A few weeks back, I had heard of a couple of 17 year old brothers, in defiance of father and in pursuit of adulthood and the romance of aviation, who took to the skies in an 85 horsepower piper cub from Basking Ridge, NJ, only to find themselves 6 days later in San Juan Capistrano California. From the second I heard of this story, I was captivated. I just picked up the book today and am through page 57--if only I could read this much for school assignments.
Beyond reading about two boys who share with me back in the 60's the same love for aviation that I have today--It became not just a thought in the back of my head, but a journey I must make. Certainly this is about seeing the country from 500 feet, following highways as cars pass the slow yellow thing buzzing above their sunroofs, and about noting the state of general aviation in America. This is about the "mom and pop" airports in the middle of texas, where flights in and out are a weekly, not daily occurance. This is about roughing it, carrying little more than a wing full of fuel and the clothes on our back...to discover ourselves after four years by the bay. I will do this with donations--all benefits differentiating from minimal flight expenses will go directly to one of the greatest causes I know, the Wounded Warrior Project.
Planning the flight will be an adventure itself--and I sit here today, wondering how I am going to get over the Rockies. I would rather not go down through El Paso following I-10, where the elevation is 4,500 feet...but altitude mixed with summer weather does not mix well with a piper cub, which can be thought of as an airplane with little more than a really powerful lawnmower engine. We shall see...
Monday, March 7, 2011
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