Roger plans a trip
It was a chance remark by Lorna Yamada that started the whole thing.
Just after the new year, Roger and Freya had gone to the Yamada's ramen house and ordered ramen to go as Dena and Silky, of all people wanted some.
While waiting for their order, Roger was admiring a photograph of a tall, slender Japanese woman standing next to a 1930's Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber moored at a dock.
"Like that picture? That's my cousin Mikura Amelia and that's her grandfather's plane. Pretty cool huh?" remarked Lorna as she set down their order.
Roger grinned and said, "It is very cool. Where was this taken? Somewhere tropical from the way she's dressed, I'm guessing."
Lorna peered at the photo briefly and said, "I think it was taken at their home on Hahajima Island."
"Hahajima Island? Where is that?"
Lorna thought for a few moments and replied, "It's one of the Izu islands south of Japan, there's a long string of them running almost to Guam. To be honest, I'd have to show you where they are on a map, as most of them are pretty small."
She grinned, "I'll bet she'd flip if she saw that big sea plane you guys have! I'd love to surprise her by showing up in that thing!"
Roger chuckled and remarked, "I'll bet you would."
Lorna's mother appeared from out of nowhere, like all mothers do and said, "What would she do?" Her one eyebrow raised in inquiry, another motherly trait.
She turned her motherly attention on Roger and he replied, "We were just talking about the photo of her cousin next to that old plane and she thought it would be fun to surprise her cousin by turning up in our own sea plane to visit her."
This time, both motherly eyebrows went up briefly before she lowered them again and said, "Lorna can go, provided she spends the rest of her summer vacation at her auntie Meiko's."
Lorna's eyes opened very wide and she gasped, "Are you serious?"
Her mother nodded a 'yes'.
"Woah!"
Once again her mother smiled and said, "We'll contribute money towards your trip as a graduation present, and you will work out your plans while I will let your auntie Meiko know you're coming."
Lorna looked fit to bursting in her excitement, her eyes shimmering in her scarcely contained joy.
Her mother smiled and purred, "Now scoot! There's customers waiting."
Lorna scooted.
As Freya drove home while Roger carried their orders, she commented,"Noo 'at yoo've gain an' talked yerself intae 'at lang trip. When dae we lae an' hoo ur we gonnae dae thes?"
Roger muttered, "It'll have to be after your graduation and it has to be done in a series of island hops. Moby Dick doesn't have the range to fly there in one there's accounting for the weather and finding Avgas 100 at the very least."
Roger flopped his head against the headrest, sighed and said, "All I did was admire a photo and ask a few questions, I sure didn't expect her mom to turn up like she did, like moms will do."
He looked over at his towering companion and remarked, "I've noticed your mom's pretty good at that too. It must be a superpower reserved only for moms. Dads don't seem to have that ability to be aware of all that goes on in a household."
He laughed and said, "I just realized, Silky is like our mom, she knows all that we're up to, and all it takes from her is a disapproving glare to get us to stop what we're doing, if she doesn't like it. Ever notice that?"
Freya merely smiled at his remarks, he was right.
Silky was like their surrogate mother and yes, a stern look from her was often enough to stop mischief in its tracks.
He muttered, "First, I gotta go on Google Earth to get an idea of just where this stupid island actually is. Then I gotta find fuel sources we can rely on. My experience with that shitty Avgas 100 from Trinidad was pretty hairy and it could've ended very badly."
He smiled at Freya, "You do realize this will be our longest trip together and you'll be flying and navigating as much as I will?"
Freya grinned and replied, "'Tis nae problem, Ah'm awreddy lookin' forward tae it!"
"I knew you would say that!" he grinned and lapsed into a companionable silence for the rest of the drive home.
The next morning after Freya and Anita had left for school, Roger consulted the oracle of Google Earth and was soon looking at a satellite image of Hahajima Island from nearly 30 miles altitude.
What he saw was a larger island and about a dozen smaller islands, all making up the Hahajima island cluster.
Zooming in closer to the largest island, he focused on a small natural harbor that could accommodate a sea plane the size of a Martin Mariner.
While the image quality wasn't good enough for espionage purposes, it was certainly good enough to show him where to land.
Seeing that the islands were way too far from Hawai'i to make it in one hop, he started looking for alternatives that were within the range of the Martin Mariner they had fitted with XPBM-2 specification main and auxiliary fuel tanks, giving it some 5,000 gallons fuel capacity.
The first hop was to be from Portland, Oregon to Van Nuys airport near Los Angeles, California. A distance of some 814 miles.
While the next hop would be to Honolulu, Hawai'i. A distance of some 2558 miles.
His research showed that Wake Island, a remote coral atoll some 2,300 miles west of Honolulu still had United States Air Force facilities in use for refueling purposes.
To his delight they had Avgas 100, they could stop there see the bird sanctuary and top off the fuel and oil tanks.
He made a note to contact an old friend still in the military, perhaps he could help arrange for fuel at both Wake Island and Guam, they would bring their own oil.
1,500 miles west of Wake Island was Guam and its USAF facilities, again they could stop over night and top off before the 1,600 mile hop to the Philippines and Quezon city, where Christina had grown up.
Roger pondered that choice of landing sites.
A direct flight to Quezon city from Wake Island would encompass some 3,100 miles and roughly 16 hours flight time.
Moby Dick with his auxiliary fuel tanks in use, had a range of some 5,700 miles and could handle the trip.
It was the need of the passengers and crew to set foot on solid ground from time to time, that was the limiting factor in a flight's duration.
Even with the sound proofing and fairly comfortable accommodations, a long flight in the Martin Mariner could be tiring for any flight crew and passengers.
And since he and Freya would be the flight crew, he decided they would stop at Guam rather than take the longer flight.
The hop to Hahajima island was nearly 1,600 miles and the hop to Sapporo was a bit less than 1,200 miles.
The longest hop would be from Sapporo, Japan to Anchorage, Alaska as the flight would have to veer south to avoid Russian airspace, it looked to be just over 3,500 miles and would follow the Aleutian island chain mostly. Roger decided to look into what sort of U.S. Air bases might be along the Aleutian island chain just in case one was needed.
The final hop would be from Anchorage, Alaska to Portland, Oregon a distance of about 1,550 miles.
In all, the flight distance looked to be about 16,500 miles, give or take a thousand miles or so.
At a cruising speed of 200 MPH, it would take over 82 hours of air time to cover that distance.
In all, it would require at least 14,500 gallons of Avgas 100, and that would cost $87,000.00 bucks alone.
Oil consumption would be nearly 470 gallons of oil, meaning they would need to bring at least 800 gallons of motor oil just to be sure.
Feeling a headache coming on, Roger went and took a nap.
Coming downstairs from his nap, Roger heard girlish laughter coming from the kitchen.
Freya had brought home a couple of her friends from school and they were all chatting happily.
He recognized Lorna's voice as she said, "That's Hahajima Island? Woah, that's some island living for you. I'll bet they've got some killer fishing around there with no one but them to enjoy it. My uncle Tamatsu would love it there!"
A different voice said, "What is this site called again? I'd like to add it to my computron at home."
He heard Freya's distinctive voice and accent reply, "'Tis cawed Google Earth, Roger tauld me abit it. He's bin using it tae plan uir trip thes summer."
"Trip? What sort of trip?" asked the different voice.
Entering the kitchen at that point, Roger answered, "We are looking into a trip to the south Pacific in our sea plane. We are planning to island hop our way to Sapporo, Japan where we'll drop off Lorna at her auntie Meiko's."
The different voice belonged to Christina Aquino, a tiny Filipina Freya had met while they were in middle school.
She flashed a dazzling smile at Roger and said, "Hi! This trip sounds like fun. Are you guys going near the Philippines by any chance?"
Roger thought a moment and said, "We can stop by Manila to get fuel and check the oil, is that close enough?"
Christina's face beamed and she gushed, "I came from Quezon City which is on the same island and my grandmother still lives there. I'd love to surprise her with a visit for a couple of days!"
She paused, "I can help out with some money!"
Roger smiled at the tiny girl and said coyly, "I don't see any problems with us stopping by for a few days, but you might want to prepare your grandmother for Freya's size and appetite!"
"Hey noo! Whit abit me size an' appetite!" Squawked Freya while Lorna guffawed and said, "Honey, you can eat more than anyone I know and not gain an ounce!"
She grinned and said, "I'm not even gonna touch your size, dearie."
"Ah cannae 'elp me size, it's jist th' way Ah am." Muttered Freya.
Christina beamed and said, "My grandmother's gonna flip when she sees us!"
She smiled at Freya and said, "Trust me, you will not go hungry at my grandmother's, she'll make sure of that!"
Christina looked at Roger, "How much money will I need to bring with me? If I'm gonna help with gas and such?"
Roger chuckled and replied,"That sea plane can take up to 5,000 gallons of Avgas 100 which costs roughly 6 bucks a gallon. Or about 30 grand per fill up, I figure we'll be burning through about 14,500 gallons of gas during this trip. There's a reason why only the U.S. Navy could afford to fly these things. I do appreciate your offer, but I can't take your money. I'll figure out something."
He grinned at the three girls and said. "Relax, it'll be months before we leave. Anyway, I'm just laying out the plans for our trip right now, and looking at our options, so nothing's carved in stone."
After the girls had left for home, Freya sat down across from him and asked, "Sae whit dae we need tae dae afore we lae?"
Roger leaned back in his chair and replied, "We need to make sure Moby Dick is up to making that long a trip. We'll be flying close to 18,000 miles, much of it over water and I don't want any surprises."
"Whaur dae we start?" she asked.
"We start by getting the magnetos refurbished. The Commemorative Flight Museum has people who look after their magnetos, we'll send them off to get looked at while we go over the plane itself."
He grinned, "We'll be busy most weekends until you graduate, in case you were wondering."
Freya merely shrugged, when it came to her airplane versus socializing, the plane came first every time.
She commented, "Cooldnae Tom Sanders' fowk gang ower uir plane fur us? They're th' experts arenae they?"
Roger grinned, "You just want to go flying don't you!" he smiled, "We'd have to fly down to Texas and leave it there while they work on it, and that could take months."
Freya smiled and said coyly, "Ah jist hink Eduardo an' Pedro woods loch tae see hoo Moby Dick is farin' these days. Efter aw, they did fly heem afore we did."
Her comment was met with a hearty guffaw from Roger and when he finally stopped laughing, he wiped his tears of laughter from his eyes and said cheerfully, "Remind me not to engage you in a battle of wits!"
He smiled, "I'll call Tom in the morning."
The next morning Roger called Tom Sanders, head honcho of the Commemorative Flight Museum out of Addison, Texas.
After his receptionist patched him through, Roger heard, "Rodge, old buddy!" as Tom answered his call.
"How's tricks! How's the Mariner and how's that big girl of yours?" Tom asked, in that order.
"The big girl is fine, in fact she's graduating from high school this June and slated to enter Portland U. This fall.
"The plane is good and is the main reason why I'm calling, and that's the tricky part!"
"How so?" asked Tom.
Roger paused and related to Tom their idea for a pending trip across the Pacific, hopping from island to island in a big loop some 18,000 miles long.
Roger heard Tom give out a low whistle and he replied,"That's some kinda trip y'all are planning. Ah can see why you'd want us to give Moby Dick a looking over.
"There hasn't been one of those old birds in that part of the world since about 1950 or so. You're lucky he was one of the last ones built and received such good care."
Tom paused, "Ah can help you guys out with gettin' fuel, Ah get my Av gas 100 from Shell Oil under a sponsorship program they have and it just so happens they supply that fuel to the Air force for their piston engined prop jobs. Of course you'll have to put one of their company logos on your bird to qualify for the sponsorship program."
Roger chuckled and remarked, "If whoring ourselves out to Shell oil will save us a stack of money, I'm not about to get picky!"
Tom laughed at Roger's comment.
"When can we bring him down?"
Tom chuckled and replied, "It just so happens my mechanics are not real busy right now. This weekend perhaps?"
Roger laughed and said, "You don't believe in wasting time, do you! This weekend it is!"
"Lookin' forward to seein' y'all this Saturday!" said Tom just before he hung up.
Roger smiled to himself, following up on Freya's suggestion had just saved them a ton of money on fuel costs.
Thus saving him from having to plead for more money to go joy flying in the big Martin Mariner known as Moby Dick.
Freya would have to cancel whatever plans she had for the weekend, they were flying to Texas!
When Freya got home from school, Roger waited until she had put down her school things and had fixed herself a little snack. Of course her idea of a 'little snack' would make a nice meal for anyone else, but with her being nine feet tall now, it rated as a little snack.
She saw Roger's grin and muttered, "An' whit ur ye grinnin' abit fur?"
He smiled and said cheerfully, "We, as in you and I, are flying to Texas this weekend.I hope you hadn't made any plans."
"Ah tak' it ye spoke tae Tom Sanders. Whit did he say?" she asked between bites.
Roger smiled, "I told him what we were up to and how we thought his crew should give Moby Dick a going over before the trip. Which he thought was a good idea by the way, as his mechanics needed a project to work on."
Grinning, he concluded, "He also offered to put us on his Shell oil sponsorship for our fuel and oil needs, which is gonna save us a bunch of money and keep me in Rachel's good graces by not having to beg her for more money!"
Freya smiled at that comment, she'd often overheard Roger putting in a request for funds to cover something they were working on.
His latest request was for building materials to cover the enlarging of Samson's barn now that the white stag Moonbeam Stormwind was living with him.
That, and the woolybug flock had taken up residence in the second stall after the night of the wild hunt had passed over the neighborhood.
Finishing up her snack Freya asked, "When dae we lae?"
Roger grinned, "Saturday morning at five A.M."
She muttered, "Sae much fur gam nicht 'en."
"Sorry"
Saturday morning at 5 A.M. The early morning stillness was shattered by the Coughing and spluttering of an 18 cylinder Curtiss-Wright cyclone R-3350 being roused from its slumber.
Standing nearby was a bleary eyed Anita Larsen with a large fire extinguisher at the ready.
A few minutes later, the second engine was cranking over until its own cylinders began running on their own.
Freya sat in her co pilot's seat watching the gauges as the big engines warmed up quicker than usual, because Roger had turned on the motor oil preheaters two days before to get the motor oil up to about 80 degrees.
Thus saving engine life, oil and fuel.
When the engine indicator lights were all green, she gave a thumb's up to Roger, then waved Anita off so she could go back home and get back to bed.
Roger would make it up to her later on.
Releasing the parking brake, Roger throttled up the engines slightly and the bulky plane eased forward.
Once he was clear of the hangar, he held onto the right wheel brake and throttled up the left engine to swing the heavy plane around and onto the service road.
Soon they rumbling along the service road and approaching the ready point.
It was a quiet morning and there was little air traffic and before long they got clearance from the tower.
Twenty minutes later, Portland was rapidly disappearing under their wings as the bulky form of Moby Dick roared into the sky and headed south.
They leveled off at just over 8,000 feet and settled in for the long flight to Addison, Texas and the Commemorative Flight Museum's airfield.
Roger came up from the small galley and handed Freya a cup of freshly brewed coffee, courtesy of the coffee maker they had obtained from a scrapped C-5A Galaxy transport plane.
Freya smiled at him and took a sip, she smacked her lips and said, "Thaurs naethin' loch th' taste ay a cup ay fresh coffee while Ah'm flyin'!"
Roger chuckled, the girl had a point, for some reason coffee made while flying just seemed to taste better.
He settled behind his wheel and enjoyed his own coffee.
It was a good day for flying, the weather reports indicated no major storm activity was in their flight path just the usual patchy clouds and clear skies clear to Addison,Texas, their destination.
Fourteen hours later they were touching down at the Commemorative Flight Museum's airfield.
Once on the runway, Roger reversed the propellers and the heavy sea plane quickly scrubbed off speed.
Exiting the runway, they followed a service vehicle over to the shop buildings, maneuvered the Mariner into place and shut off the engines.
The relative silence that followed the incessant roar of the engines was profound.
After the four bladed propellers whirled to a stop, they took off their flying helmets and smiled at each other, they had arrived safely.
Before exiting the plane, they poured the last of their coffee into a couple of paper cups for later and threw the grounds into a trashbag.
No sense in leaving a mess to clean up later.
Climbing down from the ladder propped against the plane, they were greeted by Tom Sanders in his white Stetson hat and Rayban aviator's glasses.
His trademark look as he'd put it.
Tom grinned at Freya and said, "Well shucks, Ah sure cain't call you 'little lady' anymore! How tall are you now?"
She smiled and replied,"Ah'm nine feet taa noo an' accordin' tae me doctor, Ah'm nae quite done wi' growin'."
Tom laughed and they shook hands at first, then Freya gave him one of her memorable hugs.
Which knocked Tom's hat and sunglasses askew and caused Roger to chuckle at the sight.
When he had recovered his composure Tom grinned and remarked,"When Freya hugs you, you stay hugged!"
Having said that, he began looking the bulky sea plane over with a critical eye and a clip board in hand.
At one point he smiled and said, "Y'all take pretty good care of this old bird, what Ah've seen so far tells me you fly her pretty gently."
Roger grinned and replied, "Freya does much of the piloting and she doesn't want to bang up her baby during landings. She'll set her down nice and easy, everytime."
Tom grinned and said, "Between you and me, Ah'd rather have a woman flying some of our rarer birds 'cause Ah know she won't be rough on them."
When he had completed his once over, Tom said,"What we can do is upgrade the fuselage by stretching it about three feet, reinforcing it and adding hydroflaps at the rear, that will make it almost like a Martin Marlin in the water."
At their puzzled expressions he added, "The Martin Marlin had a longer waterline which reduced the Mariner's tendency to 'porpoise' in rough water. Y'all've been landing on lakes mostly so you haven't had any real problems with that. The Marlin also had hydroflaps which made it more maneuverable in water and eliminated the need for that old 'sea anchor' when slowing down after landing."
He grinned, "Of course with the reversible props we fitted last time around, a sea anchor hasn't really been necessary; although you might want to keep it handy in case you end up camping on the water, as it will keep the plane faced into the current."
He pointed at the pilot's access hatch, "We can also make that bigger so's Freya can use it instead of having to enter through the side cargo door."
He looked at the engine nearest him and said, "We'll be adding spinners and cooling fans to your engines to help cool the engines during that long trip you're talking about and the spinners will reduce drag a mite, anything to help increase range, Ah say."
Roger smiled and said, "Okay, so we'll be getting a slightly different plane back I take it? The changes you're suggesting sound all good to me and we'll need a bit of training on the use of these hydroflaps you mentioned. What's next?"
Tom grinned and said, "You leave it here while we work our magic, then you come back and pick it up after you've gotten a bit of training on it. What you'll be getting back will be essentially a Martin Marlin, as the engines have already been upgraded to the R-3350's, we'll just be improving the flying portion of the aircraft."
He grinned evilly and said, "Of course we'll have to get it re certified by the FAA before we can return it to you."
"Of course that means your maniac test pilot gets to wring it out, doesn't he?" remarked Roger.
"She, gets to wring it out." replied Tom with a grin.
"Okay, she gets to wring it out." said Roger.
Freya who had been listening to everything remarked,"Ah'd loch tae meit thes test pilot ay yours, she soonds verra interesting."
Tom grinned and said, "You can meet her tonight during dinner, my treat!"
That evening, after they had checked into the room Tom had arranged for them, showered up, changed and got ready to eat.
They entered the restaurant Tom had taken them too and as usual, the crowd fell silent at the sight of Freya at nine feet tall, walking towards the raised booth Tom had reserved.
Already seated there were two men quite familiar to Roger and a mature woman he'd note seen before.
Her military bearing told him she was a veteran of some experience.
Roger grinned when he saw the two men rising as they approached the booth.
"Eduardo! Pedro! Lookin' good as ever I see." he said cheerfully as they engaged in a round of manly hugs and back slaps, adventurers reunited.
Tom grinned and said, "Ah figured they'd want to see you guys, after all they're going to be the ones doing the work."
Roger grinned and said, "I wouldn't trust anyone else to work on our baby, these two really helped us out down there in Brazil."
He grinned, "It was Eduardo and his boyish charm that kept us fed while we were sorting out the carburetors at Gatun, half the housewives in the area were bringing us food, it's a lucky thing no angry husbands turned up looking for their dinners!"
The trio shared a laugh over the memory and Tom turned to the mature woman, "Rodge, this is Major Mary Caffery Air Force retired. 'Mimi' as she is known, has some twenty year's experience testing and evaluating aircraft, she will be giving your baby the once over when we are finished."
Major Caffery looked up at the towering Freya and said, "I've heard of you, I just never expected to meet you. You're even taller than I had imagined."
Freya smiled at the 5" 3" tall retired air force major and said, "Ah get 'at a lot an' it's a pleasure tae meit ye Major Caffery."
She extended a hand and Major Caffery grinned as they shook hands.
She looked over at Tom and said, "Now I really want to see this plane of theirs, the modifications it had to undergo so she could fly it, had to be considerable!"
Tom grinned and said, "Much of what we had to do involved lowering the flight deck about thirty inches and placing the pilot and co-pilot seat on adjustable pedestals so that Freya can sit in either seat. Of course we had to figure out how to make the pedals usable regardless of the seat heights, making them hydraulically operated was the easiest way to do it, the wheels, hand controls and the instruments we left alone."
"What about the comfort aspect? A girl that tall needs to stand up once in a while on a long flight." asked Major Caffery.
Tom chuckled, "Much of that was achieved by removing the overhead storage bins and opening up the flight crew work stations. We moved the dining part of the galley into where the navigator and radio operator stations were, without a need for a navigator and a radio operator we just turned their areas into places to sit and eat or simply relax; and of course we enlarged the powder room for those special moments."
"Powder room?"
"Okay, head."
"That's better!"
Taking their seats at the raised booth, everyone looked over the menus until the waitress came up with a smile on her face.
While she tried not to gawk at Freya, her eyes did steal a glance at the young giantess at times and she nodded politely when Freya ordered a family steak dinner for herself.
Roger as usual, ordered himself a burger with steak fries and when Tom just looked at him he said, "My food tastes are simple, gourmet cooking is wasted on me. Just ask Freya, she'll back me up."
When he glanced over at Freya, she simply nodded and said, "He'd eat the same thing e'eryday ef Silky didnae cook different foods fur heem tae eat."
Tom just shook his head and ordered the filet mignon dinner then grinned at Roger and said, "That's fine by me, all the more filet mignon for me!"
While everyone was eating, Major Caffery set down her coffee cup and asked, "Just how did you guys acquire a Martin Mariner of all things? That's not the usual sort of an airplane one would go after."
Roger finished his bite of food and said, "The museum I work for got a letter from the TAM museum down in Brazil. We flew down there and met up with a friend of mine who also has experience in liberating derelict met up with the TAM's director Hector Contreras and these two charming rogues..." he indicated Eduardo and Pedro who merely grinned. "And things just kinda snowballed from there, there was a shooting and bodies to dispose of, a drug lord to run from and of course we didn't know if the old plane would even make it here after we had reassembled parts of it."
Major Caffery smiled and said, "I've heard parts of the story from these 'charming rogues' as you put it. Sounds like quite a tale. Now about this 'liberating derelict aircraft' you said?"
Roger chuckled and said, "Another charming rogue of my acquaintance enlisted my aid in 'liberating' an Antonov AN-28 right from under the noses of the advancing Georgian army. My flight training could be described as OJT, I learned while flying away from the pissed off Georgians! Of course I later took actual flying lessons and got my multiple engine and instrument certifications later, when I had the time."
He smiled, "I let Freya take the controls of a borrowed Cessna Businessliner floatplane while flying back from Canada and she liked it enough to take lessons and get soloed by age twelve, we later got her multiple engine and instrument rated when we got the Mariner, so she could fly it as well."
Major Caffery smiled and said, "Sounds like quite the tale, I can see why Tom here described your story as a real bender of a tale!"
Roger laughed and said, "We were all pretty hung over the next day after we landed here in Texas, after all those hairy moments we all needed a strong drink!"
"Are you still in contact with your 'charming rogue' friend, does he still have that Antonov?" asked Tom.
Roger said, "Sadly his Antonov was confiscated by the Islamists when they took over portions of Algeria a few years ago and the story I heard was the idiots crashed it while flying a bunch of their big wigs to Egypt; another story has them getting shot down by a Stinger missile. The one good thing about that was all of them were killed by the impact, the bad thing is, the plane was destroyed."
Roger grinned "Henri still mutters about that, that plane was his baby and we used it to spirit a lamia family out of southern Algeria. It was like a flying Jeep, he could land it almost anywhere and it could take a beating."
Major Caffery smiled and remarked, "In my travels, I've flown a few examples of Antonov's fine aircraft and I've walked around inside their gigantic AN-225 at the Paris airshow."
She grinned, "Being an Air Force major sent to evaluate the competition, I got to fly quite a few planes in my time. Although I never flew an AN-28."
Roger smiled and commented, "You didn't really miss much, the AN-28 was fairly crude, but it was reliable and easily serviced by semi skilled mechanics. Henri was really fond of his and flew it all over the Algerian deserts while he had it."
After the food was all gone and the table cleared, coffee was served all around and Tom said, "Monday, Ah'm going to have Eduardo and his crew look your bird over to see what needs to be done fuselage wise and powerplant wise. What Ah saw in my look see, looked good. You two are obviously taking care of your bird, so Ah don't expect them to find much to be concerned about.
"Now, about your getting back home again. It just so happens we've just finished refurbishing a Beechcraft E18S and it needs to get flown back home to its new home in Portland, Oregon. A fellow named Robert traded us a Grumann Albatross straight across for it. He decided the Albatross was simply too much for his needs."
Roger grinned and said, "I know Robert, his flight school is where Freya got her multiple engine and instrument ratings. I had noticed his Albatross was missing, now I know why, you guys have it."
Tom grinned and said, "Not anymore, we traded it for a mostly restored Douglas B-23 medium bomber that was stored up in Washington state."
Roger simply chuckled at Tom's remark.
A Grumann Albatross was a cool airplane but having a flyable Douglas B-23 was even cooler.
"So, when do we leave? Freya does have to be back in school on Monday and it could take us most of a day to fly back to Portland."
Tom grinned, "Tomorrow at 5 A.M. Work for you?"
Roger shrugged, "I don't have any problems with that, we left Portland at 5 this morning and took the coastal route to avoid restricted airspace over Nevada. We'll just retrace our steps, so to speak."
The next morning they gathered around the gleaming Beechcraft E18S looking it over.
Roger said, "It is a nice looking plane, I'm sure Robert will like it. Especially since you guys put his flight school logo on it for him."
Tom grinned, "That way he can write some of it off on his taxes as a business expense, y'know advertising."
Freya muttered, "It's too small fur me tae fly it, Ah'll jist lie in th' back then."
"Sorry, our only other alternative was to send you back via commercial airliner."
"Ugh, nae thenk ye, Ah'll adjust!"
Tom opened the side door and said, "Welp, no time like the present!"
He and Roger shook hands and Roger climbed inside and entered the cockpit.
Freya smiled at Tom and gave him another memorable hug, causing him to laugh and exclaim. "Ah've really got to introduce you to my wife! She doesn't believe me when Ah tell her about you!"
Freya grinned and bent nearly double to enter the Beechcraft E18S.
Tom closed the side door and Freya latched it from inside, then made herself comfortable as best she could.
Checking to make sure everyone was clear, Roger started up the left side engine.
The venerable Pratt and Whitney R-985 radial engine coughed a few times and was soon running nicely as it warmed up.
The right side engine was a repeat of before and soon it was purring like a kitten, a nine cylinder radial aircraft engine, sort of a kitten.
As it was a Sunday morning, the airfield was quiet except for their Beechcraft.
With nothing else in motion, Roger taxied the gleaming Beechcraft into place at the take off line.
He paused a few moments to throttle up the engines to full speed, then he released the brakes and the Beechcraft took off nicely.
A few minutes later, Roger leveled off at 9,000 feet and flew towards the west at a leisurely cruising speed of 160 MPH.
With the autopilot engaged, he looked back to see Freya stretched out on the bench seat that ran lengthwise on the left side of the interior.
"You okay back there?" he asked.
"Ah'm fine, jist layin' haur and relaxin'."
Roger chuckled and remarked, "You might as well enjoy the ride, we're cruising at 160 miles per hour, so we're looking at a fifteen or sixteen hour flight at least. Not counting the time spent in refueling when we get to San Diego."
"'at's nae much slower than Moby Dick."
Roger grinned, "Slow for an aircraft, yes but still faster than driving and we don't have to deal with gawkers."
Freya simply held up a thumb's up gesture and closed her eyes, she was going to try and take a nap while Roger flew.
It was almost noon when Roger gently touched down at Gillespie Field near San Diego, California.
He had radioed ahead and requested a fill up and engine oil check.
He smiled to see the P.O.L. Truck was already waiting for him and was happy to shut off the engines, and climb out of the plane so he could grab a bite and stretch his legs a bit.
It was the emergence of Freya that caused a minor scene.
She backed out of the Beechcraft nearly doubled over, straightened up and stretched hugely to the amazement of the truck's driver.
Roger grinned at her and said, "Wanna grab some lunch? I know I'm hungry, you've gotta be half starved!"
Freya smiled at him and said, "Aye, Ah coods eat a horse!"
The driver spoke up, "Gillespie Cafe` is open right now, they're right over there!"
He pointed towards the Tower.
Roger thanked him and he took Freya's hand out of long habit and the two strode briskly to the open air cafe`.
Ignoring the inevitable sidelong glances and the surreptitiously taken photos, they entered the cafe`s patio and grabbed a table for two.
A bright eyed young woman arrived, smiled and said, "Welcome to Gillespie Cafe,`what would you like?"
Freya glanced up from her menu and ordered the B-52 burger with an extra beef patty and a large Coke.
Roger contented himself with a tuna salad sandwich and a coffee.
The chipper young woman wrote down their orders, smiled at them and said, "Back in a jiff!" before scurrying off to the kitchen.
True to her word, she came back bearing their drinks and set them down with a smile.
Having done that, she took a magazine out of her apron and said to Freya, "I know this is really rude of me and I shouldn't be asking this, but can I have your autograph and get a picture of you and me together? My Gramma's going to flip when she sees this!"
Freya blinked at her a couple of times, then asked, "Wa woods yer Gramma 'flip'? When she sees thes?"
The girl smiled and said, "My grandmother was a WASP during world war two and she continued flying up until she turned eighty, and only gave up flying because her health wouldn't let her fly anymore."
She pointed at the magazine and said, "There's an article about you in here and Gramma really liked reading about you."
Freya glanced through the magazine briefly and smiled at the girl, "Ah'll gladly sign yer magazine and pose fur a picter or three fur yoor Gramma."
The girl looked fit to burst in her happiness as Freya stood up and posed next to her for a few photos, then signed her magazine.
A man's voice called out "Order's up! Lydia, what are you doing?"
The girl cried out, "Dad! This is Freya, she's the world's tallest pilot and she's eating here, of all places. I wanted to get a couple of pictures to show Gramma!"
The man chuckled and replied, "If she's the one who ordered a B-52 burger with an extra patty and fries, it's up and it's getting cold!"
Lydia squeaked in dismay and dashed to get their orders before they got cold.
Returning with their food, she set it all down before them and quickly retrieved her magazine before rushing off to her next guest.
After settling up with Lydia and posing with her dad outside of the cafe`, the two of them walked briskly to the Beechcraft 18, topped up with fuel and oil.
Roger paid that bill while Freya posed for a picture with the fuel truck's driver.
A half hour later, the Beechcraft was lofting into the sky over San Diego and heading north, next stop, Portland, Oregon.
It was nearly dark when Roger brought the gleaming Beechcraft 18ES in for a safe landing at their home airport, Troutdale Airport just east of Portland.
Waiting for him was a small gathering of people, notably Robert of Robert's flight school who was expecting the delivery of his new Beechcraft 18ES.
After exiting the runway, he taxiied the plane over near the Robert's flight school offices, parked it where the Albatross had once parked and shut it off.
They were home again.
Freya unlatched the side door and let down the stairs, before she backed out nearly doubled over and straightened up again.
Roger soon joined her and he gladly handed Robert the keys to his Beechcraft 18ES.
Robert smiled and said, "I see Tom drafted you guys into flying this back for me. How did you like it?"
Roger said, "I liked it just fine, Freya had to lay in the back as she's just too big for this plane. It's a sweet flier though."
Robert smiled and said, "I traded it with the idea of fitting floats to it at some point, It'll make a great camping plane for Canada with all those lakes full of fish!"
"The Albatross was too much of a good thing?" asked Roger.
"I'm afraid it was in the end. I wasn't getting enough multiple engine ratings classes to cover the costs of flying it. The Beechcraft is much cheaper to operate, easier to fly and easier to maintain. Tom gave me a good deal on the Albatross and so I traded it off for the Beechcraft and some cash, of course."
"Of course!" said Roger with a grin.
Roger noticed that Freya had started up their tall van and was waiting for him.
He said, "My ride is waiting for me, so I've gotta run."
Robert laughed and said, "Thanks again for bringing home my new bird."
They shook hands briefly and Roger trotted over to the van and got in.
The next day while Freya and Anita were in school Roger received an email from Major Caffery.
In it she wrote that she had been in contact with many of her former colleagues apprising them of their impending trip and the likelihood of their stopping in for fuel and oil and a possible overnight stay.
Thus far she had received favorable replies, the one from Eareckson Air Station at Shemaya Island in the Aleutians had been comical, they said they would be happy to chase the walruses off the landing strip for them when they arrived.
Roger replied via return email and thanked her for her efforts on their behalf.
He was glad to see the reply from Eareckson Air Station on Shemaya Island as it would be a place to land in case they had a problem during that long hop from Hokkaido, Japan to Anchorage, Alaska.
He decided they would pay a courtesy call anyway, if for no other reason than to meet the character who had written the comical reply.
In a moment of inspiration, Roger flashed on the idea of utilizing the empty space in the engine nacelle's bomb bays to store gallon jugs of the motor oil they would be needing during the trip.
While a part of the nacelle's capacity was taken up by the exhaust systems for the Curtiss-Wrght cyclone engines and their compound turbo chargers, there was still a fair amount of empty space not being used and since the bomb bays were not in use.
He decided it would get put to use.
Taking out the drawings he had of the engine nacelles, Roger figured that at least 300 one gallon jugs could be stored in the bomb bay part of each nacelle by utilizing a rack that could hold the jugs securely in place.
He sketched out his idea, converted it to a PDF and emailed it to Eduardo Castillo, the chief mechanic who would be overseeing the work on Moby Dick.
Eduardo would know what to do.
A week later Freya came to him and asked, "Ah wish tae invite me parents tae me graduation, whit needs tae be dain?"
He thought for a few moments and replied, "At the very least they'll need government ID to present at the border, if it's just for a longish weekend I don't think they'll be needing a tourist visa or anything like that."
Roger paused and muttered, "Then we gotta figure out how we're going to get them down here, as we don't know yet how long they're going to be working on Moby Dick."
She frowned and muttered "Ah hadnae thooght ay 'at, wull 'at be a problem?"
Roger smiled, "Let me make a few contacts before we start panicking. I've got an idea, let me play with that for a bit."
"Whit sort ay an idea?"
He grinned, "Remember the helicopter they used to come get me when we first met?"
Freya smiled, "Hoo coods Ah fergit 'at, it was th' biggest thrill ay me yoong life!"
She looked over at him and said, "Ur ye thinkin' ay usin' a helicopter, tae fetch me fowks?"
"Not just any helicopter, a Boeing Vertol 234 plus 60*, helicopter. They've taken the standard 234 model and raised the fuselage 60 centimeters for more headroom in the case of your folks, or for carrying light, but bulky cargo."
Freya thought about his remarks and said, "60 centimeters isnae enaw tae gie me fowks enaw headroom tae stand up straight."
"True that, but 60 centimeters is definitely an improvement, that's two feet higher than standard. They'll still have to stoop, just not as much!"
He smiled, "Send your folks an invitation, we'll figure it out from here!"
Freya's impulsive hug left him reeling from the after effects, she really didn't know her own strength, but the look of joy on her face made it all worthwhile.
The next day Roger sent an email to a Canadian outfit that had quite the fleet of helicopters all across Canada.
He inquired about arranging for a passenger pick up at Bella Coola airport to be delivered to Troutdale airport near Portland, Oregon.
A distance of some 500 miles.
In his inquiry he specifically mentioned needing a Boeing Vertol 234 Plus 60 helicopter due to the passengers height, weight and inability to fit in a commercial aircraft.
The next day, the reply was not what he expected.
"Dear sir,
Our Boeing Vertol 234 plus 60 is currently in use in Quebec and is not available at present.
What we do have available is a Short Skyvan plus 90, which in our opinion would be better suited for your needs.
It would certainly be the cheaper option and as it has a higher interior height, it may be better suited for your guests flying comfort.
It also has the bonus of being here in BC and available on short notice.
Feel free to contact us if you have any further questions, or wish to book a flight.
Regards,
Janice Miller"
Attached to the email was a photo of an ungainly looking aircraft that greatly resembled a shipping container with a rounded nose at one end, a twin tail at the other, and crude looking wings across the middle.
Roger saw at once why they were known as 'flying sheds', the moniker was apropos.
When Freya came home from school, he showed her the email and its attached photo.
Her only comment was, "It's sae funay lookin' it's actually bonnie! Ah loch it."
"Well, that settles it, if you like it, then I like it. I'll book it for two days prior to your graduation with a return flight two days after your graduation. That should be plenty of time for celebrating your graduation."
Freya smiled at him then went to her room to work on her homework before dinner.
He replied,
"We like it!
I will arrange for a pick up at Bella Coola airport June 4th, the destination will be Troutdale airport near Portland, Oregon.
The return will be June 8th, a total of five days.
We can acommodate the flight crew during that time, so no worries there.
Regards,
Roger Tate."
Having replied to their reply, he opened the email he'd gotten from Eduardo Castillo, the message was brief and cheery,
"Just though you'd like to see how your plane is coming along!"
Attached to it was a series of photos showing the bulky sea plane cut into two pieces right where the waist gunner positions had been.
Subsequent photos showed where they were fabricating a 30 inch long section of fuselage to bridge the gap and lengthen the afterbody, before adding the hydroflaps.
The forebody and bow sheet metal was being trebled in thickness and getting deeper splash strips to improve stability in water.
Eduardo included some photos of the oil jug racks he was having fabricated per Roger's request, these would be mounted inside the disused bomb bay portions of the engine nacelles, in all it looked good.
At Roger's request, Freya sent a letter to her parents advising them of the need to have government I.D. For their visit.
To his surprise, Sigurd responded by asking if a kilderkin of ale would be an appropriate thing to bring to Freya's graduation.
Roger had to laugh at that and he replied via Hazel that a kilderkin of Jotun ale would likely be a bit much for Freya's graduation, but it would certainly be welcome at the house!