W o r d s   F r o m   A u s t i n
Home > Articles > Austin > Ya Gotta Wonder

Ya Gotta Wonder

Yes, you do gotta wonder what kind of a world you enter when you get the old
bird flying and dream of what the hell you are going to do next to throw gas
on the fire of the dream that got you thinking about building and flying a
special hot rod like we have.
      I have flown an RV before and sold the dream machine only that I may
go on to do more than I thought I could by building another with more stuff
and more snot than I think I could handle.
  I do have a few snags to fix...I ain't an electrical genius or any other
kind if genius, but I have had to work through a few gremlins before I can
get the hours off and fling myself any place they have fuel....
        So I called my respected and awesome friend, who shall remain
nameless ere he gets embarrassed by knowing me....suffice to say he is well
respected and has mega hours on everything...and is getting grey and hard of
hearing from those radials by the day.....anyway, I lay on my sad story
about snags and how when this is done, I am going clawing for altitude to
get over the rocks and head out his way and carry on to farther reaches....
He says. "Great !..tell me when and we will hook up and fly up to the Arctic
circle just for the hell of it .....it is no bigee to just keep going ..the
RV is fast and comfortable...and we can have a great time...."
Now, I say, you just gotta wonder...this would never happen to me to fly up
to the Tundra in a magic carpet I built, if it wasn't for these
airplanes...in company with one of the most respected and fly savvy wonderful
guys you could ever hook up with......him and GPS...and the landscape will
look the same from windshield to past the horizon, where no man lives and
only Caribou call home....them and the bears....
Floats would be as useful as wheels up here...cell phones might save your
a** if you get onto an ice floe that breaks off from the main pack....but
the sun will either shine forever or not at all, depending on when you go
there.
   The hoot is, we are both senior citizens who forget to turn the turn
signal off and younger folk can't wait to pass when we are on the
road....with an RV, age is only a number....how lucky you 30ish guys are
that you have so many more years to enjoy it !!
       There are strips in the far North where it costs $500 to open the
hangar doors due to heat loss, and maybe $1500 to have some fuel cached for
you....but I don't think we will need our parkas and reindeer hide outfits
when we plan to see the Northern Lights....
    I looked at an airways map today which covers the whole country, coast
to coast...Man! that is a long way...I wonder what the fuel bill will
be...money well spent just the same..
    Someone once told me that a long cross country was just a matter of a
few short, point to point trips...with that in mind, I know it can be
done...
There are many long distance stories about  RV flights and most of them
never written about, but just think a while about the guy who flew around
the world twice in an RV4, and then almost pole to pole as well....about
another guy who flew to Costa Rica, and Claudio Tonnini who flew Purple
Passion down to Argentina...twice...
None of these guys let graft and red tape get in the way of a dream...
At least where I am headed one day, the wolves and Caribou only take a toll
on each other...no beaurocrats in shoulder brass to rush out and grab a fee
or stamp your papers....
       I see the fog and mist has lifted, and the sun is peeking out of the
Indian Summer sky, and there is daylight left to go fly a while before early
dusk ........
    Just up off the field at 1500, I can suddenly see all the red and gold
of the trees below...better than any other year, and I head off to the river
and point her down and watch the speed build and as the river twists and
sand bars catch the bends and the weary, beaten red bodies of the salmon
run, I have scarce time to watch it as I climb up over a Hemlock laden pass
with the first touches of snow and turn right and down again, still doing
200, and there, at once, is the flood plain, green and civilized and safe,
and radio calls come into the headset to tell me the field below is open and
coffee and pie await......
         That's all there is time for as darkness is coming and although I
can see for 30 miles or so, and the horizon is still pink over black, the
home field is hard to find because all below is black and there is no
contrast...no feature to pick out in that time between twilight and when car
lights come on.
       I have my strobes on and am trying out my wig-wag landing lights, and
I have found the ferry where it crosses the river and head straight South
from there....home is 3 miles away...
The tower folks are still there, but not for long, and they tell me they can
see my wig-wag very well and there is no other traffic.
I am cleared straight in and that is always nice and I get set up early and
all I have to do is wait and watch speed and descent....I can see a black
strip and silver roofed hangars and know I am lined up right and soon I
cross over the road above the roof of a pickup, just putting his lights on,
and Vasi lights look pretty and tell me I am high and I stop looking and
settle just past the numbers and hear "chirp chirp "...sounds like a decent
one, and taxi home...
Cowling feels good and smells good and ticking starts and I say "Goodnight" 
and head out the gate.........
There is one flyer left, and he sits above on the lamp post and keeps his
perch since I am not stopping....he used to fly off when anything
approached, but now this big Hawk owns the field and is looking for other
types of movement.....
   The wind sock is swinging a bit and is lit from within, and is so
different from daytime and because it is a beacon now....pretty lights
coming on and streams of light flow down the road to where home and hearth
await....time to fill in the logbook and try to drive a bit slower than 75,
now that I am on the ground......
     Ya gotta wonder....what can be better than this other than flying in
company with a pal?

Good night all,
Austin - 6430 @ axion.net