muttly
02-13-2002, 04:10 PM
Hangar Tales
Chapter Four
"Showtime"
For each day of the past month,with the exception of our shopping
venture to the boneyard at Monthan and over to Chino in the "Lady",Mav and Izzy
had been tearin up the sky gettin ready for their respective airshow
engagements,at first ,with Mav in the Crusader and Izzy in the Black Bunny
Phantom,and now this past week with a pair of re-built and hopped up F-18
"Super Hornets" that I picked up at the boneyard and Alastair got the nod over
to the Old Hangar and was tearin around the sky in a P-51D "Stang"re-powered
with a racing version Griffon motor. Snoop and myself were impressed with the
airshow routines that they had come up with and each day enjoyed the show
before the show watchin'em go through the routines and listenin to the spotters
correct them. Our neighbors that lived around us were for the most part enjoyin
the shows too,although we did have one gent and his wife pitch a snit one
morning that the boys took off just a wee tad to early and startled the rooster
so to speak. I took their complaint seriously(even though inside I was
laughin)and told them it wouldn't happen again,which it didn't.
I had just got to the field in time to see Mav and Izzy blast down
the runway on takeoff in the Hornets headed over to the range for more practice
and Alastair was holdin short in the 'Stang' waitin for the dust and turbulence
to settle down before bootin the horses in the rear and takin to the sky for
his day of practice as tommorrow was the big day for them.
I had walked into the office and was in the proccess of pouring my
first cup of coffee,I hadn't even had one at home or stopped on the way in and
got one,when Jake came walkin up and told me there was a phone message for me
on my desk. "Who's it from?"I asked.
"I dunno",he replied,"he said he was in charge of show operations at Jeffco
and wanted to talk to you and then he hung up".
"MMmmmmmm!" ,I mumbled as I headed for my office. I picked up the message and
finally,after decifering Jakes chicken scratch was able to figure out the guys
name and make heads and tails of the phone number,"I gotta send Jake to a
penmanship class"I told myself.
I sat down and looked at the reports already piled in the middle of my desk
and pushed them aside and picked up the phone dialing the number.
"Good morning,Jeffco Field Administration, Show Coordinators Office,how can I
help you",came the polite and pleasant response on the other end."Man what I
wouldn't give for a secretary or receptionist like that at times",I told myself
as I asked to speak with Ken Bartels,the coordinator.
"This is Ken,"came the voice over the phone,"how can I help you"?
"Hi Ken,this is Curt May at Phoenix Flight Service,you called and left a
message for me".
"Yes sir,our air show is comming up tommorrow and I realize this is very
short notice,but I was wondering if I could get you or one of your pilots to
put in an appearance here,we would take care of exspenses and hotel and
transportation after their arrival".
I thought for a minute and said "sure,be glad to".
"Can I ask what and who you will be sending so I can get it into print for
the programs"?
"Well,it will be me and let's just say it will be a 'big' surprise...and a
dandy",I told him.
"Okay...I can live with that,does the Boulder Clarion house and a driver work
for you?"he asked.
"That will be fine",I told him and thanked him for the invite and I told him
that he would be duly impressed,as would the expected crowd of about 100,000
people.
We finished up with the minor details and I hung up the phone,only to pick it
back up and call a friend. "The Old Hangar",came the response on the other end.
"This is Mutt",I said,"tell your boss I said to get his carcass over to the
phone,now".
"Hey Chris,Mutt's on the phone and he told me to tell you to get your
carcass over to the phone now"!
'At least he follows orders' I told myself with a chuckle.
"Now what the hell do you want?" Snoop asked as he picked up the phone"and
since when do we start tellin me what ta do"?
"Since we wanted to find out in you wanted to spend a weekend exspenses paid
in Boulder",I told him.
"Yer kiddin right"?
"Nope",I told him and procceded to tell him of the offer from Jeffco and all
the juicy details about what they would do for us and where we were stayin and
about the personel driver and all.
"Okay",he said,"what are we gonna be flyin"?
"We'd be takin the Valky",I told him.
"Now why didn't I know this",he said with a chuckle.
"Beats the hell outta me,but are you in the right seat"?
"Whatta you think"?
"Okay,tell the wife that it's air show time and where your headed and be here
bright and early tommorrow",I told him.
"Sounds like a blast...I'll see ya for coffee in the mornin",he said and hung
up.
"Jake....get your butt in here......we got work to do",I hollored out into
the hallway leadin to the hangar.
"What's up boss?",he said commin through the door.
"We are really gonna be stretched on this airshow circuit,get a couple of the
rats and a couple of the techs and get the Valky serviced and checked and
prepped for flight,she and me and Snoop are headed for Jeffco for the
weekend",I told him
"Alright",replied Jake as he turned and issued orders and shifted the hangar
into high gear.
Jake loved the Valkyrie,it was his favorite outta all the birds on the
line,with her clean lines and pointed nose to the massive intakes and six
massive exhaust pipes and the ear splitting ground shaking roar she made as she
went down the runway with a solid wall of fire from the exhaust and with the
vapor forming on the wings and fuselage as she rotated and left her earth bound
home for the sky. So to ask him to get her ready for the sky was easy,and for
him it wasn't work.
I busied myself finishing up all that I could before the morning and called
and told Deb,who said okay and that her and Snoops wife could hang out at the
mall shopping,which to me sounded like a recipe for disaster as far as the
checking account went,but oh well.
That night was almost short as I was filled with excitement on the show and
the rest of the shows we were attending this weekend. I kissed Deb goodby and
headed out the door and piled into the Jeep and headed for the field. I got
there as everybody else was too. Mav and Izzy came flyin into the parkin lot in
Mav's 'vette' in a cloud a dust. Snoop came in just behind them in his pickup
and Alastair in his Austin Healey. We all made a beeline for the coffee pot as
we knew it was made cause Jake and the boys had all the birds prepped and
sittin in a row on the line and were puttin the final touches on all of
them,includin the 'Stang' and they don't work without coffee.
We all got our cups filled and walked to the hangar door and watched the guys
pourin over the planes,rubbin this and polishin that and makin sure that not
even a piece of dust was on them and that all was ready.
"Mornin boss"he hollored over to me.
"Good mornin Jake",I replied as everybody else chimed in with the greetins.
"She ready to go?",I asked.
"She's ready,not a thing outta place as are all the rest of them",he replied
proudly.
"Thanks Jake,we'll be leavin in about 40 minutes just to let you know",I told
him
"Right boss,we'll be ready",he replied as he turned and issued the orders to
the rats and techs.
"Boy,you got a prize in him Mutt",said Snoop.
"I know,he's one of if not the best",I replied grinnin from ear to ear.
"Well gentlemen shall we get ready to head out?",I said to everybody.
They all looked at me and said "Yup".
"Mav,your headed for the LaCrosse show,remember,that airport is on an island
in the middle of the river surrounded by some pretty tall bluffs,don't hit any
of them,that would be a bad thing and you'll be staying at the LaCrosse Marriot
and a driver will be at your disposal...don't dispose of him",I told him.
"Got all the charts and info right on the kneeboard",he replied",and
besides...mountains and bluffs and me have a mutual understanding......I don't
like them and they don't like me so we avoid each other,and the Marriot and a
driver...wow".
Good....keep it that way",I told him.
"Izzy...your headed for the Quad City Air Show,the airport is located all
but alongside I-80. Your approach will be from the east over the city of Moline
and across the river and over Davenport,they want you to be noticed all the way
in and you'll be stayin at the Black Hawk downtown and you too will have a
driver",I told him.
" Got all the charts and info right here on the ol kneeboard too, boss",he
said with a smile"I never heard of that hotel,I hope it ain't one of those flea
traps".
"At $265.00 a night I highly doubt it.......",I told him with a chuckle.
"Alastair....your headed for the St.Louis show. You'll be at the St.Louis
Hilton and you also have a driver. They want you to join the Dawn Patrol of a
couple of B-17's and some other stuff and each morning fly over the city in
formation and then you'll head back to the airport. Do not use the Lambert
ndb,use the Spirit of St.Louis ndb cause that is where the show is".
"Got it boss,right here on the kneeboard like everybody else",he said with a
grin.
"Good...don't loose it,"I told him.
"Ya know Alastair.....we gotta come up with a call sign for you",chimed
Snoop
The others agreed,"but what" was the question.
"Any ideas?"I asked around.
They all had a look of bewilderment on their face as Jake came walkin
through the door.
"I heard that question",he said"and I could help it but this flew into my
head....he flies that 'Stang' like a mad man and its got guns....so whattaya
think about ...Guns"?
I looked at everybody and at Alastair for a reaction. The guys were lookin
at themselves and Alastair had this look on his kisser of someone who just
sucked on a lemon waiting for someone to say something.
"Not to bad",said Mav
"Yeah.....not bad at all",said Izzy
"I like it,"replied Snoop
"Not bad at all Jake",I said with a grin,"Alastair "Guns" Monk.......kinda
has a ring to it eh boys"?
They all had a cat that ate the canary grin on their faces so I said"then
it's settled..'Guns' it is".
"Don't I get to vote?",said Alastair.
"No",came the unanamous response.
"Oh"
"Okay Jake....get the stencil ready for when we get back".
"You got it boss",he said with a chuckle.
"Okay....now that we have the important business taken care of,we can now
focus on the more mundane business of flyin these air shows......let's saddle
up......Guns,you take the lead on the take off roll and don't spare the horses
cause we'll be right behind ya and down low fuel economy ain't in the
vocabulary...Mav..Izzy..you two yahoos follow him in 3 minutes and we'll be
commin right behind ya in 2",I told'em
We all headed for the flight line and our respective aircraft,Guns,went up
the wing of the "Stang' and climbed in and started to get strapped in and
settled in for the roughly 2 hour trip to St.Louis. Mav and Izzy climbed the
sides of their Hornets and proceeded to get strapped and settled in and Snoop
and my self walked up the stairway to the flight deck of the Valky and closed
the door and sat down and got strapped in. I turned on the master and brought
up the radios and the ground grew connection and let Jake know that we were in
and ready.
I could see Mav and Izzy going through the pre-flight and watched as Guns
started to turn over the "Stang" and get it warmed up and ready.
"Tower this is Mustang 45 requesting taxi clearance to the active",sang out
Alastair over the noise of the big Griffon engine that was immediatley followed
by a "Go get'em Guns",from Mav and Izzy.
"Mustang 45 you are cleared to taxi to the active",came the response.
Guns let go the brakes and started to roll with a wave to the ground crew
and a thumbs up to all of us as he went by.
Mav and Izzy started spoolin up the big G.E. powerplants and gettin the
avionics on line and checked out and asked for taxi clearance,which they got
immediately and released the brakes and taxxied out in formation.
"They learned well didn't they"said Snoop
"That they did...that they did",I replied,"looks like its our turn Snoop"
"Yup",he replied.
"Okay Jake ya with me down there?" I sang out.
"You betcha boss....I already kicked the tires so let's light the fires",he
replied with building excitement in his voice.
"Okay Jake..boot that APU in the ass,we're startin #1".
Snoop pushed the throttle of the number one engine to the start position and
hit the N1 and N2 pump switches in the over head as I tagged the ignitor
switches and starter switch. The panel started to come alive as the first of
the six mighty engines came to life. We repeated this six times and all six
were runnin smooth and equal.
I radioed the tower for taxi clearance"Tower this is Valkyrie 06 requesting
taxi clearance to the active".
"Valkyrie 06 you are cleared to the active...maintain seperation from other
aircraft" came the response.
"Valkyrie 06",replied Snoop.
"Okay Jake...we;re cleared to boogy,pull the chocks and let's get this show
on the road",I said into the headeset.
He was standin alongside the aircraft and came back with"the chocks are
clear,your clear to roll,roll straight forward till I say turn right".
"Roger",I replied,"brakes released".
We started to roll slowly and majesticly from our parking spot,Jake walkin
alonside with his headset plugged into the side of the plane. Snoop looked up
at the tower and said,"get aload of this",motioning towards the tower. I looked
up and saw that there wasn't anymore room in the tower for anything as we got
the right turn call from Jake.
We made the right turn and stopped as Jake came up for the last time,"you
got it from here...have a good flight and bring her back in one piece".
"Will do Jake" I told him.
I looked down and saw that he was clear and with a wave released the brakes
and contiuned to taxi to the active.
Guns was out on the active and I noticed that because of all the noise we had
quite an audience along the far side of the field as he ran the engine up with
full down elevator and the tail feathers left the ground and just hung there as
he released the brakes and shot down the runway. "Show off",chimed Mav.
"You know it",replied Guns as he reach V1 and rotated pulling the wheels up as
he left the ground.
"Nice...very nicely done Guns.......think you two yahoos can do the same?"I
said into the mike lookin over at Snoop who was a grin from ear to ear.
"We sure can and we can do it side by side",replied Izzy. "C'mon Mav....let's
show the old timers how its done".
"Let's go",replied Mav,"5 in 3,2,1 now".
Both planes literally jumped off the pavement as they pushed the throttles
to full after burner and released the brakes and roared down the runway.
"You better duck Guns cause here we come",Mav sang out.
"V1....rotate",Izzy said with excitement as they both hauled the noses up.
"Gear up"Mav said and their landing gear came up in unison and they pulled
into a steep climb side by side.
"Well....how was that....",said Izzy as they roared all but straight up
splitting off to their own courses on the way up.
"Not to bad....not to bad....whatya think Snoop",I said with a chuckle
"Needs a little work...especially the dual brake release",Snoop said with a
sarcastic grin.
"Ya know Mav,sometimes ya just can't win around here",said Izzy.
"Tell me somethin new",Mav said with a laugh.
"Okay kids.......take care and enjoy the weekend and don't break your toys",I
sang into the mic,knowin full well the response I would get on the plane to
plane comm.
"Looks like its our turn Mutt"
"Sure does now don't it"
"Yup...whatya say we really blow this popcicle stand in style",he had a
mischievious grin on his face.
"Why the hell not",I said.
"Tower this is Valkyrie 06 requesting high performance takeoff clearance to
FL700".
"We were beginin to wonder Valkyrie 06,you are cleared to FL700.pattern is
left to right and nearest traffic in your direction is 294 at 27miles at
FL230...winds are calm".
"Valkyrie 06".
"Okay Snoop,lets let God know we're commin",I said as I grabbed a fistfull of
throttles,set myself back in the seat firmly and pushed them forward.
"100% power....zone 1,zone 2 ,zone 3 zone 4,zone 5, zone 6 we're fully
lit",he yelled over the roar into the headset and he pushed himself into the
seat for the brake release.
I released the brakes and the nose came out of the ground litterally as the
nose wheel left the pavement. The G's were building quickly as those monster
Rolls Royce's got all 500,000lbs. of plane movin in a really big hurry.
"V1....rotate",Snoop shouted into the mic as we pulled back on the yoke to
haul the nose up.
"Gear up"
"Gear up".
"Flaps up".
"Flaps up".
All of this happening just mere seconds after rotating and getting into the
air. We were going up at a 50 degree angle and accelerating at the same time.
We passed 20,000ft 30 seconds after we pulled the wheels up."Remember,we're
only cleared to FL700,not Mars",Snoop said.
"Don't ya hate it when that happens",I replied with a grin.
"Not really,I told the mrs. we were headed for Jeffco,not the Martian
pyramids".
"See...now if ya wouldna said anything we could have really gotten away and
played".
"Something about green skin that just doesn't do anything for me".
"Well...you always wanted to try some strange ",I said with a laugh.
"Not that strange",he replied laughin harder.
Everybody was headed in the right directions and we were approaching FL700
and gettin ready to get into cruise configuration.
"Autopilot engaged...gps says we have 1 hour 10 minutes to Jeffco",Snoop
said.
I let go the yoke and sat back and acknowledged both him and departure as
we settled in for the short ride.
"I think its gonna be an interesting summer Snoop".
"I think so too,especially if these all go well"
"That's what I mean",I said thoughtfully
"I wonder who is all gonna be there".
"Not a clue,would it be the hoots if Dennis showed up in one of his
contraptions"?
"Oh boy....Boulder would never be the same",he replied
"You got that right...at least we would have a quick get...", I said then
thought for a second,"nix that idea.....since we have the only one of these in
the world it wouldn't be to hard to find".
"Good point".
"Well at least if he does show up we can head down to the Old Chicago
Pizzaria on the Pearl Street Mall and enjoy the outdoor evening
entertainment",I said to Snoop with a laugh.
"Sounds like a plan to me,"he replied with a grin as we headed west
towards the mountains and our first airshow appearance of the year.
Chapter Four
"Showtime"
For each day of the past month,with the exception of our shopping
venture to the boneyard at Monthan and over to Chino in the "Lady",Mav and Izzy
had been tearin up the sky gettin ready for their respective airshow
engagements,at first ,with Mav in the Crusader and Izzy in the Black Bunny
Phantom,and now this past week with a pair of re-built and hopped up F-18
"Super Hornets" that I picked up at the boneyard and Alastair got the nod over
to the Old Hangar and was tearin around the sky in a P-51D "Stang"re-powered
with a racing version Griffon motor. Snoop and myself were impressed with the
airshow routines that they had come up with and each day enjoyed the show
before the show watchin'em go through the routines and listenin to the spotters
correct them. Our neighbors that lived around us were for the most part enjoyin
the shows too,although we did have one gent and his wife pitch a snit one
morning that the boys took off just a wee tad to early and startled the rooster
so to speak. I took their complaint seriously(even though inside I was
laughin)and told them it wouldn't happen again,which it didn't.
I had just got to the field in time to see Mav and Izzy blast down
the runway on takeoff in the Hornets headed over to the range for more practice
and Alastair was holdin short in the 'Stang' waitin for the dust and turbulence
to settle down before bootin the horses in the rear and takin to the sky for
his day of practice as tommorrow was the big day for them.
I had walked into the office and was in the proccess of pouring my
first cup of coffee,I hadn't even had one at home or stopped on the way in and
got one,when Jake came walkin up and told me there was a phone message for me
on my desk. "Who's it from?"I asked.
"I dunno",he replied,"he said he was in charge of show operations at Jeffco
and wanted to talk to you and then he hung up".
"MMmmmmmm!" ,I mumbled as I headed for my office. I picked up the message and
finally,after decifering Jakes chicken scratch was able to figure out the guys
name and make heads and tails of the phone number,"I gotta send Jake to a
penmanship class"I told myself.
I sat down and looked at the reports already piled in the middle of my desk
and pushed them aside and picked up the phone dialing the number.
"Good morning,Jeffco Field Administration, Show Coordinators Office,how can I
help you",came the polite and pleasant response on the other end."Man what I
wouldn't give for a secretary or receptionist like that at times",I told myself
as I asked to speak with Ken Bartels,the coordinator.
"This is Ken,"came the voice over the phone,"how can I help you"?
"Hi Ken,this is Curt May at Phoenix Flight Service,you called and left a
message for me".
"Yes sir,our air show is comming up tommorrow and I realize this is very
short notice,but I was wondering if I could get you or one of your pilots to
put in an appearance here,we would take care of exspenses and hotel and
transportation after their arrival".
I thought for a minute and said "sure,be glad to".
"Can I ask what and who you will be sending so I can get it into print for
the programs"?
"Well,it will be me and let's just say it will be a 'big' surprise...and a
dandy",I told him.
"Okay...I can live with that,does the Boulder Clarion house and a driver work
for you?"he asked.
"That will be fine",I told him and thanked him for the invite and I told him
that he would be duly impressed,as would the expected crowd of about 100,000
people.
We finished up with the minor details and I hung up the phone,only to pick it
back up and call a friend. "The Old Hangar",came the response on the other end.
"This is Mutt",I said,"tell your boss I said to get his carcass over to the
phone,now".
"Hey Chris,Mutt's on the phone and he told me to tell you to get your
carcass over to the phone now"!
'At least he follows orders' I told myself with a chuckle.
"Now what the hell do you want?" Snoop asked as he picked up the phone"and
since when do we start tellin me what ta do"?
"Since we wanted to find out in you wanted to spend a weekend exspenses paid
in Boulder",I told him.
"Yer kiddin right"?
"Nope",I told him and procceded to tell him of the offer from Jeffco and all
the juicy details about what they would do for us and where we were stayin and
about the personel driver and all.
"Okay",he said,"what are we gonna be flyin"?
"We'd be takin the Valky",I told him.
"Now why didn't I know this",he said with a chuckle.
"Beats the hell outta me,but are you in the right seat"?
"Whatta you think"?
"Okay,tell the wife that it's air show time and where your headed and be here
bright and early tommorrow",I told him.
"Sounds like a blast...I'll see ya for coffee in the mornin",he said and hung
up.
"Jake....get your butt in here......we got work to do",I hollored out into
the hallway leadin to the hangar.
"What's up boss?",he said commin through the door.
"We are really gonna be stretched on this airshow circuit,get a couple of the
rats and a couple of the techs and get the Valky serviced and checked and
prepped for flight,she and me and Snoop are headed for Jeffco for the
weekend",I told him
"Alright",replied Jake as he turned and issued orders and shifted the hangar
into high gear.
Jake loved the Valkyrie,it was his favorite outta all the birds on the
line,with her clean lines and pointed nose to the massive intakes and six
massive exhaust pipes and the ear splitting ground shaking roar she made as she
went down the runway with a solid wall of fire from the exhaust and with the
vapor forming on the wings and fuselage as she rotated and left her earth bound
home for the sky. So to ask him to get her ready for the sky was easy,and for
him it wasn't work.
I busied myself finishing up all that I could before the morning and called
and told Deb,who said okay and that her and Snoops wife could hang out at the
mall shopping,which to me sounded like a recipe for disaster as far as the
checking account went,but oh well.
That night was almost short as I was filled with excitement on the show and
the rest of the shows we were attending this weekend. I kissed Deb goodby and
headed out the door and piled into the Jeep and headed for the field. I got
there as everybody else was too. Mav and Izzy came flyin into the parkin lot in
Mav's 'vette' in a cloud a dust. Snoop came in just behind them in his pickup
and Alastair in his Austin Healey. We all made a beeline for the coffee pot as
we knew it was made cause Jake and the boys had all the birds prepped and
sittin in a row on the line and were puttin the final touches on all of
them,includin the 'Stang' and they don't work without coffee.
We all got our cups filled and walked to the hangar door and watched the guys
pourin over the planes,rubbin this and polishin that and makin sure that not
even a piece of dust was on them and that all was ready.
"Mornin boss"he hollored over to me.
"Good mornin Jake",I replied as everybody else chimed in with the greetins.
"She ready to go?",I asked.
"She's ready,not a thing outta place as are all the rest of them",he replied
proudly.
"Thanks Jake,we'll be leavin in about 40 minutes just to let you know",I told
him
"Right boss,we'll be ready",he replied as he turned and issued the orders to
the rats and techs.
"Boy,you got a prize in him Mutt",said Snoop.
"I know,he's one of if not the best",I replied grinnin from ear to ear.
"Well gentlemen shall we get ready to head out?",I said to everybody.
They all looked at me and said "Yup".
"Mav,your headed for the LaCrosse show,remember,that airport is on an island
in the middle of the river surrounded by some pretty tall bluffs,don't hit any
of them,that would be a bad thing and you'll be staying at the LaCrosse Marriot
and a driver will be at your disposal...don't dispose of him",I told him.
"Got all the charts and info right on the kneeboard",he replied",and
besides...mountains and bluffs and me have a mutual understanding......I don't
like them and they don't like me so we avoid each other,and the Marriot and a
driver...wow".
Good....keep it that way",I told him.
"Izzy...your headed for the Quad City Air Show,the airport is located all
but alongside I-80. Your approach will be from the east over the city of Moline
and across the river and over Davenport,they want you to be noticed all the way
in and you'll be stayin at the Black Hawk downtown and you too will have a
driver",I told him.
" Got all the charts and info right here on the ol kneeboard too, boss",he
said with a smile"I never heard of that hotel,I hope it ain't one of those flea
traps".
"At $265.00 a night I highly doubt it.......",I told him with a chuckle.
"Alastair....your headed for the St.Louis show. You'll be at the St.Louis
Hilton and you also have a driver. They want you to join the Dawn Patrol of a
couple of B-17's and some other stuff and each morning fly over the city in
formation and then you'll head back to the airport. Do not use the Lambert
ndb,use the Spirit of St.Louis ndb cause that is where the show is".
"Got it boss,right here on the kneeboard like everybody else",he said with a
grin.
"Good...don't loose it,"I told him.
"Ya know Alastair.....we gotta come up with a call sign for you",chimed
Snoop
The others agreed,"but what" was the question.
"Any ideas?"I asked around.
They all had a look of bewilderment on their face as Jake came walkin
through the door.
"I heard that question",he said"and I could help it but this flew into my
head....he flies that 'Stang' like a mad man and its got guns....so whattaya
think about ...Guns"?
I looked at everybody and at Alastair for a reaction. The guys were lookin
at themselves and Alastair had this look on his kisser of someone who just
sucked on a lemon waiting for someone to say something.
"Not to bad",said Mav
"Yeah.....not bad at all",said Izzy
"I like it,"replied Snoop
"Not bad at all Jake",I said with a grin,"Alastair "Guns" Monk.......kinda
has a ring to it eh boys"?
They all had a cat that ate the canary grin on their faces so I said"then
it's settled..'Guns' it is".
"Don't I get to vote?",said Alastair.
"No",came the unanamous response.
"Oh"
"Okay Jake....get the stencil ready for when we get back".
"You got it boss",he said with a chuckle.
"Okay....now that we have the important business taken care of,we can now
focus on the more mundane business of flyin these air shows......let's saddle
up......Guns,you take the lead on the take off roll and don't spare the horses
cause we'll be right behind ya and down low fuel economy ain't in the
vocabulary...Mav..Izzy..you two yahoos follow him in 3 minutes and we'll be
commin right behind ya in 2",I told'em
We all headed for the flight line and our respective aircraft,Guns,went up
the wing of the "Stang' and climbed in and started to get strapped in and
settled in for the roughly 2 hour trip to St.Louis. Mav and Izzy climbed the
sides of their Hornets and proceeded to get strapped and settled in and Snoop
and my self walked up the stairway to the flight deck of the Valky and closed
the door and sat down and got strapped in. I turned on the master and brought
up the radios and the ground grew connection and let Jake know that we were in
and ready.
I could see Mav and Izzy going through the pre-flight and watched as Guns
started to turn over the "Stang" and get it warmed up and ready.
"Tower this is Mustang 45 requesting taxi clearance to the active",sang out
Alastair over the noise of the big Griffon engine that was immediatley followed
by a "Go get'em Guns",from Mav and Izzy.
"Mustang 45 you are cleared to taxi to the active",came the response.
Guns let go the brakes and started to roll with a wave to the ground crew
and a thumbs up to all of us as he went by.
Mav and Izzy started spoolin up the big G.E. powerplants and gettin the
avionics on line and checked out and asked for taxi clearance,which they got
immediately and released the brakes and taxxied out in formation.
"They learned well didn't they"said Snoop
"That they did...that they did",I replied,"looks like its our turn Snoop"
"Yup",he replied.
"Okay Jake ya with me down there?" I sang out.
"You betcha boss....I already kicked the tires so let's light the fires",he
replied with building excitement in his voice.
"Okay Jake..boot that APU in the ass,we're startin #1".
Snoop pushed the throttle of the number one engine to the start position and
hit the N1 and N2 pump switches in the over head as I tagged the ignitor
switches and starter switch. The panel started to come alive as the first of
the six mighty engines came to life. We repeated this six times and all six
were runnin smooth and equal.
I radioed the tower for taxi clearance"Tower this is Valkyrie 06 requesting
taxi clearance to the active".
"Valkyrie 06 you are cleared to the active...maintain seperation from other
aircraft" came the response.
"Valkyrie 06",replied Snoop.
"Okay Jake...we;re cleared to boogy,pull the chocks and let's get this show
on the road",I said into the headeset.
He was standin alongside the aircraft and came back with"the chocks are
clear,your clear to roll,roll straight forward till I say turn right".
"Roger",I replied,"brakes released".
We started to roll slowly and majesticly from our parking spot,Jake walkin
alonside with his headset plugged into the side of the plane. Snoop looked up
at the tower and said,"get aload of this",motioning towards the tower. I looked
up and saw that there wasn't anymore room in the tower for anything as we got
the right turn call from Jake.
We made the right turn and stopped as Jake came up for the last time,"you
got it from here...have a good flight and bring her back in one piece".
"Will do Jake" I told him.
I looked down and saw that he was clear and with a wave released the brakes
and contiuned to taxi to the active.
Guns was out on the active and I noticed that because of all the noise we had
quite an audience along the far side of the field as he ran the engine up with
full down elevator and the tail feathers left the ground and just hung there as
he released the brakes and shot down the runway. "Show off",chimed Mav.
"You know it",replied Guns as he reach V1 and rotated pulling the wheels up as
he left the ground.
"Nice...very nicely done Guns.......think you two yahoos can do the same?"I
said into the mike lookin over at Snoop who was a grin from ear to ear.
"We sure can and we can do it side by side",replied Izzy. "C'mon Mav....let's
show the old timers how its done".
"Let's go",replied Mav,"5 in 3,2,1 now".
Both planes literally jumped off the pavement as they pushed the throttles
to full after burner and released the brakes and roared down the runway.
"You better duck Guns cause here we come",Mav sang out.
"V1....rotate",Izzy said with excitement as they both hauled the noses up.
"Gear up"Mav said and their landing gear came up in unison and they pulled
into a steep climb side by side.
"Well....how was that....",said Izzy as they roared all but straight up
splitting off to their own courses on the way up.
"Not to bad....not to bad....whatya think Snoop",I said with a chuckle
"Needs a little work...especially the dual brake release",Snoop said with a
sarcastic grin.
"Ya know Mav,sometimes ya just can't win around here",said Izzy.
"Tell me somethin new",Mav said with a laugh.
"Okay kids.......take care and enjoy the weekend and don't break your toys",I
sang into the mic,knowin full well the response I would get on the plane to
plane comm.
"Looks like its our turn Mutt"
"Sure does now don't it"
"Yup...whatya say we really blow this popcicle stand in style",he had a
mischievious grin on his face.
"Why the hell not",I said.
"Tower this is Valkyrie 06 requesting high performance takeoff clearance to
FL700".
"We were beginin to wonder Valkyrie 06,you are cleared to FL700.pattern is
left to right and nearest traffic in your direction is 294 at 27miles at
FL230...winds are calm".
"Valkyrie 06".
"Okay Snoop,lets let God know we're commin",I said as I grabbed a fistfull of
throttles,set myself back in the seat firmly and pushed them forward.
"100% power....zone 1,zone 2 ,zone 3 zone 4,zone 5, zone 6 we're fully
lit",he yelled over the roar into the headset and he pushed himself into the
seat for the brake release.
I released the brakes and the nose came out of the ground litterally as the
nose wheel left the pavement. The G's were building quickly as those monster
Rolls Royce's got all 500,000lbs. of plane movin in a really big hurry.
"V1....rotate",Snoop shouted into the mic as we pulled back on the yoke to
haul the nose up.
"Gear up"
"Gear up".
"Flaps up".
"Flaps up".
All of this happening just mere seconds after rotating and getting into the
air. We were going up at a 50 degree angle and accelerating at the same time.
We passed 20,000ft 30 seconds after we pulled the wheels up."Remember,we're
only cleared to FL700,not Mars",Snoop said.
"Don't ya hate it when that happens",I replied with a grin.
"Not really,I told the mrs. we were headed for Jeffco,not the Martian
pyramids".
"See...now if ya wouldna said anything we could have really gotten away and
played".
"Something about green skin that just doesn't do anything for me".
"Well...you always wanted to try some strange ",I said with a laugh.
"Not that strange",he replied laughin harder.
Everybody was headed in the right directions and we were approaching FL700
and gettin ready to get into cruise configuration.
"Autopilot engaged...gps says we have 1 hour 10 minutes to Jeffco",Snoop
said.
I let go the yoke and sat back and acknowledged both him and departure as
we settled in for the short ride.
"I think its gonna be an interesting summer Snoop".
"I think so too,especially if these all go well"
"That's what I mean",I said thoughtfully
"I wonder who is all gonna be there".
"Not a clue,would it be the hoots if Dennis showed up in one of his
contraptions"?
"Oh boy....Boulder would never be the same",he replied
"You got that right...at least we would have a quick get...", I said then
thought for a second,"nix that idea.....since we have the only one of these in
the world it wouldn't be to hard to find".
"Good point".
"Well at least if he does show up we can head down to the Old Chicago
Pizzaria on the Pearl Street Mall and enjoy the outdoor evening
entertainment",I said to Snoop with a laugh.
"Sounds like a plan to me,"he replied with a grin as we headed west
towards the mountains and our first airshow appearance of the year.