The strangest flight I've ever had occurred a year ago.
I took my son, Blair, for a Spring celebration flight in our 1962 Mooney. I've been piloting this plane for more than 15 years...which is an important point for what you're about to hear.
We took off from Phoenix toward Sedona, then Tucson and back home. Looking north, the San Francisco peaks in Flagstaff were dusted with snow. Turning south, the Arizona floor was marked by red rocks and green patches of cacti and mesquite trees.
We talked about his future in aviation and his goals. He wants "to fly for the pure enjoyment of flying and preferably in Alaska and Colorado."
Coming in to land at our home airport is when it got weird.
I always walk Blair through my landing procedures. Our Mooney is 63 years old. The gear, flaps, trim and cowling are all hydraulic, nothing electric. That means most settings for slowing it down are based on throttle position and the pilots experience.
Flying the old plane is all very "bucket shovel" type accuracy and takes a lot of practice. Therefore, I show him everything and let him see exactly how the plane reacts every moment of the landing.
As we entered the pattern everything was normal until it wasn't.
I made all the appropriate calls to land. Turning my base leg, I could not descend. Gear down, 50% flaps, trim all the way back to add drag.
Slow and "dirty" we had all the drag possible and no power all the way off. "Damn, I can't get down."
Blair checked over everything. The runway approaching quickly, he couldn't figure it out either.
I looked at the wind sock. Flat.
And then I saw the unbelievable...
Just underneath us an airplane was landing opposite!
HOLY SHIT! LOOK! Someone is landing the opposite direction and NOT using the radio!
I immediately checked my frequency settings and made another call..."Mooney is go-around! Any traffic in the area please notify!"
Silence...
I went around...and as I made my call once again, I was finally hearing another pilot in the pattern..."Apologies, I had the wrong frequency set on my radio..."
Something prevented our ships from meeting each other head on that day...
On our second attempt, our beloved Mooney handled exactly as it should. We set down like a butterfly with sore knees.
Blair and I looked at each other, not a word was spoken, but we both knew what we were thinking...life is crazy.
Every now and then, you get a little help when you need it most. Nature has all kinds of tricks up her sleeve. And that's why Spring is so beloved.
Historically, Spring is a time of abundant growth and new life. When you study nature from a medicine background, you understand how important the cycles of nature are to growth and restoration of health.
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