"I'm From the F.A.A., and I'm Here to HELP"

[dreamer]

Oh great, so he takes off over the beach and leaves us hanging out over the icy cold water I've been follering that wheels over water thread y'know Sure hope there's a good stiff off-shore breeze to hang on. 8)

Sourdough flapjacks! Might just have to make me some. One of my neighbors used to be chief of PO-leese in one of them little towns up there. His wife (also my neighbor) gave me some GENUINE Alaskan sourdough and a flap-jack recipe. I inquired as to if he'd ever run into any crazy pilots up there. Sure enough! He did! (Just happened to be one hisself too!). He's gonna look through his collection of wanted posters and see if he's got any original photos of the great bagged one.

SURE now that I'll be having some interesting dreams tonight!

 

[skagwaypilot]

as I STILL sit on pins and needles Worried waiting to hear from this PUBLISHER!!

Would a few letters or emails from your SuperCub.org fans help your cause in promoting the publishing the Chronicles? Just give us an address.. we'll try our best..

 

[CloudDancer]

Wow!! Ya' Know what Skagway Pilot....I never even THOUGHT of that!

I really REALLY appreciate that offer.

Tell you what....Let me ponder it over the weekend :-? and I'll get back to you on Tuesday afternoon.

They had referenced February 10th as a "time frame" for "resuming the acquisition process". :roll:

Maybe if I don't hear from them next week we'll give that a shot next weekend.

Either way. I am truly HUMBLED by your thoughts sir. :-?

P.S. Figured out which restaurant it was yet???

Cloud(I couldn't ASK for better Friends)Dancer

 

[7853H]

CD your so like so many women build --- excite --- buld -- cite oh hell just like always get me cunfused stop short of the climax ain't it fun though

 

[CloudDancer]

Hiya 7853H -

Jeez....you almost make me feel some kinda' GUILTY.

I 'm sure like your wimmens....it's probably NOT a good thing if I get you too excited ...PREMATUREly!!

Cloud(put my calls on Hold)Dancer

 

[dreamer]

Still waiting with baited breath here (goshdarn it CloudDancer, ya got me HOOKED!)... flying out over the beach, hung out on a coool breeze, staring at that icy cold water below and wunderin... How is it ever gonna end!



(CloudDancer wrote... )

The long overdure finale of "I'm from the F.A.A..... " WILL get done next week when I get back from this next usual four day weekend torture test.

 

[On Patrol]

Don't worry,
The weekend is coming if you notice CD always responds on a weekend. I think it has something to due with his increased lubrication status.
John

 

[CloudDancer]

Hiya Dreamer, Flyin' Miss Daisy et eal. -

Alas and alack. This week was TOO short. :x Got in from OAK Monday night about 1900 lcl and headin' out again before dawn cracks tamale a.m. for the Emerald City on the Puget Sound.

Weren't neven enuff time for me ta git a proper amount o' accomplished much less any gamblin' or womanizin'!! Ah'm beginnin' ta think my AIRline company thinks I LIVE TO FLY for THEM!!

Ergo.....creative keyboard abusal is onced agin' hereby put off until the NEXT four day torture test concludes which is .....oh....I don't even know what DAY it is anymore. Take tomorry. Count three more days after that....and then come look-see the NEXT day!

HowEVER Ms. Dreamer.....consulting mah schedule (which, be forewarned; at MY airline our schedule is more of a "suggestion" than anything else - we STRIVE for same day service) sez that I am supposed to surrender (gently) to gravity at TPA on March 10th theorhetically SOMEwheres long about 7 P.M. local swamp time.

SO it would SEEM that right about....oh.....1730 to 1830 lcl gator time I should be within yakkin' range of ya' considering I'm at either FL370 or 390 'bout then.

So I "SPOSE....if you was to tell me what numbers I might set in the little winders of my VH 'n F Marconi set....I could just call you up and TELL ya' how the story ends.

Send me a PM tonite if ya' want and tell me what frequency and call sign you'll be at at that date and time and we'll see can we "hook up"!!

Cloud(THIS oughta' drive SOMEbody nutz)Dancer

 

[On Patrol]

CD,
It then appears that we will see you in a lubricated state with the keyboard smoking on Sunday the 11TH. I will be in New Hampshire awaking from a night of festivities at a bluegrass concert put on by the young and extremely talented Cherry Holmes.
What better way to start your warm day here in the Northeast ( 25*F virtual heat wave) then to finally read how the FAA helped the young and impressionable bush pilot Cloud Dancer.
Awaiting your Finale
John

 

[CloudDancer]

A-a-l-l-lMOST...but not QUITE right John. :-?

Me leaving now. Oh dark thirty and according to the newpaper it is indeed the 8th.

Less see. Eighth....Ninth.....Teeeenth.......Eleventh!! Okay. I get back sometime...I can't perzectly remember :roll: ....on the afternoon of the 11th.

Best gimme' 'til noon on the twelfth anyway. I mean JEEZ....I miss you guys an' all.....but.....

CloudDancer

 

[On Patrol]

CD,
If it is 0 dark thirty where you are at right now you are giving away your geographical position as not in Va. and we are starting to unravel the True Identity of the conundrum known as Cloud Dancer.
John

 

[BES]

I wonder if it says "Diggler" on the back of that paper sack....!??


Bent

 

[wingnut18]

Come on CD, we're dying to know what happens to our daring young CD!!

 

[CloudDancer]

I'll have some more of....if not all the rest of the story up by 11 P.M. eastern tonite....

CD

 

[CloudDancer]

Chapter Six -


I’m passing 250 feet or so as the Twin Otter flashes beneath my still raised left wing and again see the left propellor just beginning to accelerate. I know that within the “hot section” of the Pratt & Whitney free turbine, the growing fire and expanding gases are converted to hundreds of propellor revolutions per minute from the tens of thousands of turbine revolutions per minute through the reduction gearing that actually turns the three-bladed Hartzell.

As the dark brown strip of beach slides out from beneath the body of my Skywagon I am passing 400 feet and abeam the first houses of the village. With the indicated airspeed now increasing to more than eighty-five knots, I grab the flap handle with my right hand as I roll from a right to left bank now to line up with the shoreline. I mash the spring-loaded white push button in the end of the johnson bar and quickly allow the flaps to be pushed to the ten degree detent by the airflow while the muscles in my right arm tense and flex to moderate the rate of retraction. It takes at most a second and a half and another push of the white button and the process is repeated again in two seconds this time as I retract the flaps to zero. With a clean airfoil the speed now increases to ninety knots as I straighten up in my seat again having had to crouch down and to the right somewhat, even with my long arms, to ensure that the flap handle locks into it’s “zero” detent gently but firmly.

As I do my right hand moves from the flap handle directly to the throttle where a gentle and steady pull drops the manifold pressure to twenty-two inches. A slight move to the right and three and a half full cranks counter-clockwise on the ridged propellor control reduces both the speed of the prop and the thundering roar noise level of takeoff power to the slightly quieter belligerent bellowing of a 25 squared climb power setting. Next a couple of equally quick spins of the red fuel flow knob on the far right brings the needle on it’s vertical half circle scale down to the top of the green band.

In little more than another minute I have ascended through thirteen hundred feet and my right hand reaches down between the seats. Grasping the rear portion of the half of the heavy black large beaded-edged trim wheel, I start slowly rolling it upward and toward the front of it’s arc. Once and then again t-w-i-ice even slightly slower this time as my eyes focus on the altimeter.

The rate-of-climb needle falls ever more slowly from it’s seven to eight hundred foot per minute range through it’s left downward arc as the white hundred foot indicator needle on the face of the altimeter slows it's clockwise race around the dial. The two needles reach their separate goals at virtually the same moment at the plane now settles comfortably at 1500 feet.

The airspeed needle remains on the upswing continuing to reflect the swift acceleration of our aluminum chariot, as the thrust which, no longer needed for lift is now converted to speed.

As I watch the indicated knots increase through 125, now 130 and then135 I lean slightly to the right and holler over the noise “ ‘SCUSE ME SADIE!” as my right forearm gentle shoves her matronly pantyhose clad left leg toward her right. I bang the corny-dog sized black hard plastic cowl flap handle out of it’s detent with the inside of my right thumb as the rest of my hand closes around it and instantly starts the travel downward to the full closed position.

And in those few, maybe three or four seconds, our blurred propellor has increased our airspeed which is continuing to march upward, albeit at a much slower pace. Now passing one hundred forty-five knots it would, if left unchecked at this power setting continue to increase over the next minute and a half or so to barely over 160 knots indicated with this load. Pretty impressive for a fixed gear straight tailed machine with struts.

Left to right again across the three knobs in the “power panel” at the bottom center of the dash board sets up a twenty-three squared cruise power setting with an exhaust gas temperature 75 degrees centigrade on the rich side of peak. I'm showing a fuel flow of just about 15.1 gallons per hour. Just right for this altitude.

A very gentle tug of about a quarter turn aftward on the trim wheel relieves the slight bit of back pressure I have had to exert on the control wheel since reducing the power by moving the trimable horizontal stabilator of the airplane. Unique for Cessna singles (I believe); the 185 unlike it’s bigger family members the 206 and 207 Skywagons which I also fly daily, does NOT have a trim tab on the elevator. But rather like large jets, the front end of it’s horizontal stabilizer is what moves up and down in response to movements of the cockpit trim wheel. Hence, since it functions as both a stabilizer and trim came the term “trimable horizontal stabiLATOR”.

Airborne barely over four minutes now all this has occurred in somewhat of a fog in my mind. As I have spent SO MUCH of the last few years of my short life in the three airplanes mentioned above it all happens almost completely unconsciously now.

The same engine and horsepower ratings means the same power settings are set on identical engine instruments. The engine control knobs are the same shapes and sizes as are the cowl flap handles and positions on the right bottom of the center pedestal.

The only significant differences in the 185 are the placement of the trim wheel between the seats, the flap handle and the relatively cramped quarters. Oh, and the 185 accelerates faster as well.

But after...Lord KNOWS...... how many thousands of takeoffs behind these engines....up until this moment, since becoming safely airborne and passing out of about three or four hundred feet when I lined up to parallel the beach....the last couple of minutes and all the actions contained therein; including hollering at Sadie before pushing her leg have occurred in a veritable mindless vacuum. Seeing...doing.....twirling.....shoving....a routine. Now done mindlessly although with extreme accuracy.

My mind has been meanwhile OTHERwise occupied with my newly created problem. Hundreds of jumbled and sometimes conflicting thoughts about my immediate future race through my head until an interruption ocurs.

A very...VERY quiet voice is heard through my David Clarks. “HEY!” spoken in a hushed but quietly exPLOsive kind of manner. It continues “CLOUDDancer! Are you on point nine?”

It’s RED!


****** Do not despair. I will not leave you hanging too long....i need a short break fopr a pint of cherry vanilla ice cream.........

Probably some more late tonight with (hopefully) the conclusion ttomorrow.

Your (mostly) Humble Scriber of Flying Tales.....

CloudDancer

 

[CloudDancer]

Chapter Six - cont'd

Grabbing my microphone out of it’s holder I quickly respond “Yeah Red! TALK to me bud.”

Immediately he comes back with “Go to eighty-five” in the same quiet but emphatic sounding tone. Uh-uh. THIS can’t be good. Red wants me to switch frequencies to one where hopefully almost no one else will be listening. :roll: I reach for the frequency selector on the VHF and roll one click to the left and the nine-zero in the clear plastic window on the face of the radio is replaced with and eight and five.

“Okay. I’m here Red. What’s the scoop man?” I utter quietly. :-?

As he starts talking I hear the sidetone in his transmission sliding down the musical scale and the roar of the propellors of the Twin Otter in the background also diminishing. And I realize the crew is setting climb power as he speaks. MAN! I was SO absorbed in my thinking that I must’ve missed their takeoff traffic calls from Kivalina I’m thinking to myself as I listen to Red’s somewhat alarmed sounding but still quieter than normal voice.

“CloudDancer! WHAT the HELL did you SAY to BarTELli??!! (the FED) He’s not just gonna’ throw the BOOK at you....I think he wants the DEATH PENALTY!!” :x this last ending with a slight chuckle.

“Oh **** ” I mutter as my worst fears seem to be confirmed. “He’s really PISSED, huh?”

Still speaking quietly and now outright laughing, but TRYING to hold it in (I’ll give him credit for that) Red continues.

“PISSED?!? Cloudy! I’ve known the guy for almost three years now and flown with him a half DOZEN times and I’ve never seen the man so MAD before. I mean he’s a pain in the ass sometimes and a STICKLER for rules but MAN! The guy is SEETHING! He hasn’t even put on his headset yet he’s been back there writing notes and talking to himself ever since he got back on the airplane. Usually he won’t even let us do our before START checklist without him getting on his headset FIRST so he can LISTEN to everything as well as watch it too. YOU have got the man LIVID son. I think you’re in BIG trouble friend.”

Obviously with Bartelli still off the headset I might have just a MOMENT to say SOMEthing to Red withOUT the FED overhearing it.

In desperation I plead “Red! Red! You GOTta’ HELP me.!!”


G'nite everBODY!!

Cloud( ) Dancer

 

[On Patrol]

Morning CD
It must be 9AM by now out west and you now have us hooked again. The installment plan is alot like lay away at Christmas when you are a kid.
John

 

[MasterRod]

Hey Cloudy good to see the story lying (scratch that Line I mean) start up again. Started reading in Dubai now catching up in Gothenburg. Knowing most of the people involved I can pretty much guess the outcome but I won't ruin it for anyone else. I do chuckle over your scheduling woes sitting here at day 23 of an 8 day trip. Hey found a really good local beer to rent for awhile! Keep writing Cheers MasterRod not to be confused with my alter ego ConRod

 

[dreamer]

Seeing...doing.....twirling.....

Sheesh, you make it sound so EASY! Thanks for the lesson CloudDancer. I don't suppose you could sign my log book now? There will be a test later, right?

 

[CloudDancer]

HIYA MasterRod -

Been WONderin' when I'd here from you again.

Okay...Day TWENTY-THREE of an "eight day trip". I'll quit WHINING now. :-?

Holy !! And I thought OUR schedulers were sadistic!! :evil: Good chance maybe I'll make Big Village on the Chena next week. I will send you an EMail.

You're a GOOD 'ol sod for not giving the ending away MasterRod.

An' for all those who are breathlessly waiting for tonight's scheduled conclusion.... PLEASE remember what I've told you so often before.

This is my gentle way of telling you I accidently tripped over a barstool on my way home from the dentist's office a few hours ago and now am in somewhat of a delimma.

Just as I'm not a FAST pilot...nor a SLOW pilot....but merely a HALF FAST pilot......

I am half drunk.

Left in this condition....I am unable to accomplish either proper humorous "chronicling" (is that a WORD??)....nor much of anything else.

Ergo...I GO!!

See ya' tamale...fer' sure!!

CloudDancer

 

[CloudDancer]

He-e-e-llOOO! to all my Chronically Confounded Cub Caretakers
Well everBODY....the grand finale ......the final act......the two minute WARNing .....is SO close.......I can hear the chubby chick a'warmin' up her ol' vocal chords backstage now.

But....(quell surPISE, eh?) I have run out of time yet aGAIN as I must throw my stuff in my rollerboard and drive my AeroBus around the flight levels over America some more. And Cananada TOO come to think of it.

Whoo-woo!!

Sourdough hotcakes and reindeer sausage at Gwennies!! Another GLORIOUS ANC layover!!

I'll be back here next Monday with the judge's ruling(s) (in more ways than one).

Ya'll don't FRET none. ....ya'HEAR? Have a FUN weekend and if yer' flyin....

LUCKY YOU!!! Enjoy and BE CAREFUL my dear friends.

Cloud(like my AIRline.....schedule "SUBJECT TO CHANGE")Dancer

 

[Jr.CubBuilder]

So CD? Got any more writins for us? How goes the book deal? Do you have a cover yet? How does the does the young Padawan CD escape the wrath of the disgruntled FAA guy? Is reindeer really that good to eat? :lol:

Hope you're doing well and was just wondering if we'd hear the end or if we have to wait for the hardback.

 

[dreamer]

I was given a pound of ground reindeer meat and happened to have a bunch of green peppers in the fridge at the same time, so I mixed up the meat with some cooked rice and made up a batch of REINDEER BELLS! Sounds better than it tasted though

 

[On Patrol]

Has CD just left us hanging??

 

[OLDCROWE]

Has CD just left us hanging??

Like a Florida chad!

 

[CloudDancer]

BOY! :evil: The NERVE of SOME mother's CHILL-dren!!

I JUST read in today's USA Today Life section that "Sopranos" fan(atics)sometimes PATIENLTY wait :-? for as long as three SEASONS for resolutions of SOME "story lines".

Not that I would DARE to be so self-impressed 8) as to put my writing on a par with David Chase's. I mean..the WORLD waited for MONTHS to find out "Who J.R.?", if President Barlett was "hit" at the end of season one of West Wing.

A GREAT whiskey is aged for DECADES!

peoplepeople...PEOPLE. PAY-shunts. :x I beseech thee. It's like FOURplay 'fer cryin' out loud!! It's about hearing Carly Simon singing "Anticipation" in yo' HEAD as you wait for the Heinz catsup to dribble out the end of the bottle ....or....or.....watching a beautiful red-headed, crystal glacier blue-eyed, alabaster-skinned, large breasticled dancer slide slowly upside-down, down the brass pole as she rotates around it slowly.... or the splash and sparkle of the Capt. Morgan as it casCADES over the ice cubes and begins to pool in the bottom of t...

'SCUSE me.... I gotta' go call a TAXI.....

Cloud(smoke 'em if ya' got 'em)Dancer

 

[CloudDancer]

Okay. While I'm waiting for the cab to get here.....it just occurred to me that I failed to at LEAST respond to your posts. :roll:

Failure to do so would not only be unforgivably inconsiderate and rude, :x but could accidentally leave you good folks with the incorrect impression that I am not interested in what YOU write to me.

Your RESPONSES and feedback....whether an "attaboy" or a "raspberry" are TRULY at LEAST 50% of what I do this for ANYway. And although you may not see a new "creativity" being displayed for sometimes extended periods [and let's not forget.....I did WARN you guys about these (writing) "dry spells"]....NONETHELESS and be that as it may, furthermore and ERGO.....

Seldom if EVER does 24 hours go by [usually when I am and none of our "quality" (read BUDGET) overnight accommodations offers complimentary internet access, as I do NOT take a computer on the road with me....

SELDOM do I miss 24 consecutive hours away from SC.org and the Discussion Forums to stay up to date but ALSO to see what you guys are throwing my way. I LOVES ya! Each and ever one....even Jerry Gaston.

So. To address your questions/concerns and recent comments.

JrCubBuilder -

1. The writing goes slowly/poorly right at the moment. The well has not neccessarily run dry....but the pump is old and in need of maintanance....most likely a good lubrication. (Quell surPRISE, Eh?)

2. The book "deal" has NOT yet materialized from the "big time" REAL publisher and I am starting to investigate the self-publish option which I should have done in a couple of weeks. Big time publisher has been promising me a decision for weeks now. And while I understand how they work (S-L-O-W-L-Y) , if by the time I have concluded my research and opted for a self-publishing scheme.....I will give them a weeks notice to MAKE a damn decision. This BOOK WILL BE AVAILABLE for 2007, unless they make me a deal that takes LONGER (I hope not....)

3. The cover art "The Official CloudDancer Artwork" is now copyrighted. I will send it to Steve again and ask him to put it on a thread here for all to see now. Plans in the works for "CloudDancer" T-Shirts, coffee cups, maybe a "bobblehead" and thongs for the ladies, of course.

4. WHAT Jr.CB is a Padawan??

5. Reindeer makes GREAT sausage, but LOUSY hamburger.


Dreamer -

See last item under "JrCubBuilder"...gonna' take more that just some bell peppers to make it happen dear.

So How's Fla.'s hottest and newest aviation writer doin??!! Tolja' you'd get some GROOVY new flyin' time!!


Flyin' Miss Daisy - (Lord I purely LOVE that HANDLE. Smile every time I see it.)

Tsk...tsk....tsk....FMD.....FMD....

You know me better.....see previous post.....

Heck I've already got the NEXT story done (in my lil' ol' PEA-brain). I can SEE 'em. SUMtimes.....I just can't get the colors right on the canvas or I gotta' look around and find a new brush 'cause I done wore OUT the horsehair on the old ones.

All good things come to those who wait .....PATIENTLY DAMMIT!!


Old Crowe -

I once KNEW a fella' from Florida named Chad....

Cloud(Gone to find my very own Easter )Dancer

 

[Jr.CubBuilder]

Padawan=Jedi Knight in training

 

[CloudDancer]

Aaaahhhhhh-SO!

An APT analogy if there ever WAS one. :-? I am mortified that my weakness in Star Wars knowledge has embarrassed me yet again.

I learn so MUCH from you people!!

CloudDancer

 

[tdennis]

Story

So what the heck happens next????????????/

I've been away to places on the other side of the world where there's no Internet and no mobile phones for three weeks and come back and I still don't how the story ends!!!!!!!!!!

Tim
come and fly a Super-cub in New Zealand