Life after the Lottery Ch. 82

"James. How fast are we going?" Enolia asked.

"About 120 miles per hour."

"Oh my! Doesn't seem that fast."

"Get closer to the ground, and it does!"

"And Dawn can fly this thing all by herself?"

"Oh, yes. She and Samantha. She has been flying to the reservation and back on weekends when needed. They have stopped flying right now because they are too far along."

"Is it not safe for them?"

"It's okay, but the air pressure changes when you fly can bring on labor. We usually fly over the mountains, and that could be a little too high for them right now."

"We don't want that to happen!"

"No, we don't!"

"How old will the children need to be to fly?"

"I guess if they can be in a car, they can fly with us. Her doctor said the lower we could fly, the better because of the air pressure changes. That is why I am taking this new route down the river, so I do not have to get above 1,000 feet. Dawn will be flying with Sylvia if she brings the babies. I'm not sure she told Sylvia about that," I teased Sylvia.

"She warned me!" Sylvia said from the back and laughed.

"Can you fly at night?" Enolia asked.

"We can if we need to. When we fly at night, we fly by instruments and much higher. At night, the pilot has to be on their toes. We all have had special training for flying at night and in bad weather."

I was surprised at how much Enolia was enjoying flying. It was a new route, and I was keeping my eyes open, always looking for places to make an emergency landing if needed. Flying along the river was very fun. I even dropped down low a few times. We flew for about an hour and talked as I flew a little slower so they could enjoy the scenery.

Once we cleared the mountains, I climbed to three thousand feet and sped up as we flew over the reservoir. I headed to my refueling stop at maximum speed, about 40 minutes away.

"That was fun seeing everything along the river!" She exclaimed.

"I am going to land at the Crossville airport to refuel. It is a little too far to make it without refueling."

I headed a little Southwest until we got near the small airport in Crossville and radioed. Once we were there, I hovered to the fueling spot and sat down. Once I had everything shut down, I got out and went around and helped them out.

"May as well stretch our legs while they refuel us," I told them.

I talked to the fuel guy, and then we walked to the terminal.

"I better head to the restroom," Enolia said.

"Me too," Sylvia added.

When we all were out, I grabbed us some sodas, and we walked around a bit until the fuel guy came in.

"That is sure some paint job," he said.

"It is for my wife."

"Is that her on the door?"

"Yes. She flies the helicopter back and forth to the reservation in North Carolina. She is a Medicine Woman."

"Your wife flies by herself?"

"Sure. And I have another 20-year-old wife that does, too."

"Wow."

"She is my granddaughter!" Enolia exclaimed proudly.

"Which one?" He asked.

"Well...both of them sort of!"

I took the fuel ticket and paid, and then we walked back. There was a small crowd around the helicopter looking and taking pictures with their cell phones. I talked to them for a few minutes before I helped Enolia and Sylvia back in and got them buckled up.

"You two ready to go?"

"Yes."

"Open those sodas before we take off. Don't make the mistake Samantha did! Only about an hour now. We'll be flying a little lower and faster."

I got in and fired it up, then lifted off. I climbed to two thousand feet as we headed West.

"James? Why do you fly lower now?" Enolia asked.

"We are near the East/West flight path for bigger planes coming out of Nashville and Knoxville. It keeps us well below the larger aircraft flying levels and some of the smaller jet aircraft flying between Knoxville and Nashville. We are much lower than they are, though."

"I see."

"As we get near home, I'll drop down more because we will be crossing under the Nashville airport flight paths for landing and take-offs. I am about to radio Nashville, so they know where we are."

"Oh?"

"BNA...November-Three-Six-Nine-Charlie-helo."

"November-Three-Six-Nine...BNA go."

"Three-Six-Nine departing Crossville airspace. Heading 2-6-0 to home pad south 1-9 miles South of BNA."

"Three-Six-Nine...ID please."

I pushed the transponder ID button and waited.

"Three-Six-Nine...we see you."

"Roger BNA. We are heading to home pad Three-Six-Nine south of town. Heading 2-6-0."

"Roger Three-Six-Nine. You have traffic at 0-1-5 hundred heading 0-9-0. About 1-0 miles out."

"BNA...what is the ID?"

"November-One-Three-Seven. Light Cessna."

I looked at the Traffic Avoidance Indicator.

"I have him BNA. Is his flight level? Do I need to descend?"

"Three-Six-Nine...climb to 0-3 thousand until you pass to be safe. I'll notify him to stay at 0-1-5 hundred. He has been up and down. Probably a student."

"Roger...BNA. I'll descend to 0-5 hundred when in BNA airspace. November-Three-Six-Nine over."

I began to climb quickly as I watched the Aircraft Warning Indicator and looked ahead of us. After a few minutes, I saw him pass below. I went back down to two thousand feet.

"You can see other airplanes?" Enolia asked.

"Didn't you see that one?"

"No?"

"Most aircraft have what is called a transponder. It sends a signal, so we show up on the radar at the airports. They also show up on that indicator there. The airport in Nashville saw him in front of us heading toward us, so they just let me know for added safety."

"Oh my..."

"There are some small aircraft that don't have transponders, so as I fly, I have to always be watching."

"I guess it is busier up there than I thought!"

"Have you ever flown before?"

"Not like this."

I didn't ask anymore.

Around thirty minutes later, I dropped down to 500 feet to be safe. Enolia thought that was awfully low, but she kept looking out at everything as I flew. I pointed out a large plane flying over us. I swung around South to avoid a small airport, then headed straight to the house.

I reached over to the other radio and changed the frequency.

"November-Three-Six-Nine-Charlie-November to Pad Three-Six-Nine base," I radioed and waited.

"Three-Six-Nine base. How far out are you?"

"About 10 minutes."

"Good. Hello Grandmother!"

"That is Dawn," I said and pushed the transmit button.

"Hello, honey!"

"Enjoying your flight?"

"Oh, yes! The view is wonderful!"

"Great! We'll see you in about 10 minutes. We'll be at the pad. Three-Six-Nine base out."

"We have a radio at the house, so we can talk when we are close," I told Enolia.

"I can't wait to see the house!"

"You'll be able to see it in about six minutes."

I flew lower until we neared the house and slowed down and pointed.

"Over there."

She looked.

"That is your house?"

"That's us."

"It's big! Whose house is that?" She asked as she pointed to Linda's.

"That is Linda and Rachel's new house."

"Oh my! It is good they will be close."

I swung around and came in slowly from the South. I moved by the house slowly and sat down and shut everything down.

I saw everyone walking toward the pad as I opened the doors and helped Enolia and Sylvia out.

"Hi, Grandmother!" Dawn exclaimed.

"Hi, honey!"

They came through the gate as I unloaded her bags. Dawn and the girls hugged her.

"Oh my! You three look ready to pop!"

"Next weekend."

"Very good!"

Grandmother looked around.

"Beautiful land here. Looks like the reservation."

"It does. We like it, and it keeps us isolated," Dawn replied.

"Any animals?"

"Deer, Bobcat, Turkey, Fox, Coyotes. A couple of Spirit Eagles occasionally."

"Wolves..." Samantha added.

"Really? A wolf...here?"

"At least one," Samantha said and giggled.

We all began to walk toward the house after I got her bags.

"Why the fence? You don't have any neighbors?"

"Government rule..." I mumbled.

"Know about them..."

"I hate it," Dawn said.