO!!

Trade-a-Plane to the rescue!

And ... of course ... the MIG 29’s ... four of them ... tripped my trigger.

Zoe ... Mom ... Real Mom ... birth Mom ... said No!

So did JW ... daddy.

“What about the 21?” I said, “It’s a two seater.”