High Winds and Abortion…

 

Banner over ND

I am sure you are wondering how these two elements go together in any way but I assure you they do.  Today, I finally got back in the saddle and was able to fly the good old Aerobat.  Oh how sweet it was.  I had missed flying her so much this semester. 

 

You may have heard about this guy that is coming to speak at a certain university in the South Bend area and it is supposedly a big deal or something.  So much of a big deal that a group has paid a banner plane pilot to fly a constant orbit around said university’s campus all day for the last 2 weeks.  Today that the good old Niles airport, they got a big city taste of politics in a small town.  The banner plane, a Cessna 150 juiced up with a Cessna 172′s 180 horsepower engine for towing, had taken off just before me and and was circling around to pick up his goods for towing.  After a close try, he missed and had to go around again.  Blasting down the runway about 10 feet off the ground, the hook caught the banner and slowly peeled it off the ground as the plane pulled up steeply.  In front of my eyes I saw a horrifying picture of an aborted baby in which I will go into no more detail along with the words “ABORTION IS TERROR” sailing off into the sky to supposedly shame everyone and convince them their pro choice view was on par with terrorism.  While I tend to agree with pro life supporters, I believe these shock tactics are really the wrong way to go about doing it, especially to go so far as to pay to have an airplane plaster the skies with this claim and obscene image for 2 weeks.  Needless to say, HOW DOES THIS MAKE GENERAL AVIATION LOOK!  My gosh, if people didn’t care much for small planes before, now every time they see one in this area they will remember the horrid picture it was towing or at least remember that general aviation facilitated such a display. I don’t know…

 

The Windsock

 

 

Regardless, some of you noticed, today was a very windy day in South Bend, IN.  While I knew this is usually not the most ideal condition for flying, I knew I could handle it.  However, I soon learned that my 1,500 pound dainty little girl would have the ride of a lifetime as soon as we left the ground.  Now, my Aerobat has aerobatic 4 point seat belts that often seen like overkill for simple flights like todays jaunt to diamond lake and back just to stretch her legs.  However, I found myself cinching those suckers down in an attempt to keep my head from busting through the sky windows above me.  I kid you not, this was severe turbulence.  As my instructor once told me, before aerobatics, you tighten your seat belts until it hurts, and then tighten them more.  I was very close to that stage today.  Needless to say, it was a roller-coaster ride out there today.  

Lessons learned?  1. Don’t give general aviation a bad name by selling out and pulling a banner that will upset people. 2. If the windsock can’t make up it’s mind, don’t go flying.

- Never let the keychain hang straight down

— The Aerobat