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RV Christmas 
Subject: Rv Christmas 
From: austin (austin at uniserve.com) 
Date: Thu Dec 25 (2003) - 4:17 PM 

Hi Listers , 

And a merry Christmas and even better New Year to you all. 

Another Christmas. 

And where are we with the RV, our timeline, and mission statement ..flying 
wise ? 

A mystical day, in a sense, Christmas before the frenzy of driving, dinner, 
family, kids, job, time,...more time we need to get to where we want to 
be...RV wise, we don't talk about it much, we just have this goal.... 
Finish it and fly it...consummation...... 

And for those fortunate to be done, time on our side and finished, the 
hangar door is our holy grail... 

In my part of the world, rain was forecast, but as usual, they are only 50 % 
right...Expert weather man that I am, I am batting just as good an average 
as the TV weather man, in that my forecast says that the weather today will 
be much like it was yesterday...and my average is pretty good. 
Yes, there is a cloudbase about 3,000...but light and pink underneath and 
light wind. 

A good day to fly when so many others have other things to do and agendas of 
far more import. 

Do you secretly sense a kind of thrill when you unlock the hangar door and 
see your RV spinner the first to greet you and tell you that all the work 
and time and money and lies and budget fudging are standing here, waiting 
for you to open the doors all the way and let me out and start the engine 
and listen to nothing else but the prop and exhaust and the monotone of ATIS 
and finally lift your gaze to clear taxi ? 

Even though I try each time to stay straight on the painted line as 
throttle up pulls me along, I always stagger a bit and before I can feel I 
have command enough to make this horse track straight...the wheels are no 
longer exacting any drag for they are free of the tarmac and we are rising 
swiftly. 

It is as easy as that ! 

I don't even mind the noise, and it drowns everything else, but I have 
things to do, and enjoying the falling away landscape seems to be the 
uppermost .. 

Turn off the boost pump, trim a bit, throttle the noise back, get a smug 
smile at what the GPS is saying and look around.....ain't this a special way 
to spend part of a Christmas day ?... 

Later, at the table, with family dear, and kids and spouses and 
in-laws....this is a special time of get together and values, but an RV 
pilot has already had their " religious experience " this day... 
Ever been to a stadium out of season ? when all the seats are empty 
and the crowd and noise are but a memory ? 

Weird. 

Well, landing at a normally busy field on Christmas day to find it empty, 
the coffee shop closed and dark and no other sounds of airplanes starting up 
or taxiing in is equally weird.... 

Are we the only airplane guys in the sky today ? 

Heading home with the wind at our backs and GPS telling amazing stories, 
home field appears at 10 o'clock and nobody else is talking to the 
tower...at first, I wonder if the radio is working....no voices.... 
But good old radio does work and a voice bids " straight in " from 6 miles 
out....or more.... 

My landings are never the same as to how far out I get serious, but finally 
I quit looking at the airspeed and just how high or low the nose seems to be 
from the paint lines and somehow the RV finds her own glidepath and the 
tires kiss the blacktop.......now rolling out is something else again 
because I think I am a lousy pilot and I get a shimmy and try to kill it by 
back pressure, and it works...for a while.....by this time...it is time to 
clear active and why I have to monitor ground beats me as there is no other 
life around...but home we go and put her away and before closing the doors, 
my hand on the cowling feels the warmth of life and I sense the wonder of 
all these parts that bore me up once more for my " fix ".... 

I believe I am addicted.... 

At locking up, my thoughts turn to those I have known or read about who no 
longer have a Christmas for whatever reason and those who made it safe for 
me to enjoy what others paid the ultimate price for me to savor. 
God bless you all, and those forever young.. 

Austin.