Finally

Today was legit hopping. At 5:45 am I was woken up by the sound of a huge thunderstorm. Over the room air conditioning, over my white noise app by my head, booming thunder, heavy winds, and hail. I pull up my phone and see a massive line of storms over us and headed to the airport, where BOB was sitting outside. Nothing I could do about it, either. So I laid in bed until 6:15 or so and then just got up and got to it.

We got out to the airport to find first thing the two port-o-pots had been blown over and the lemonade stand was upside down with the pop up tent over it destroyed. Got closer to see two more destroyed pop up tents. Got in the gate and saw that the Navion had moved out of its chocks, and a metal set of stairs had flipped upside down right by the wing of it.  FIFI’s nose had moved and one of its pitot covers was on the ramp. I go running to BOB first thing, it’s covered in water/raindrops, and I go searching for damage. Not a thing. It’s sitting there like a wet, grungy tank. It hadn’t moved. All the plugs and covers stayed in. Fabric was fine. It was fine. All the other planes were in the hangars so they were fine, but they didn’t have room for BOB last night. I was so glad to see everything still looking good. That was scary for a minute there.

The rides started slow for me. By the time I got the oil done and everything prepped for rides, I was already sweating like a pig, because it’s humid as hell out here. I get out of the shower, eat breakfast, go to the airport, prep the plane for 40 minutes, and bam, I’m sweat balls. I hate that.

My first ride came slowly. I had one young man who bought a ride first thing, and then had to wait for more people. A second guy bought a ride.  Right when I got two more, the second guy said he had to leave and moved over to the Stearman the next day. *sigh* I take that first flight up, and since nobody had bought a front seat, I gave it to the kid who bought the ride first early that morning and waited two hours to be able to go.  He loved it, I let him fly it, and afterwards I signed his logbook, so I made it worth his while, and I appreciated his patience.

I had a little girl who says she’s going to be a Navy Fighter Pilot. She wanted me to sign her logbook too. And the next flight was a little boy who said he was going to be a Navy Fighter Pilot too. He said he was influenced by Top Gun: Maverick.  I let him fly too, and he kept saying how excited he was, how he’d been waiting for this, and how this was his dream come true.  I had a plane full of relatives of Rocky, the main ramp guy, and I gave them a fun ride. An older Commercial pilot I convinced to go.  Every time I landed, the desk texted me that they had another flight for me.  Once it started rolling, it started ROLLING.  They told me lunch was there but I told them I’d fly the people here while they were here, and I just kept going. I had two people bring me a bottle of water, otherwise, I did it all on my own. My own oil, prepping, briefing, loading, buckling. Flying. Talking. Landing, taxiing, parking, unloading, chit chatting afterwards, then standing there and trying to sell the next rides. But the rides came so fast today I didn’t have to do much selling after the first two hours, and I LOVE that so much better. I can do all the work, but if I don’t have to do the selling, I am so much happier. Even though I flew 8 rides and am beat, I am not as beat as I was yesterday standing outside in the sun all day talking for hours trying to sell rides only to give just two of them.  This is so much better.

I had to get gas before my last flight of the day, and their ladder doesn’t go all the way up to my wing. Usually I hang on the engine and the window, but the engines were steaming hot, and I burnt my hand trying to get up there. Still hurts, 4 hours later!  I may have to do something different. I did get a laugh though, and I don’t even know the whole story. I’m up on the wing and I hear one line guy murmur something, and the other guy said “Dude, she’s a Twin Beech pilot. It’s all good, trust me.”

I stuck the photos in the middle and I can’t move them. So here they are, then the rest of the story.  lol

The crowd watching Fifi

Gunfighter

Blown over port-o-pots and stuff

Destroyed tents, upside down metal things, Navion moved out of its chocks

Nasty sweaty me at 8 am after getting the stupid plane ready to go for the day.

Ended the flights, and it took me awhile to put BOB back to bed. Again, on my own. I was the last one done and they kept yelling at me to hurry up. I get back over there for the debrief and I’m again covered in sweat because that’s sweaty work. We’re going to a guy named Chris’s house. He’s a T-6 guy, lives in a mansion on a grass strip. We don’t shower first. I have no face on, I’m sunburnt, sweaty, and very nasty, and have been all day. We go to his white mansion and sit outside on his porch facing the runway, porch with a fireplace and a giant tv mounted, etc.  Lumpy and Jeff are there, we ate burgers, we hung out, and then I got back to the hotel to do a load of laundry. My pants, my shirts, my socks, everything is just too bad after TWO DAYS, I had to do a load.

I’m going to be here until late Monday, so…two more days.  I can do it. Tomorrow we have to be down at the hotel lobby by 7 am. That’s early. But I can do it, right?  Right.