It may or may not surprise, but the Hobbit and I have never shared the same cockpit before in Actual Flight. It was partly, I think, that kind of innate caution against orphanage which in it’s most exceptional manifestation prevents mothers and fathers from flying together on the same commercial airliner. Too, I had a trust gap of my own: Willing for years to fling myself through the echoing halls of air, I retained a subdued hesitance to trust my own meager general aviation skills to carry my most precious cargo. Finally, herself has a bit of an aversion to complex machinery and a very slight inclination towards le mal de l’air.
Yesterday all of that was overcome.
With the kids out visiting, we had a few hours to ourselves and the club Cardinal was not in use. Driving south to Montgomery, I had an internal squabble with myself about how much to try and explain about what we’d do, and how it would be done. Finally I settled on the very briefest outline: We’d fly down the coast as far as Point Loma, through San Diego Bay to the bridge, and then back over the top of Lindbergh Field to La Jolla again before striking east to Ramona, having overflown Chez Lex along the way. Back to Montgomery for the ILS full stop.
She was game enough to help me unwrap the machine for our use, removing the tiedown chains without asking and settling herself in the right seat. I offered to bring the seat up for her the better to get a grip on the controls, but she politely demurred. This would be fine, she said, her crossed legs as far from the rudder pedals as a four year old’s are above the floor from the daddy chair. Having known her practically all my life, and impressed as I remain by her quiet strength and courage I am nevertheless surprised from time to time to discover that she is a wee, little thing.
Approaching the hold short for our engine checks I detected a moment’s nervousness. Shall we turn back, I asked, her eyes shining?
No, no. Let’s go.
Once the throttle is run up, the time for second thoughts is mostly over. Airplanes are meant to fly, and some of them come to resent any perceived ambivalence on the part of their pilots once full power has been applied. An aborted take-off is better than an inevitable crash should something catastrophic creep in, but it’s nothing like as certain as a normal landing, far less a normal take-off. She made as though to grip my leg once we’d broken ground, but mastered herself. Once the wheels were up and the flaps retracted, I pulled power to cruise climb, set the prop at 2500 RPM and leaned the engine out to 13 gallons per hour. As we picked up speed I pointed out various landmarks that she had only ever seen from the ground and she visibly relaxed.
Does it not surprise you, I asked, how close things are that seem so far apart when we must drive to them in traffic?
Not at all, she answered. Everything is so much bigger than I had imagined. You can see almost forever.
She had a good point.
I pointed out the seals controversially slumbering at the Children’s Pool at La Jolla. Checked in with Lindbergh Tower for the coastline transition southbound, 500 feet or below. Mission Bay gave over to Pacific Beach and in turn to Ocean Beach, and then we hugged the coastline until the tip of Point Loma. Up into the bay, and there were sailboats everywhere, my bride as delighted as a child at all of it (although the hemi-, demi-, quasi steep turn at the Coronado Bay Bridge gave her a moment’s pause. Banking an airplane to turn is as necessary as breathing is to live, but I learned over our short time together that she vastly preferred turns to the left, than right. The sense being that she might only fall towards me in a left hand turn, but that she might fall out in turns to the right. She was tightly belted into her seat, and of course there was a locked door between her, the wind and the sea but it takes a little while to overcome the fear of falling, which gives birth, I think, to the fear of flying.)
Crossing 1500 feet over the Delta Taxiway at Lindbergh we had jet liners launching to our left and landing to our right. Back up the coast as far as Del Mar before following Highway 56 past our own abode she grew increasingly relaxed and even thoughtful. It’s one thing to see the place you have lived for nearly a decade from the front door, quite another to see it from above. It gives you a sense of scale.
By the time we got into the landing pattern at Ramona, she was trying to move her seat forward a bit, but it’s harder than it looks to do once airborne, and virtually impossible to assist from the left seat while actually flying. The landings themselves were gratefully uninteresting, apart from a requirement to do a go around on the first attempt when a Cherokee pilot who had asked for a stop and go was directed to perform a touch and go instead petulantly decided to merely stop right there on the runway. For all the 200 horses under the cowl, the Cardinal is but an indifferent climber under even the best conditions and a balked landing from full flaps requires a fair amount of handiwork to gradually retract the flaps, accelerate to a good climb speed and get the cowl flaps open again. I do my normal approaches with the prop full flat since that’s one less thing to worry about on a go around.
By the time we’d completed our full stop back at Montgomery, the lady was perfectly at her ease. As we wrapped the machine back up for the night, she turned to me with a smile on her face and said, “I want to do it again.”
So do I.
Oh how wonderful that you two can share this, now!
Now, that sounds like a very nice day together Lex. Yes, a very good alternative to “Black” Friday, indeed.
You’re a blessed man, Lex. As I’m sure you know
Lex … Lovely essay. As you point out, there is no greater blessing than a good woman who loves you. Blessings on you both.
Marianne
Agree with FBL, such wonderful memory(ies) for you & your wife.
Thanks for sharing, and providing another great read.
Lex, Congratulations to you and the Hobbit, a great story and rewarding experience for both of you. There is something special about sharing your passion in life with the one you love. Off to a good start with many hours of flying together in the future.
Lex, you are indeed the sly one you’ve always been! Now that she’s hooked, a few easy flights to a romantic dinner or two up the coast and pretty soon “permission” will be granted for that airplane buy.
Shall I ask my buddy Rick to take you flying in his Cirrus now or later?
Good on ya’, The Doctor now routinely inquires if a trip would be more practical if we took the plane.
VR,
Comjam
Congratulations to you and the Hobbit on a lovely outing. Given the natural progression of things, pretty soon we’ll be hearing about the weekend away to KSBA or KMRY! Sectionals are always much more fun to navigate with than the Thomas Guide.
Sweet story, Lex. It’s always amazed me how the two of you have never flown together.
And although I know you would much rather fly with your lovely wife, just so you know, I would be
happyhonoured to fly with you any day.A while back, a SH Hornet LT came swinging into the OPS spaces fresh from a fly-by over his house, the children waving at his jet, eager to ask me how cool it was that his children could point up at a jet fighter and say, “That’s Daddy!” No one else’s kids could say that, and Zane, isn’t that cool?
And I thought to myself, why are you asking me, a four-eyed spy who will never fly a fighter jet over his waving children, whether it’s cool? Why not ask that 3,000 hour OPS O? Trying to make a not-so-subtle point?
But it is cool. This little story is even cooler, and it’s heartwarming to hear that the lovely Mrs Lex had a wonderful trip.
Now, had you been a Tomcat driver she might not have appreciated that hard-over left turn that knocked her head off the glass, or you trying to put her to sleep with those Citation Gs…
And if you’ve never told the story of Sparky and Biff flying to Cecil as Dash 4 with WK as lead, you really need to. Quite the contrast to this tale.
My wife doesn’t particularly care for the whole banking thing either, but now that she understands that “clear left” means we’ll be turning that way shortly she’s much better at it
Funny thing – for some odd reason yesterday I actually thought about this – I wonder how often Lex and The Hobbit fly together since you’ve never mentioned it. Weird.
I had my own broad smile as I approached the end of this – such a gloriously beautiful thing to do. Akin to going shooting with my husband – when we don’t manage to go together for a while, then do find the time – I’m reminded of how much fun it is to share something we both love with each other.
Seems The Hobbit has found her love of flying like yours.
Lex,
Another finely penned effort capturing a moment to be cherished. I read it aloud to Lipstick 6 as she shares (-ed?) a similar fear of breaking the surly bonds with yours truly. Or anything with wings for that matter. I’ll have to tell you of the time I had to practically carry her thru the terminal at JFK using the fireman’s carry to get us to our connection after she took prescription “Mother’s Little Helper” on account of the turbulance enroute. Anyway, she listened politely but was not swept away with your prose sufficiently to volunteer to go up with me tomorrow after Mass.
BTW, I’m enroute your way a week from tomorrow. The powers what hold the purse-strings realized how much I REALLY need to attend that training. Best-
Great narrative Lex. Thanks so much. I’ve often mused about how your dear wife coped with being married to a man who spent his days (and nights) getting thrown off/onto the deck of a carrier, sometimes in harm’s way to boot. You’ve put those days behind you but now you two have a son proudly following in the old man’s footsteps and I wish to offer my best to your wife for her own service to our country.
Nicely done Lex, choosing good conditions and ascertaining the Hobbit’s confidence level during the adventure. All it takes is one trip through turbulence or an unexplained, unplanned maneuver to prevent a person from ever setting foot inside another light airplane. Who knows? Perhaps next time she’ll take a turn at the controls.
It sounds like a wonderful day, wandering about in the air over a very pretty area.
I havn’t spent much time down that way since about ’79. Does Oceanside still have an airport? Last I was out that way, you drove past the airport, and the junk yard to get to the shooting range (and the last time I was there a guy blew up a Garand with a hot hand load – or maybe a hot load after a squib).
Outstanding!
One of the best moments for me in the recent past was taking my wife flying last year after a 31-year hiatus. (Back then, a little turbulence and a Cessna 150 pretty much guaranteed a distinct green tinge.)
Best was that this time she showed no white-knuckle tendencies at all, and even suggested future destinations, some of which we’ve since done. Not quite ready to take the pinch-hitters course, but there’s time ahead for that, too.
Glad the Hobbit had a good time.
This reminds me of a commercial BMW made some years ago. Two middle-aged people on a motorcycle, he starting to gray, she looking a bit younger but still well above 30. The screen shows the sparks off the exhaust as he leans the bike around a twisty mountain road. 20 seconds of sparks, shots of the couple, sparks…
Voice-over: “20 years of marriage and she’s holding me as tight as ever.”
Share your passions. They won’t me mutual, but they do lead to understanding.
– Max
SteveH
Concur. was 31 years for our 2nd trip together as well. With last child a senior in college we figured it was time. first one in a C-172 over Columbia SC at twilight with me and 60 hrs. 2nd one in a Lance 5400 hrs later. her comment? “I like the one with the wing on top so I can see below better”. Ta heck with leather seats, Garmin GPS nav, another 50 kts, and actually being able to haul stuff and talking baggage.
Oh hell yes. I don’t drive the plane, but the first time my woman flew was when we took off for the Caribbean on our honeymoon. She is a country girl, and she was amazed. Never flown before…she was smiling like you wouldn’t believe…not scared at all…just taking it all in. Anyway, she had the “ear problem”, and all she said was, “I can’t hear a word you’re saying”.
Anyway, her uncle flew F-86′s over Korea, and he taught her how to alleviate the pressure…after that, she was good to go. We’ve flown all over the planet. US Coast to Coast, Europe, Iceland, Mexico, Caribbean, Central America, Canada, Wherever. You should have seen her during her first helicopter ride. She said, “we’re not moving”. Bwahahahah!!!
That right bank fall into the door, left bank fall into someone makes sense. I hadn’t thought of it that way… the fear of falling giving way to the fear of flying. I think you boiled it down to its basics.
I look forward to when my children are grown and moved on. I love them, I love us as a family, but I’m looking forward to all the things my husband and I can do when they have moved onto living independently. I don’t view it as a life ending experience when my kids move out, but as a whole new adventure.
What a great way to spend Black Friday!