Well, we're off on at least leg one of our European Vacation. After sitting in a room with no airconditiong today (they were having duct issues) from 1 p.m. to 4, we did not make the cut on seats to Germany out of Jackson. But they did offer us four seats to Charleston so we took them in anticipation of a brighter tomorrow. There is another flight going out at 8 p.m on Saturday night and we will try for that. In the meantime, we'll see Ft. Sumpter in the afternoon.
C-17 to tower. Come in tower.
Thanks to Load Master Randall (that's Mr. Allen to us - and we were sorry he was not on duty) mentioning that Colonel Bond was going to try to fly out today, the on-duty Load Master came and asked if the girls would like to ride in the cockpit - one on takeoff and the other on landing. Emma got first dibs. They outfitted her with a flight headset and off we went.
"Ah, Roger that."
About an hour into the flight, Woody finally said, "I guess I'd better go check on Emma." They came back and Emma said, "Ellie, it's your turn," but Ellie didn't think she had left anything in the cockpit that needed retrieving - actually she said she was perfectly fine with never setting foot in a cockpit. Anyways.... that meant that Emma got to go back in and "bring 'er down." She spent a total of five minutes in the back of the plane. We will have some footage at some point of her describing the dialog among the pilots.
This thing really can fly itself!!
It goes something like this ... "blah, blah blah... a bunch of words that made no sense" (I'm sure it was radio call signs to the tower) and then, click, "I'm on auto pilot now" and "Yeah, I'm on autopilot now too," and then, "I had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch today, what about you? And, Emma, how old are you? And what grade will you be in next year?"
Needless to say, she had quite a few stories to tell over dinner.
We'll check back in tomorrow with a report from somewhere.
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