gerrychuck
Well Known Member
Beautiful, clear, unseasonably warm afternoon today, so of course I had to head for the airport to get Second Wind some air time. During the flight, I heard a military flight make a traffic call - a pair of Harvard II's (Texan II's in the US) at 500 agl fairly close to my position, with another single Harvard behind them. Not unusual; they will often take 2 or 3 aircraft away from base for the weekend and have the students do a bunch of flying out of a "strange" airport before returning home on Sunday. On this trip home, they were obviously doing a low level nav exercise to finish off the weekend. I exchanged position info with both flights and at one point watched the first pair cross below and in front of me. A few minutes later I called on my airport's ATF frequency giving my position and intention to return to the airport for landing. In reply, I hear:
Snapper 13: "Echo Romeo Zulu, this is Snapper 13; what is your position?"
Me: "Snapper 13, Echo Romeo Zulu; just off the east end of the lake"
Snapper 13: "Copy that"
A few minutes later I announce my intention to overfly the the airport 500 ft above pattern altitude (3500 ft) before descending to circuit height on the dead side of the pattern.
Snapper 13: "Moose Jaw Traffic, Snapper 13 is at 3500 ft following inbound traffic"
Okay, this is getting interesting, but by this point I know what's up. As I do a 180 and descend to pattern altitude, I meet the navy blue Harvard crossing the strip 500 ft above me. I do my cross wind leg, and as I call on the downwind, I again hear from Snapper 13:
"Snapper 13 crosswind, will join the downwind behind inbound traffic"
I am definitely being chased here! Particularly since the Harvards do NOT land at our 2950' municipal airport. As I call base, Snapper 13 announces they will do an extended downwind before flying a low approach. Now I really know what is going on, and as I call final Snapper 13 announces they will do a long final to a low approach. I complete my approach, land, and turn off at midfield, and as soon as I hit the ramp I turn around in time to see the Harvard come down the runway at speed, wings rocking in greeting.
Me: "Nicely done, Snapper 13"
Snapper 13: "Thank you!"
And with that, my son pulled his Harvard up and banked away toward Regina, returning to regularly scheduled training (or testing) for one more exercise before ending his working weekend. What a rush getting to share the air with my kid, culminating in his salute over the strip that he first flew out of before he was born, now returning as a senior Standards Officer (Snapper in RCAF parlance) on the Harvard, 3 1/2 years after earning both his RCAF and USAF wings on the T-38. Oh; and now he's a dad himself. Cool. Today was definitely a good day. Makes me feel kinda warm and fuzzy, like the day in Second Wind when I took this pic:
[/url]IMG_20150329_130800 by gerrychuck, on Flickr[/IMG]
Aviation gives us good days. Our kids give us good days. Combine aviation and our kids, and we have great days. Life is good.
Snapper 13: "Echo Romeo Zulu, this is Snapper 13; what is your position?"
Me: "Snapper 13, Echo Romeo Zulu; just off the east end of the lake"
Snapper 13: "Copy that"
A few minutes later I announce my intention to overfly the the airport 500 ft above pattern altitude (3500 ft) before descending to circuit height on the dead side of the pattern.
Snapper 13: "Moose Jaw Traffic, Snapper 13 is at 3500 ft following inbound traffic"
Okay, this is getting interesting, but by this point I know what's up. As I do a 180 and descend to pattern altitude, I meet the navy blue Harvard crossing the strip 500 ft above me. I do my cross wind leg, and as I call on the downwind, I again hear from Snapper 13:
"Snapper 13 crosswind, will join the downwind behind inbound traffic"
I am definitely being chased here! Particularly since the Harvards do NOT land at our 2950' municipal airport. As I call base, Snapper 13 announces they will do an extended downwind before flying a low approach. Now I really know what is going on, and as I call final Snapper 13 announces they will do a long final to a low approach. I complete my approach, land, and turn off at midfield, and as soon as I hit the ramp I turn around in time to see the Harvard come down the runway at speed, wings rocking in greeting.
Me: "Nicely done, Snapper 13"
Snapper 13: "Thank you!"
And with that, my son pulled his Harvard up and banked away toward Regina, returning to regularly scheduled training (or testing) for one more exercise before ending his working weekend. What a rush getting to share the air with my kid, culminating in his salute over the strip that he first flew out of before he was born, now returning as a senior Standards Officer (Snapper in RCAF parlance) on the Harvard, 3 1/2 years after earning both his RCAF and USAF wings on the T-38. Oh; and now he's a dad himself. Cool. Today was definitely a good day. Makes me feel kinda warm and fuzzy, like the day in Second Wind when I took this pic:
Aviation gives us good days. Our kids give us good days. Combine aviation and our kids, and we have great days. Life is good.
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