Chapter 35

My body alarm went off telling me it was time to get up. I sat up and turned off the alarm, leaned over, and kissed Bobby. She moaned, asking me to give her another fifteen minutes, so I slipped on my peg, a pair of shorts, and a T-shirt and went outside to relax before my day.

Before I even began my stance, Wanda was with me, followed by Marie and Jan. As we all began, Bobby came out, followed shortly by Angie who just stood looking at what we were doing. As we continued, she took a position near Wanda and watched her, trying to follow what she was doing. It took me almost twenty minutes to find the peace I was looking for and stopped to complete my session. Wanda had already stopped and the others followed me, completing their movements.

As we headed inside, Angie asked, "Do you do that every day? It's kind of like stretching, isn't it?"

Inside the cage, clothes went flying and we all jumped into the pool, swam hard for ten minutes, before winding ourselves and climbing out. Again Angie said, "You guys exercise a lot. No wonder you're all in such good shape. If I stay out here, I'll be full of muscles."

Jan said, "And you'll look really good with them too, Angie. You will feel great, as well."

Marie offered, "I'm taking a martial arts class on Monday evenings. Why don't you come with me? You'll enjoy forming all that much more after you begin learning other arts."

"I guess I could afford that now that I'm making decent money. My life has changed so much these last few months. I really need to go back to school in the evening, too. I guess I'll be as busy as you guys."

Marie added, "We'll go together. I'm taking classes again next semester."

We had a quick breakfast and all prepared to leave. I put on khakis and a shirt, with loafers on both my good foot and the fake one. After gathering a bunch of the calzones and some bottles of water in a large lunch box cooler with some frozen plastic ice packs, I headed out to the park.

John was waiting for me when I drove up. "I thought you weren't going with me?"

"I'm not. I'm just going to ride up with you and then one of your legs is going to be back here to drop me off. I might beat you up a little during your orals, but we'll see."

I did the preflight after putting my logbook and lunch box in the plane. Inside the plane, while John was buckling up, I went through the checklist right down to hollering "Clear," then started the engine. I was soon out of there and in minutes entering the pattern for Brooksville. The little airfield can be fairly busy as they have an Air National Guard unit there, as well as some commuter traffic. There are also a lot of private aircraft tied down and housed there.

The tower, and there really was a tower, directed me to park by the terminal building in slot number six. After shutting down, I chocked the wheels, and since I didn't know how long I would be on the ground, I brought out the tie down straps to keep the plane in place in case the wind picked up.

John told me to update the plane's log before going in and to bring it with me, along with my own logbook.

Within the FAA office inside the terminal, I met Stewart Hamel. He was a small, wiry guy, complete with bald head and glasses. I had to smile when he came around the desk to shake hands, Stewart had a fake leg too.

John said, "I thought a guy like Stew would be the perfect examiner for you, Chuck. You both have similar backgrounds, except Stew's was in Viet Nam."

After the pleasantries, Stewart asked me if I was ready to start.

He handed me a small binder saying, "There is blank paper in this for the calculations that you will do in a while. First let John and me fire some questions at you. If you need to calculate any of them, use the binder."

The two began asking question after question having to do with flying. John was hitting me with all the questions that I always had trouble with, but I fooled him as I had specifically studied them last night.

Stewart said, "Here's our itinerary and we will be carrying the three of us with another hundred and fifty pounds of freight to Daytona. Work up weight and fuel and fill in your planning worksheet. John and I will go for some coffee. We'll bring you back a cup."

"Hey, before you go, I need your weight, I know John's but not yours."

He gave me his weight and smiled, "You just got a point. Most people forget to ask me and either just estimate or wait till I get back. See you in a few minutes."

Doing the calculations was pretty easy. The itinerary listed that we would be doing some maneuvers when we were down near Sarasota, so I figured on my dead stick landing and banking in that area. At least there were lots of open fields around there to land in. Of course there were a lot of swamps in that area as well.

Checking the weather was some concern, as it was already nearing ninety, and with three of us plus an extra hundred and fifty pounds, it was going to take a lot of runway to get off the ground. I had never taken off with a heavy airplane, so this would be interesting.

When they came back, Stewart gave me my coffee before checking over my worksheet and looked in the binder at the calculations. He asked me if I had any questions.

"We might have a density altitude problem. According to the logbook specs, we should be okay, but we are going to be heavier than normal."

Stewart said, "I see you did the runway calculations, that's good. Not many new pilots will do that. What made you think about it?"

"I plan on flying a passenger that's about three hundred and fifty pounds. She's like two people, so I have to take that in consideration when we go up."

"Ah, good thinking."

John said, "You should meet this lady. She's almost seven foot tall and gorgeous. She's just really big, all over, and I mean all over, really well proportioned. Chuck says she has four sisters that are almost the same size and her mother is as tall and large as his lady is."

"I guess you won't be flying the whole family anywhere unless you get a 747," Stewart joked.

It was getting toward lunch time, so I went out to the plane and brought in the six calzones. I asked if they had a microwave so we could warm them up a little and was shown to the break room area. As we savored calzones with some Coke, John was telling Stewart that I had a lot of my hours in a 206.

Ding! I remembered the auction so I asked Stewart if I could use his PC a minute. I kind of held my breath, as I was afraid someone would have bid up the plane until they bid over my maximum.

When I clicked on the airplane bid award, son of a gun, I now owned a 206. I was grinning so big Stewart asked what the deal was. I explained that I had bid on an airplane and had won it at a great price.

"So what did you buy a 172 or something like that?"

"No Sir, I just bought a 206 in decent condition. It only needs an annual, some rubber, and some interior carpet."

Stewart asked, "Why the carpet?"

I had to explain the bloodstains and such. "Oh, and it has some bullet holes to patch, but no internal damage."

John said, "Want me to call and have it ferried over here? I'll bet for the price of a plane ticket, one of the pilots over there will be happy to fly it here so you can get it worked on."

"Think so, John?"

"I know so. Wait till you want to fly and your pocketbook is skinny. You'll fly anything anywhere just to get up in the air. You'll become a real airplane junkie."

John called and within fifteen minutes he had someone who was going to fly the plane to the air park here in Florida. That guy was lucky, getting to fly the plane already because I wanted to fly it. I called the number at the air station to get the plane released and spoke to a couple of people. The lady said my credit card had already been debited, so the airplane was mine. They would give the pilot picking it up the paperwork for me to re-register the plane.

With the phone calls made, I asked Stewart and John if they were ready. Both smiled and said, "Let's go flying." Stewart explained that today would be a longer than normal check ride as my mission would have multiple legs. First we had to take John back to the air park, Stewart wanted to do some maneuvers down around Sarasota and we could get fuel at the small airfield we were dropping the cargo off at in Daytona.

Stewart watched me go through the preflight inspection, but that was easy as I had been doing it a lot, and I of course used the little card. I asked Stewart about the hundred fifty pound package and he turned around and waved. A tall lady came out of the terminal and walked up to the plane. Stewart said, "This is the package going to Daytona. Let's get in and get started."

Before going through the startup checklist, Stewart asked me how I would usually file a flight plan. I said if I had a PC, I would do it that way, but I could do it over the phone and could even do it over the radio and initiate it at the same time.

We finally were directed to a runway where I went all the way to the beginning marker before turning onto a totally calm, very hot, runway. Since the runway was over twelve thousand feet, I wasn't worried, but it still seemed like it took forever for the 172 to become light enough and to go fast enough to pull back on the yoke and lift off.

When we leveled off at forty-five hundred feet, Stewart had me go through a couple of stalls to see how I handled the plane. There was barely any time before I was calling in to the air park tower. At least the wind had picked up a little so our takeoff should be easier after losing John. Stewart had me do a complete shutdown, preflight, and startup, probably to make sure I would still use the cards to run down the list. John had ingrained that into my head.

Takeoff was a lot easier as the temperature was down to around 88 degrees now. When we did the maneuvers east of Sarasota, I was in a pretty steep bank when Stewart did the thing with the throttle knob. I was only at three thousand feet, but since it was so damned hot, I may not glide as well, and I didn't know the answer to that. There were two good looking fields but one likely target was the seventh fairway of Manasota Country Club. As soon as I made a pass, turned, and lined up, Stewart said, "Take us back up. That was a good decision. The fields would be good too, but the golf course was perfect."

We did a touch and go at the airport and headed north, going around the busy Orlando air space instead of having to play in the pattern. The Daytona airport John had listed indicated a grass runway, but it did have fuel facilities. I called but there wasn't a response so I made a pass to check the windsock, and looked in every direction for other aircraft, then turned while announcing on the airport frequency that I was landing.

I was just about to touch down when one of those kites with motors buzzed right over the top of me setting down on the grass where we were heading. I poured on the throttle gently lifting the plane and climbed out to circle the field. I made the announcement that I was in traffic, where I was and what my direction of travel would be. Once again I announced my descent while looking everywhere for even a trace of anything moving near the ground.

This time, I did land on the grass strip and headed toward a small building with some people standing outside near some cars. Upon shutting down, and doing the checklist there, I helped the lady from the plane. Stewart got out, gave the lady a very nice kiss, and introduced her as his wife.

"You're pretty trusting to let your wife go along on an exam ride."

"Not really, my hands and feet were with you all the way. You reacted perfectly when the idiot damn near flew into you. I have his aircraft number and he will be receiving a citation."

They had a fuel island that was only about twenty feet away so I pushed the plane over to the island and hooked up the ground straps, brought the step ladder out, and dragged the hose to the plane. After fueling up, I turned the plane around so it was facing out before I went into the little terminal to pay for the fuel. A lady inside the little air conditioned building said, "That's an S&S plane; we bill them.

Stewart and I used the bathroom and went out to pull the wheel chocks and go through the preflight and startup. Taking off was even easier with a decent wind, except that the grass strip was a little bumpy. When we took off Stewart said, "Take me back to your air park, I have my plane there. I have to go get my wife."

Once down with the plane in front of the hangar, Stewart said, "I'm happy to tell you, you passed. You're now a real pilot. Get lots of hours and always do everything by the book and you will enjoy safe flying. You did real well today with some adverse conditions. The heat was tough and the ultra-light incident was scary, but you did everything you should."

I had to write a check for the exam and he updated my logbook and gave me a copy of my license application with his signature on the bottom. I breathed easier now that the initial training was over. Now I had to go on to the next step and learn instrument flying.

Inside the charter office, I asked the lady there if she could sign me up for instrument classes. She congratulated me on passing my exam and asked me, "Are you the one bringing the 206 from Houston?"

"Yes, Ma'am."

"That plane has a history. It used to belong to Sue Sharp of S&S Industries and was stolen from here right after she had all new instruments put in it. Her insurance company paid her for it and I already checked; they don't want the salvage as they thought it was damaged too much. We'll give it an annual and go over it real thorough. The bullet holes are not a big deal and should be done in a day. I'll order you some tires and after you check on the carpet, I can order a new set of carpet if you want. Most airplanes get all kinds of crap on the carpet, so a little blood won't hurt anything."

She continued, "You'll have a real nice plane. If you let us charter it when we need it, we can probably make enough to pay for your hangar fees and some of the maintenance. You might have to put in some communication gear, but that will just make the plane more valuable. That's a real nice plane as you know, since you've been flying in one."

"I'm excited about buying an airplane," I said smiling. "I wonder how long it will take the guy to get here."

"He'll be in about ten tonight. We'll put him up and get him on a ride going home in the morning. We have a charter going to Houston so we'll just ferry him home for you. That will save you plane fare."

"Thanks a lot. This is really a big day for me, getting my license and now an airplane. I can't wait to see it."

"Don't worry, it'll be here in the morning. Oh yeah, I see you're using the rental 172 on Sunday. Can't wait to use your new license can you?"

"Nope, I need to take my girlfriend up to Panama City. The airplane will be perfect."

As I got ready to leave she asked, "You coming to Steve's and Sue's party tonight? Steve said to remind you. He's looking forward to you and your group coming."

"We'll be there. I guess I'll see you then."

I was floating out to the car, thinking of my own airplane on its way here. This was a real fairy tale. I wondered how much it was going to cost to keep a plane like the 206 in good condition. I definitely wanted to keep it as perfect as possible. It was a big investment.

When I called Wanda, she said, "You're out for the day, so stay out. Go home and put together what you want to take to the naturist park. Angie is about to bust her buttons thinking about going with us."

After a pause, Wanda asked, "Ah, what's this about a plane being ferried over here from Houston? The station manager from Houston said you stole a plane from a local dealer and he was making the storage facility hold it until they had proof of insurance. I called your agent that you used for the motorcycle, house, and the Mustang, and they insured it. The lady said it was a good rate but you'll have to compare. So what's the deal with an airplane?"

"Remember the plane we flew to St. Louis and up to Chicago?"

"Yeah, I like that little plane. It wasn't as quiet or as fast as the jet, but it was very nice."

"This plane is just like it. I found it on auction after it was confiscated. Surprisingly, no one outbid me. I think the guy that was mad figured he was just going to steal the deal for himself."

"Will you be flying us around then?"

"Sometimes, but I have to go to instrument school before I do that. I have a lot of learning to do first. Let me get some experience and knowledge, then I'll fly us when it's convenient."

Wanda said, "I know some guys that use their own planes instead of commercial. I don't think they make money on the deal, but they get to fly their airplanes and can follow their own schedule. Just not having to wait for baggage would be worth it."

"That and going through security," I said. "That's always a hassle."

"You shouldn't have any trouble with security anymore. Just flash your badge and you're through."

"You're right, Wanda, I don't have to worry about that as long as I'm with the service, do I?"

"Is Bobby coming home first or did you guys pack for the nature park this morning?"

"Everyone is packed. Why don't you just leave your car here and we'll ride out to the trailer park together?"

"I'll do that. I'll go home and be back by five."

"Don't be late, we're excited about going to see Sue and Steve and their friends."

I was home and packed quickly. I was bringing my peg, sandals, and toilet gear. I really didn't want to go out there, but Bobby and the girls really seemed to like it. I would miss not having Millie, the twins, the boys, plus Maxine and Bobby's dad, Ted with us. They were a lot of fun and added to the experience. I had a feeling Bobby wanted to get a little wilder than usual. We would see.

I pulled up to the back of the office building at four fifty-five. Perfect timing as Jan came out first, followed by Marie and Bobby who were followed by Wanda and Angie.

Seven of us easily fit in the Escalade and we were off. It was right at five twenty when we pulled into the trailer park. The gate guard waved us through as if he was expecting us. I guess Cadillacs get preference over an unknown motorcycle.

There was no big tent tonight, but there sure were a lot of people. The younger kids were at the tables eating hot dogs and hamburgers, with potato salad and baked beans. The first person to greet us was Mercy. She came out to hug all the girls, was introduced to Angie, and then gave me a hug and a very warm kiss. It was almost a warm up for Sue's greeting. She was bouncy, happy to see us and Bobby was equally as happy. She forgot that Sue didn't know her and her family that well and Bobby scooped Sue up into a hug squashing two sets of 40 plus H's (for humongous) together. Sue wasn't even flustered and returned the greeting equally.

Kathy came up to us a little warily, after seeing the ease with which Bobby picked Sue up. Kathy was very warm, greeting each of us and remarking about Angie and how nice looking she was. Angie noted some little dark kids mixed in with the brood, so she knew the greetings were genuine.

The girls were all spirited away by the women of the park, but Juanita handed me a tall Beefeaters, telling me that Steve had just returned from a charter and was showering. We talked a few minutes before Tiny boisterously glad handed me and pulled me toward the bar to help cook the ribs and chicken. He had a section of one of the grilles cordoned off, grilling specially marinated wings. The hot pepper smell coming from them made my eyes water. Tiny told me about his latest coup of buying another confiscated sailboat this past week to bring their big sailboat inventory up to four. He was almost apologetic that the new boat was almost new and that it was only a hundred foot. He kept saying that it was already set up as a charter party boat so the company wouldn't have to spend a lot of time or money before renting it out. This boat was going to have to take up the slack while Steve, Sue, and the family were on their big summer trip.