My Library

decision, why did I have to … CLICK! RESET. CLICK! … the street or the roof … the street, cars will see me coming in and clear a path down the middle … full flaps … nose down … watch that taller building … that’s it right over the street, straight down the middle … watch for turbulence, crosswinds at the corner … flare out, hold her off … get out of the way, get out of the way, can’t you see me!… stall warning yelling … she’s quitting on me, too quick … flash of light, heat, terrible heat. CLICK! RESET. CLICK! … I am flying a single-engine Navion over a large city. Bill is in the seat beside me. We are about two thousand feet up, and we are just below the overcast. Turbulence is minor. Gauges look good. It’s a borrowed aircraft. I need to keep an appointment in the city below. Bill leans and yells in my ear, (You’re going to have to land now if you want to be on time.) I look around. (I don’t see the airport.) (Never mind the airport.) Bill points downward. (You have to land now. Down there!) (Not this kid!), I yell back. (The appointment will have to wait. If it costs me the deal, so be it. Now, where’s the airport?)