Summary and Images
(Click on these thumbnail images to view a larger image)
by Maurice Sheldon
Today was a strange day for me.
Conditions were ideal at the field: steady, little wind, nice temps. However, after less than a week after the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers and Pentagon, this tragedy was still fresh in my mind. The attacks impacted me tremendously, losing sleep to nightmares and spending a lot of time reading the news, etc. I had a tough time enjoying today's flight because I kept thinking of those poor folks up on the tower who jumped to their deaths rather than burn alive. At 500' AGL, I could not get this thought from my head, and it kept coming to me in waves, imagining the desicion to jump and the feeling of flight and openness coupled with the horror that met them a few seconds later.
I also had a tough time enjoying this flight because of the FAA ban on VFR flights. I had followed a PPG bulletin board and there was quite a bit of discussion on whether PPG's constitued VFR flying. The consensus seemed to point that it was indeed illegal to fly. However, it was clear that the ban as far as PPG's was concerned was really vague. In addition, I figured the Mccartney site is such a benign place to fly, so far from any civilization, that there could be no possibility for harm. However, this still made me somewhat uneasy at the thought of attempting to explain why we were in the air to the authorities.
All said, we did get some nice flying though for a good 40 minute flight. However, I must have taken ALL the burden of worrying and mental anguish since Bill seemed to thoroughly enjoy his flight. Besides he had a first in the calm conditions: he flew over the mountain I had flown around a few weeks prior. I'm somewhat jealous (in a friendly way) since Bill beat me to something I've always wanted to do: to fly over a mountain. It will just have to happen another time.
Images
Cruising Bill
Flying too close to the sun.
Over the mountain he goes!
