Gosh, where to start, where to end?

Logging a half hour flying time in France 4 years ago from a small
field near Ambert. The club members were extremely patient with my
survival French and the instructor a great gentlemen who put his
12-year-old niece in the back so I could give her a first ride.
Afterward we enjoyed apéritifs in the club's full wet bar. The
French, I concluded, know how to enjoy life.


Flying over the California coast. My Aircoupe is a marvelous
sightseeing platform, and my favorite trip is from near Sacramento to
the Delta, then along the Sacramento River to the S.F. Bay and over
the Golden Gate Bridge. Make a left turn and down the coast to Half
Moon Bay, where you can walk to town in 5 minutes, get lunch, and
return, all in a few hours. It would take a full day to do it by car
and the stress of traffic would ruin it.


Young Eagles rides, and the last batch I did in September. 9 kids in
an Aircoupe means 9 separate flights, but it was worth it to see their
excitement, smiles and joy, and the parents' appreciation.

I'll always remember the last little girl, nine or ten years old. The
first thing she asked was, "Can we go fast? I like going fast."
"Sure, we'll go fast," I answered, figuring even an Aircoupe had to be
faster than cars. As we taxied out with the canopy back, she asked if
I could leave it open during flying. "Well," I said, "how about we
close it for takeoff, then I'll open it when we get in the air?" I
didn't think she really knew how noisy and windy it would be with it
open and didn't want to deal with a frightened child on takeoff.

So off we went for our 15 minute loop out and back. She said the
normal things about how small everything looked, but kept pestering me
about opening the canopy. On the downwind she asked again and now,
feeling a little guilty and figuring we were slow enough to give her a
taste of it, I undid the latches and cracked it open a couple of
inches. I was in mid-sentance responding to a request from the tower
when she couldn't stand it anymore. "ALL THE WAY OPEN!" she wailed.
Without another word I reached up and yanked it back. A blast of air
blew my chart and papers around and the engine roar drowned out the air
noise. She was happy now--she was really flying.