Pride Can Be A Good Thing

If I thought My Baby looked good inside a dark hangar, you can imagine how my heart went pitter-pat when we pulled it outside to leave for home yesterday morning. The metallic Blue Ocean paint just sparkles! And the orange really pops next to the dark stripes. I've never seen an airplane so white and am actually looking forward to keeping it this clean! Winter flying makes that a little easier with way fewer bugs, but slush can make a mess of an airplane, too. My Baby was pulled to the self-pump Jet A gas tank, where we added fifty gallons into each wing. We needed to be light enough to take off on such a short runway, but also have enough fuel to make a twenty-mile trip to Portland, Maine to get a ton of fuel for the long trip home.

I would like to mention that a camera lens cannot quite capture how miserably cold it was. The temperature was eight degrees before considering the 30-knot wind gusts taking place. My teeth ached when I smiled, which naturally happened each time I looked at this new airplane. After we got some fuel, the gas-powered tug died because it was so cold! I couldn't have been happier to leave such a location.

Our flight to Portland was short and uneventful, except the wild bumps we felt as we descended to the airport. Who needs to pay for a roller coaster when you have moderate turbulence at your fingertips? The airplane was truly tested with a 20-knot direct crosswind on touchdown. We taxied to the FBO to take on as much fuel as the airplane could handle. 733 gallons total! Then we climbed aboard for a nice, long flight west towards home.

We made a pit stop in Salina, Kansas, though we weren't initially expecting to get that far. The forecasted winds aloft were a little lower than anticipated, so we made it another few hundred miles before needing to stop. Flower Aviation is always so good to us, and we are sometimes there a few times each week as we travel across the country. Within twenty minutes, we had fuel, paid the bill, grabbed a few chocolate chip cookies, and were airborne again for our last leg home.

I always feel a little emotional when I sit in the seat and look out my windscreen. I marvel at the wonderful job I have, the incredible opportunities to see the world. All from the perfect "office." It felt magical to be flying again, and even better that no major pieces fell off the airplane in flight! It's hard to match the feeling I get behind the controls of an airplane. 

Welcome home, My Baby. I'm so glad you're done!

Oxford, Maine (81B) - Portland, Maine (KPWM) - Salina, Kansas (KSLN) - Willy-Gateway Mesa (KIWA)