Instead of spending time with my family on this beautiful Easter Sunday I’ve been trapped to fly someone else’s family back home after their own Easter weekend.
Now don’t get me wrong I like flying jets as much or more as the next guy but I could of really gone for a big Easter dinner at my parents. (MMMMM! HAM!)
But duty called, so Big Troy and I fired up the Great White Hope (Cessna Citation 7) and made a short hop to Winona Minnesota for to pick up our passengers.
When we got there we had some time to kill because dad says we need to be in place at least 30 minutes before the passengers want to leave and because said passengers are always late. Unless you’re late, then they’re early.
Anyway, with time to kill I wandered over to a couple of relics that had been pushed off into the grass to spend what was most likely the rest If their lives.
Then the pax showed up and it was time to make the quick run down to Fort Worth Texas. The flight was fast and smooth and in just over 2 hours we were on the ground unloading our cargo, three of which were of the toddler variety, one fast asleep draped over his mother’s shoulder while the other two tumbled down the stairs spilling melted chocolate easter eggs and dragging their mini carry on bags across the ramp.
I flew left seat back home while Troy cleaned tiny chocolate fingerprints off the leather seats before the boss could see them. It took a little bit longer to get back to Wisconsin but it was another beautiful day to be cruising at 41,000 feet so I didn’t really mind. Sometimes I can’t believe they actually pay me to do this.
The sun had just set as I flew the approach back to the home base. There were dark clouds filled with flashes of lightning moving in as we touched down but that didn’t keep me from making one of my better landings in the jet. I think I’m finally starting to figure out how to get the big bird on the ground without scaring the poor guy sitting next to me. About damn time too.
It was pretty quite on the ramp as we shut the engines down. Just one sleepy line guy sitting in the tug waiting for us to clear out so he could tow the plane back into the hanger and go home. Just another Easter in the aviation world.