Lizzy McFly

I had to take Vyctor to the airport in Welland today for his annual. I drove to the Niagara District Airport for just after 8:00 this morning. It was a very, nice calm flight. Here is what an empty PEN Centre looks like from above:

My landing in Welland was about thirteen minutes after take-off. My adorable, little mother met me at the airport so we could have a visit. We drove away as Vyctor was put in the stirrups for his inspection.

One of the goals for today was to chop her Janfro. Like the last time I cut her hair, I said “Oops” and “I have no clue what I’m doing” multiple times, but she I insisted I continue. I told her “It will grow back” and “You hardly go out anyway”. She was actually quite happy with how it came out! Cataracts, perhaps? Anyway, during the Janscaping, I got a text from my mechanic that my plane was good to go with a clean bill of health.

My mother (with her stylish new do) and I headed back to the Niagara Central Dorothy Rungeling Airport in Welland, to take a rather tired Vyctor (due to all the man-handling) back home. First step though was getting some fuel. Thanks for the pics, Frank!

• 

• 

The drive home was a far different story from the calm, peaceful and fun day I was having. I was about half way home, so roughly five minutes into the drive, when I was almost in a head-on collision. There was a long, steady string of vehicles coming in the opposite direction on the two lane road. Suddenly, a pick-up truck decided to pass the car in front of her, I guess to take about 2 seconds off of her drive. The problem was, I was far too close for her to safely make this idiotic and doltish maneuver. If I didn’t hit my brakes, we would have hit. Further up the road, the traffic in my direction came to a stop. I knew the bridge up ahead was up, but there was no way traffic could have been backed up that much. About fifteen minutes of creeping along and I could see why we were stopped. There was a police cruiser blocking the road and she was speaking to each driver.

Once I finally made it up to her, she asked me where I was going and then advised me to turn around at a parking lot up ahead. It was there where I saw the two car collision. The windshield was out of one of the vehicles. This was posted on NRP411:

This made me think of how many times I’ve heard people suggest how “unsafe flying is” and “my spouse won’t let me go up.” I have flown over 720 hours and have never had a close call, let alone an actual incident or accident. Meanwhile, I drive twelve minutes to the airport this morning and have the guy in front of me run a red light, roll through another and drive well over the speed limit. On the way home, I almost get hit head on and then pass a very serious two car collision. No, flying isn’t unsafe – the drive to the airport is!

Today’s symptoms: I slept well last night and actually had a really good day. My fatigue level was better than usual, but I did have a headache and bad nerve pain in my hands later on in the day. I’m sure after all the excitement today, plus know that Vyctor is healthy and fit to fly for another year, I will sleep well tonight.