{"id":1079,"date":"2012-12-26T14:49:09","date_gmt":"2012-12-26T22:49:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.mechadigital.net\/?p=1079"},"modified":"2021-08-26T20:37:59","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T20:37:59","slug":"travels-with-hooper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/travels-with-hooper\/","title":{"rendered":"#44 Travels with Hooper"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Written in December, 2012)<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Seven-year-old Hooper in the Cessna 140<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In my over thirty years of flying I\u2019ve made a lot of trips.\u00a0 Sometimes I think there isn\u2019t a state or province I haven\u2019t been in or over.\u00a0 But there is one trip that stands out among all of them.\u00a0 Perhaps it\u2019s because that particular trip allowed me to see things through the eyes of a seven-year old boy.<\/p>\n

In 2000 I had a little one-man maintenance and flight operation business in Fernandina Beach, Florida.\u00a0 One day a guy showed up in a beat up old Cessna 140.\u00a0 He\u2019d been all over the place in it and had flown in from the Caribbean.\u00a0 Into the fuselage were stuffed a couple of sleeping bags and even a surfboard.\u00a0 He had electrical problems and it looked to me like he needed what amounted to a complete re-wiring of the plane.\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t stick around to take the plane when it was done.\u00a0 He and I made a deal.\u00a0 I\u2019d do the job, then I\u2019d deliver the airplane to him at Owls Head, Maine.\u00a0 I had ulterior motives.\u00a0 I thought it would be a good trip to take with my son, Hooper.\u00a0 Seven-year-old Hooper was nuts for flying.\u00a0 Back then he was convinced that he would become an astronaut and be the first man to walk on Mars.<\/p>\n

I set about the wiring, finishing with Hooper crawling clear back into the tail cone to run the rear nav light wire.\u00a0 It was the perfect job for a guy his size.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The Cumberland Island beach<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few days later, Hooper and I hopped in the little Cessna and headed for Maine.\u00a0 As we crossed the channel north of Amelia Island we could see a nuclear submarine coming home to its berth at the Kings Bay Nuclear Submarine Base.\u00a0 Once over Cumberland Island, we dropped down to \u201cnap of the earth\u201d altitude and swooped along the pristine beach.\u00a0 A little speck up ahead looked familiar to me.<\/p>\n

Years before I had read an article in The New Yorker Magazine by John McPhee.\u00a0 It was a great story of his travels with two biologists who lived off roadkill they found on the back roads of Georgia<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

I never thought that I\u2019d end up meeting the two.\u00a0 They were Sam Candler and Carol Ruckdeschel.\u00a0 When I moved from Oregon to Fernandina Beach, Florida, my travels took me across the St Marys River mouth to Cumberland Island and I met Carol.\u00a0 Carol lived at the north end of Cumberland Island and every morning she would drive the entire length of the island.\u00a0 Running down the beach on her four-wheeler, she would pick up critters who had washed up dead on the beach.\u00a0 I knew that was Carol up ahead.\u00a0 Running north-bound with the sound of the surf and the wind in her ears she would never hear that little Cessna swooping along behind her and closing fast.\u00a0 Hooper and I chortled as we closed on the biologist.\u00a0 We swooped right over her head.\u00a0 As we pulled up we turned enough to see the four wheeler behind us and below, wobbling back and forth as the terrified driver recovered from the scare of being buzzed by that little Cessna.\u00a0 Hooper and I were giggling as we pulled up. It was hard to tell which of us was seven years old.\u00a0 \u00a0We waggled our wings and continued on our trip.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
At the center of the universe!<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The southern states coastline is beautiful and we followed the Intracoastal Waterway for miles.\u00a0 Eventually, we flew along the North Carolina coast, descended over Nags Head and swooped into Kill Devil Hills.<\/p>\n

We ended that day at First Flight airport in North Carolina.\u00a0 As the name proudly proclaims, this is the site of the Wright Brothers’ first flight.\u00a0 We found a nice tiedown spot where we pitched our little tent alongside the plane.\u00a0 Then Hooper and I were off to explore.<\/p>\n

I should have known what a treat this would be for the kid.\u00a0 Hooper was nuts for aviation at that time.\u00a0 He\u2019d long declared that he would end up working for NASA. He loved to sit on the roof of our house on the Bells River and watch the space shuttle launches.\u00a0 \u00a0But as we prowled around the darkening site of the first flight and came to the dramatic Wright Brothers Memorial, that kid\u2019s wheels were turning.\u00a0 He was working on his life plan.\u00a0 I later told friends that taking Hooper to Kitty Hawk was like taking a little Arab to Mecca.\u00a0 He was captivated.\u00a0 As he explored the site where they\u2019d built their tracks and catapult to launch the aircraft, Hooper\u2019s eyes got big and dreamy.\u00a0 He stood where the Wright Brothers had stood and he launched a little paper glider where they had made their epic flights.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Admiring the portrait of Joe Kittinger<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The lights were on, bathing the stone memorial in light as we prowled around the grounds. \u00a0We were the only people there and had the place to ourselves. \u00a0 We scooped up a couple of quarts of sand from the dunes and squirreled them away in sandwich bags. \u00a0We made plans for that sand.\u00a0 We\u2019d build a little model Wright Flier and put it in a glass case with that sand in the bottom.\u00a0 How cool would that be?<\/p>\n

The following morning we went back to the Memorial and toured the little museum.\u00a0 There was a gallery containing paintings of famous aviators. \u00a0Hooper spotted a portrait of his friend, Joe Kittinger, America\u2019s first man in space.\u00a0 I took a picture of him with the portrait and later sent it to Joe.<\/p>\n

By now, Hooper had firmed up his plan:\u00a0 He would join the Navy and become a fighter pilot.\u00a0 Then he\u2019d join NASA and become the first man to walk on Mars.\u00a0 When he was too old to fly, he\u2019d run the simulator for NASA.\u00a0 Then he\u2019d retire and build an apartment in the top of the Wright Brothers Memorial.\u00a0 That\u2019s where he\u2019d finish his days.\u00a0 Not a bad plan.\u00a0 Hooper was pleased with it and happy to have some direction.<\/p>\n

We took off from First Flight airport later that morning.\u00a0 Our travels took us up the coast, across Chesapeake Bay and then into New Jersey.\u00a0 Eventually we landed at Sussex.\u00a0 It was just a little out of our way, but I wanted to show Hooper the cool little airport where I\u2019d performed the comedy\u00a0act a couple of times.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
With Paul Styger in Sussex, NJ.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Airport Owner Paul Styger met us and we had a nice visit.\u00a0 We had dinner at the old diner on the main drag, then settled in for the night, snoozing on the couches that are arranged underneath the elevated Fixed Base Operation in the open air.<\/p>\n

The next morning it was off to Maine.\u00a0 We flew over Kennebunkport and finished our day at the little airport at Biddeford.\u00a0 We were met by Hooper\u2019s Second Cousin twice removed in law, Anneliese Andrews, who put us up at her wonderful house at Prout\u2019s Neck.\u00a0 We prowled the beach and swam in the icy water.\u00a0 Hooper and I washed off the salt water in Anneliese\u2019s nice outdoor shower.<\/p>\n

\n

Since arriving in Maine, I had urged Hooper to enjoy some lobster.\u00a0 I just love lobster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like lobster\u201d, he announced.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you ever eaten lobster,\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The outdoor shower at Prout’s Neck<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cNo\u201d.<\/p>\n

Anneliese and I enjoyed lobster at a couple of meals.\u00a0 Hooper abstained.\u00a0 We had a wonderful time for a day or two, then it was time to finish our duties.\u00a0 We hopped in the plane and headed for Owl\u2019s Head.\u00a0 Hooper donned \u00a0his life jacket for the extended over-water part of our flight and the scenery as we flew along the rugged Maine coast was just spectacular.<\/p>\n

We landed at Owl\u2019s Head and were met by our customer\u2019s wife, Kym.\u00a0 After we made sure the airplane was secure, she would take us back to Prout\u2019s Neck.\u00a0 On the way we stopped at a little diner.\u00a0 They had lobster rolls.\u00a0 Naturally, I had to have one.\u00a0 I made a last ditch offer to Hooper and he grudgingly agreed to order a lobster roll.<\/p>\n

He loved it.\u00a0 Hooper wolfed that lobster roll down and then it occurred to him that he had passed up all that lobster while he\u2019d been in Maine.\u00a0 I think the thought still bothers him.<\/p>\n

The next day, Anneliese dropped us at the Portland, Maine airport and we caught a flight back to Florida.\u00a0 I sat back in my seat and looked at the snoozing seven-year-old next to me.\u00a0 It had been a great trip.\u00a0 I hadn\u2019t realized when I said, \u201csure, we can deliver the plane\u201d that it would result in memories that I would treasure for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

Weeks later, I ran into Carol Ruckdeschel at a party on Cumberland Island.\u00a0 I grinned at her.<\/p>\n

\u201cDid we scare the stuffin\u2019s outta you?\u201d, I asked.\u00a0 \u201cThat was Hooper and me in that little red Cessna that buzzed you on the beach a couple of weeks ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carols eyes widened as she figured something out.\u00a0 \u201cOh, that was YOU?\u00a0 I wondered.\u00a0 I heard about that\u201d, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you mean, you \u2018heard<\/strong> about it\u2019\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t me.\u00a0 It was the U.S. Park Service biologist\u2026 and she\u2019s looking for YOU\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
At twenty, Hooper now has some other interests.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Gulp!\u00a0 Good thing we observed the first law of buzzing by keeping our \u201cN\u201d number unseen and not returning for a second pass!<\/p>\n

Hooper has other interests now.\u00a0 Although he soloed in a glider at sixteen and is one of the best natural fliers\u00a0I’ve\u00a0ever met, I doubt if aviation holds the same attraction that it once did.\u00a0 That\u2019s okay.\u00a0 He does the things that he\u2019s passionate about and I respect him for that.\u00a0 Although twenty at this writing, he\u2019s already been a river guide for over four years and he\u2019s now living in the U.S. Virgin Islands for the winter before returning to Oregon for the rafting season.\u00a0 He\u2019s learning to spearfish, surf and sail.\u00a0 He\u2019s doing the things that a guy his age should do.<\/p>\n

As I kick back in my office chair I glance at the shelves behind me.\u00a0 There sit the two bags of sand from Kill Devil Hills.\u00a0 Maybe Hoop and I will build that model Wright Flier and sit it in a glass case on that sand someday.\u00a0 Maybe not.\u00a0 It\u00a0doesn’t\u00a0matter.\u00a0 The sand and the memories are enough.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Hooper and I chortled as we closed on the biologist. We swooped right over her head. As we pulled up we turned enough to see the four wheeler behind us and below, wobbling back and forth as the terrified driver recovered from the scare of being buzzed by that little Cessna.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1140,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[38,88,123],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tailwheelersjournal.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}