Before we went to sleep I got to talk to Tyler at length and finally figured out why he looked semi familiar. We had played high school foot ball together. He was a full back and I was a wide receiver. That was how Brianna had known my actual name as Tyler and her had talked about me occasional landing my plane at the grass strip at my place.
Jacob had been my Great Great grandfather's name and Allen was my Great grandfather's name. Benson was my family name as it was a tradition to name the newborns after some past relative. Everyone I knew just called me Jay.
As we were departing I told both Brianna and Tyler I would leave their ATV in their hanger as Tyler had already given me a key to get inside. After many thanks and hugs and handshakes we were on our way.
I drove the ATV to the paved road and then got Sally to drive so I could ride shot gun just in case. The day was overcast but I figured the scud layer would burn off by ten or eleven O'clock or by sometime after we arrived at the airport. Brianna had to shut the door on Cally or she would have tried to follow us along side the ATV. Goodbye Cally and Dennis....
We were only 4.5 miles from the airport so we made a good uneventful journey to our destination.
While Sally was driving the ATV she had time to reflect on what had happened this last week and also spend a considerable amount of thought time on Jay's actions, or no actions. Sally was used to guys fawning over her and basically wanting to kiss her butt, which she hated. Even when she had come out of the lake with the wet shirt she had not noticed the proverbial rise out of Jay as he was all business. Maybe it was the baggy pants she mused to herself. She knew Jay liked girls as she had seen him with many different ladies at social functions and even a few times with him going to an airshow or someplace in one of his aircraft; he owned two ! Probably why he was not married..... again she smiled to herself..
Sally knew Jay was very task orientated as she had watched him practice and practice his acrobatic routine 100s of times over his Farm burning enough gas at yesterday's gas prices..... that could have bought a really nice car for herself instead of the Aviation gas.. Yep a woman would have clipped his wings for sure....she chuckled.
Jay was an Airline Captain and had more free time on his hands than most working people could only ever fantasize about.
He would be gone for three or four days a week and then he would have three or four days off. Sometimes he would leave and come back the same day flying what he called turns for the airline. Fly to someplace and drop off the passengers load back up and return to his home base all in a days work. Jay was a check airman which paid more than just a line Captain could make but even so she had seen his paycheck receipt on his home desk once that was an astounding $21,000 for a months work. She figured that amount was actually for 14 days actual work. Sally was envious of the money but she knew Jay had worked long and hard sacrificing much to get to his station of life before everything went to hell.
The Wind Sock airport was coming up on their left so Sally slowed to give them enough time to survey the place from the road. She could not see any movement at the airport so she slowly drove the ATV upon the airport grounds. There was an automatic gate that would open after pressing a code into a security box but the auto portion was not working. Jay got off the ATV and released the latch for the auto function and slid the gate open upon its rollers. The fence and gate were mostly to keep the deer and the critters away from the paved runway and the grass strip which was also used by certain aircraft. There had not been a case of thievery in many years at Wind Sock as Ben the owner was known to shoot first and ask questions later. Again she drove slowly trying to will the ATV to make as little noise as possible .
As she drove down hanger row everything looked normal except there were no hanger doors open with people working on their aircraft or socializing with other Wind Sock based flyers.
After finding the number of Tyler's hanger and seeing the door was closed Jay said to go ahead and drive to Ben's hanger house, which she headed for after clearing the last hanger on hanger row.
As she pulled up before the hanger Ben came out on the upper story deck with what looked like a 30.06 scoped deer rifle slung under his arm. He took one look at Jay and Sally and gave a thumbs up as he disappeared back into the top story of his house to come down stairs and open the lower story house door. His home was built two stories high in this large hanger which could comfortably fit his 3000+foot house and at least 8 aircraft depending on their size. Jay kept his two aircraft in Ben's hanger under Ben's protective eye..
"Damn I am glad to see you guys ! I have not seen or heard of anyone for maybe 6 days now. No traffic no planes and no one coming to the airport. all the cell phones and land lines are dead." Come in, come in, and have something cool to drink..... please as my ice is just about gone from the ice machine so we might as well use it or lose it."
It was good to see Ben and be around his bubbly type personality. While Ben was getting the drinks Jay excused himself to go and look at his aircraft which were covered in sheets in the hanger. Jay and Ben returned within a few seconds of each other; Ben with a big smile and three glasses of ice tea and Jay with a look of dejection.
Ben while looking at Jay said, "Let me guess you tried the battery switch on your birds and they were both dead"?
Jay nodded his head and replied, " I did not check the wiring but I assume it is toast like all the other wiring harnesses I have checked.
Ben agreed as everything he had checked to include his house wiring had been fried and turned to carbon. Ben had been extremely surprised and happy to see the ATV running as we approached so, now it was story telling time. Sally told Ben everything except the guy who had ended up with his brains fertilizing some grass back at the lake.
When she finished Ben just shook his head and like all of us wondered what was going on.
I told Ben that Tyler's hanger was grounded and supposedly EMP proof but I still had my doubts because the symptoms of the fried to carbon wires did not sound like any kind of EMP I had ever heard of.
"Well there is one way to find out for sure so lets go have a look see" was Ben's response.
We all three walked the 100 yards to Tyler's hanger and the anticipation was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Once I opened the hanger door and approached the cockpit of the Maule for a power check I looked a Sally and Ben as they both had their fingers crossed.. Battery switch on and there was "POWER"!
I could have kissed this ugly bird as there was a time in my life I would not have been caught flying something like a Maule. They were great bush aircraft, short field (as long as the engine did not quit) and landing capable but were slower than anything I cared to fly as most of my trips were out of state so I wanted something that could at least do 200+ .... The only way you could get a Maule up to 200 would be to point the nose straight down and rip the blasted wings off it !! But beggars can not be choosers unless the Camel Fleas come upon them in their sleep.
Tyler's Maule did not have the tundra tires which surprised me but did have the standard Maule tires. The bird would be great for getting airborne and doing some scouting as i could land the Maule just about anyplace with wing clearance. I grabbed the Maule's handbook/flight manual and thumbed through the pages I was interested in. After I checked the fuel and oil I was pleased to find the bird was topped off on fuel and was a half quart low on the oil; perfect.
Ben and Sally helped me pull the aircraft out of the hanger and once clear I got inside to start the beast. Sally wanted to go but I told her to stay and come get the body if I crashed...She had a puzzled look on her face and then just shook her head and said, " If you crash do not worry about the airplane as I will shoot you myself " as she began to shut the door she paused and looking concerned said, "You know I was just joking don't you" then she blew a kiss at me and moved away.
Humm
Mixture rich, Battery on, fuel pump on with fuel pressure rising, and the bird started on the second turn of the prop. After checking the engine gauges and assuring myself everything was in the green or approaching the green I started to taxi out to the paved runway. I checked the controls for freedom of movement and did a Mag check at the recommended 1700 RPM. I then ran a quick before take off check list and lined up on the runway after broadcasting on 122.80 of the Maule's VHF radio of my intentions to the world.
Jacob had been my Great Great grandfather's name and Allen was my Great grandfather's name. Benson was my family name as it was a tradition to name the newborns after some past relative. Everyone I knew just called me Jay.
As we were departing I told both Brianna and Tyler I would leave their ATV in their hanger as Tyler had already given me a key to get inside. After many thanks and hugs and handshakes we were on our way.
I drove the ATV to the paved road and then got Sally to drive so I could ride shot gun just in case. The day was overcast but I figured the scud layer would burn off by ten or eleven O'clock or by sometime after we arrived at the airport. Brianna had to shut the door on Cally or she would have tried to follow us along side the ATV. Goodbye Cally and Dennis....
We were only 4.5 miles from the airport so we made a good uneventful journey to our destination.
While Sally was driving the ATV she had time to reflect on what had happened this last week and also spend a considerable amount of thought time on Jay's actions, or no actions. Sally was used to guys fawning over her and basically wanting to kiss her butt, which she hated. Even when she had come out of the lake with the wet shirt she had not noticed the proverbial rise out of Jay as he was all business. Maybe it was the baggy pants she mused to herself. She knew Jay liked girls as she had seen him with many different ladies at social functions and even a few times with him going to an airshow or someplace in one of his aircraft; he owned two ! Probably why he was not married..... again she smiled to herself..
Sally knew Jay was very task orientated as she had watched him practice and practice his acrobatic routine 100s of times over his Farm burning enough gas at yesterday's gas prices..... that could have bought a really nice car for herself instead of the Aviation gas.. Yep a woman would have clipped his wings for sure....she chuckled.
Jay was an Airline Captain and had more free time on his hands than most working people could only ever fantasize about.
He would be gone for three or four days a week and then he would have three or four days off. Sometimes he would leave and come back the same day flying what he called turns for the airline. Fly to someplace and drop off the passengers load back up and return to his home base all in a days work. Jay was a check airman which paid more than just a line Captain could make but even so she had seen his paycheck receipt on his home desk once that was an astounding $21,000 for a months work. She figured that amount was actually for 14 days actual work. Sally was envious of the money but she knew Jay had worked long and hard sacrificing much to get to his station of life before everything went to hell.
The Wind Sock airport was coming up on their left so Sally slowed to give them enough time to survey the place from the road. She could not see any movement at the airport so she slowly drove the ATV upon the airport grounds. There was an automatic gate that would open after pressing a code into a security box but the auto portion was not working. Jay got off the ATV and released the latch for the auto function and slid the gate open upon its rollers. The fence and gate were mostly to keep the deer and the critters away from the paved runway and the grass strip which was also used by certain aircraft. There had not been a case of thievery in many years at Wind Sock as Ben the owner was known to shoot first and ask questions later. Again she drove slowly trying to will the ATV to make as little noise as possible .
As she drove down hanger row everything looked normal except there were no hanger doors open with people working on their aircraft or socializing with other Wind Sock based flyers.
After finding the number of Tyler's hanger and seeing the door was closed Jay said to go ahead and drive to Ben's hanger house, which she headed for after clearing the last hanger on hanger row.
As she pulled up before the hanger Ben came out on the upper story deck with what looked like a 30.06 scoped deer rifle slung under his arm. He took one look at Jay and Sally and gave a thumbs up as he disappeared back into the top story of his house to come down stairs and open the lower story house door. His home was built two stories high in this large hanger which could comfortably fit his 3000+foot house and at least 8 aircraft depending on their size. Jay kept his two aircraft in Ben's hanger under Ben's protective eye..
"Damn I am glad to see you guys ! I have not seen or heard of anyone for maybe 6 days now. No traffic no planes and no one coming to the airport. all the cell phones and land lines are dead." Come in, come in, and have something cool to drink..... please as my ice is just about gone from the ice machine so we might as well use it or lose it."
It was good to see Ben and be around his bubbly type personality. While Ben was getting the drinks Jay excused himself to go and look at his aircraft which were covered in sheets in the hanger. Jay and Ben returned within a few seconds of each other; Ben with a big smile and three glasses of ice tea and Jay with a look of dejection.
Ben while looking at Jay said, "Let me guess you tried the battery switch on your birds and they were both dead"?
Jay nodded his head and replied, " I did not check the wiring but I assume it is toast like all the other wiring harnesses I have checked.
Ben agreed as everything he had checked to include his house wiring had been fried and turned to carbon. Ben had been extremely surprised and happy to see the ATV running as we approached so, now it was story telling time. Sally told Ben everything except the guy who had ended up with his brains fertilizing some grass back at the lake.
When she finished Ben just shook his head and like all of us wondered what was going on.
I told Ben that Tyler's hanger was grounded and supposedly EMP proof but I still had my doubts because the symptoms of the fried to carbon wires did not sound like any kind of EMP I had ever heard of.
"Well there is one way to find out for sure so lets go have a look see" was Ben's response.
We all three walked the 100 yards to Tyler's hanger and the anticipation was so thick you could have cut it with a knife. Once I opened the hanger door and approached the cockpit of the Maule for a power check I looked a Sally and Ben as they both had their fingers crossed.. Battery switch on and there was "POWER"!
I could have kissed this ugly bird as there was a time in my life I would not have been caught flying something like a Maule. They were great bush aircraft, short field (as long as the engine did not quit) and landing capable but were slower than anything I cared to fly as most of my trips were out of state so I wanted something that could at least do 200+ .... The only way you could get a Maule up to 200 would be to point the nose straight down and rip the blasted wings off it !! But beggars can not be choosers unless the Camel Fleas come upon them in their sleep.
Tyler's Maule did not have the tundra tires which surprised me but did have the standard Maule tires. The bird would be great for getting airborne and doing some scouting as i could land the Maule just about anyplace with wing clearance. I grabbed the Maule's handbook/flight manual and thumbed through the pages I was interested in. After I checked the fuel and oil I was pleased to find the bird was topped off on fuel and was a half quart low on the oil; perfect.
Ben and Sally helped me pull the aircraft out of the hanger and once clear I got inside to start the beast. Sally wanted to go but I told her to stay and come get the body if I crashed...She had a puzzled look on her face and then just shook her head and said, " If you crash do not worry about the airplane as I will shoot you myself " as she began to shut the door she paused and looking concerned said, "You know I was just joking don't you" then she blew a kiss at me and moved away.
Humm
Mixture rich, Battery on, fuel pump on with fuel pressure rising, and the bird started on the second turn of the prop. After checking the engine gauges and assuring myself everything was in the green or approaching the green I started to taxi out to the paved runway. I checked the controls for freedom of movement and did a Mag check at the recommended 1700 RPM. I then ran a quick before take off check list and lined up on the runway after broadcasting on 122.80 of the Maule's VHF radio of my intentions to the world.