Angela - Part 4
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~ ANGELA PART FOUR ~




The new Cessna Skylane proud and majestic stood nobly in its assigned area of the large hangar. Angela had been at the hangar for the last 2 hours admiring the sleek new aircraft, still not believing that it belonged to her, that is to her and her dad. She had always assumed that ever since she was a little girl everything her dad owned belonged to her too.

Ever since the new Cessna arrived about a week ago, Angela spent every evening at the airport just making sure that it was still there. She would come home from school, eat her dinner, do her homework, if she had any, and rush to the airport to again inspect its sleek lines. She looked at the large clock on the wall, oh, gosh, 9:00pm. where has the time gone? She had been there for 2 hours, not realizing that it was getting so late. Tomorrow’s school, and am I glad that I've already done my homework. She thought that she'd better get home before her mom came after her.

Angela couldn't think of anything but the arrival of her 16th birthday next week. Ever since the new Cessna arrived, she and her dad spend many hours learning the intricacies of the aircraft. It was a far cry from their old Cessna 150. The Skylane had enough seats to house 4 passengers, more than the 2 that the Cessna 150 had. Its navigation equipment was far more advanced, and was far more capable of flying in instrument weather. Its controls were more intricate, but not necessarily more difficult than the C150. Angela learned the controls completely and felt that she was more than confident to fly the airplane alone, and she thought that her dad did also. After all, she had been flying with him for several years now, and she felt that she could fly the airplane better than anyone she knew, except for her dad.

But, she had never been flying alone in an airplane, any airplane. She was not permitted to do so. Not that she was frightened. At least she wouldn't admit that she could be. After all, look who taught her, the very best pilot in the world, her dad. Still she had a feeling of apprehension. Not a lack of confidence feeling, but a feeling that she couldn't identify, sort of a empty feeling down in the pit of her stomach. I guess everybody has this feeling when they are about to solo. But she wouldn't be doing that until next week.

Lying in her bed, just 2 days before her 16th birthday, Angela reflected of how much influence she had on her dad. Although she did have some influence, it wasn't as much as she thought. She did not know that before her heart to heart talk with her dad concerning the possibility of upgrading their Cessna 150, her dad had the same thoughts. In fact, he had thought of surprising his daughter, just before her 16th birthday with a new airplane. He knew that the Cessna 150 was getting a bit obsolete, and besides that he wanted a high performance plane, one that would take his family on long flights, that is if he could only get his wife a bit more interested in flying. He found all he wanted in a Cessna Skylane, a brand new version. It had great power, could attain a speed of 160 knots, and obtain a ceiling of about 14,000 feet. In addition, the airplane had the latest in communications and navigational equipment. Dual this and dual that. It was a fantastic airplane. So, he was determined to keep this a secret, it was strictly Angela's idea.

Angela was talking on the telephone with Holly, her 18 year old cousin. Holly at one time was crazy about flying. She did get her student license, but lost interest in flying soon after that. "Holly," said Angela, "how come you didn't continue with your flying, I know that you were really interested in getting your private license and maybe more at one time, what happened?" A lot of things," replied Holly, "my parents couldn't afford it and I sure as heck didn't have any money for lessons. I wasn't as lucky as you in having your dad teaching you all about flying, besides that my boyfriend didn't like it, so I gave it up." "Are you sorry that you didn't continue with your lessons," questioned Angela. "No, it was interfering with my life, it was kinda pinning me down, and I don't really miss it." Gee, thought Angela, I'd never let a boy interfere with my dreams of flying.

"Holly," said Angela, "do you remember the day you soloed, were you nervous?" "Sure was, nervous and also scared," replied Holly. " It was two weeks after my sixteenth birthday when my instructor turned me loose." "Why then, wasn't you ready on your birthday?" "I thought I was, but my instructor kept putting it off saying that I needed more time and more lessons. I kept asking him to please turn me loose, but he wouldn't do it. I look back now, and realize that all he wanted was for me to pay him for additional lessons, even though he knew that I wouldn't have any problems. So I told him either we do it now or I get a different instructor. So that’s the story, and I didn't have any problem whatsoever. Everything went real smooth. But you know, I have never flown again after that. I guess that I just wanted to prove to myself that I could do it."

Angela couldn't sleep. She lay in her bed twisting and turning. She kept thinking of the last lesson her dad had given her today. She was thinking of her soloing tomorrow. Would she be nervous and scared as her cousin Holly had been. Naw, not me. Nothing to be scared or nervous about. I've been flying with my dad for years just waiting for this moment. She was thinking of the intensity of her lessons today given by her dad. She knew what the procedures would be. Heck she watched other kids many times in their first lone flight, and she knew what was to be expected. Still, there was a funny feeling. A sort of apprehensive feeling about tomorrow, and she could not explain it. It was a feeling that she never had before, like the time she went out on her first date with Mark, not knowing what to expect and things like that. But she knew what to expect. Well, I'll get over it by morning.

"Good morning and happy birthday Angie," called her mom and dad." Rise and shine, time to get up." Angela was awaken with a start. She had a pitiful night, and had just started to get some sleep when her parents came in her room and awoke her. Replying sleepily, Angela said, "thank you mom and dad, but can I just rest in here for a while and get up a little later?" "But honey, " called her dad, “this is the day, this is what you've been waiting for ever since you were a little tot." "But dad, I'm so tired, can't I sleep for a little while?" "Sure honey, suppose I wake you in about an hour or so . This will give me time to go to the airport and get Cessna 1452 all ready for you, okay?" "Sure dad."

Angela thought how strange she felt. Here she had been waiting a long time for this day. She never felt that the age mattered. It was a minor thing. She didn't care how old she was. It was just that the law required her to be 16 years old to get into an airplane alone and prove herself. Prove that I was capable of being the pilot in charge? And now she was telling her dad to let her sleep for a little while. Ha. The funny feeling she had last night was still there. Why? Am I so apprehensive of getting in an airplane all alone without anyone protecting me? Bull, it was all in her mind. The waiting all these years for this day suddenly hit her. This is the day of my life. This is what I've been looking forward to ever since my dad took me on my first airplane ride. Am I going to blow it?

To be continued







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Original stories written, published and copyrighted by Larry Delmar. (c) 1970-1999. If you would like to use something, please email for permission.