Part 2... Cookies and Milk = wonders for the soul.
The last sentence of the last post was... I came home. Then I was approached about being a fire bomber pilot in the (retrofitted) planes we had recently brought back. See some of the planes that Aero Union flew in 1986...I was flying for them in 1980. Once I got back to Alameda, the time was spent enjoying being big with baby, enjoying being home with Sutter and with Carl. And still teaching flying. The next call I received from Aero Union a few weeks later, was an offer to learn to be a fire bomber. That's right - put fires out using the DC4 (C54s as the military called them). Once again, I'd be the co-pilot, which was just fine for me. The planes had to be refitted for this job and the stinky back-of the-plane-full-of-fish-juice-planks were removed and smoke retardant tanks put on. Carl and I talked about it. We decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity to learn something that could be taught on the ground, but learned only in flight. I called Ae