Life after the Lottery Ch. 78

"Not that hard. But...we had to train on another brand of helicopter...sorry."

"Well...now all of you have the opportunity to cross-train on yours!"

He asked us more questions. I had to answer for Dawn several times because she kept looking back at the helicopter. When he finished, five reporters came and talked to us. They took photos and video of us, then asked to take some just of Dawn with the helicopter.

They took a lot of photos. I had figured out the video guys were with Eurocopter. I walked back to Amy as they took pictures.

Dawn stepped up and looked into the front as they opened the pilot's. When she looked at the pilot's seat, she put her hand to her mouth for a minute, then looked back at me. They took photos of Dawn and Samantha while they sat in the pilot's seats.

Dawn motioned for us to come. We walked over to her, and she got out of the pilot's seat.

"Thank you for that," she said as she looked at the seat.

"For what?" I asked and looked.

Embroidered on the back of each seat was the hand symbol with a spiral that meant healer. Cyrstal must have had that added.

"I didn't do that."

We looked over the paint job. Crystal had painted two crossed Eagle feathers on the tail just above the rotor. Just behind the rear window was a circle of laurels with a star in the middle. I knew that was the "Proud to Be Cherokee" national symbol. There was a Thuderbird painted below the top of the cowling around the main rotor. Just in front of Dawn's portrait was some white scrollwork that I knew was the symbol for marriage. And just behind her portrait in white was the scrollwork for "Cherokee by Blood." Crystal had done her research.

They finally opened the side door, and we looked inside. It was set up with four separate custom leather VIP seats in the back, two pairs facing each other. They had set out crystal wine glasses on the consoles between the rear seats. All the interior lights were on, and the Bose headphones hanging at each of the rear seats and above the pilot's seats.

"Oh my god..." Dawn exclaimed.

On the back of all the custom seats, they had embroidered a large and very colorful Thunderbird. I could see tears running down Dawn's cheeks as she looked when she got inside.

"I think you surprised her," Amy said.

"You bet I did." Amy and I laughed as we watched.

Amy and I stepped back and watched them interview Dawn and Samantha for a while. Randy came to us.

"I think she is shocked," Randy said.

"Oh, she is!" I said and laughed. "Twice in one month!"

"And she really is a medicine woman?" He asked.

"Oh, yes. Dawn is half Cherokee by blood, and they recently made her their next medicine woman. That is why she wears the Eagle feathers now."

"I know you told me that, but when I saw the photos...she is beautiful."

"Too bad she didn't bring her Ceremonial outfit so they could take pictures of her in them," Amy said.

I looked and smiled at her.

"You didn't!" Amy exclaimed.

"What?" Randy asked.

"Did you sneak them out?" Amy asked.

"Sure did, but...we will have to ask if she will wear them for the photos," I said.

"Will she?" Randy asked in anticipation.

"I will have to ask. Her Ceremonial leathers are only for special occasions and ceremonies," I said. "It's not what you think. No headdress or anything like that."

"Oh, I hope she will," Amy said. "She is beautiful in them."

"I will ask tonight, Randy. Where did you get the ideas for the embroidered symbols on the seats?"

"That is supposed to be a surprise, but Amy and Crystal got together on those!"

"Amy!" She smiled at me.

"Here is my cell number. Please call me and let me know. Does she always wear the feathers?"

"She does now. It is tradition for the medicine person. I will ask her. I have one question for you?" I asked.

"What is that?"

"When will you take it off the floor, and how do we get fuel in it?"

"The show shuts down next Friday evening. Oh, there is a big industry party that night. You all are invited. It will take three days to get all the aircraft out of here. But yours will be moved out to the parking area early Saturday morning and fueled. There will be people working all night after the show shuts down. We are hoping that Dawn will fly it while we take some video from inside."

"She is not certified on the 135 yet, but she can fly it, I am sure. Linda's pilots have been teaching her and Samantha to fly Linda's 155. If one of them flies left seat, she will be okay."

"That will be perfect!"

"What about Samantha? Do you want a video of her?" I asked.

"Are you kidding! You bet we want video and photos of a gorgeous nineteen-year-old flying! What about you?" He asked Amy.

"Nope. Not my thing."

"After the press is finished, you can talk to the two of them about all this," I said.

"Can Samantha really fly the 155?" Randy asked.

"Yes. She and Dawn are almost cross-certified on it. Dawn and she swapped up on the way here. Dawn flew to Indy, and Samantha flew here."

"Oh, my! I'll talk to the guys, but they would kill for a video of Samantha taking off and flying a 155!"

"I am sure she will be happy to do it. I think she can probably fly anything you have!"

"I'll be back," Randy said and hurried off to talk to the President.

"We will never hear the end of this," Amy said.

"Let them have their moment...but you are right! How did you hook up with Crystal?

"She got my email and sent me one asking what she could do for a surprise. Dawn has the healing hand and the Thunderbird embroidered on some of her clothes."

"That gives me an idea. We should get her a flight jacket with a big Thunderbird on the back."

Amy smiled at me.

"You are not the only one that has a few surprises for her," Amy said.

"Did you get her one?"

Amy just smiled.

Later, they pulled Amy and me into the photos. By 12:30, things had died down. Dawn held me again.

"I can't believe you pulled this off," she said.

"Me either."

"How?"

"Linda. I guess when you are buying 36 helicopters, you can pull some strings."

Dawn turned to look inside the helicopter.

"I don't guess we have to worry about choosing what to get on it," Dawn said. "All this gray leather is so pretty. And the embroidery is gorgeous."

"I think it has everything...then some, honey. They built it as a special show model only, but Linda extorted it out of them for you so you wouldn't have to wait."

"I'm afraid to ask what it cost."

"I'll tell you later."

"Who did the paint design?"

"A lady I found at home. She even helped them paint it."

"I'll have to meet her."

We looked and talked for a bit. Randy came to us later.

"Come, I want to show you something," he said.

He walked us over to a large TV and pressed a button.

"We do have photos of it being painted," Randy said.

We watched a video for about ten minutes as Crystal helped them tape off the helicopter and paint. Then we watched a time-lapse video for about five minutes as they painted and reassembled it.

"Wow! That was cool!" Samantha exclaimed.

"Dawn, I have someone for you to meet," Randy said.

He pointed behind us, and we turned. Crystal was standing there with a big smile. I introduced her. Linda and Rachel were standing behind her. Dawn hugged Crystal for a minute.

I talked to Linda for a few minutes.

"I think you surprised her," Linda said.

"Just a little!"

"I am glad she is so happy."

"Getting it early will be a big treat."

"Good."

"I like the dress you are wearing."

"Rachel talked me into it."

"Linda, you need to dress the way you want. But I like it now that you are willing to dress sexy. It says a lot that you will. You are showing the world you are a very sexy and confident woman, and they just have to accept it."

"I guess."

"You are so confident when you are in business mode. You can be in business mode and be sexy. That shows you are confident in all aspects of your life. Dress that way if that is what you want to do."

"I will," she said and smiled at me.

"Good."

"We have 8 X 10's of your helicopter ready. Crystal, you may get some more business!" Randy said.

"Crystal, I love the artwork and all the symbols," Dawn told her.

"You did your research," I said. "I like the Thunderbird on top."

"Wait until you can see the bottom of it! There is another one!"

Dawn talked to Crystal some more. Randy had the video crew recording as Crystal talked about the paint job with Dawn. Some of the press took photos of Dawn, Samantha, and Crystal together for a few minutes.

"I am so shocked," Dawn said.

"I'm hungry," Amy added.

"All of you come with me," Randy told us.

We followed him to a room where they had lunch for all of us and sat down with Randy, and ate.

"Where are Jeanine and Stan?" I asked.

"Looking at everything," Rachel said. "Dawn, I made an anonymous call to the police when we got back to the hotel."

"Wish you hadn't done that," Dawn replied.

"I just told them if a guy showed up at an ER with those wounds, he got them from trying to rob someone."

"What?" Randy asked.

"We had a guy approach us with a knife when we left the restaurant late last night," I said.

"What happened!"

"Well...he got injured...courtesy of Dawn."

"Oh shit! Were any of you hurt!"

"We are all fine. Let's move on," Dawn said.

"Dawn? What about your fingerprints on your knives?" Linda asked.

"Won't be any. The throwing end is textured."

"Knives?" Came from Randy.

"Later," I told him.

"Crystal...the artwork is beautiful," Dawn told her.

"I did some research and added some symbols I thought you would like."

"They are perfect. I'll have to find all of them!"

"Some are small and hidden!"

We ate and talked for an hour. Linda and Rachel went back to their helicopter. Randy led us to our helicopter so he could show us all the things that were on it. There was a crowd looking in it as Dawn and Samantha were in the pilot seats as Randy pointed out all the digital instruments. Other people were talking, looking, and taking pictures with their phones and cameras.

"And this is the new prototype TAWS system for Terrain Awareness Warning System. It will be available soon on all helicopters that are IFR rated. It is quite advanced, and in the future, it will actually have an onboard mapping system that will track the terrain and things like towers and power lines by GPS as you fly."

"How does it work?" Samantha asked.

"Forward and downward looking radar. It is very advanced and scaled down in size. Oh, you did see the wire strike protection system up top and the searchlight?"

"Yes," Dawn said. "I also saw Crystal's painting of the symbol for strength on the nose."

"They are nice to have...but cables are still a big problem. This is the TCAS, Traffic Collision Avoidance System. It will warn you of other aircraft equipped with transponders..."

"Is that the same as on the EC-155? Jeanine has been teaching us on it?"

"Similar. This is an LCD prototype. It will display the tail number of the aircraft it picks up. Soon, that information will be used to display the type of aircraft based on the tail number. It will have a plug-in memory card that can be updated."

"It all looks a lot like the 155."

"We are moving in a direction of all models we manufacture being as similar as possible to aid in cross-training. This model is loaded. It has all the Executive VIP options like the EC-155. Additional soundproofing, lights, heating, air conditioning, upgraded custom leather interior, exterior lights, and even a searchlight. All the new digital flight and power plant controls and monitoring. They got carried away when they built this one, but they wanted people to see everything possible that could be installed. It even has a black box and cockpit voice recorders."

"Let's hope they are never needed."

"It has the VIP seats with coordinated leather upholstery. Oh, and just in case you ever needed it, it has the NVG instruments and the Night Vision Goggles. It is also equipped with auxiliary oxygen if you ever fly that high. If it is available, it is on this one. If there is a prototype, it is also on it. One other thing, when adding avionics, they installed two radios like the air ambulances. Have you read about the full digital engine control and the auto-pilot controls? The FADEC?"

"I read as much as I could find. Jeanine has been teaching it to us on the 155."

"You'll love them. What is nice is when you add more lift to the blades, it automatically keeps the rotor speed the same. Reduces stalling problems dramatically. The auto-pilot makes flying long distances so much easier on the pilot."

"It is so pretty," Samantha said.

"James, be glad she didn't see the Hermes model," Randy said.

"What is that one?" Dawn asked.

"It is a beautiful design. The interior is designed by the European Fashion House Hermes. I have some photos."

"I wish I had seen it."

"It starts at $4,000,000, and they would not have put your paint job on it."

"Then I like ours!"

"Randy? One question? What is a glass cockpit? Are the windshields glass?" Samantha asked.

"No. It is an industry term carried over from jets. A full glass cockpit is what you see with all your LCD and digital gauges. If it has the regular analog dial gauges, it is not called a glass cockpit. These are all digital or LCD, except for the unpowered backups."

"Randy, I don't think there is anything else we could want!" Dawn exclaimed and laughed.

"I have a printout that is about 100 pages that list everything with all the weight and balance information. You can spend a few weeks reading it! With all the equipment installed, it added a few pounds, but since it is outfitted with 6 seats instead of 7, you'll never know it."

"I can't wait to fly it!"

"We are shipping the ground handling kit to your house. We can show you how to install and use the ground wheels while you are here. You can help as we roll it outside Saturday morning."

Randy spent some more time walking us around the helicopter, pointing out all the extras. He was explaining to us how to move the searchlight from the stick.

"That is an odd tail number? N369CN," Dawn said as she looked.

"I picked that one," I said as Randy stood with us.

"Why?"

"It has to start with N, then 3-6-9 for me sixty-nining the three of you all the time, and it had to have a C on the end, so I added the N for Cherokee Nation."

"Oh, that was sweet."

Randy was smiling.

"Dawn, I think you were actually surprised!" Came from Amy.

"That would not be the right word," Dawn replied. "I am not sure how all of you pulled this off."

"Well...I have figured out how to hide things from you. And we didn't tell Samantha!" I told Dawn.

"Ahhh!" Came from Samantha.

"You knew, Amy!"

"Most of it."

I told Dawn about everything. She couldn't believe I had gone to Germany, and she didn't know it. She kept praising Crystal for the work she had done.

A big crowd had gathered after lunch and was looking at the helicopter as we talked.

"Dawn, I have something for you. I'll be right back," Randy said.

A couple of people talked to Dawn as we stood. Randy came back with a wrapped box.

"This is for you," he said.

Dawn turned and set the box on the floor of the helicopter and unwrapped it. She opened it and pulled out a black leather flight jacket.

"Oh my!"

She held it up. On the right side of the front, over the pocket, was embroidered N369CN. On the left side was the healing hand symbol.

"You need to turn it around," Amy said.

Dawn turned the jacket around. There was a huge red, orange, green, blue, and yellow Thuderbird embroidered on the back. Just below it were the words "Cherokee by Blood" and the symbol for it.

"Oh my!! Thank you, Randy!"

"That's not from me!" That is from your wife, Amy!"

Dawn turned to Amy and hugged and kissed her.

"Thank you, honey."

"I have something else for you and Samantha," I told them.

I got out the boxes with the flight wings and gave them to Dawn and Samantha, and they opened them.

"Oh my, honey!" Dawn exclaimed.

She and Samantha took the small wings out and pinned them on each other's tops. Then they grabbed me and kissed me.

"Thanks!" Samantha exclaimed.

*****

Amy and I walked around the big building for a few hours to look while Dawn and Samantha were busy. A lot of the companies were giving out logo T-shirts. Amy was flirting with the guys in the booths to get shirts. We had armloads of T-shirts from about two dozen companies when we walked back to Eurocopter's area. After Randy saw all the T-shirts we had, he gave us some of theirs.

While things were wrapping up and shutting down, their video crew and photographers took some photos of Dawn and Samantha in and around the helicopter while the crowds were gone. They also made some with Crystal standing with it.

Randy had been talking about all the photos and videos of Dawn and Samantha they were going put on the internet while we watched them finish up.

As they finished for the day, Randy asked Dawn and Samantha about getting some video and photos of them in our helicopter and some of them flying Linda's at the end of the show. I had told Randy not to bring up her wearing her Ceremonial leathers until after I asked.

"Let me borrow your pocket knife for a minute," Amy said.

"Where is yours?" I asked.

"Not in these shorts!"

I dug my knife out and gave it to her.

"I'll be right back," she said and headed off toward the restrooms with a white T-shirt in her hands.

Dawn and Samantha came to us as the photographers finished.

"Dawn, thank you two so much. The marketing guys will have a lot of fun putting all this on the internet this week. They have been waiting."

"Happy to do it. Randy, I just want to say thank you to you and the President for making all this possible."

"Well, Ms. Williams twisted our arm, but it was for a good cause. We wish you many happy and safe years with your very special helicopter."

"Thank you."

"What are you doing!" Samantha exclaimed.

We all turned to look where she was looking. She was watching her sister walk up. Amy had cut off a white Eurocopter T-shirt so that it just covered her big tits and nipples. The Eurocopter logo was above the cut. She had taken her bra off, and it was easy to see her big nipples through the material and the bottoms of her tits below the cutoff.

"Oh my..." Randy mumbled as he looked.

The video guys quickly turned on their cameras and their lights to get a shot of Amy. Dawn and I laughed.

It didn't take much encouragement from Randy to have Amy posing and climbing around on the helicopters, flashing her new outfit and acting like a model. She looked hot with all her long red hair as she hung off the tops of the helicopters.

"I can't believe sis is doing that!" Samantha exclaimed.

"You're just mad you didn't think of it first!" Dawn exclaimed, and we laughed.

The video crew was making some really tasteless videos of Amy as she flashed them skin and all that red hair as she hung off the tops of the helicopters. I was watching the photographer take some hot photos. After nearly an hour, they let Amy stop. She came back over to us laughing.

"Hey, Amy?" Randy said, walking up.

"Yes!"

"Will you sign a release so we can use those photos for promotional materials?"

"What's it worth to you?"

"Uhhhh..."

"Let me have it...I'll sign it...and you will owe me."

"Thanks!"

"T-shirt Tramp!" Dawn said, and we laughed.

Randy came back with the release, and Amy signed it.

"Let's go and get some dinner and make our plans for tomorrow," I said.

"Why did you do that?" Samantha asked.

"We'll see who is all over the internet now!" Dawn and I laughed hard, and they laughed.