Flashback to 1995
Me: Tom, I got this game called Flight Simulator. It's awesome.
Tom: I need to get that.
(2 weeks later) All of our friends: You guys need to stop talking about that stupid game.
Flashback to 1999 or 2000
Me: Tom, do you want to go out to the airport? Maybe a plane will come in tonight.
Tom: Yeah man. I'll meet you out there.
We had just gotten our drivers licenses, which meant we could get to the airport without having to catch a ride from our parents. I had no idea that hanging out at the nearly abandoned Laurinburg-Maxton airport (MEB) would feed my interest (obsession?) as much as it did. Tom and I would meet, talk about school, girls, planes, and whatever else was on our minds. One evening the night security guard let us go up into one of the broken down Boeing 747s that was rotting away on the 70 year old tarmac (MEB was originally a glider training facility during WWII). While inside he popped open one of the side doors... "do you boys want to walk out onto the wing? I bet the airport's insurance company would have had a fit. Most nights we would just hang out and hope for a plane. They rarely came.
Said "rotting" 747.
Flash forward to last Friday
Me: Tom, do you want to go flying tonight after work?
Tom: Yeah man.
Me: Where do you want to go?
Tom: Let's fly down to Laurinburg.
It was a great flight. Friday was a hot day, about 85 degrees when we took off with scattered clouds around 7,000 feet. We climbed to 4,500 after takeoff where the air was bout 60 degrees and perfectly smooth. Flying in the late afternoon and dusk is a real treat. The air is cooling off, taking away most or all of the bumps, and the setting sun from a mile above the ground is a fantastic sight. (If you don't believe me, check out this picture from airliners.net. You can't tell me that's not the best view around.)
Some would say that the weather was marginal; I would say that it was marginal only if you were looking into the sun. The haze was heavy enough to where you couldn't see more than 3-4 miles in the direction of the sun. The other direction, which was the direction we were going most of the time, showed 8-10 miles of visibility. I felt safe, and we were legal, so we pressed on.
Fayetteville approach canceled our flight-following about 12 miles out from Laurinburg. We flew out over Wagram (suburb of Laurinburg, if you can imagine) so Tom could see his childhood home. From there we flew south down 401 over downtown Laurinburg. I demonstrated a "flawless" steep turn to show off a bit, and then turned towards the airport. Runway 23 at MEB has a right traffic pattern, which was a bit awkward but turned out to be no problem. After a nice landing, we taxied took off back towards TTA.
I couldn't feel the wheels touch down onto the runway at TTA. Yes, it was that smooth. Enough bragging.
Tom's been my flying counterpart since middle school. Now if I can only convince him to get his license (excuse me, certificate) then it would be safe to say that we've come full circle.
