I awoke with a head on each shoulder and the two snuggled against me. Both had a hand across me, one laying on the other. I lay still, relaxing in the peaceful beauty that surrounded me, thinking how unbelievably good my life was.
My body was thinking that I needed to get up to go to the bathroom when Sue raised her head and kissed me softly saying, "Good morning."
Mercy raised her face to ours, smiling also, saying "Good morning." She kissed both of us and said, "It is so beautiful to wake up in the morning to hear you both saying 'I love you' to me and to each other. I was sleeping so peacefully and you both just plunged into my mind and woke me, mentally loving me. This is so wonderful."
We lay snuggled for a couple of minutes before Mercy said, "I need to go home for a day or so to calm my dad. He's on the verge of coming here to make sure I'm okay. My mom keeps telling him I'm all right, but he's very protective and wants to make sure."
Sue patted Mercy's arm, "If you have to go, I can fly you there and back. It would be fun. But you know they could come here. I'd love them to visit with us, to show them around Tampa and the beaches."
"I probably should go alone to show him I'm not your mental captive. He's never seen me in love before. He's never seen me even interested in a boy before. I've had boyfriends and lots of very close girlfriends, but not where I wanted to be with someone so intensely. It's a shock to him, that's all. I'll see if I can get a non-stop out there and leave the return open, so I can just go and get on a plane to come back."
Mercy was now on her side against me, with her head propped up on her hand asking, "And what do you think about this, Steve?"
"You're such a wonder to me. You've attached yourself to us in a way that I will miss while you're not here. I'll look forward to you coming back. I think your dad would have fun with my friends though. They sure would enjoy him and his magic."
"I'll tell him that," Mercy said wiggling against me. "He'll be pleased you like him as a magician. He thinks a magician is the most wonderful entertainer in the world. He lives life within magic."
Mercy was snuggling against me even more and leaned over to kiss me. "I'm going to miss having you touch me and make me feel so good, but I'll be back quick to take care of Sue and you. Come on, let's get showered and dressed so I can see about a flight."
The three of us got up. While the girls were using the bathroom and turning on the shower, I started coffee in the kitchen pot. Upon my return to the bathroom, I used the toilet then joined Sue and Mercy for a very loving shower, including a lot of probing to make sure I cleaned all of the good spots.
It was just barely six when I went out to the patio to start the big coffee pot. I was dressed ready for work. I had forgotten, it was automatic and someone had set it up last night. It looked to be almost done. I flipped on the light, listening to Sue trying to make arrangements over the phone for Mercy's flight.
Mercy, using my cell phone, was calling another airline. I could hear them becoming frustrated. I thought to myself, too bad we didn't have Dewey's plane closer. We would just use that.
Sue and Mercy were in a head-to-head discussion when Glenda came in with her cup and got coffee from the big pot that had just finished. She asked me, "Those two look like something serious is going on, problems?"
"Not really," I answered. "Mercy has to go home for a day or so and they must be having problems getting an airline reservation."
The two girls came out with cups of coffee to the table where Glenda and I were and Sue said, "We're heading out to the airport. I'm taking Mercy home. We can be there in about sixteen hours including stops for refueling. I'll let it out a little and should get up to about 170 unless we hit a headwind. I'll get cleared for as high as I can get VFR, but it will be faster than commercial. There are no non-stops available, and the first flight connection isn't going to be till eleven. It's going to take nearly twenty hours to get there on commercial."
I said to Sue, "Too bad you didn't buy that twin that would have gone about two-twenty. That would have knocked the trip down to about ten or eleven hours. Do you want me to come with you to spell you flying?"
"No, you stay here. I'll be fine. When I get there, I'll check into a hotel so Mercy has private time with her folks. We'll call you when we stop for fuel and when we get there."
She turned to Mercy and said, "Let's get our bags packed and hit the road."
Ten minutes later they both came out with just some light bags. Mercy looked at her bag, and back at me, "I'm only going for a day, maybe two that's all. We'll be right back, we'll be okay."
I got kisses from both and Sue gave Hanna, who had just showed up, instructions to cover the time she'd be gone. The girls left in Sue's Mustang, driving with the top up.
Glenda asked, "What exactly does she mean that she's flying Mercy home? Mercy's from California, right?"
"Sue bought a plane and we flew back here in it. It's a really neat airplane that goes fairly fast and will carry several people. Sue got her license reinstated up in Alaska and I was able to qualify and finish my reinstatement in California. Sue also bought me a present. A small Cessna 172 to use for short trips around the state and the southeast."
Shawna had heard this conversation and asked, "Did you fly the little plane back here?"
"No, I flew with Sue and Mercy. We had the little plane ferried back."
"How long will it take to fly out to California?" Shawna asked.
"With no headwind, about sixteen hours, including quick stops for fuel," I answered, knowing that everyone was going to be asking hundreds of questions about the planes now.
Glenda was concerned, "Is it OK for Sue to be flying like that, being pregnant?"
I smiled and said, "The worst part is that she has to go to the bathroom fairly often and that requires them to land. She can't use a milk bottle for relief like a guy can, but she has to refuel anyway."
"Aren't you worried about her making that long a trip by herself?" Tiny asked sitting down with coffee.
"She's not by herself, Mercy's with her and you know Sue, she is very exacting, very cautious," I said, hoping I was accurately describing my pregnant, adventurous wife.
We had been sitting talking about what was going on with the business when my cell phone rang. "The 206 has been stolen. They don't know where it's at. The only thing in the hangar is the 172 and both of our log books, they tossed them out onto the floor. The plane is just gone."
"I'll be out there in fifteen minutes." I said.
"Don't rush, there is a way for us to leave right away. John Truant, one of Uncle Ben's associates, has a Beech 200 twin turbo that he wants to sell real bad. He said he would fly out with us and check me out in it if I pay for the fuel. The plane just came out of a major overhaul and he wants to fly it a little. We'll make a lot better time because the plane will go over three hundred."
"What do you want me to do about the 206?"
"Come out and call the insurance company that is on the paperwork on my desk from the purchase. You'll have to help the Aero Park make a police report. They said it was a federal crime, as it is assumed the plane was probably taken out of state."
"Are you going to be okay with this guy? Do you know him well enough?" I asked, thinking this probably isn't a good idea.
"Mercy thinks he's fine. He's an old military pilot turned lawyer that had a dream of having a small commuter airline. That's why he has this plane. It's fast, can carry almost as many as the 206, but it is expensive. It's a free ride anyway and my way to get qualified for turbines and dual engines." I could hear the enthusiasm in her voice.
"Okay, my love, fly safe and take care of yourself and the kid you're carrying, as well as Mercy. Love you."
"Love you too, Steve. Mercy is our watchdog, she just jumps into peoples' minds when something is up. She's writing you a note about the 206 and will leave it with the operations attendant. I'll call you."
Tiny was really curious, "So you and Sue really bought an airplane and now it's been stolen?"
"Yep, she was the one pushing for the strange or unusual, as always. She got her license back while we were up in Alaska and she had me get mine in San Francisco."
The whole crew was out by now, listening to the conversations and having some of the breakfast sandwiches Phil had brought.
Phil asked, "Can you fly us to some of the weekend conventions they have, like in Jacksonville, Savannah, or up in Atlanta?"
"That can be done. Sue also bought a little 172 that's perfect for short flights. It doesn't fly that fast, but it's easily twice or two and half times faster than by car. Let me know when something like that is happening and let the plane pay for itself. If you have to help a salesman close a deal, we can just fly to him and you can double up on the customer."
"Damn, that sounds great," Phil said, enthusiastic about finding another way to create sales. "I've got a bunch of ideas how we can use that plane to help the business. How big is the plane that was stolen?"
"It is a single engine turbo that can carry the pilot and nine passengers, or you can take the seats out and fill it with cargo. It flies a lot faster than most single engine planes, a little over one hundred seventy miles an hour."
"Wow, that's a hell of a plane. Hope you get it back," Tiny said.
I got up to get ready and said, "I best get out to the Aero Park and get this reported."
Tiny said, "I'll go with you if you don't mind. I love airplanes. You can show me your other plane."
Phil looked at us, then back at Judy, "Can I come along? I want to see your little plane too. It'll give me a better idea of how we can use it."
Judy and Ruth were rolling their eyes. Ruth said, "Just what we need, a new toy to distract all of these guys."
Shawna asked me what I wanted to do with the tractor today. I told her, "Nothing probably. I want to hire a couple of truck or coach body men to take it apart first. We'll probably need a team of two or three to get the job done. You and Debbie could concentrate on finding people if you want. Monday's busy enough already, because you have the three race day trucks to clean up and restock. Do what you can, and we'll be there as soon as we get the police report done."
We three guys piled into my gaudily-painted pickup and went to the park. As soon as I walked in you could feel the tension in the operations ready room. The Aero Park owner, Pete Santos, had two people at a table nearly yelling at them. Two county sheriff's deputies were there, observing the harangue from the owner.
When he looked up and recognized me, he stopped yelling and came over to me with his hand out, "Mr. Sharp, don't sue me over this, please. I'm finally making this place pay with the repair facility and the flight training. I'm sorry about your airplane. I don't know how it could be just gone."
"I'm not suing anyone, Pete, just relax," I said trying to settle the man down. "Let the investigators get to the bottom of it. I'm here to help file the theft report so I can alert the insurance company."
Pete looked relieved, "Thank God you have insurance on the plane. That's an expensive airplane to own and have stolen."
I helped the air park people and the deputies make out the report. The deputies said it was probably someone who was either going to use it for smuggling or were going to sell it to a smuggling organization. The key would be to try to remember anyone having contact with the plane in the last couple of days.
I told the deputies that I had seen the plane early Saturday afternoon when I had flown the 172 for an hour. When I left, the 172 was in front of the 206 and would have had to be moved in order to get the 206 out of the hangar. There should be prints on various parts of the plane. I also mentioned that since both of our log books had been tossed out of the stolen airplane, there might be prints there too.
The deputies called for a crime scene team to go over everything for prints. I explained that Sue had taken her log book with her, but mine would still be here. I also said that we could show his men how you handle a plane to push it out of a hangar, since the 172 would have had to be pushed all the way out then back in.
Before we went out to the hangar, Pete said, "The little girl with Sue left you this note." I opened the sealed envelope to read the note it. Mercy simply wrote: The plane is gone, I feel it. Sue will buy this new plane. We will be fine. We love you, Mercy.
We walked out to the hangar and looked at how the 172 had been pushed back in. It was nose -first into the hangar instead of being pointed out like I had left it. The door was open to the plane, but that could have been for the brake lock.
It was difficult to keep Phil and Tiny's hands off the plane before it could be dusted for prints. Pete said when the police were done he would have the plane cleaned up for me and checked over to make sure it wasn't damaged. He didn't think it would be, as the thieves were obviously airplane people.
When I said it was too bad to lose the plane, because it could carry so many people, Pete said, "Maybe Sue will look at buying Truant's Beech. That thing is class. John wants to get rid of it and is willing to sell it way under value. It will carry almost as many as the air wagon and is twice as fast."
"Yeah, but it isn't a Cessna and that's what you guys do out here," I said thinking that a Cessna dealer would want to have Cessnas around.
"We're a Cessna dealer, warranty, and service center. We also are certified to work on Beechcraft, Piper, and most other small aircraft. We can work on piston, turbo props, jet assist, even Gulfstreams. That's why the long runway. We have an old Gulfstream III in the shop right now for a major overhaul and economy retrofit."
"Well, if Sue wants to buy the plane, no one is going to stop her, that's for sure. You might want to talk to her about cost of operation though. I'm sure that thing is expensive to operate."
Pete said, "Not as bad as you would think. Since you wouldn't be using it for commercial passenger service your inspections will be cheaper, plus you already are renting hangar space."
I was still concerned about a plane like that, "A plane like that should always be flown IFR. Sue said that she and I were going to begin to get the rating, but that takes a long time, I think."
Pete smiled, "That I can help you with. It doesn't take long at all. We even have a compact seven day class that crams everything into a couple of days. I bet that's why John took his books with him. I'll bet he's teaching Sue instruments as we speak. John is a senior IP. He's usually too busy to teach, but since he's winding down his law practice, he's spent more time out here. He's looking at an A36 so he can fly around on his own. Since his wife passed on, he's been out here more than at his home. The man lives to fly, but needs a cheaper plane to do it in. You know if you and Sue play your cards right, you two could rent the Beech out and John would be your man to fly it for you. He'd be able to pick up a couple of dollars and you'd be able to pay for the plane."
"Might be a good idea, Pete. I'll talk to Sue about it. When could I begin instrument classes?"
"Tell you what, come out here this afternoon about one, and we'll start," Pete gave me the pitch. "Someone will keep you busy till five, then you can decide on mornings or afternoon. We can get you your ticket in two weeks or less on half days. If you study hard, and maybe put in some extra time this weekend, you'll be done by a week from Wednesday or Thursday. You already bought and installed everything we need in your 172."
Tiny and Phil were disappointed they couldn't get in the plane and were like little boys wanting to play. I promised them both that I would take them up to look around the area soon.
We drove to the shop to begin the week. The first thing I did was to take care of the calls Debbie needed me to. They were all butt kissing calls that didn't mean anything, other than the customer wanted stroking.
Next, I went through each department and had conversations with every person there. Back at the fiberglass shop, I asked Jeff how big he could make the pieces I needed. His reply was "How big do you want them?"
"How about the size of a Peterbilt coach, can you make them that big?" I asked.
"It's easy, Steve," Jeff said. "The way you do that is to make up various pieces, then mold them together. If I use my ridged technique, the shell is as strong as steel, maybe even stronger. You want me to copy that body?"
"No, I'm coming up with another design to replace that body. I want to try out something. If it works, we'll double or triple the size of your shop."
"Holy shit, I'm already two or three times as big as I thought I would be, and the orders keep rolling in. All of the guys are learning and are really working at zero imperfections. It's so far so good, with teaching these kids from scratch. Pretty soon I'll have to start paying them more, because they are getting pretty good."
"Just keep teaching. Tiny says your department is very much in the black, very profitable. Keep doing what you're doing, use people and payroll as you see fit."
"Thanks, Steve, you really know how to run a business. You find people you trust and let them run. We're all running for you."
Looking into the big lift department is always fascinating. The monsters they worked on are just too big to believe. Our building was probably the best facility you could find for a super lift shop. So far, the ramped-up output was exceeding expectations, but still far behind in work orders. They could double in size and not stay even with the orders. Ted was working toward doubling the size of his shop, but finding qualified people was going to be tough.
Abe was happy that I had found some forklifts. He said that the market for the electric lifts was way up, but the gas lifts were always a good buy. His personnel were really putting out the product lately. Abe looked good though, he didn't look overworked or tired out. This was good, as that meant a happy Abe and Alice.
The body building group now had eight people building various bodies. Our original body was still in demand and constantly had at least two complete trucks backordered. The new bodies for other trades were selling fast by local dealers. The result of having four separate demo trucks with different bodies was creating a demand from auto dealerships, as well as topper dealers. Dan said that Phil was working on a big deal with Teco and Florida Power for replacement trucks and bodies for their fleet. We had the specs and plans, and were working on them to see what it would cost to produce.
Shawna was working on a custom bike that was close to being finished. A bunch of chrome parts had just been returned, so she was finishing the bike up for delivery. The paint job was pure flame, but interesting, as there were so many metallic colors used over a black sparkly base. Shawna said that the bike had a longer frame than usual, with a long, low-profile rake. She said it was comfortable to ride, but too long for her taste.
Drew was holding a class with some people that looked like they were just starting. He introduced me to them, saying that they were from a local trade school and were going to be additions to our production workforce. Drew pointed to the "We make it perfect" sign and told the class, "This is the guy that taught me what perfect is. It's in everything you do. It's in how you live, work, and play. When you make being perfect a part of your life, good things happen to you."
I went upstairs to walk through the customer service department. Judy said they were now spread out into the new addition as well. She said she now had almost fifty girls plus two team leaders. I waved and greeted as many as I could, but they were mostly all on the phone.
I walked over to Ruth and asked, "This might sound silly, but how many people work here now?"
Ruth laughed, "We grew while you were gone, didn't we? Judy added a bunch, Phil added some, and we've picked up more technicians everywhere except the motor building group. But we did get a couple more high school kids to train though. To answer your question, let me count them on the payroll sheet."
She counted then recounted again. She almost looked sheepish when she said, "We getting pretty big. Including all of our field sales and tech people we are right now at one hundred and eighty-four people right now."
I was overwhelmed. "A hundred eighty-four? That's unbelievable. How did we ever get this big?"
"We're getting bigger, Steve. I have three people starting tomorrow, two coachmen and a coachman/mechanic that are being brought in at Shawna's request. She said you told her to get them and we were lucky that we're getting them before the RV people scarf them up."
I thanked her for the information and went to see Tiny. He had two people in his office that he introduced as two of his assistants who worked with Ruth, as well as helping him. He said these folks were helping to make sure all the loose ends were kept trimmed on an ongoing basis. "They are perfect for watching my back so I don't forget anything. They work with the accounting firm and check over profit structures for each manufacturing segment."
"Tiny," I asked, obviously stressed. "Can you show me any kind of P & L that I could look at? I'm blown away that we've got almost two hundred people here now and growing. The costs have to be bursting at the seams."
He went to his computer and typed in a few things then hit print. He pulled four pieces of paper from his laser printer and said, "This is confidential, so don't go letting this information out. This is the bottom line stuff for in-house use only. Come on, let's get some coffee and I'll go over it with you."
One of his people volunteered to get coffee and Tiny directed them to bring it to the big office where he and I went to sit at the table. This office was nice; the blinds were up and the curtains were open so we could look out at the production floor. Too bad you couldn't see the whole place from here, but you could look up at the monitors and see the motor shop, Abe's rebuild, the super lift, and the fiberglass areas. Damn, we were busy.
Tiny went over the costs in total, then broke the figures down to department-by-department costs, and then weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual projected costs. He then went over receipts, accounts payables, and unfilled orders. Everything was bundled but itemized by department. He showed me current payroll figures and anticipated payroll for another year, which factored-in another twenty-five percent growth. Then he added in the employee costs, including insurance benefits, matching 401K costs, uniforms, workman's comp, matching social security, etc; everything it costs to have an employee. That figure was staggering for the current population and absolutely mindboggling for the annual projection. We then went over the other operating costs, such as building maintenance, depreciation, and taxes. Again, the totals were so far over my expectations that I was getting depressed, thinking there was no way I could keep all these people.
Tiny said, "Now that you've seen how much everything costs, let's take a look at the fun numbers."
We looked at profit percentages, tons and tons of money that had gone through cash flow, and then the monies that were in process of being used and in the various bank accounts.
After pointing out and explaining each of the entries and what they meant, he pointed to a number at the bottom of the page. "See that number? You could give the company away today, walk away, and take that amount of money with you legally. That is after-tax unassigned income."
I was a little confused as it was a ten-digit number when you included the cents. "That a really big number Tiny, where's it all at?"
"It's in money market accounts, your various Fidelity accounts, ready to be used to expand, to become charity, to go spend, or to do just about anything you want to."
"Where did it all come from, Tiny? We haven't been in business long enough for this much."
"It's the trickle down theory in practice, Steve. Let's see, you paid everyone double for a month, but it made everyone double their productivity, so our profits doubled and tripled. You've started multiple enterprises that have paid off bundles and promoted dozens of people to leadership positions. That's brought in more profits as well. Steve, that number is real. We just finished another audit, as I was nervous about it and had the accounting firm tear us apart. We're okay, we're fine, we are a very profitable enterprise."
I sat back and sipped my coffee. "Jesus, Tiny, it's hard to believe we've made that much money. Go buy some buildings, some land, some businesses. That is amazing."
"I'll let you come up with ideas to put the money to use. You never know whether Phil can keep up the pace he's going at. He does have help now, but still the man has been making one big deal after another. He's making so much money that he and Judy could leave today and never, ever, worry about money again."
"I hope you're making enough. Perhaps you should give yourself a raise, Tiny."
"Let's see, you've tripled my salary since I started and you've quadrupled Ruth's. We've both received enough bonuses that we could have damn near bought the trailer park if you hadn't. Don't worry, Steve, I'm getting very wealthy through your efforts."
"Don't let me forget anyone. It's your job to make sure I reward everyone that deserves it. This is almost too much to believe. Here, take these papers and hide them so I don't spend the rest of day looking at them."
"Nice, aren't they?" Tiny said gathering the papers.
Tiny then added, "Keep in mind your most recent generosity. You just gave away forty percent of the company. That's forty percent of the future profits too. That's one hell of a gift."
Tiny continued, "You told me to buy the golf cart business and building, so I did. It's doing pretty well. I don't know yet whether we want it to be an S&S business. You'll have to go over there and see for yourself. I've got my eye on something else, though. I'll see how it turns out."
My cell phone rang at that instant. It was Sue.
"I love this plane. It is so cool. We've been flying at eighteen thousand feet, using cabin oxygen and going almost three hundred and fifty miles an hour. If I can last, we can make it into San Francisco on just this last hop. This plane is nice, I love it. And you know what? John is teaching me instrument and logging this flight as part of it. He says that if I buy the plane, he'll continue through my rating and will teach you as well."
"Glad you like the plane, Honey. Pete from the Aero Park gave me an idea. He said that if we were to buy the plane, he could rent it out. John could fly the charters if he wanted to make a buck, and he said we should be able to pay for the plane doing it that way."
"Great idea, I'll tell John the plane is sold. I'll bet he'll love the idea of the extra flight time. He says he has his eye on a nice A36 that's for sale and will buy it if he sells this. He's not asking near what it's worth, but says it will be a good write-off on his investment so he can disband his airline company cleanly."
"Go ahead and buy it, Sue, but be sure you insure the darn thing. The cops said smugglers probably stole the 206. They said we would probably never see it again. Pete said that he'll beef up security at the air park and install more cameras, but the cops say that the smugglers are so good and so fast, that the only planes they can't steal are ones without wings or engines."
"Steve, the plane is so quiet, Mercy slept most of the way. John even has jazz being played in the cabin area. It's really nice."
"Well have fun flying that thing. It's sure is a big step from that 185 up in Alaska," thinking how the vacation had changed our lives and attitudes.
"It's a big step from the 206 too. You'll love this thing. You'll see."
We did the "I love you and be careful and safe stuff" then hung up.
While I was sitting there, Tiny asked, "Do you need the company to buy the plane?"
"No, we'll keep the plane on a personal basis. If we need it for the company, we'll rent it out, the same as we plan to do to pay for it."
Tiny then asked, "How are you going to handle flying Phil around in the little plane?"
I answered, "I'll donate that or rent it. If it becomes too much then the company can get a plane and more people can learn to fly. We'll make it a benefit or something."
We took our coffee cups back to the kitchen, and I left him to go talk to Debbie. She asked about the nasty tractor that I had bought over the weekend.
"It's for an idea, an experiment. Let's call it the S&S wind resistance truck. I want to see if I can build a cab, or body, or coach, whatever you call it, that will produce less wind resistance and save fuel. I'll bet there is a market for it. If you can come up with a name for the department, that would be good."
I started for the door, "I'm going to lunch and I have a class this afternoon. If you need me, call. I'll answer if I can."
It was only eleven, but I wanted to work out a few minutes first. When I got home to change, Glenda and Hanna said they were going to the pool for some sun, why not come with them and swim for exercise? It was a good idea.
I changed to my trunks and grabbed my cell phone. I swam hard for thirty minutes, then enjoyed two ladies spreading lotion on me. I toasted on each side for fifteen minutes and then said I had to get going. I showered, dressed, and ate before leaving for the Aero Park.
Pete greeted me saying that John had called and said Sue was buying the plane, so I needed to work on my instrument rating for sure. He had me sit in his little classroom where I watched an hour long video, then he had another instructor pilot work with me for an hour on some of the principles of instrument flying.
Next we went out to my 172 that now had a strange looking device mounted at the side of the left seat. The instructor pilot explained that it was called a training hood. Once aloft, the hood would be put in place so I couldn't see anything outside, only the instruments. He handed me a stopwatch and explained how to use it, telling me that was one way to begin learning.
I pre-flighted the plane and we took off. The instructor said he was happy to see that I didn't skip any of the pre-flight inspection, even though I knew the park had gone over the plane. I told him that's the way I was taught; it was the only way to know the plane was right.
Once in the air and settled at five thousand feet, the instructor pulled the hood in place and asked if I knew where I was. I checked the neat new Garmin GPS and gave the longitude and latitude then said I was near Zephyrhills on a heading of 080 degrees. He asked where I would be in an hour. I checked my map, checked my airspeed indicator then checked the corrected ground speed on the GPS and said, "Heading toward Bermuda, just going off shore."
"He told me to see if I could find the radio VOR beacon (VHF omnidirectional range) for the field outside Brooksville. The map listed the frequency of the beacon, so I aligned the heading with the needle, knowing that I would see the needle flip over when we passed over the VOR. "How do you know you're tuned to the right beacon?" He asked.
"The frequency we set on the unit is only good for that location in this area and puts out a Morse code identifier. If you were to give me the next VOR, I know to change my course to that beacon. I need to call for clearance pretty soon, as we're nearing one of the Navy's bombing run areas."
"Very good, turn towards home, call for clearance to a lower altitude and see if you can pick up our beacon, and when we are close enough, tune in the ILS frequency and get on the localizer and glide slope for our field."
It really wasn't very hard with the GPS, but I found the beacon which was the nearer and began lowering my altitude over the five mile beacon. I asked when I could look, as I was nearing a thousand feet and should be out of the clouds, even on most rainy days.
He pulled the hood back and I was descending right onto the runway. He directed me to touch and go, then told me to call in to Tampa international for clearance. While I was doing that, he was pulling the hood over me again. I had clicked the stop watch and knew I had to be over the runway apron but was still three hundred feet up.
The instructor pulled the hood away for me to see in big letters, "Good Luck New Guy" across the runway. The instructor said "make a go-around and we'll do it again." I advanced the throttle and reset the flaps, then ascended back to my assigned five thousand feet, going back around.
The instructor put the hood back on and I went through the procedure again. The hood was pulled back at a hundred feet, and I set the plane down nicely rolling out on all three wheels. I rolled a couple of hundred yards then applied power to takeoff again. As I was climbing out, the radio chirped, "Good job Cessna 6278, see you again soon for more practice."
The instructor said to head home, as it had been a good day. He said we would work on longer distances, autopilot settings and the integration of the GPS since it was so handy. He also said that we would be doing at least two landings a day on controlled runways. We might go up to Jacksonville, or perhaps to the busy Orlando airport. He said a good one was the Clearwater/St. Pete airport, but their controllers were not as good. The last resort would be to go down to Sarasota-Bradenton airport and I should experience them too, since he was sure I would run into more like them.
I was surprised that it was already nearing five when we were on final for the Aero Park. We received clearance and landed cleanly. The 172 is very easy to fly. As I was taxing to the hangar, the instructor asked me about my tail dragger endorsement. I told him about the air club in the service and the ancient equipment that we kept up. He told me some Viet Nam stories with the same planes, saying those aircraft were good experience for any pilot.
I refueled the plane before putting it into the hangar then went back to operations. I noticed that I had a voice mail message on my phone, but waited until the instructor gave me a book to read that evening. He asked if I wanted to do mornings or afternoons. I asked if afternoons would be okay and he said it was fine with him, to just show up at one and we would go from there.
I listened to Sue's voicemail message then called her. "Hey babe, you're there already, huh?"
I sure am and you know what? Dewey and Sheila are still here. They're waiting for a guy to finish a class so he can sail with them back to the islands. I'm staying on the boat for tonight and maybe tomorrow. Mercy said she will probably come back to the boat at night to stay with me instead of staying at home. I'm going to let John work with me all day tomorrow teaching me instrument flying and then see how long Mercy is going to stay."
I told her about taking my first day of classes on instrument and about landing at Tampa International. She was glad it had been easy for me. I told her there was a lot to learn, but just doing it over and over would make it easy and second nature.
She said they were getting ready to go to Merlin's to eat and that Mercy was going to do a show that night for her dad. I said that it was really early out there for that, but she said they were going early so they could eat with the performers before the evening serving and entertainment.
She said she would call later this evening and hung up.
I went back to the house to enjoy beer with everyone getting off work. Shawna and I talked about my plan for using the three new people the next day. As hot as I had been all day in the little airplane, the air conditioning on the patio felt good.
It was a good evening. I was able to sit out on the patio and study the book that had been assigned. It was very interesting and should probably be read again to absorb even more.
Sue called at ten, which was seven out there, saying they were watching several of the individual performers doing tricks among some of the early show guests. She said that Mercy had been cute, saying she was nervous about doing a show since she had not done one for a few days. I told her I had read my book and was ready to call it a night soon. She said she was tired too and would be happy to go to bed soon. She said to wait a second.
Mercy's voice came on the phone, "I miss you, Steve. Sue and I are not complete when we're away from you. You've been busy. I'm trying to keep you in touch with me but Sue's so strong, she fills my mind. We'll see you soon, maybe two days, okay?"
"Whatever you need, Mercy. Convince your folks that we make a neat group. I enjoy you and I know Sue is nuts about you."
"Well, I'm nuts about both of you guys. Here's Sue."
Sue said, "Mercy is going to go on now so I'll talk to you tomorrow. Love you, Baby, I'll see you soon."
The patio was empty, so I closed up, shut down the air, and went to bed, alone. It felt strange to be alone.