Day 11 - An Offer I Couldn't Refuse

That's right friends, the theme for tonight's post is the great American classic film, The Godfather. It is the movie that I chose to stick in the DVD player tonight to break the evening silence of the airport, and that's what we'll use as a backdrop for tonight's entry. I might even throw in a few references to the movie, who knows? So for the duration of this post, please imagine Italian music playing in your mind's ear. Thank you, and enjoy the blog.

More miserable weather, more simulator time. The good news is that one of the fine people that I've met at the airport happens to be a kind, older fellow named Edwin; "Ed" colloquially. I refer to Ed as older merely because he has gray hair, but that's about the only thing that betrays his true age. He's got a firecracker personality, and is an outstanding pilot. He should be, after all, he is a retired Gulfstream jet captain, and actually trained NASA pilots. Yeah. He rocks.

Today, Ed did, in fact, make me an offer I couldn't refuse: to fly with him to McMinnville and back. Ed makes frequent trips there for various reasons, and today was my lucky day. I was honored and grateful that he invited me along on his flight to McMinnville, on the day of his flight to McMinnville. My first order of business was to contact the family and advise them that I would be coming in briefly for a quick turnaround, because a man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man.

Shortly after 1 in the afternoon we were underway; Ed in the left seat, me in the right. It's very strange to be in the right seat after you've flown in the left for so long. It's amazing how much difference a few inches makes. How do people drive cars like that, anyway? It doesn't make sense. At any rate, I didn't care. I was flying. What more could I ask for?

It was a little bumpy, but all in all a great flight. The south really is a beautiful place to fly. The scenery is amazing. Anyway, we made quick time to McVegas thanks to a generous tailwind (it would become our enemy on the way home). It was refreshing to see the old homestead from the air. Our route of flight took us right over several nostalgic points, including one of my old stations from my EMS days, and our downwind leg took us right over my house! After landing we were able to see the folks for a while, and they got to meet Ed. After a quick turnaround, we were Bama-bound again. On the way back, we flew over Huntsville (see the photo at right) and the Marshall Space Flight Center. That's the point where I learned about Ed's days training NASA pilots to fly the Gulfstream, and some of his other exploits. It's really amazing to me that I have met some of the people that I have at this airport. It doesn't make any difference to me what a man does for a living, you understand, but the collective list of accomplishments of some of the people on this field is really amazing. And like Ed did today, they have all gone way above and beyond the call of duty to be pleasant, friendly, and helpful to me. It's like they have a personal stake in the success of a young pilot, and do everything they can to help me. I hope I can return the favor one day.
The even better news is that I'm going to get to go home for the weekend! The weather is not all expected to cooperate with what we need to accomplish, so I'm gonna get to go home and visit! I'm really really looking forward to it. Seeing Warren County again today reignited the homesick spark, so after we finish up our day tomorrow I'm headed north! I'll keep you all updated, naturally, and maybe I'll even get to see some of you.
Oh, and as a side note, I'm initiating a little contest to see if you can figure out how many Godfather quotes/allusions I made within this post (the title does not count). I'm trying to encourage more comment posts since some of you are beginning to slip! Slackers!!! We'll figure out some sort of prize or recognition for the winner. No purchase necessary to win, void where prohibited. Good luck to all who attempt!


And may your first child be a masculine child.

Joey