I won't even try to go back and catch things up, time to look and move forward! It's been quite a few months of struggle, but now I am feeling healed and ready and worthy. I am becoming who I need to be. The journey so far has been amazing and my goal is to record the next part of the journey. Time to pull my camera out and share my amazing journey.
I will bring you up to date as far as the last few months, life has been to interesting to leave this Summer out of the equation.
On Memorial Day, I was flying in the backseat of the Hawker Sea Fury with Joe, we were doing what he always does on this day, honoring our veterans. It was a beautiful day, but things were not exactly "on the mark". We had successfully flown over 2 of the cemeteries and was headed for the 3rd of 5 targets. There was a slight issue with some equipment so the decision was made to head back to the airport and land. Everything was normal, the flight, the approach, the landing...and then in a split second, the landing was anything but normal. We had touched down and was slowing to exit the runway. Instead of going off to the right, the plane started an arch to the left at which point I knew things were not right. Sitting in the back my head is just above the canopy, I don't wear a helmet, my instinct told me to get my head down as far as I could, given the restraint of the parachute and the harness that holds me tightly in the backseat, it was not easy. It was hearing the "OH SHIT!" that made me start praying hard and just watching the floor of the plane, hoping for the best. Long story, short, we had experienced a landing gear failure causing the plane to arch left and depart the runway into the grass. It seemed like a long time that happened very quickly. The grass was tall and the soil damp from all the rain and that might have been the thing that saved us. The thoughts going through my mind was "please don't tip over, please don't nose over, please Dear God, please be in here with us!" and he was. As soon as the plane came to a stop, we were scrambling to get out knowing that we were carrying a lot of fuel in the wings and that the next challenge could be an explosion and fire. It is not easy under good circumstances to get in and out of the plane, but we were both able to get unstrapped and out relatively quickly. Joe helped me get out and we both hightailed it away from the plane. Standing on the edge of the runway was very surreal.
Everything that came next is both burned in my memory and a big blur. We were so blessed to be alive, let alone walking away with not even a bump or scratch. There is no other way to say it than God was undeniably with us. So many things could have gone differently, could have gone wrong and been life altering, if not life ending, but they went right. Joe is a very skilled pilot but at some point, he no longer had control of the airplane, we were just along for the ride. I will write about Faith and Providential intervention and putting your destiny in the hands of the Lord in another post, but just suffice it to say, "I Believe!"
It took a big crane and a lot of smart people to get the wounded bird back up on her feet, but she exited the resting place west of the runway, assisted but rolling. The long road of recovery for the Sea hawk, aka Big Mama and her passengers was just beginning. Over a month's worth of tender loving care and dismantling, piece by piece the engine came off, the landing gear was packed back up into the wheel wells, the wing tips came off and all was packed up and shipped via flatbed to Texas.
And then the morning came that she was gone, we followed the truck for 30 miles until my car was out of gas and my heart could no longer take the stress, we both cried as she rode out of sight.
And the discussions and the emotions and the feelings both of gratefulness and fear keep rolling, keep coming, are constantly with us, Every.Single.Day. We were blessed, there is no other way to say it.