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The Restorative Power of Flight

DeltaRomeo

doug reeves: unfluencer
Staff member
[ed. From the 4/16/2020 edition of www.VansAirForce.net (#5,063) v/r,dr]

I went out to the airport Wednesday morning with the best of RV intentions. But having passed a few motionless flags on the way, and seeing 00000KT on the phone when I looked, that plan went out the window. The RV isn't buttoned back up, but the Cub is, and it has been a few weeks since it has been off the surface.

The stock ponds were mirrors and dew covered bright green fields fighting for spring sunlight exploded in the morning light out to the horizon. Almost fluorescent. What you don't realize about 52F is that five minutes to the NW in a Cub at 100' AGL over farmland, you could pretty easily convince yourself it was 1946. No houses, just creeks and farmland. A little inattention and the ball is out again - stick and rudder skills matter with this one. The joys of simple, uncomplicated flight with no radio - there's only one knob (baro) and one switch (mag). You don't really need the baro. The checklist is short.

After .6 of restorative therapy, I taxied up to the hangar and began planning the morning's original task of putting back on access covers, fairings, cowlings and wheel pants on the amazing RV-6. An RV is the polar opposite of a Cub. It so beautifully masters fast and high and acro and technology, and rewards well practiced skill sets. I miss going fast, and need to get that thing put back together this week, but 00000KT demands Cub if you have access to one, and plodding along at 40mph in ground effect a foot or so above the growing wheat touches the soul in a way that few things can. If you've never done this you'll just have to trust me. A Cub-shaped shadow on a field of blurred, wet green in red-shifted morning light can set things right in your head. Email and accounting software are easier to face with recent memories like these.

Fourteen deer and three turkeys in the memo line.

But even the new plan didn't go as expected. I sat on the couch jotting down a few thoughts for this piece here, with the clicking and ticking of the 65 h.p. engine cooling down in front of me, and my train of thought kept getting distracted by all the RV activity. It turns out RVators like 00000KT too. There's Allen in his -14 taking off. Now Danny in his -8, and Ross in his -6. And Matt (-6), and John (-8), and Kay (-8A), and Randy (-8) and James (-4) and Rod (-8). They too saw the windsock, and changed their plans to take advantage of the CAVU with their own RV version of social distancing. I'd guess they didn't see the turkeys.

What a Blessing it is to get to enjoy these. High and fast in the amazing RV, and low and slow in a worn, tattered, dusty, dripping J-3 that reminds me of both simpler times and why I'm also attracted to this different type of flying. These two aircraft, and their wildly different flight envelopes, realign my mental gyros like nothing else. Blessed and Grateful are the words that keep coming to the front.

I'll get the RV in the air here in a few days, but I'm glad the plan changed on the fly. Formation practice is calling me and that is all RV. But lazily exploring a creek for fish and beavers from a hundred feet will be up front here again before too long. Anyone standing outside around N. TX Wednesday would understand. Aviators get all goofy-eyed when the METARs are all zeros.

It's our catnip.

We are beautifully flawed.
 
Doug, You are a poet Sir.
I have a suspicion that you fly and make music as beautifully as you write.
Thank you for sharing your gifts.
 
52F

Doug- Some time in the late 70's I was at 52F at least once. It was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Edna Whyte was still running the place. I didn't know her history at the time, now I do. That was the era when Leo Laudenslager won National Aerobatic Champion 7 times. Leo would arrive at 52F two weeks before the contest and practice in a marked box with judges and corner judges.
 
Two thumbs up

Great post Doug. You inspired me to go out today to fly. First time in five weeks due to the pandemic. Airplanes don't sit well and I needed to get the oil moving and the seals lubricated.

So off I went to KSWI for fuel (still $3.45/gal, so I guess they're still working through the last tank refill.) Not a sole around so distancing was not a challenge. Wore the mask and gloves anyway.

The flight reminds me how lucky I am to have built my dream. Weather was clear but not 0000kt like the low-and-slow guys prefer. But above 2,500 it was smooth as glass.

Looking forward to more normal days again.

Chris
 
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FLIGHT!

Doug,

Amazing way you wrote that piece!

I have been grounded now almost ten years!? Lost Medical. Can it really be that long?

How I miss my RV. How I miss the feelings you put so well into words.

Maybe your next adventure should involved writing a book!?

I'm sure if it's like this, it will sell many copies!

Blue Skies my friend.
 
I believe we just discovered the next Richard Collins or Lauran Paine Jr. Well done DR!
 
I have flown my Cub all over the west. Usually at about 500 to 1000 feet AGL. Goes about 70 mph. You see strange sites. Small airports. You deal with airspace issues. Young pilots cannot understand taking days to fly 500 miles. Older pilots just smile


Bob
 
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