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As
a kid, I spent most of my free
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and all of my summers with my Grand-parents on their farm. My life
was full of adventures and exploration, and my love and passion for
avaition would one day be ignited by a single event one hot summer
day. |
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I
was 7 or 8 years old when I was
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in the yard and looking up I saw a sleek low flying airplane. It was
silent, it was slow and, it was landing in our field. I ran to the
machine shed where Grandpa was working and told him what I saw. He
jumped to his feet and we ran to the pickup and headed in the direction
I saw the plane fly. |
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We
drove out to an area where
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two days prior we had cut and bailed most of a hay field. There it
was, way out at the end of the field. I could see it, pure white with
one wing resting on the ground. It was a perfect silhouette in the
brownish green hayfield and blue Iowa sky. |
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As
we bounced through the field
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I heard my Grandpa say, "Looks like one of those sailplanes".
I had no idea what he was talking about, all I knew was the closer
we got to that plane, the more excited I got. |
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As
we pulled up to the plane, the
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was already out and walking around his machine checking for damage
or scratches. When I jumped out of the pickup and ran toward the plane,
I still remember how hot it was out in that feild the smell of freshly
cut hay. |
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The
pilot was a tall man, wearing
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I though at the time was coveralls (flight suit). "Sorry for
the inconvenience" the pilot said. "I lost my lift, can
I borrow your phone"? "No trouble" Grandpa said, "can
the boy look at your plane, he's a little excited". "I'll
even let him sit in it", said the pilot. |
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During
the ride back to the
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I was relentless. I must have asked at least a hundred questions about
flying and about his plane. He told me he was from Minnesota and that
he just didn't make it as far as he thought he would. |
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Now,
looking back I feel sorry for
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pilot, because for next three or four hours while he was waiting to
be picked up, he had to endure more questions and idolization than
any astronaut, pro-sports player or super hero would experience in
a lifetime. |
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