I had just taken off from Willows airport in an Arrow. My friends would be just a few minutes behind me in a Cessna 172. We were flying to Georgetown airport. If you read my last post, you'll know what happened when we got there...but we had had some fun getting there too. Since I had taken off first from Willows, and being in a faster plane, my friend in the 172 asked if I could slow it down a little. "Sure!" I had eagerly replied. Apparently we were still going too fast for them, so they asked us to do a couple of 360's so they could catch up. Innocently, I obliged them, and did so. After rolling out once more, they instructed me again to slow it down, they could see us but were still "a little bit behind." I don't know what I was thinking, but I was cooperating - that's for sure. I don't remember exactly what they recommended, but I believe they said to bring back the power to about 19" or so...(basically half power to those who don't know what I mean by 19"). Someone slightly sharper or perhaps more experienced than me probably would have caught on to something fishy going on, but I trusted them and figured they just really wanted to catch up - so back the power came. My friend sitting next to me was a pilot too, and she wasn't catching on either.
What happened? We finally made it to Georgetown, and my two friends in the 172 were standing by their plane (shutdown, tied-down, and as ready to be left for the night as it could be), waving at us as we pulled off the runway. So a word of advice to all my readers (if I have any): Do a little bit of thinking and calculating before obliging every request from a couple of friends who you know would make fun of you given the opportunity. At least I have lots to laugh about - probably the most from a single night. Oh, and the dinner in Willows was great too.
In honor of my clever friend,
Check your six,
Up in the Air
