Chapter Thirteen

Time

Saturday

July 15, 2006

I'm up and out of the motel early. It's still dark. I really want to get through the mountain passes before the wind blows.

Because there is a tower here in Missoula I have to do the radio procedure in reverse. First I have to listen to the recorded weather. Then I have to talk to ground control guy to taxi and then I have to talk to the air traffic control guy when I get to the runway I'm going to use. This morning it is all the same voice. He's working alone in the tower. I feel something like a Gerbil on a wheel. It's just he and I at the airport. I got the feeling that he would have liked it if there were one more radio frequency he could have me tune to.

I start with tuning my radio to 126.65 and then pushing a button to flip that into the active radio frequency slot. It's the weather recording for the last weather observation. I'm dealing in the past. Now I enter 121.9 and flip that into the active frequency space. It's the ground frequency. Now I'm dealing in the present and talk with the ground guy as I taxi along. It's the same guy's voice as in the weather recording. I enter frequency 118.4 for the flight control guy. It's the future so I leave that frequency in the storage place until I get to the runway threshold. I have to stop here and change frequency for clearance to take the runway. It's the same guy on that frequency. He's standing at that huge dark plate glass window up in the tower. I envision him as a young guy playing his form of the ultimate interactive video game.

The sun is just up and I see my biplane shadow get smaller as I gain altitude. I'm in a time machine. I take a picture of my past. Interstate Ninety is at the bottom of that crack in the mountain. It must be a beautiful scenic drive. An easy drive on a modern super highway in a modern super car.

The present is right here in my little cockpit/office. I have airspeed and oil pressure gages and other things that indicate what is going on right now. I pat the airplane on the side and say, "It's just you and me, buddy."

In about an hour we clear the last high pass and we are through the Rockies. Now I can loose altitude and play along the ridges. The updrafts give me lift and it's free elevator ride. It's not sudden or jolting. It's subtle and smooth. You have to feel the updrafts in the seat of your pants. Gaining altitude or forward speed for free is a gift in an airplane. Everybody wants a tail wind.

See the two videos, “ridge playing” and “city reveal”.

I've been playing in the air for the past twenty minutes. It's some sort of dance with no music. If it had music I think it would be an old fashioned Waltz. The obvious Blue Danube comes to mind. The town is either Wallace or Kellogg, Idaho. I'm not sure which as I have been off the path playing in the canyons.

I'm on my way to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho for breakfast. I'm flying slow. I can see that my trip is coming to an end and I don't want that. You'd think that after all the drama, risk, trials and time loss I'd be relieved that it's soon over. I slow down even more.

I get to Coeur d'Alene and there is a small wind just off the centerline of the runway. I'm down and taxi to the cafe. It's closed for the weekend.

Let me introduce you to Orville the airport courtesy truck. Orville has a seven cylinder V Eight under the hood. I take Orville to "The Roundup" for breakfast. No jokes with the waitress. I have a quiet breakfast and drive Orville back to the airport. The wind has picked up and I choose to wait. I wonder what I'm going to do for the next bunch of hours. Here comes one of those airport rats in a new pickup. He asks if he can help me. I tell him I'm stuck because of the wind and point to my antique airplane for the rest of the explanation. His name is Brent. He invites me to his hangar so I can call the weather service. Nice hangar. It even has a bathroom that is hooked up to the city sewer system.

I get the weather briefing and I'm stuck until late afternoon. I'm having a huge drop in energy as my home is just two landings from Coeur d'Alene. It's coming to an end. I don't want it to end. I ask if I can nap on the hangar couch. I use my shoe for a pillow. He and his hangar partner wake me for lunch. My energy is drained from knowing it's soon to be over. I decide to stay the night. I can make it last one more day.