OK, so I was arcing about the web reading other blogs last night and came across FlyingGma’s Blog about going to a fly-in with the top down.\u00a0 She and her husband started out on their motorcycle, but then changed their minds and took a Corvette convertible instead.\u00a0 Then she made the point, \u201cWhen you drive with the top down or on the motorcycle for that matter, you smell all the smells.\u00a0 The good with the bad.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is amazing how the mind works.\u00a0 When I read the passage about smelling all the smells, I thought of two things from my past with regard to \u201call the smells.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first, involved an an old friend, a woman who had soloed airplanes.\u00a0 We were driving somewhere and passing a landfill.\u00a0 The road traversed from northeast to southwest and the dump was off to port (our left, south of the road).\u00a0 The windows were down and I made the comment, \u201cI hope the winds are out of the northwest to keep the smell away from us.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was at this point, she licked her finger, stuck it out the window at 65 mph. Then with her thumb, she indicated toward the back of the car and said, \u201cIt\u2019s blowing straight back.\u201d\u00a0 I damn near fell out of the car I was laughing so hard!\u00a0 It took me a very long time to regain my composure and then I had to re-explain the concept of relative wind to her.\u00a0 I don\u2019t believe she ever finished her private ticket.<\/p>\n
The other memory was much more pleasant.\u00a0 I remember spring and summer days when the strawberries were blooming and then\u00a0 became ripe.\u00a0 The strawberries filled the fields where I flew ground reference maneuvers when I was a student pilot.\u00a0 And yes, all the way up to 1000 feet, you could smell the strawberries.\u00a0 Especially when you were flying the Cubs with the doors open.<\/p>\n
It was such a pleasant experience \u2013 flying the old Cubs over the strawberries.\u00a0 They smelled so good.\u00a0 Of course, there was no doubt as to what I would do if I had an engine failure.\u00a0 I knew which field I was going to land in.\u00a0 And then I would sit and wait for Charlie and the gang to come rescue the airplane.<\/p>\n
And of course while I waited, I would eat my fill of strawberries.<\/p>\n
-30-<\/p>\n
<\/em>\u00a9 2010 J. Clark<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" OK, so I was arcing about the web reading other blogs last night and came across FlyingGma’s Blog about going to a fly-in with the top down.\u00a0 She and her husband started out on their motorcycle, but then changed their … Continue reading