Flying.
Your ever adventurous Pete just got back from another most interesting of trips: Flying in an Experimental Aircraft.
Some would say that that’s crazy, but I saw my pilot Tom construct the “Beast” in his own garage, and I felt confident in his flying and building skills–so what the heck? The sticker on the dash-board reads:
Passenger Warning: This airplane is not what the FAA would say is a ‘standard airplane’, and is built by an amateur, so look to your right and ask yourself the question: ‘do you feel lucky, punk?’
Okay, well, maybe I’m paraphrasing, but you catch my drift.
We took off from my home-base in Corona, en-route to Lake Isabella, about two hundred miles north from me, as the crow flies; that would be us. Look, it took me six (6) hours the last time I drove, with my Sea-Doo® in tow behind my Jeep®, with all the twisty-turny roads that led up to the Lake and Tom’s Cabin (not to be confused with that other cabin).

It took us just eighty (80) minutes with his home-built plane.

Upon landing, we bounced like twenty (20) feet off the runway. I never had a funner ride in my life—we bounced like a Super-Ball® and then settled down like a flying squirrel upon a plate of nuts… sweet.
We got my buddy’s gear that he’s going to use next week at Lake Powell–your author may go as well but we’ll see. We ended up spending the night in Tom’s cabin with a family (another engineer/pilot, his lovely wife and their precocious daughter) that flew in that day. It was all under a full, silver moon reflecting off of a mirror lake… jest beautiful.
We played this trip by ear, and the next day we didn’t even ski, as we were supposed to head back the day before, but these pilot guys (and their wives) are just too much fun.
The next day we parted good company, and took off for the Mohave Desert. It’s on the way but we landed in this dried up lake bed right next to the one the Space Shuttle lands on when it lands in Mohave. We buzzed (I mean buzzed low in radical banking turny-thingies) some campers and off-roaders and then landed the airplane. I didn’t know we could do that, that’s so cool. Some guys rode by and waved, it was very friendly. We had a soda and took off like a frantic mosquito (huh?).
Anywho, we landed in Corona about a half an hour later, and “Ooh! I can see my house from up here Tom!”
“Shut up and keep an eye out for planes that might be flown by some idiot and smack into us;” said Tom.
“Check!” I say (heh, I learned that.)
After an aborted landing, we landed just fine.
“Hey Tom, I owe you for gas, I got a twenty,” said Pete.
Tom replied, “Forget it, I don’t have change for that, it took less than 10 gallons.”
Pete: “Okay, I’ll take you guys out for dinner or something.”
Tom: “Yeah, whatever, just come out with us on this Lake Powell trip, it’s gonna be way cool, now get outa here, what do ya want, a hug and a kiss? You’re lucky I slowed the plane down.”
Pete: “I’ll go if I can hitch a ride on your buddy’s plane, I really will, I mean I’d take my Sea-Doo and all and… arggghhh.”
Tom: “Are you still here?”

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