The Gallerita!

The Flight

Ok, so I get to J's hangar and he is piddling around in it. He is looking for a funnel so he can add oil to the plane. He is frustrated, which is evidenced by his demeanor, so I try to look for the funnel. In a few minutes, I hear: "here it is, right where I normally keep it." The chute is stored in a very large bag that sits in the passenger seat, which made it neccessary that I follow J to the runway in my car. When we get to the take-off starting point, J begins readying the plane for flight. This includes unpacking the chute, laying all the lines that attach the chute to the body, positioning the chute for flight and so on. The time came for me to climb aboard. J had already instructed me on the in flight sound system that is stored in the helmet that he made me wear. It allowed us to talk to each other and be heard, which was very nice. I am buckled in, J is buckled in and we are ready for take off. At least I thought we were. J starts looking at his control panel. I am watching what he is doing and it seems as if he keeps doing the same thing over and over. In a moment he lets out a very disappointed "oh well." He wanted to monitor the temp of both cylinders and was only able to access the stats of one. Another thing, he tells me not to be concerned if the warning light comes on. It has been doing that and he said he has voltages set incorrectly. To correct this would require RTFM and we all know how we are about doing that. In a moment we are on our way, roaring down the grassy runway. Take off was exciting and scary at the same time. It was surprising how fast we gained altitude. It was very foggy when we started and we got high enough that the fog obscured the view of the ground. I had an overpowering urge to be on the ground. It was not long, seconds, before I felt comfortable with where I was. I had both of my cameras with me. I tethered the digital to the neck strap of the Canon. I got some very nice pictures. On my way to J's I saw an old house in the middle of nowhere. I told J about it and he knew to which one I was referring. We had been up for about 15 minutes and I asked J how far that house was. He said we were on our way there. It was pretty chilly. I wished I had grabbed my jacket from the car before we left. Time went by way too swiftly. We were heading in for the landing. We line up with the runway and begin our descent. Some guy is fishing on the Brazos and I wonder if he is watching us. J said I may have to walk back to my car. We are above the runway flying, flying and not landing. I said J, the runway is running out. So, we get to make another attack on it. Approach 2 was successful, woefully we were on the ground once more. One thing about the whole experience---it ranks among my 10 most favorite experiences of all time. I hope to be able to do it again. Thanks, J.