Little Bears and Big Bodies of Water

I don't remember much about last night's sleep, which is always a good sign, and I woke up this morning to a mostly blue sky, with a few clouds here and there. Mike headed out for a bit, and I ambled downstairs to visit with Gigi, while she mixed up a batch of blueberry muffins (I am eating on the tall hog here...way high on the tall hog).

I also got a chance to meander through the yard, enjoying the natural charm of the pine needle carpet through the trees and shrubs in the back. Closer in to the house, I got to see some more unusual flowers, including a beautiful shamrock with purply triangles for flowers, as well as a couple others whose names escape me (one had leaves that were both green and hot pink...the leaves, not the flowers).

After a bit, Mike came back, and we had breakfast, after which he gathered up the new intercom system we were going to try, and radio, along with a hat and his emergency crash landing kit (containing a compass and mosquito spray). I grabbed a polar fleece vest and a hair comb, along with camera, and we headed off to the hangar.

Mike has a few items he wants Pony Tail Dan to check out and fix on his Piper Cub (he's the best fabric man around), and at the same time he was going to drop off his Cub at Dan's shop, he was going to pick up his Great Lakes bi-plane, which was there for servicing.

The Piper Cub is a cutie, and about as simple as you can get. There are no electronics, and no automation. Levers, needles and slides. I got to sit in the back seat, which was gracious of my pilot, since the front seat looked a little tight, and I was schooled on what to do in case the plane jumped the chock and started rolling while he was outside. He primed the gasoline three times, and a smidge. Wound the prop around three single times, and then gave it the big spin (come on Big Money!) It caught right away, and Mike let it idle for a little and then eased the throttle back a hair before swapping out the regular chocks for a 1 inch dowel in front of the wheel. He climbed in shortly thereafter, hopped the dowel, and we were taxiing down the runway. The only bummer turned out to be that the new intercom system didn't work, so I got to wear headphones and look snazzy, but they were just a noise barrier, and that's all.

With the plane being a tail dragger, the nose points up to the sky, and you really can't see out over the front, to see where you're going, so there's a bit of a swagger going on as it rolls left and right along to the runway to get a line of sight. Once we made our final turn, the throttle went up, we picked up speed and were airborne like the lightest thistledown being carried away. There wasn't any sensation of climbing, but you just noticed that the ground was suddenly falling away.

For the next 45 minutes or so, we flew west to Edenton, going across the Alligator River, the Albemarle Sound, little towns dotted here and there, kayakers, bridges, rusty house boats and wildlife preserves. Our altitude stayed right around 900 feet, and our speed maxed at 75, though we were averaging closer to 67 or so. There were a couple of dips from turbulence, but nothing that wasn't its own kind of fun. Pretty soon, I saw a long strip of cement ahead, with a few intersecting lanes that was the airport in Edenton. We'd been going around 2,100 rpm up to that point, but as he banked for the turn to line up with the runway, he dropped back to around 1400 rpm, and it was peaceful with how slow and quiet it was. We lined up and dropped down to the runway, with a slight bump, and then headed over to the hangars there.

Fred met us outside the hanger that housed Mike's other winged toy, the Great Lakes bi-plane. This one is a pretty blue, and definitely bigger than the Cub, but by no means a large plane. Fred and Mike got the accordion style hangar doors opened and then rolled the Great Lakes out, before pivoting the Cub around and backing it in. There was a minor search for Mike's headset that has a cloth helmet attached to it, but it turned out to be lurking under a seat in the plane, so that was all good. I got a tutorial on how to get into the front seat (no simple task) and then buckled up the harness once I was in. There are controls in the seat where I am (as there were in the Piper), and I got a quick rundown of what not to touch (simple...anything that moves). Mike got in and we headed out, sashaying down the runway again before lining up to take off. This plane had a bit more power than the Little Bear, and the wash from the propeller was noticeably stronger. Of course, all that is in front of me in the plane is a small windshield, where the Cub had a roof over top of it, so it's only natural that I get more air.

At any rate, we're off, climbing up to around 3,000 feet for the trip back. I recognize some of what we passed on the way in, although it looks a bit smaller when you're three times as high up. There were some clouds starting to roll in, though, and the temps were a bit chillier up high, so Mike came down closer to 2,000 feet for most of the way back.

The headset worked better in this plane, where I could hear Mike, but my side never would transmit, so he probably thought I was an awfully quiet passenger. We passed a CIA landing strip where you never want to have an emergency landing, we flew over the worst speed trap county in the state, and from up there, we could really see how little land there really is to the Outer Banks. Roanoke Island loomed before us shortly, and we were #2 in line to land.

As we did the final turn to come down to land, I leaned to the side so Mike could have a clear view of the runway. Again, bounced down lightly for touchdown and rolled on over to the hangar for the bi-plane. For this one, he has a dolly of sorts that will capture the rear wheel and raise it, so he can then maneuver the plane by pulling the dolly, and he towed the plane back into the hangar (which also had a couple of other motorcycles in it).

It was lunch time then, and we went to a local eatery called Darrell's, that had some super smelling barbecue smoke wafting outside. Mike said that Gigi rated their she crab soup as her #2 favorite, so I tried a cup of that, along with the barbecue plate with fries. I was afraid it would be too much, and true enough, I wasn't able to finish all the barbecue and fries, but dang, I gotta say that was some good she crab soup!

Once we got back to the house, it was nap time. Part of the SOP for the pilots where Mike works is to have quiet time from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m., and if possible, to avail themselves of sleep. Pretty nice to get paid to sleep, I'll say! Just as we were coming back from lunch, it was starting to sprinkle, so there wasn't much else to do outside anyway. I sawed logs until around 4, and then went out on the front porch to sit in a hammock swing to catch up on some knitting and enjoy the patter of the rain. Mike came out after a while, and then Gigi, and after a bit, Buddy, who is Mike's brother, and another resident here.

I knit on for a bit more, and came inside to a supper of nachos and quesadillas. Gigi also made a butter pecan layer cake, with cream cheese frosting that we got to sample later on. We had some great conversation around the table afterward, swapping stories of road trips and the adventures we've been on, and the ways God has worked out the seeming difficulties we've faced. If you ever get a chance, you should ask Mike about the Red Bull story, though. That's a classic!

Mike wandered off to read while Gigi and I chatted at the table, each with her netbook out, and showing pictures. I finally headed upstairs around 9:30 to start this and get it wrapped up before calling it a night. Tomorrow's forecast has scattered showers, so we might try to dodge a few, while I get to try out some of the different bikes that fill the two car garage downstairs. Even if it pours rain, though, I'm having a grand time, and will not feel ill used :)