Ultralight and Rm Aerobatics (day trip to Abbeville)

We really miss Fred; he’s become a big part of our lives, so we’ll take any chance we can to see him. One Sunday we made arrangements to come and see him in Abbeville. We agreed that we’d ride over on our bikes (about 24 miles), fly with him in the afternoon, and then he’d take us back. It didn’t work out quite as easily as we’d hoped. First of all, we stayed up until 3 a.m. with a binge of blog-writing, album prep, and website posting, so we didn’t get going until about 9:30 or 10, after only a few hours of sleep. Then we were dealing with the awful traffic on Hwy 14 (we didn’t know alternate routes yet), and the heat and humidity were incredible. Chelsea was showing signs of heat exhaustion after only about 7 miles. We finally limped into Kaplan (15 miles from Gueydan) in the face of a rainstorm, both of us dying. We collapsed in the air conditioning at MacDonald’s and kept trying to get Fred, but we couldn’t raise him at any of his numbers. We had that familiar feeling of “well, what now?”

Life always manages to come through and it did again, in the form of John Broussard, an oil industry employee with a great attitude and a beautiful truck. While Chelsea was out trying to call Fred again, John starting chatting with me, commenting on the rain and the heat. I told him our current situation, and he offered to give us a ride the remaining miles into Abbeville. He was Hero of the Day for sure! Life suddenly got a lot better. We rode in smooth air-conditioned comfort, with great conversations, and he dropped us off at our favorite café downtown. We took a bathroom faucet “shower” and changed clothes, ready for whatever the day would bring.

We had wonderful flights as usual. Chelsea got some beautiful photos of the rice fields, so ready for harvest that the stalks are falling. She got a beautiful photo or two of rice combines in the fields, and caught a great shot of two deer in the field, one in mid-air running full out, frightened by the ultralight. She and Fred landed on a gravel road, giving him practice at landings.

Meanwhile, James Thibodeux showed up to mow the airstrip and do some tasks. We had a few minutes to talk before things got busy and it was wonderful to catch up with him again. I told James about Chelsea doing the loop and roll with Greg Myers in the Citabria, and that I was kicking myself for not having said yes. He told me that if he had time, and if we could wait, he’d take me up later!!

He ended up going on a flight with a guy who has his ultralight there at Thibs – the guy is over 80 and is still piloting his ultralight – before he was able to mow the airstrip, and then he had to drain the crawfish pond. I’ve been curious since we got here to see how it works – the draining process, so when the time came, he loaded Fred, Chelsea and me on the bush hog and drove us over. We’ve got a couple of photos of that. The ponds are drained by using something like a pipe with a hook and opening a gate. The gate can be opened wide so that it flows out quickly, or opened just a bit so the water drains slowly. We had fun talking about the process, and like it always is with James and Fred, it was so informative it was like going to school.

Meanwhile the sun was setting, and I figured there wasn’t any time left, but JT came through as promised, and I was buckling into the Citabria and we were taxiing for take-off. The Citabria has a far different feeling than the ultralights. It’s very quiet, and flies with much greater responsiveness. It’s a closed cockpit, which makes a difference too. James would tilt us just a bit, and we’d swoop into a banked turn. I thought I’d be terrified, but it was so “soft” that it just felt fun instead. After gaining altitude and checking out the sunset, James asked if I was ready to do the loop and roll. He talked me through the whole process step by step, letting me know what he was going to do next.

I liked the roll a lot better; in fact, I wanted to do more of them. The loop was pretty amazing – I just kept my eyes fixed on the back of JT’s head so I wouldn’t get sick. It was really smooth and easy…it was the strangest feeling I’ve ever had – at one point I saw the horizon perfectly divided into ground and sky, but the sky was where the ground was supposed to be and the ground was where the sky was supposed to be! What a rush that was! On the way back to the airstrip, JT let me take the controls and I loved it…I scared myself a few times getting used to how much hand movement would produce how much plane movement. I asked him if he was really holding the controls and letting me think I was doing it, and in response he threw both hands up in the air over his head and said “You’re doing it all!”

It’s hard for me to describe what the flying does for me. It’s not like excitement, although that’s part of it. It’s more like it makes my heart bigger when I’m up there. All my earthly thoughts and cares are gone, and there’s nothing but the amazing experience of floating up in the sky, with all that space, seeing things in a totally new perspective. It’s a true heart connection for me.

Our day ended with Fred taking us home well after dark, after a trip to Wal-Mart for food. Talk about a great day!

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