Chapter Three

It has started.

Monday June 12, 2006. After two weeks of waiting for weather I'm finally checking out of the Ramada Inn at Stratford, CT.

Today we fly the biplane over to Lufker field on Long Island, NY and start my formal training in how to land the Bird.

For me there is no better excitement than the sound of an antique five cylinder radial airplane engine. See the video “First Start”. If you have seen my web site you realize I love antique machinery. It's from a simpler time.

I get the giggles when I think about the simplicity of the machine I'm about to cross the entire continent with compared with the Global Positioning System I am going to use to navigate the trip with.

The GPS system is very simple in its own right. Simply put it is a group of twenty plus satellites orbiting above the earth. Each sends out a radio signal. The GPS machine in my airplane is simply a radio receiver that receives the signal from each satellite and figures the direction from where each signal comes. It uses simple math to figure a triangle from three or more satellites to my radio receiver. The GPS figures out where it is on the earth and tells me. Wherever it is, is where I am. I tell it where I want to go and it draws a line on a little video screen from me to where I want to go. I just follow the line.

When I started this whole trip I was filled with trepidation.  The "What ifs" had a good grip on my inner self. I guess it would be my "Mini Me". Some of you guys have your own version of your "Mini Me", I'm sure. That's excluding one of you on this list. I won't tell you who it is but his nickname is, "Large Richard". (Sorry for the diversion).

Having to wait two weeks calmed me down a bunch. I know I can fly, really, really fly. Now I just have to get the weather break so I can do it.

Each day will have hours of lessons in landings as an airplane with a tail wheel has a bunch of tricks to its landings. I'm just learning to subdue those tricks.

June 17, 2006. See the video “Second Start”. I soloed today. I actually took the plane all by myself and flew.  Damn, It's a sweet Bird. All I have left to complete in my lessons is crosswind landings. I included a picture I took from the air showing that the front cockpit is empty, no instructor, no one. I'm alone in the sky. Just me and my Bird.

At the moment there are only 22 Birds registered with the Federal Aviation Authority. I believe there are somewhere around 6 or 8 of them flyable. Actually my model, the Bird BK has only 8 registered and I think 3 or 4 flyable. Mine was manufactured in 1929.

Some bad weather coming this way on Tuesday..  I'd like to be heading West on Monday If I get my cross wind training done by then. The weather comes from the West South West so I'll be heading into it. I'll just have to find a place to stop and wait until the next day to let the storm blow past me. It looks like a whole series of them are working their way across the USA so I'll just have to fly up to them and then land and wait a day for them to blow by. Prevailing winds are from the West so I'll be headin' into the wind for the whole trip. Pilots like to talk about going West as "going up hill".

Monday June 19. The President is visiting the Merchant Marine Academy here on Long Island. We are all grounded until he leaves. I can't start my trip today, although I'm ready. I'll head out West on Wednesday as there is a storm coming tonight and tomorrow. My first goal is to get over the Allegheny Mountains. It starts with the first step.

My next email will be from on the road.

All the best,

Samdodge