Chapter 38

Steve

I was sitting in the kitchen having a cup of coffee before going to bed. Sometimes it's nice to just be by yourself for a few minutes to gather your thoughts.

There seems to be all kinds of things happening at once. Wes was bringing an aircraft in at the targeted price, Jeff, Abe, and Chance were creating a show of our new material for the military, there's Mark's new wind generator that appears to be the most efficient yet. Of course, hidden among all of these accomplishments is Gerry's transparent composite that is similar to Lexan, but a hell of lot cheaper to make.

Jeff and Gerry were able to make the cockpit windscreen and hood for the LSA air coupe with new material by creating a formula that was similar to the Transition and Polaroid glasses that tinted darker in the direct sun. Gerry said that although the material was now perfectly clear, she needed to work on the thickness so it wouldn't distort at certain angles. It looked pretty damned good to me on the new military vehicles. I would be very happy to supply a vehicle with it that could take on an IED in Afghanistan or Iraq.

The new man from Sue's accounting group helped Abe arrange a military showing of our product. We would display them in the showroom, then outside in the open air. After seeing the internal workings, we would take the visiting dignitaries to the bombing range by helicopter and really show off. This meant showing multiple completed vehicles.

The big shots were due in at the Air Force Base at ten. We would ferry them to the shop, demonstrate the vehicles and show off our tests results, feed them something special in our cafeteria, then ferry them out to the bombing range.

Chuck had suggested that we use the 206L for our guests, while our staff could ride in the other Bell 206s out to the bomb range. If we wanted to all ride together, he said for us to enlist the help of the Air Force. Chuck's first suggestion is what we went with, except that we wanted to bust up the military people and put them in different helicopters for safety reasons.

Because of charters and scheduled lessons, I had to ask Chuck to be one of our helicopter pilots. He readily agreed and said it could be considered his duty to help escort other federal dignitaries. There were two Department of Defense civilians along for the ride to help evaluate what we were showing.

As I sat there sipping coffee and contemplating everything, I was very satisfied with life and how everything had been working out for the company. Yes sir, I have it good. Now on with the day, and the week.

When I woke on the day of the showing, I did have some butterflies in the stomach as it could be worth a lot to our company. It could keep hundreds of people working and probably put hundreds more to work. It would all depend upon what we sold. Would it be only components, whole bodies, or complete vehicles? If we had the right information, our prices were going to be the best these men had ever seen and, even better; it would be for a superior product.

Abe, Jeff, and Chance were at breakfast with Tiny, Chuck, and me. We all reviewed our plan and the presentation. We smiled at each other and I said, "Let's go get 'em. Chuck's flying them from MacDill to the shop. We need to block off the front parking area for the helicopters to land. We'll bring the other three birds over after we get these men on the ground."

Chuck left us to go get the 206L. I had heard he had been practicing flying that particular aircraft just so he would give his dignitaries a good ride.

At the shop, Tiny had some mannequins dressed in fatigues from Quality Wear, complete with a sign saying "Quality Wear clothing, military supplier." We had to go out on the market to buy the beige boots. The showroom was really looking good. We had one of the open frames hanging from the ceiling above the completed vehicles, and a series of plates that had been shot by various weapons, including RPGs and fixed position rockets.

Outside, on the side next to the rebuild shop, was our selection of vehicles that showed what they look like and to give the dignitaries an opportunity to ride in them. We had to buy special license plates so we could drive them on the roads. The tracked vehicle couldn't go out of the yard, but we were planning on a road test demonstration of the rest of them.

At nine twenty, Chuck was hovering in front of our showroom window, setting down so the men could exit directly into the building. It was a beautiful day, so the men were going to enjoy our Florida sunshine.

I introduced our crew and myself, describing each of our responsibilities. Chance began the presentation by describing what our goal was for each vehicle. He would open a door, or flip a hood up, while he described how each vehicle would fit military use.

Jeff then described how the composite material had been created. He introduced Gerry, and let her describe the technical part of the transparent windscreen material.

Abe took over and showed each of the panels, describing the weapon used on it, right down to the fifty caliber rounds stuck in the material.

Abe walked over to the tracked vehicle and said "The M1A1 is almost seventy tons. This vehicle is only a little over fifteen tons, fully loaded with about the same fuel and armament. The vehicle can travel near fifty miles an hour and is considerably more efficient than the Abrams."

Abe looked at the men and said, "I'm not suggesting you replace the Abrams with this unit, but that you can augment the group with a lightweight unit that can withstand almost as much firepower as the Abrams."

Abe continued by describing his contribution of the new style diesel engine. He described why he created it, and how it was powerful enough to propel all of the vehicles shown.

I think the people seeing our presentation didn't believe us. '

We took them through the shops, described what each group did, then went outside to play with the vehicles. They thought our version of a utility vehicle was neat since it appeared to be low to the ground, but had pneumatic cylinders to raise it for additional clearance when necessary. Abe explained that was an option and that the standard clearance was fourteen inches.

We offered to give the men rides. We drove out of the yard in all the vehicles and around the business complex. We stopped to allow each of the visitors the opportunity to drive the vehicles. We even took them behind our buildings where there was a drainage creek they could drive through to show how easily the all-wheel drive trucks navigated hazards such as that. We promised to show them some abuse of the trucks when we got out to the bombing range.

We came back to the shop in time to escort the men through the food line, where they were served some of the best meatloaf or pork chops known to man. Everyone ate heartily and finished with some of our great coffee.

I advised the men that we would take helicopters out to the bombing range in order to save time.

The other helicopters had landed and were ready for passengers. I explained that I wanted to break up the party and have the dignitaries in separate helicopters. The highest ranking officer thought that was a good idea. He wanted to ride in front with Chuck and climbed right in. Chuck grinned at me and rolled his eyes.

When all the passengers were secure, Chuck led us out of town and across the countryside to the Avon Park bombing range just north of Sebring. We landed near some tents that were set up for the visitors to sit under while we demonstrated the vehicles.

First, all of the vehicles drove over hazards and very rough terrain, increasing speeds until the trucks were bouncing five and six feet off the ground.

We showed off the tracked vehicle by having it climb near straight up and then go straight down. We didn't show a rollover, but said we had done several rollover tests and found that the vehicle could easily be righted by another vehicle.

Just about the time Chance was saying this; the tracked vehicle was driving sideways on a steep incline and rolled over onto its side. The operator got out and had the APC come over and used a steel cable to attach it to the tracked vehicle. It was pulled over and the operator got back into the tank, started it, and drove over to the firing range.

The armed vehicles fired several rounds, demonstrating their ability to fire military ammo. Even the utility vehicle, with dual fifty calibers mounted, fired to show what it was capable of.

Then I said, "Now, we are going to show you something you haven't seen before. We're going to try to blow up these machines. We'll first blow up a small utility vehicle and the wheeled APC with what would be the force of the strongest IED currently used in Iraq or Afghanistan. We're going to do this without people in them, but I think that we will make our point."

Two Air Force technicians took some charges out to two of our demonstration vehicles that were about a hundred yards out, and set them under where they would do the most damage, directly below the engine and front passenger compartments. When they came back to stand by the rest of us, you could hear us all hold our breath.

Kaboom!

Kaboom!

The light utility vehicle bounced high into the air but came down on its wheels. The wheeled APC also rose, and came down with a flat tire.

Two of our men wearing fatigues, ran out, jacked up the APC and changed the tire. Another two men got in the vehicles, started them, and drove them back and forth in front of the observers. The men under the tent actually applauded.

Next, we put a utility truck out at a hundred yards. A couple of Air Force guys began shooting rifles at the vehicle. Then they brought out a fifty caliber. First the conventional round was shot at the side, then the explosive round. Next was an RPG that rocked the vehicle considerably.

When that was done, a man ran out, started the vehicle, and parked it so that it was facing the observers.

The Air Force technicians fired all their toys at the vehicle again. The fifty caliber round stuck in the windshield, just like always, but a second explosive round couldn't dislodge the first. Abe pulled his trick and had Gerry run out, get in the vehicle, and drive it next to the tent so everyone could see the results of the firing.

They all went over the vehicle, rubbed where small indentations were, and looked at the glass where the fifty caliber rounds were stuck in them. One of our men came out and changed quickly both windshields, showing how easy it was to work with our design.

Chance said, "I have one more demonstration for you, but this has to be done at a greater distance. If you notice, we're taking the tracked vehicle and the APC about a half mile out. The third vehicle is to bring the operators back. We don't test live fire with humans in the vehicles. We have a group of crash dummies that record what the impact is inside when they are hit.

When the operators were safely back, the Air Force Captain on the ground radioed for the strikes to begin.

The first thing two F-16s did was to do two separate strafing runs across both vehicles. We could see the APC rock from the hits. The two jets came roaring back, firing rockets that both had direct hits on the two vehicles. They came back around and did it again, flying overhead so low that we could see the rivets in the bottom of the aircraft.

You would think the two vehicles would be toast, however, two utility trucks with several men, went out to the vehicles and had to replace all four wheels on the APC and had to remount the track on the tracked vehicle. Two operators climbed into the vehicles, started them up and drove them both back to the tent.

Our guests were sitting with their mouths open and their jaws on their chests. Chance invited the evaluators to inspect the damaged parts they had replaced, and to check out the interior of the two vehicles.

Abe had a shit-eating grin on his face as he watched the men swarm over our damaged, but still running, vehicles.

One officer came over to me and said, "If I had not seen it in person, I would have bet the film was doctored. That was an incredible demonstration. You do know, Mr. Sharp, that we can't simply blow off the contracts that we have with our suppliers."

I said, "I know that, but you can specify what materials are used and that our material meets the criteria to protect the bottom of the vehicles and the occupants. If you need some extra APCs that are not already contracted for, call us and we'll bid. If you need more utility vehicles, call us and we'll bid. We know that our bids will create a problem with your other suppliers. We also know that we will beat any delivery given by your other suppliers. That's why I'm suggesting that you can have them use us to supply them with the products that will protect our soldiers in the field."

He said, "You gave that to us in the information we received this morning. I was wondering if you really meant that. I'm curious though as to how you will protect your patents on the products if you give them the means of creating the product."

"We won't give them the formulas, we'll only supply finished product. Like I said, we want to supply your vendors with better product. You can specify it and even suggest where they can obtain it. We'll do the rest."

The officer asked, "If you don't get big orders from our suppliers, what will you do with your vehicles?"

I honestly said, "Sell them to buyers that want to purchase them. The Israelis have observed some of our tests while they were watching some bombing runs. They have indicated a strong interest in our line of vehicles. They wanted to purchase the designs, formulas, and engine specs, but we don't sell those. We sell finished product."

He asked, "So you would sell your vehicles to foreign governments?"

"Yes Sir, I would, but not to governments that we have trouble with. I would be reluctant to sell to Venezuela, definitely not to North Korea or Iran. I probably wouldn't sell to China or Russia, but I would sell them parts or bodies for the right price. You see, my goal is to keep men working. We need orders for that. You can help us to do that."

He said, "If we do recommend your bodies, that will put some other men out of work."

"If we get the orders, I will need good men to come to work for us. We have some of the best people in the country working here and in our other plants. We can integrate those displaced into our work force and teach them our "perfect" way."

"I saw all those signs throughout your shop. The "Is it Perfect?" signs over the door. That's kind of presumptuous, isn't it?"

"No Sir, we demand that product leaving our shop be as perfect as we can make it. S&S employees work toward that goal every day. Ask them, anytime."

He said, "I might do that. You have an interesting operation."

Chance was telling the observers the demonstration was concluded and that we would be hauling them back to the Air Force Base. We broke the group up into two helicopters and had them take off to bring the men back.

When Chuck showed up at the patio later, he told me, "That general said he thought for sure you were going to wine and dine them tonight. They had to have their aircraft readied as the crew wasn't even on base. I almost suggested they stay overnight and come out for a nice party."

I laughed, "Wouldn't you know it. We try to play it straight and we get the "I want more" treatment. Well, we showed them what we promised. We fed them lunch and ferried them around. That should be enough. If not, next week, we have the South Koreans coming, along with Brazil and Peru. I think we can sell enough to keep men working. The trick will be to get paid by the countries purchasing the equipment. They are so used to handouts from the U.S. that they may think they can get this for free too. It ain't happening."

We all celebrated and ate some great barbecue. The two pigs that were roasted, along with the dozens and dozens of chickens, were all very tasty. I think everyone had their fill.

While we were eating, I told Chuck, "How about coming south to Key West with me so we can finalize the deal on the hotel. Bring everyone you want and we'll go down for tomorrow night."

Chuck went to his group and talked about a trip to Key West. They were all for it. He came back to the group of men all smiles. He said, "The whole contingent is ready. They would pack right now and be at the airpark in an hour if you said go."

"Early tomorrow is good. How about we meet out there around eight or eight thirty? We'll take two King Airs down. You do the 1900D with some of my folks and I'll probably take your B200. We'll stay until late the following afternoon. That'll give the kids and everyone a chance to get some sun and eat some conch fritters."

Tiny said, "You know what we need? We need a big airplane. Hell, some of the movie stars have 747s. We should be able to have something big enough for fifty people in open comfortable seating that is capable of flying to Europe or Hawaii. You know what? I'm going to find out what we would need and get one. I'll bet we can charter it a lot if we promote it."

I looked at Tiny sideways. He grinned and mouthed, "You know we need one."

Will we ever say 'enough?'

Chuck was rounding up his family and suggesting they get home and pack so they would be ready in the morning. I thought it funny that he keeps talking about buying some kind of bus for all the people he hauls around. I suppose that if all those women begin pumping out kids, he's going to need one.

My ladies were excited about going, and the more they talked, the more people wanted to go. When we had a final total, I had to call the hotel to see if there would be room. They said that reservations were down until Sunday. There were lots of people checking in for the week then.

We decided to use all of the King Airs and the 208s. If necessary, we could even use the sixteen passenger G5. Perhaps Tiny had a point. We could sometimes use a big aircraft.

Sue had called her mom, which meant Ben and Beth were coming along. That would be two more. Well, shoot, I guess we would need the G5.

We ended up with so many going that Chuck and I agreed that we would use the G5 to come back and get a second group.

Morning was a total riot as the kids were hyped to go to Key West, but disappointed they wouldn't be home for motocross lessons. Bonita was whining because she would miss her piano and guitar lessons. She wanted all of it, and was upset that she couldn't make up her mind as to which was most important. Kathy straightened her out though, as she said that staying home was not an option.

We were all out at the airport, loading up in every available fast passenger aircraft we had. Only the one G5 with the fancy interior was staying because it had a charter for Saturday and Sunday. The 208s took off first, followed by the King Airs, one Lear, and the G5.

We were only leaving twenty behind so we could use the Learjet and the G5 for the quick turnarounds.

Lisa and Chuck were in the G5 and I flew the Lear. Sue, Jimmy, and Brandy flew 208s, John flew the King Air 1900D, and Star flew a King Air B200. As I flew south, I kept thinking that a big aircraft would be a good thing. It's just hard to justify something that cost upwards of forty million or more. We would have to buy a very used aircraft and rebuild it inside and out. I wondered how many charters it would require to make an aircraft like that profitable. The operating cost on a big aircraft has to be steep. Perhaps if we do something like this again, we'll charter a bigger aircraft.

Chuck and I quickly made the round trip and the trip back to Key West. We didn't miss much and were out on the beach with the rest of the families by noon. The kids were having a blast and didn't want to quit having fun for lunch.

The hotel helped as they set up tables outside for us so the sand caked kids could just rinse off under the outdoor showers and sit down to eat. In the afternoon, Ben had Chuck and me meet with the former owners who were selling out their share of the hotel. When the papers were all signed, Chuck said, "In some ways, this is better than the places in Hawaii. It is close and we can come more often. You know you can use this place for one of the benefit weekends you provide your employees, Steve."

"I have been doing that, Chuck," I said, as we were walking back to our group. The adults were trying to get a little less sun by the middle of the afternoon. Chuck's two dark women both said they had already got sunburned.

By five, the kids were so tired that they were almost falling asleep on the beach, so we rinsed them down and took them to our rooms for a good cleaning to get them ready for supper.

A lot of people wanted to go out barhopping along the beach, but someone needed to stay with the kids. Chuck said, "I think I'd like to stay and watch critters tonight. Most of my crew would like that too, so let us be the babysitters tonight."

Glenda said, "Martin and I will be here too, but we're both so worn out, we might need babysitting ourselves."

Chuck, Lisa, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda were going to watch the kids while the rest of us went out to run amok on the Key West beach bar circuit. The folks staying in elected to order room service with the kids and have all of them have a fun sleepover in the big owner's suite.

The first place we hit was a restaurant where Sue had made reservations. Since we were such a big group, the only way to get served at once would be by reservation. We were a little early, which meant everyone needed to have at least one Margarita in honor of the redhead.

Charlie and Shawna were half in the bag by the time we finished eating, but insisted they accompany us on our quest to drink Key West dry. They did switch to beer, and that seemed to slow down their quick rise to a drunken state. It was good to have so many of our friends with us as we partied on the beach.

Sometime during our travels, the local police cautioned little Tiani about chasing chickens. She was getting a good load on and was being crazy. Brandy tried to control her, but that was near impossible. Tiny resolved the problem by picking Tiani up and carrying her under one arm while holding a staggering Ruth with the other.

Around two in the morning, we were near the hotel and all agreed that we couldn't drink the island dry. We had tried, but it was not possible.

Back at the hotel, all of the parents checked on their kids in the big suite. All of the kids were on the floor with blankets over them. Lisa and the three pregnant women were on a pullout bed, and Chuck was asleep on a couch on the other side of the kids.

When we came in, Chuck woke immediately, saw it was us, and went back to sleep. Tiani and Brandy crowded into the pullout bed with the other four girls and were instantly asleep, clothes and all.

My ladies were more than a little happy this night. Juanita even had a few too many Mojitos. Some of our revelers went back out to the hotels big hot tub to party some more, but my family snuggled up in a king size bed and quickly fell asleep.

Oh my. I could tell that I had too much to drink last night. The clock on the hotel nightstand said eight, but it felt like it was still too early to get up. I got out of bed and took a shower, shaved, and brushed my teeth. I was almost human again. When I came out of the bedroom, the kids were all awake and in their swimsuits, ready for the beach. Chuck, Lisa, Nancy, Judy, and Frieda were following Glenda's lead in getting the kids to eat breakfast.

Chuck handed me a tall glass that appeared to be a Bloody Mary. I waved it off as I said, "I have to fly today. It's a good thing it will be this evening or I would be in trouble."

Chuck said, "Not to worry, this is virgin. I thought it might help, even without any of hair of the dog that bit you. There's aspirin on that tray over there. Drink that and have some coffee and food. That will straighten you out. You'll also want some sun today to sweat that stuff out of you."

As people woke up and staggered into the main living room area, most just hugged a tall Bloody Mary glass and sipped with closed eyes. All of the people piloting were directed to the Virgin Marys and coffee.

As we ate, more food was delivered. Chuck explained that he had ordered multiple breakfast setups to be delivered every half hour, for a couple of hours, so the food wouldn't get cold.

Soon Glenda, Martin, Chuck, and his ladies took the all of the kids out to the beach. The kids were instantly splashing in the surf and exploring for shells up and down the beach. The adults were doing a good job of watching the various groups, keeping the kids that were in the water near shore.

By ten, everyone was awake and ready for the sun. The hotel said the owner's suite was good until tomorrow, but the other rooms had to be vacated by noon. We had everyone bring their bags to the owner's suite so their rooms could be made ready.

After lunch, a lot of the ladies wanted to go shopping to get things for those that couldn't come. All the men said we would watch the kids and have fun with them. The hotel had volleyball nets set up and we tried to organize some games, but they ended up by just batting the ball back and forth.

Some of the little kids were building big sandcastles and other buildings that were sort of recognizable. The important thing was they were having fun. The lifeguards came around and told every one that there were shark sightings near shore and would prefer for us to stay out of the water. All the kids would go out to the edge of the surf, stick their toes in the water, then run screaming away from the ocean.

The ladies returned with many bags around four-thirty. We decided it was time to clean up and begin our migration back to Tampa. We did it pretty close to the way we came down, leaving a bunch at the hotel to pick up after we had delivered the first group home.

By eight, everyone was back in Tampa, Lisa and Chuck were cleaning up the G5, and I was cleaning up the Lear so the two aircraft would be ready for Monday.

At home, all of the kids were over tired from playing in the sun for two days. They ate a little pizza, took a bath, and were in bed before nine.

Chuck and I had a beer together, discussing how I had conned him into being a part owner of a helicopter charter company. He kept trying to tell me that it was better if he was just a friend of the owner. I finally told Chuck, "Look, the helicopter charter company is still an S&S company, but you're half owner of that separate entity. Tiny will get with you for some money to pop for your half of the original purchase price of the company I bought out. I want you as a partner for this and we may have to have you as a partner on the fixed wing side. We'll see about it in time. Right now, you are a half owner, I'm a half owner, and the S&S 401K fund is about a forty percent owner. That means you and I only own thirty percent each. You will still receive income from the helicopters, but you have to pay maintenance and hangar fees for them. You see, you and I and the S&S 401K plan own two helicopters and some parts inventory. The rest of the aircraft are owned by you right now. As we have income, we'll buy some more and own them the same way we own the original two."

Chuck said, "Do I really want to be a business owner?"

I told Chuck, "You do, and you'll be happy you are. This is a way to get into something besides law enforcement. Have your avocation become a vocation. Besides, you're going to have to begin teaching pretty soon. You've been dodging the fixed wing training, but you can't dodge the helicopter training."

Lisa was sitting by me and asked, "When are you going to teach me rotary wing. Brandy wants to learn too. She says she has had an introductory flight and is scheduled for a lesson with Tank next week. I want you to teach me. Now that you're checked out on all the helicopters except the big one, you can teach me and check me out. I know it's expensive to fly helicopters for practice, but I don't spend any money anyway. Come on, Chuck, say you'll do it."

Chuck couldn't refuse and just nodded, saying, "Of course, I'll teach you. We'll work on it in the evenings or mornings depending on the time you have."

Then she said, "You have to teach Charlotte too. She's dying to get to know you better anyway. While you were gone the last time, I brought her home overnight and all the girls really liked her. They think she may be a candidate to be one of their toys, which means she could be your and my toy too."

Chuck looked sternly at Lisa, "Enough women. I have too many already. How could I possibly pay any attention to another lady with the group I have as it is? Please, Lisa, no more women."

Mercy came over to Chuck and Lisa and said, "Perhaps you could send her here so the four of us could evaluate her."

Lisa said, "Oh Mercy, Charlotte is just a cute little country girl that hasn't made up her mind what park she wants to play in yet. Leave her be. She'll make up her own mind."