“Seriously, Captain,” they would say. “What maneuvering and inputs did you use to recover? In what order and steps?”
See, like I said, this was supposed to be a completely unrecoverable situation.
“I told you, I hooked my heel around the stick and pulled it back,” I kept replying. Yeah, something was looking out for me that day and, yeah, I will never allow myself to go too far again.
The runway continues to pass by below us. Robert carries on through the checklist but more hesitantly.
“What do I do?” He finally asks.
“I don’t know. I’m just along for the ride,” I respond.
There is a slight hesitation, partly from frustration and partly from trying to come up with a plan. The aircraft begins a shallow right, climbing turn.
“I think I’ll just enter a downwind and re-enter the final from there,” he says in a questioning voice.
“Whatever you think,” I say but inside feeling very proud as that is the right solution.
Or, the most right. There were several actions that would have been correct. As I always told my students, make a decision and take an action. It does not matter what the action is because at least you are taking one instead of plowing along doing nothing. That is the only real, wrong thing to do - nothing. We configure for landing and he brings us around, setting it down firmly but not one of the worst I have ever experienced. Some of those worst being my own.
“Never feel trapped into having to make it in on the first try, or the second for that matter, or forcing it. It’s not a one shot and over deal. If you don’t like the setup, take it around and set up for another. At least you’ll be alive to try again,” I say as he takes the props out of reverse thrust and we roll out on the runway.
I see him nod his response out of the corner of my eye, not answering verbally and concentrating on keeping the aircraft on the runway. I tell him to park over where we were yesterday. We taxi over to the same location and shut down.
“What about getting fuel? I didn’t find any fuel trucks yesterday.” Robert asks.
“We’ll have to manually pump it out of the other aircraft here,” I say looking over at the other C-130’s parked next to us.
“Bri, will you go over and see how much fuel is in the 130 next to us? Take Red Team and have the aircraft cleared before you go in. The panel should be the same as this one,” I ask rising from my seat.
“Sure, Dad,” she says.
“Nic, will you stay here and teach Michelle the nav panel?” I ask.
“You betcha,” she answers.
We all stroll out onto the tarmac, the outside better than staying in the oven that is the cargo compartment. Mike follows at my heels and sits when I stop. I notify Lynn of our intentions and have her detail soldiers to get the manual pump and hoses from its storage place. The 130 is designed to be self-sufficient in any environment and operational in every contingent imaginable. There are missions that take it to places where there are not electric pumps or fuel depots so it has to be able to pump fuel from any source.
“Won’t that take a while?” Lynn asks as I finish explaining.
“Yeah, but it will take longer getting home if we run out of fuel part way,” I say, still tired from the morning’s events.
I have Robert climb on top of the aircraft through the overhead hatch and out onto the wing. There are over the wing fuel caps and we will be refueling through those; stretching the hose between the aircraft and operating the hand pump to transfer. It is a lengthy process but I do not see any alternative. It will also throw our time schedule off, like what has not done that as yet, but I would rather not use civilian fuel if I can avoid it.
Bri comes back and reports that the aircraft parked next to us is almost full. I send her inside our aircraft to operate the fuel panel. McCafferty is on the wing of the other aircraft to open the over-wing caps there and operate the hose on that end. When all is in place, we start the lengthy process of transferring fuel with soldiers taking turns at the manual pump. The heat builds throughout the day, baking us all as we sit under the shade of the wings. This is the kind of heat that makes you feel like you are made of rubber and puts you into that drowsy state.
Soldiers rotate positions with Robert and McCafferty so they are not stuck in the heat rising from the metallic wings. Heat waves dance across the concrete ramp, making distant objects look like they are under water. We are all soon bathed in sweat in the humidity and lack of wind does not allow the water oozing from our pores to evaporate. Lynn makes sure everyone remembers to drink, cutting into our water supply. Bannerman reports that we still have enough for a few days even with this increased consumption rate for which I am thankful. I have been in enough darkened buildings for a while.
A couple of hours later, we finish refueling, stow the equipment, and seal the tanks back up. I climb up onto the wing to verify that the caps are put back correctly. Not that I don’t trust anyone, it is just that, as the pilot-in-command, I am the one responsible. It certainly would not do to have the caps open in mid-flight and start having fuel pour out, being sucked out by the flow of air over the wings. The only indication would be the rapidly dwindling dials on the fuel gauges. That would not be cool. If we defuel, I want it to be because we choose to.
The same dreary restart process begins after we all gather inside our metallic coffin; hoping it does not actually become one. I feel so drained from the heat and excitement of the day. The feeling also stems from the knowledge that we will soon be back in the Northwest where the real work will begin. I may be tired now but wait until then, I think as the engines come to life. I can feel a stupor filling all of us. How tired we all are with what we have all been through lately. My butt is so tired of sitting in this seat but I imagine the passengers in back have it worse. The 130 is not the most comfortable of airplanes to ride in. Nine more hours and home. And of course with a landing at night. These night runners are putting a huge crimp in my planning process.
The sun is half the way across the afternoon sky as we lift off, forever departing this part of the world. A place it may not be safe to return to even in the air. A Geiger counter is going to not only be handy but necessary if we ever have to venture forth. Those nuclear power plants will continue to leak radiation making this area and others uninhabitable for hundreds or thousands of years. We really tubed this one in the name of progress. We had to play with our new toys without thinking about the long-term ramifications. I guess the good thing is that the night runners will be affected as well. I think they will at least. However, that really does not mean much for us; or humanity if we end up on the extinct list. Right now, we are definitely an endangered species.
Climbing out, a line of weather appears on the distant horizon. The dry line usually sits along the northern Texas panhandle stretching north this time of the year and can spawn thunderstorms and squall lines. We will have to watch out for those as we will be transiting that area close to nightfall. The weather has been good to us so far and I am hoping that will remain. The nav is set for a direct shot to McChord and I set the autopilot after leveling off at flight level 200 — 20,000 feet. I let Robert take the controls and switch places with Nic at the nav table. I want to read through some of these reports before trying to grab some shut eye.