Day 986

The last few days have been painful and very uncomfortable. I guess in hind sight I might have been better off staying on the ground. There is no fool like an old fool, but this old fool had a fun filled few hours. Maybe it was worth it all, feeling the old hart beating fast again, what a rush.

That morning I pushed the little plane out of the hanger and tied it off and set the brake. I prim the fuel and set the choke and spun the prop, nothing happen. I did it again and again, still nothing. Maybe then I should have walked away, but it started the day before and the run up showed no signs of weakness. So I kept trying, until finely it sputtered to life. I threw my stuff in the back and jump behind the controls. I ran up the engine and went through what I could remember of the pre flight check list. I pulled lose the slip knot and pulled the rope inside, released the brake and the little plane that could, did. It started to roll, I used the peddles to steer and clumsily made my way to the runway. I was a kid again, behind the controls of a big toy. But this time I did not have to make the engine sounds or imagine the thrill, I felt it. It was the most alive I have felt in a long, long time. I taxied on to the runway and said a prayer. I ran the engine up one more time and all seemed good. So I let my toes slip off the top of the rudder peddles releasing the brakes and pushed the throttle in, the plane came to life. I tried to hold it center line going down the runway, but I was out of practice. But the little plane kind of took over as the wind rushed past the rudder and the wings and forced it straighter. The airspeed came up to what I remember being good for take off and I pulled back on the yoke very slightly. I remember what my instructor once told me, airplanes want to fly, they feel clumsy on the ground but once in the air they want to fly, you just got to let them. As the angle of the wing change and it cut into the air, the wheels left the ground and I was airborne, I had always felt I was born to fly. And here I was once again, living out my childhood fantasy.

Mama I want to fly and be a pilot when I grow up…..”I’m sure you do” she said with a condescending pat on the head. Dad can I take flying lessons? “Maybe you could if you'd save your money instead of spending it all”. I think I will join the Air National Guard and learn to fly, “you know they want smart people they don’t let just any one fly you have to go to collage”. One negative comment after another and I let them talk me out of doing what I wanted to do (or worst yet I talk myself out of it). If only once some one had said, you can do anything; maybe I would have believed it my self. But I spent my life staring up at the sky and wondering. Finely someone believed in me and later in life on one special birthday gave me few flying lessons and I kept it up until I soon got my license. I spent a few years flying and proved to myself that I was smart enough and I was right, it felt like something I was born to do. But I was too old and had too much responsibility to make a career out of it by then. So I flew when I could and finally stop when I could afford it no longer. But today I’m on a free ride and I have left the ground behind!

I circled the pattern and tried a few touch and goes to see if I could remember how to land. I did okay, a little rough, but I was sure I could make it on the ground safe when the time came. I saw I-90 and followed it east, since I had no chart or maps for flying I relied on ground references and follow the highway. I decided I would continue on I-90 since I was flying and would make better time. So maybe I will make it to the Great lakes again. I got it up to 3000 feet and the air was brisk and the land was beautiful from up on top. From this view you would have never guessed what had happened below. After an hour I came up on the town of Lacrosse Wisconsin. I knew because I was crossing the Mississippi river below and into another state. I saw the airport and knew it had to be Lacrosse according to the map. I thought about landing at the airport but I did not want to take a chance of not being able to start it again. So I headed on east and kept a look out for my next land marks. The little town of Toma was next where I will turn onto highway I-94 and head toward Milwaukee.


As I spotted the town of Toma I heard the engine cough so I adjusted the throttle to see if it would help, it did not. The engine hesitated and then died, I tried several restarts but no luck; this was it, I’m out of fuel. I found a spot on the highway to set it down, so I line it up as best I could and went into the best glide slop possible. Everything was going fine until I missed spotting some high power lines going across the highway. The tail caught on the wire and sent me into a spin and I wound up crashing into some trees on the side of the highway. I spent the rest of that day and the next trying to get down with my bang up head and twisted leg. I’m on the ground now camping out and trying to heal up before I start walking on down the road. Earth bound again, I guess where I should have stayed, but it sure was a kick in the pants, while it lasted.


A mosquito bit me. First one I’ve had in a long time. I slit the skin at the bite mark and suck out as much poison as I could, but now I will have to wait and see. I have been so careful, I hope I do not die from a stupid bite now……….I would have rather died in the crash. Please don’t let me die like that…..please!




Go To Day 994