So I call Hertz, member there too. They have a $35/day car. Cool. Sold. They'll be here in 30 minutes and charge me $50 to deliver because they are so far away. Ouch. They made it in an hour. He says "the low tire pressure light just came on so you might stop for air." I just look at him and he says "or it might be fine!" He drives away. Nothing visibly wrong with the car, though I can tell the back left tire is down. I get out on the road, and it's obviously gonna need air. The whole car is pulling, and not just in one direction-it obviously has a problem and there's no way he didn't feel that on his way there. I find a gas station, pull out the manual and see what tire pressures are supposed to be, use the free gauge and find that one tire is close to the right pressure, two are 15-17 psi low and that left rear isn't even registering anything on the gauge. I pay $1 and air up all four tires, muttering. Isn't this Hertz's job? What if I was an older or infirm person, or wasn't aware of where to find tire pressure numbers or how to air up tires? Would they have come to get me by the side of the road later?
Plug in my car charger to recharge my phone--the charging port doesn't work. Phone is down to 33% already and I'm using it for directions around Baltimore. Go to the hotel, can't check in yet, they need two more hours. So I drove to a nice restaurant and to have a lovely brunch with my whine. ;) After that things settled in. I ate. I got checked into the hotel. I tried to take a nap but the coffee I'd just had apparently kept me up.
So I looked up the nearest movie theater, and drove over to it, and it was an old-fashioned theater, regal looking, the kind where you used to dress up to attend. I went to see "Sully". I thought they did a good job with it, explaining how he felt, what they did and why, the process, etc. Even if they dramatized the NTSB a little, and frankly I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly how it did go, but the rest of it was factual, and he never once acted like he thought he was some hero. He said that it worked out because of everyone from controller to rescue workers to flight attendants, and after he listened to the 'tapes' for the first time, he and Jeff agreed that they were pleased, because they did their jobs. So all the controversy in pilot land about it is kind of annoying. Pilots do that about any movie that has aviation. They feel the need to pick or disparage. In this case they pick on a couple sim things that were off, and get on a high horse about how any pilot should be able to do that and it's no big deal and he's no hero he just did his job (which he said himself anyway). Yeah, well, it had never been done before and maybe you could do it too, Joe Stud Pilot, but he's the one who actually did, with 208 seconds to get it right, life or death. Love keyboard warriors. Just enjoy a movie that portrays aviation and pilots in a positive light for once, would that be so wrong? So I thought it was well done. When they told him all 155 people had survived, I could imagine what a relief that was.
That night for dinner I walked to a nearby restaurant and had crab stuffed fresh caught fish. Yeah, that was good stuff. Kaylee called me while I was sitting and hanging out, and we talked for like 45 minutes. I passed out pretty early, the day had started waaay too soon.
Nothing else of import. The next day was fine, we got home in nice weather, I was tired, drove Kaylee to band practice and back and ran errands and went to bed early!
This morning I went out to the airport and got the Cub out, and Steve and I went flying in it today. He did the flying and I rode along, we went over to Glenndale and he shot some landings there, then back to Kokomo. Just for an hour, but it was good to get up on a really nice, calm, pretty morning.
After lunch I had a lesson, and we were only up for .7, but it was fine. I ran to the store real quick after that, and then out to the school to pick up Kaylee and take her to her voice lesson, then run her home. After that I went back out to Kokomo and took up the T-6 for a little while, and I did more stalls. I still have more work to do but I need some ballast in the back for extra weight, because that has to be affecting the handling. I just didn't want to put a lot of oil in the back for weight because I don't want it slamming around back there if it gets a little crazy.
When I finished in the T-6, Steve was finishing with a student, so we met up at Wendy's for dinner, before he came home to work and I went back out to Kokomo for one last flight, a night flight in John's Bonanza. It was a beautiful night with a great sunset, calm winds, clear skies. Great weather and great flying days lately. It would be nice if that held out awhile longer, even if Fall is officially here. :)
The pictures are from the last few days, and really show again what I like best about what I do--the variety. Mavrx in a 172, FL190 and an instrument approach in the twin, low and slow and door open with Steve in a Cub, working on upset recovery in the T-6, and night flying in a TCBonanza.
One of the last Mavrx flights of the year.
Sunrise at 19,000'
Barometric pressure was set right--it's the first time I've landed 30 feet below the ground. ;)
The inside of the big theater.
This came up on the movie screen before the movie started.
More of the interior.
And the exterior.
Steve and I in the Cub.
I cropped me out of this one (mostly).
Probably the last flight in this T-6 for awhile.
Well, it was supposed to show the canopy and the blue sky and such, but I was actually pretty serious on this flight, it wasn't for the fun of it, and I can see my eyes behind the visor, and they look pretty serious to me...
Beautiful night flight.
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