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not including fuel. I spent my next 50 hours in that airplane with the doors open flying over the Everglades and up and down the Florida Keys. The air at 1,000 feet seemed cooler than on the ground, and with the doors open, I could easily smell the exhaust of the 65 HP engine. I do not recall ever seeing another airplane during all of those wanderings, but to this day, I remember all the wildlife magically visible from an altitude less than 500 feet.
More time went by as I earned a commercial license and CFI ratings. During my first week as a flight instructor at a nearby FBO, I was asked to fly a charter in the operation’s largest aircraft...a big Cessna 172. We went out over the Ev- erglades looking for an abandoned boat that the charterers had their eye on. We eventually found it, and I finally got some practical value out of all the turns about a point I had practiced as they took a couple of photo rolls. Returning to the Tamiami Airport, I had the magical feeling I was the captain of a huge airliner returning from some exotic far-off destination.
A couple of years later, I was in the Seattle area again, flight instructing as I worked my way through college. In the winter, the days are short at the 48th parallel, and as a result, a lot of the instruction was done at night. In the Puget Sound area, there is typically a series of cold or oc- cluded fronts that pass over one after another for weeks on end. In between, if you are lucky, there will be a 12 or 24-hour period where the air is just crystal clear. During one of those nights just before Christmas, while in a hold- ing pattern for the ILS 12 approach into BFI, the entire City of Seattle was lit up in such a sparkling fashion that it looked like a Christmas tree, with the light at the top of the Space Needle looking like the tree’s highest decora- tion – magic.
More years and many flights later, my wife and I decided to do an airborne tour in Africa. We flew commercial into Johannesburg and with the help of a tour operator rented a somewhat bedraggled C182. The plan was to fly about two hours north until reaching the Zambezi River, then make a left turn and fly down the river until we spotted the dirt strip belonging to the lodge where we planned to spend a couple of days. Flying at 2,000 feet or so over the plains to the north of what the locals called “Joberg,” we came across a huge herd of Wildebeest running along helter-skelter just like in the wildlife TV programs. I just could not resist seeing what would happen when a really big bird approached them from above. So, banking toward the herd in a steep descent, we leveled off almost at eye level as they thundered along. The effect was fascinating as the herd would separate just enough to stay away from being directly under the airplane, all seemingly in a coor- dinated fashion. It was indeed the stuff nature films are made of and indeed magical.
A couple of years later, I was returning from a cross- Atlantic trip to England in a Cessna Citation. The route took us out over the Hebrides and the southern part of Iceland and Greenland. It was one of those rare perfectly clear days, and sitting in the right seat of the jet at FL410,
I could see forever. But what caught my eye were the little ice cubes scattered about the blue ocean. It took a while for me to realize that those pieces of ice were magically larger than most city blocks. It is a rare person who gets to see the world from that high perspective.
Finally, one of my favorite airborne experiences is taking off on a grey cloudy day, and a few minutes later breaking out on top to see a perfectly clear blue sky on top of a sea of white clouds. The sunglasses go on, the airplane’s interior starts to warm up, and life seems more magical than it did just five minutes before.
These kind of experiences are what keep us flying. And in these times of COVID hysteria, it helps to remember just how magical they are.
Kevin Ware is an ATP who also holds CFI, MEII and helicopter ratings, has more than 10,000 hours and is typed in several different business jets. He has been flying for a living on and off since he was 20, and currently works as a contract pilot for various corporations in the Seattle area.
When not working as a pilot he is employed part time as an emergency and urgent care physician. He can be reached at kevin.ware2@aol.com.
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April 2021 / TWIN & TURBINE • 21