Chapter 20

Will met Chuck later that afternoon and handed over the manuals Chuck would need to study for the FAA exam.

There was a book on meteorology that appeared to be a well-used college-level textbook, while an equally-hefty tome dealt with the theory of flight. There was also a paper listing online resources from the FAA that could be downloaded in PDF format. This list included two handbooks, The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge and The Airplane Flying Handbook. So much to learn before he would be ready to take the written exam! There was also the pilot’s manual for the Twin Otter. Will advised Chuck to set that one aside until he had his pilot’s license.

The trailer he shared with Mel gave him a place to study. Mel and Lina worked on the King during the week, and that meant they were in and out of the break room at odd times. They were also prone to interrupt Chuck to ask questions, which ruled out studying in the break room. Chuck set up his computer on the trailer’s fold-out table and tied it in to the new LAN that one of Prin’s engineers had installed. He then laid out a legal-sized tablet and a pair of pencils for taking notes, then added pens and a small sharpener for the pencils. While some notes could be recorded on his computer, there was no real replacement for paper and pencil to sketch out the ideas that would help him understand the concepts in the books.

He soon settled in to his new routine. Chuck studied in the morning, flew in the afternoon, then caught a few hours of sleep before rising and meeting with Will and the engineers, the ones who were building the modifications that would eventually be installed on the Twin Otter. He was chronically short on sleep, but made sure he set aside time to meet Lina before she began work on the King in the late evening.

Mel was very understanding, but even so, opportunities for the two to be alone were limited. It was frustrating, but the heavy work load made the schedule necessary. Occasionally Chuck thought about how nice it would be if he could just take Lina away for a while, but he knew that his grandfather would not understand. The old man worked a schedule that would have exhausted a much younger man; Chuck could not, would not, betray Morty’s trust.

Three weeks later, Chuck and Will flew the Twin Otter to Clovis. Chuck spent the next few days getting a medical exam and the dental exam the doctor recommended. He also took the FAA written exam and passed it easily. By the time he finished, Will had found an instructor and booked time for Chuck to fly a Cessna 172. “The instructor is new to the area,” he said, “only been here about a month. He owns his plane, flies out to the ranches delivering stuff most of the time, but he also does instructing on the side. I talked to him for a few minutes and went up for a short hop. I like the guy, so we’ll see how you do with him. If you don’t think he’s the one you want to learn from, let me know. The instructor pool here is limited, but we could try Albuquerque or El Paso. I expect there are more choices since they’re larger cities, but we’re not returning to the factory until you solo. We can go pretty much anywhere we can find an instructor.”

“If you like him, I’m sure I’ll be okay with him too.” Chuck agreed.

The instructor turned out to be a late-middle-aged man who had flown airplanes all over the world. He’d retired from the US Marine Corps, where he’d been a pilot, then found flying work in Florida. Leaving Florida, he worked as a crop duster in Texas for a time, then moved on to Clovis. He held current certificates all the way up to Air Transport Pilot, but had only worked as a transport pilot for a few months. “Didn’t like it.,” he said. “Too much like driving a bus! I had enough of that kind of thing when I was flying for the Corps, so nowadays I fly where I want to, and if I don’t want to fly, I don’t.”

Chuck, the former marine, found they had a lot in common.

Chuck soloed in the Cessna 172, then spent the next few days gaining experience, working to increase his skills and adding flying hours to his logbook. With the instructor’s endorsement, he took and passed the FAA Private Pilot Practical Test. The results were faxed to the FAA and Chuck received an interim private pilot’s certificate.

While Chuck was busy gaining his certificate, Will was in Dallas updating his own license. While there, he contacted an FAA examiner and sounded him out about certifying an aircraft with non-standard propulsion.

The man was dubious, but interested. “Let me know when you’re ready. I’d fly with you just to see what you’ve come up with! I’m going to want to see it work on the ground first, mind you.” Will promised to send him an email as soon as he was satisfied the plane was airworthy.

Will rejoined Chuck in Clovis and they flew back to the plant, having been absent more than a month. Much had been done while they were away. The King was fully repaired and ready for further testing. The larger, heavier craft had more power than the Bedstead, but at the same time there was more inertia involved so that piloting required more anticipation. Mel had decided to do most of the impeller flight tests in the Bedstead, considering it the safer craft to fly.

Chuck managed to spend an occasional few minutes in the hangar during the following weeks, but he was no longer an integral part of the Bedstead-King team. He resented it briefly, but understood that he could no longer give his complete attention to what they were doing. He did manage to be present for the King’s first extended flight, but Mel was the pilot. The flight turned out to be routine, almost boring, because the improved flight-control system worked flawlessly.

Chuck was also there two days later, when Lina took the King out and flew the course Chuck had originally laid out for the Bedstead. He was waiting somewhat nervously when she returned an hour later, bubbling with excitement. Mel watched, smiling, as the two exchanged a very intense kiss. Chuck finally managed to squeeze in a flight in the King two days later; his other duties made scheduling the time a challenge. The bigger craft required a different set of reflexes, but by the time he’d finished flying the test course, he was comfortable piloting it.

The Twin was also undergoing changes, because Will had insisted on a number of improvements. When he wasn’t teaching Chuck to fly, he worked with the engineers to make sure the changes were what he wanted. Externally, the plane once again appeared to be a stock Twin Otter. The impellers were gone, so far as external appearances went, and the underwing attach points had been faired over. Internally, the former ‘flight engineer’s station’ was also gone, replaced by secondary instrument panels beside the pilot and copilot’s stations. These were smaller and simpler than the version Chuck had used. Chuck ignored them while learning to pilot the Twin Otter. They served no purpose for the time being, but they would be necessary when the impellers and battery packs were reinstalled. The original two-battery capacity would be expanded to four, acceptable now that new batteries were beginning to trickle in.

The new, more powerful impellers would be internally mounted. They would also have considerably more freedom of motion, the swivel mounts no longer being limited to ten degrees, although final numbers were still being worked out. For the moment, only the flat aluminum plates they would attach to were present, riveted to several frame members that had been strengthened to accept the anticipated loads.

Chuck soloed in the Twin Otter a week later, then continued to improve his skills. Will advised him to add as many hours as possible to his flight logbook as soon as time permitted, and together they worked out a cross-country flight plan. “Stay well clear of military installations,” Will advised. “You don’t want to attract attention. Avoid high mountains too, the wind patterns can be tricky. It’s late summer, so expect thunderstorms and regardless of what the weather guessers say, watch the weather carefully. Some of those storms in the plains spawn wall clouds and tornadoes, and it’s no fun trying to fly a plane without wings!”

“I understand. If in doubt, sit it out on the ground.”

“You’ve got it. Go into town, have a good meal, pick up a souvenir for Lina. She’ll miss you, you know.”

“I know. I’ll miss her too.”

Six weeks later, Chuck was finally able to get away. Early one Friday morning, he took off from the factory’s airstrip and headed for Albuquerque. He refueled there, then headed west to California. The Twin Otter had range enough with a maximum fuel load to easily reach an attended airfield. While fuel for the turboprops wasn’t yet common, the airfields he intended to land at had the S10 diesel on hand or could have it trucked out from a nearby city.

He cut his planned flight short, because the Twin Otter was due for a maintenance check. Chuck landed in Clovis eight days later and turned the plane over to the mechanics. More-or-less grounded, he rented a Super Cub and got checked out on that, taking a short hop with an instructor. He landed the Cub late that afternoon at the factory’s airstrip. He had managed to grow a scruffy beard while he was gone. Lina took one look at that and told him to go shave. Chuck was tired, but Lina had been insistent, so he headed for the trailer to shower and shave.

Things had been switched around in his absence. The bunk bed he’d used was folded out of the way and the bed in the main bedroom had been made. The room even smelled different. He briefly considered opening up the bunk bed, but decided that could wait. Dropping his dirty clothing by the shower, he stepped in and sighed blissfully as the hot water relaxed him. Lathering up after the shower, he shaved off the beard, wincing when the razor pulled at the hairs. Hadn’t there been a new blade in the razor when he left?

Well. Longer hairs take more softening before they can be shaved without discomfort. Chuck finished shaving and tossed the razor in the trash. He picked out a comfortable set of khaki shorts and a T-shirt, then bagged up his dirty clothing to take to the hanger. Something else was different, but his tired mind wouldn’t settle on it. He stopped halfway to the hangar building and stood there, thinking.

Where were Mel’s things? He hadn’t kept much in the trailer, preferring to keep most of his clothing in the cabinet in the break room, but hadn’t there been a couple of shirts and a pair of pants in the closet? Had something happened to Mel? Chuck resumed walking.

Mel was there when he entered the hangar, working on the King. He came over and shook Chuck’s hand when he walked in. “Congratulations! Will says you’re a pretty good pilot and you’ll be better when you’ve got a few hundred more hours in your logbook. How was the flight?”

“Long and boring, mostly. I was wondering, aren’t you using the trailer now?”

“Nah, I’m staying here in the hanger. Seemed better that way.” Mel’s eyes crinkled as if he had difficulty not laughing aloud.

“Let me get a cup of coffee and I’ll take a look at what you’ve done with the King.” Chuck walked into the break room and found a cup, mostly clean. The break room too seemed different. Puzzled, he got his coffee and went back to where Mel had resumed work.

The King now had eight impellers. The four battery slots each contained a battery, another change. The new craft was sleek, and boasted folding metal tiedown loops on the rear deck for cargo. The King finally deserved its name; it was, despite the smooth, faired lines, a workhorse. Chuck nodded to himself; finally, it was what they’d intended, a heavy lifter that could be shown to prospective buyers. “Looks good,” he said. “I thought about flying it today, but I’m beat. I’m heading back for the trailer. If Will asks, tell him I’ll talk to him tomorrow. And not to wake me up before noon!”