Chapter 20

As soon as I was ready, my flight instructor signed me off for my first solo flight. It was an incredible aviation feat. I'd have thought Chuck Yeager would have been on hand for such a momentous aviation event. Of course Charles Lindberg and Amelia Earhart were unable to attend, but how about Buzz Aldren? I mean – seriously – it was a day for the history books...

Nope ... Nobody but me and the Flight Instructor.

When the time came, I took off, circled the field and landed. Then, to prove it wasn't a fluke, I took off, circled the field and landed, again. The whole thing only lasted about three minutes, but it did prove to me that I could do this. More important, it proved to the government that I could do this.

Our plane, the Cessna 182, came with all the best avionics, and the best power plant available. It got off the ground quicker than a typical 182, but that still is pretty slow as far as performance is concerned, and I wondered out loud, if I should be looking for another plane that was more 'fun.'

My instructor that day was a woman named Chloe. She gave me the look, and said. "General Aviation hasn't improved much in the last fifty years. The only really fun planes coming out are the new Light Sport Aircraft that limit you to one passenger, and they have speed and altitude limitations.

A number of LSA's are quick off the ground, but fly slower than your 182. As for fun, they are FAR more fun to fly. We'll have to take a day and fly around, looking at some. Better yet, if you want to give me a ride in your G-5, we'll fly down to Lakeland, Florida in April and see them all.

They're all at the Sun-n-Fun show, and we can walk around until you find what you like, and take it up for a spin. If you like one, we can negotiate a purchase and have it delivered to Branson.

"What you'd like, and I'd love, is for you to buy an LSA tail dragger, and let me teach you to fly the way real pilots used to fly. You are pretty good at this for a man that has as few hours in the cockpit as you do. I think you'd transition into tail wheel flight with better than average success, and you'd have a wonderful time doing it."

She was a solid, smart, and capable flyer. I liked working with Chloe, and she dreamed of getting some right seat time in my G-5.

We'll see.

Benjamin was waiting for me when we landed and jumped into my arms for some loving when I opened the door of the Lexus. The folks around the flight school seemed to love having him around, and he was quite happy to roam from one to the other collecting hugs and kisses. We headed for home, and I washed up for dinner without seeing anyone with whom to share my news.

I was feeling sort of sorry for myself in the shower, when the glass door opened, and all three of my loves joined me for some 'alone' time. They were as excited about my solo flight as I was, and planned a surprise shower party for my homecoming. I got all wet and slippery, then they all got another kind of wet, which led to us all feeling groovy.

I was very glad I install the on-demand hot water system for our bathroom. We used a lot of hot water before we all felt satisfactorily clean and presentable.

Life was very good.

When I shared the details of my rehab experience with Gigi, Colleen sighed, Beth Ann looked shocked, and Rebecca got all kinds of squirmy. I could see that Rebecca was planning a campaign of seduction, for Gigi, if not both of them. Colleen was planning to take better care of me, so I wouldn't have to go around knocking off the rehab girls, and Beth Ann was wondering if she missed out on something else - again.

We retired to the master bedroom after a long and enjoyable dinner and negotiated their terms of surrender, all night long.

In the morning I joined the brood for breakfast and got another surprise.

"Brian wants to look into a private aviation high school, in Florida and see about studying to get a head start on college. He wants to get an aerospace engineering degree, that will make it easier to get hired as a pilot, right out of school." Beth Ann was clearly looking for my input and something else.

"Where is this school, Brian?" I was interested and highly motivated. If a fourteen, almost fifteen-year-old boy knows what he wants, and is smart enough to work out a career path to get it, I wanted to make sure I helped all I could.

"It's in Lakeland, Florida at Lakeland – Linder Airport..."

Brian would have gone on but I said, "Let's take the plane and go see this school, talk to the admissions officer, get an idea of what they have to offer, and map out how to go about it.

"Is the school a campus, where you stay in a dorm, or is it a day school?"