Yesterday afternoon we loaded up the van and headed out to the flying field. Sundays out there are very busy and I'm usually the only woman there. Don has been teaching me to fly. At my request he removed the gas engine and replaced it with an electric motor. Much cleaner and I don't have to worry about tuning the darned thing. I've seen more guys spend entire afternoons trying to get their engines running right!
The only downside to electric is that I get only a 10 minute flight out of each battery (we bought 2) and it takes *hours* to recharge them. As a result I have lots of time on my hands so I usually bring one of my latest books or a knitting project to keep me occupied. I used to go for a walk about the park but there had been some vandalism to our area so I have been more reluctant to go wandering by myself.
I've been getting more proficient at controlling the plane. It's tough, that remote thing. It depends a lot on depth perception and I find that mine isn't the best but I'm slowly learning what the profile of the plane looks like in different attitudes. Sometimes I get a bit disoriented but now I don't panic, instead I waggle the wings and usually can figure out what is going on.
So yesterday I was in the middle of my first flight of the day when BOOM... BOOM!!!!! A couple of sonic booms just about knocked me off my feet!!! It was the shuttle coming down to land at Edwards Air Force Base (north of Los Angeles). WOW it isn't very often that the shuttle lands in California and I always get chills. Remember that I was in High School when Sputnik changed the world as we knew it. Anyway, later a friend who flew jets off of aircraft carriers in the Vietnam war explained that the two booms were the result of the craft passing through the sound barrier and there were two because first the wings passed thru, then the tail surfaces passed. I didn't know that!! When he asked if I would go if the chance were offered to me, I said "In a minute!" He said something about danger but I replied that I've had a good, long life and if anything should happen at least I'd go out in a blaze of glory. Hum
That wasn't the only excitement of the day. I landed the plane by myself!!! I usually get really nervous when the plane gets too close to the ground - a result of too many crashes - but Don talked me through it and I landed that little thing. That was a great end to a fun day.
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8 years ago
1 comment:
Sounds like a lovely day. When Steve and I lived in Solvang we would sometimes hear the booms from the re-entry of the shuttle landing at Edwards. I didn't know the reason for the two booms - that's pretty cool. One time I was at my dad's house in SY and I saw the space shuttle (I don't know which one) mounted on the back of a 747 flying to Vandenberg AFB. There was a chaser jet flying with them, and it was all going so slowly the jet was completely dirty - flaps down, gear down, and you could practically hear the pilot trying to keep the beast at that slow speed. Thanks for sharing your story!
-Lisa
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