Chapter 410

All of us left to go to the airport; we were going to eat at the restaurant tonight and wait for the plane to arrive from Texas. It was scheduled to land at 6 PM. The general had called shortly after Frank left to go back to Washington to say everything had gone smoothly and had been approved.

I had forgotten how busy the restaurant was on Friday nights. We had trouble finding a table for all of us. It seemed like all the county department heads and wives were there as well as law enforcement from several neighboring counties. They were always scheduling the meeting rooms for late afternoon meetings so they could add a business meal to their expense account.

I guess the restaurant being lower key than a lot of places on the narrows meant that it was come as you are. Everything from a farmer out of the field to someone in a suit and tie could be found there at any time.

We were in the middle table surrounded by groups of friends and business groups at the other tables. Conversation was plentiful and enjoyable. The back and forth banter was even better. We were finished and socializing when Lorries phone went off.

It was Adam Elliott, “We are 15 minutes out; you said you wanted to be called.”

“Thanks Adam, I’m going to try to film the landing,” Lorrie replied.

“Our new toy is landing in a few minutes; let’s go watch it and film it,” Lorrie said.

“Toy for you girls; that I don’t believe,” Duke said with the Sheriffs group and several others bantering with each other over toy; their minds were wandering into the gutter. “This I have got to see!” they all chimed in.

“Morton Tower this is JBG November Charlie five Mike inbound for landing heading 040 400 knots 30000 feet,” Adam radioed.

“Roger; JBG November Charlie five Mike change heading to 060 intercept waypoint ALPHA; descend to 10000 feet at APLHA change heading to 175 and descend to 2500 feet to intercept the ILS slope and begin landing sequence. Visibility is 20 miles; pressure is 29.96 at Morton field winds 0,” the tower replied.

NC5M repeated the instructions; we knew it would not be long.

Ching Lee took the commercial video camera from Lorrie and set the tripod up to be able start taking video as soon as it was in sight - which would be 5 miles out as clear as it was.

We watched as the speck grew and listened as the tower gave altitude and corrections to the flight path, until the auto landing system took over. It touched down right on the numbers, smoke rolling from the tires as they bit into the concrete.

“Toy - you call that big mother a toy - damn!” Duke said.

For some reason I had been expecting the olive green version of a C5 but this was silver, the same as our C130s. The American flag decal was still on the tail and the large JBG decals were on the side to replace the Air Force ones.

It went all the way to the end of the runway, made the turn onto the taxi way, slowly came back to the JBG tarmac by our hanger and then powered down.

It was a beauty; it was clean and shiny as we walked to it. I could not believe that in 90 days there was the possibility that it would be cut up in pieces. But that was government; damn I hated the stupidity of government sometimes.

By the time we made the walk to the plane, there was already a crowd around it. The night shift at the agency hanger had emptied out when all those tires chirped on the runway. The same was true with our second shift that made sure all the planes were fueled and ready to fly tomorrow.

The four mechanics and the pilot group exited the aircraft through the side entrance door.

John Bishop the senior C5 mechanic said, “We have got a lot to unload tomorrow. They sent a complete set of jacks and maintenance stands plus crates of spare parts. There are even a set of mounted tires. Someone was looking out for you.”