“ Noooo!” Harpine screamed as they left the ground.
Tense, Rick smiled as he kept the back pressure on the yoke, the familiar tingling sensation shooting through him.
“ Feel the rush?” Mitchel said.
“ Yeah,” Rick answered.
“ Some people were just born to fly. You’re one of ’em. Every time you leave the ground that rush will get to ya. Like a runner’s high, like drugs. Makes no difference the type of plane-jet, helicopter or single-engine-land. It’ll even attack you in tourist class on a 747.”
“ Yeah,” Rick said, again. He knew exactly what the man was talking about. He relaxed the pressure on the yoke a bit, guiding the plane, flying the plane.
“ Wanna do a touch and go?”
“ What’s a touch and go?” Harpine squeaked from the back.
“ Can we?” Rick said.
“ If I’m gonna sign your ticket, I’ll have to see at least one.”
“ What’s a touch and go?” Chief Harpine squeaked again.
“ Make your climbing turn to the right and level off at a thousand,” Mitchel said.
“ I remember,” Rick said.
“ Mr. Harpine,” Mitchel turned toward the back, “what’s the problem?”
“ I heard you telling him what to do. Maybe it took me a bit to figure it out, but now I got it figured. He don’t know how to fly a plane. You didn’t tell me that.”
“ Let me assure you, Mr. Gordon is an excellent pilot. But we have rules. If you haven’t flown in a year, you have to have a licensed instructor sign you off to stay legal. Since I’m licensed, we decided to kill two birds with one stone. Mr. Gordon will fly us up to Bakersfield and I’ll sign off his log book and he’ll be legal again.”
“ That’s it? You’re not shitting me?”
“ No, I’m not shitting you. Other than a practice landing and a few maneuvers in the air, that’s it. By the time we land in Bakersfield, Mr. Gordon will be as qualified as he ever was.”
“ Serious?”
“ Serious. You can just sit back and take in the view. Enjoy the flight. I brought a thermos of coffee along. As soon as we get the touch and go out of the way, we’ll sit back and relax. How’s that sound?” Mitchel’s voice was soothing and smooth.
“ Fine. Sorry I got excited,” Harpine said.
“ Okay, Rick, we’re at seven-fifty,” Mitchel said, “climbing at a hundred and fifty a minute, that’s fine, make your turn to your downwind.”
Rick turned the aircraft, then leveled off at a thousand feet.
“ You want to make one of your famous side slip landings?” Mitchel asked.
“ I’ve never done it after dark.”
“ Plane flies the same.” Mitchel picked up the mike. “Long Beach tower this is Cessna One-Six-Tango in a right downwind for Two-Five Right, requesting permission for a touch and go.”
“ Sorry, One-Six-Tango, we have noise abatement here. No touch and goes after dark.”
“ Come on you piece of toe scum, give us a break. Just one, I wanna sign off a ticket tonight.”
“ That you Mitchel, you slimy piece of weasel droppings?”
“ It’s me, Jimmy.”
“ Okay, Bobby, Just one. Hope I don’t get my you know what in a ringer, never know who’s listening.”
“ You don’t have to worry,” Mitchel said into the mike. “We’re going to cut power now and slip it in so quiet, the neighbors won’t even know we’re here. We’ll land at the halfway point and be outta here quieter than a soft rain.”
“ This I gotta see. Permission granted.”
Rick shoved the power in, turning the Cessna into a glider.
“ What?” Harpine said.
“ It’ll be all right, Harrison. Trust me,” Rick said.
Rick shoved his left foot forward, giving it full left rudder as he cranked the ailerons to the right, cross controlling the aircraft, keeping it in control as he went into the slip, dropping fast.
“ I don’t like this,” Harpine said.
Rick kept the nose pointed to the right, toward the runway. They were dropping at two hundred and fifty feet a minute. Rick stayed in the slip, keeping the plane pointed toward the runway.
“ Going down a little fast,” Mitchel said.
“ It’ll be fine.” Rick pushed down on the yoke a bit, increasing the rate of descent even more.
“ Shit!” Harpine said.
“ Shit!” Mitchel said.
Rick pushed down some more on the yoke.
“ Fuck a duck,” Harpine said, loud.
“ You sure you have it?” Mitchel said, louder. The ground was coming up fast.
“ I have it.” Rick pushed the nose down more and the cross controlled plane turned forty-five degrees to the runway.
Mitchel started to reach for the yoke on his side of the plane.
“ Keep your hands off the controls!” Rick said, voice firm, but calm.
Mitchel pulled his hands back like they’d been burnt.
Two hundred feet from the ground and Rick started to ease off the left rudder.
A hundred and fifty, the plane was almost all the way around, and he released the left rudder altogether. A hundred feet and he added a little right rudder and eased off the pressure on the ailerons, straightening them a little.
“ Oh, fuck!” Harpine, squealed.
“ Shit, shit, shit!” Mitchel said.
Fifty feet from the ground and Rick eased off the right rudder and straightened the ailerons. He was flying straight and level, only a hair’s breath to the right of the runway. He eased the plane to the left and at ten feet he was over the center line. At five feet he started his flare, squeaking it in smack in the center of the four thousand foot runway.
“ Motherfucker!” Harpine said.
“ I’ll sign your ticket right now!” Mitchel yelped as Rick added full power and started his takeoff roll.
Four and a half hours later Harpine was dozing in the back seat as they were lined up for a straight in to Bakersfield.
“ For a man who wanted out of the plane like there was no tomorrow, your friend sure ’nuff settled himself in,” Mitchel said.
“ Harrison can sleep anywhere,” Rick said.
“ Guess that’s what makes him such a good chief of police.”
“ You’re underestimating him. Many a man’s found out it doesn’t pay to underestimate Harrison Harpine.”
“ You’re right, I don’t know him.”
“ He’s a good man,” Rick said, conscious of the fact that Harpine was probably listening.
“ Okay, ’nuff said. I’ve written down all the frequencies you need to get up to Palma-Tampico. All you gotta do is keep putting them in and keep the arrow centered. Piece of cake. Child could do it.” Mitchel stretched, then yawned. “I’ve signed your logbook so now you’re legal.”
“ Thanks,” Rick said.
“ Mind if I bring it in?” Mitchel asked.
“ No problem.” Rick released the controls, sat back and relaxed as Mitchel landed the plane and drove it off the runway to the terminal.
“ Again, thanks for everything.” Rick shook hands with Mitchel on the ground. Then he was back in the plane, with Harpine in the right hand seat, taxiing to the runway.
“ I appreciate what you said about me, back before we landed,” Harpine said. As Rick had suspected the wily
