Because there wasn’t enough going on in my life, I took the opportunity proffered by a generous benefactor to make contact with a local firm flying Varga Kachina’s (among other things) at Palomar Airport. The company is called “Barnstorming Adventures,” and one of their business lines is demonstrating air combat maneuvering to folks who may or may not be actual pilots. The customer rides in back and the “employee” – strange, thinking of myself in that way – flies up front. A formation take-off and flight to the operating area and some fairly mild maneuvering – the planes are aerobatic, but for insurance and certification purposes, the planes are kept inside aerobatic limits.
Having made contact with the chief pilot and brushed up on my Biennial Flight Review handbook, I rode up to Palomar last weekend to check the program out. I took the motorcyle up since you’d like to be on time and make a good first impression. You never know what Highway 5 you’re going to face on a Saturday morning – the 8-lane Artery of West Coast Commerce, or the 20-mile parking lot.
Good call, as it turned out: Someone had contrived to test the physics of that whole “irresistable force, immovable object” thing by stuffing their Honda Civic into the median divide. This proved far too entertaining for my fellow road warriors in both directions, several ten thousand of whom decided that it’d be a good idea to slow down and count remaining rivets as they drove by the wreckage. But mein Teutonic krad, she does not give a warm schnitzel for men and their geschtoopid mistakes and so we made ruthlessly efficient time.
As I arrived at the aerodrome a P-51 was landing – nothing like a war bird to give your correspondent a bit of a thrill. It was really neat being around airplanes again. The chief pilot seemed muy sympatico and the machine pretty straightforward. I anticipate that the work itself will be well within my residual capabilities.The chief pilot handed me my aircraft study guide, asked me if I had any problems with the notion of taking drug tests (not so much) and I’ve been happily absorbing V-speeds and operating limits ever since.
After all, there’s nothing much else going on.
Casting my eye around the flight line I also espied a couple Travel-airs and an SNJ keeping company. This keeps up I reckon I’ll be after a tail dragger endorsement before too long.
First orientation flight is on Saturday. It’ll be great to be back in the air again.
The only thing a fully clothed adult can do that’s more fun than flying is having someone else pay for his flight time.
Oh, you do realize that The Donovan goes in the front seat for weight and balance reasons, even though it’s impossible to see past him?
BIG TIME CONGRATS, LEX
!!!
They’ve got no idea just how many people from the blogosphere will pony up for the chance to go for a ride with you
Now to start saving
…
Fbl
Well…I meant it nice. Guess the discount is out of the question…?
Lex, I’m not sure if you mentioned time in recips before. A lot of jet guys have trouble making the transition. It can be easy to get behind the power curve without a beefy suck and blow to get you out of a jamb. Anyway, good luck with the paying job. Uncle Sam is only paying 60% for my time right now. I’m working on a commercial and flight instructor ticket using the GI Bill.
Mark: No worries, herself appreciated the nice part enough to forgive the assumption that she was the owner’s wife. Actually, I’m the owner’s husband.
Met her in a previous incarnation when I was running a failing computer company. She found money and ideas to keep it going and a grant that paid her consulting fees. You gotta like that in a consultant.
Then I took her for a ride in my 1929 biplane. Ten minutes into it she obviously was enjoying herself because she was waving something in the slipstream. Turned out to be her tanktop. You gotta like that in a woman.
Soon, she learned to fly, and in a few years I found myself surround by more biplanes, air combat aircraft, WW2 warbirds, and wonderful pilots than I could ever have imagined. Pillow talk one night was about buying a dual-control P-51. You gotta like that in a wife.
We sold the company 18 months ago, and I have a feeling a bit as if Lex is going to take my daughter on a date, and I ‘won’t be there to check him out. But I think he’ll do just fine.
Tailspin
Gotta like that in a wife? Master of Understatement…
Deciding to sell must have caused more than a few sleepless nights. Best of luck to you and “the boss” in your new endeavors–with all respect. I sure the warbirds and especially the friends will always be there for you both.
As for Lex, I hope you find the same joy and are prepared for what appears will be a very busy schedule. Enjoy!
Mark
After we sold the business we thought we’d retire, but life in the slow lane didn’t feel right. Besides, at the rate we were spending money we felt more unemployed than retired. (We’re still feeding a big old C-45H and other vices.)
So we rummaged around the web trying to find a home-based business we could run in a sweat suit instead of a flightsuit, and discovered that the field of telework was growing by leaps and bounds thanks to the threat of pandemics and terror attacks plus the promise of higher fuel costs. We also discovered that 9 out of 10 websites offering home-based jobs were scams.
So we’re doing some writing on the topic including a blog and a book tentatively titled Undress For Success. We’ve landed one of the top literary agents, and now we’re waiting with bated breath while he goes after a publisher. One of his authors just a signed an $80 million deal for the foreign rights to three books he hasn’t even written yet. Ken Follett, no less. (A guy can dream, right? Buy a couple jets for me and my friends?)
And of course we’ll keep an eye out here for Lex’s tales of daring-do aloft as he learns to tame the 150 horses that drag the VG-21 around the sky. Lest anyone think it will be boring keep in mind that one of his adversaries is going to be the former CO of a Navy test and eval squadron who led the flight testing of the FA-18E/F. Unfortunately Lex will miss flying against one of the former X-31 test pilots who just returned to Pax River as an instructor.
Good times they were, with good folks. Well, except for that time when we were out of business for several weeks following 9/11, with the FBI on Kate’s doorstep wanting to know who we’d been flying with, while I bobbed around in the Pacific between Pearl and San Diego as a Tiger cruise guest.
Any idea who was the Ops Officer on the Connie during that unique transit? Yup, six years later I discover it was none other than our own Neptunus Lex hisself.
Thanks for the Most Excellent slide show, Tailspin. Great link!
Sounds like Lex should be right at home there. What a small world.
Small world indeed…
The C-45 is a very stylish vehicle to “feed the need”, Tailspin. I’ll be watching for your literary advisories and getting in line to get my copy autographed. I’m sure it will be a great read for us, and a great adventure for both of you. Best.