On Wings of the Morning by Dan Verner Read Free Book Online Page B

Model 1 twin cockpit biplane as a trainer, and Sparky stayed busy with lessons. One day, as Otto watched Sparky line up on the runway with another student in the front seat, Wilson came up.
    “Say, Otto, would you like to learn to fly?”
    Otto couldn’t believe his ears. “Would I! You betcha, Mr. Wilson! But I can’t afford it.”
    Wilson chuckled. “Tell you what. I’ll give you one lesson a week instead of paying you until you get your license. Then you can rent the Fleet if you want to fly. Deal?”
    Otto reached out and shook his hand. “It’s a deal, Mr. Wilson!”
    His first lesson was the next day. Sparky was asleep in the back room, as usual. Otto went in and shook his shoulder. Duncan stirred and opened one eye. “Wha’ is it, kid?”
    “Time for my lesson, Mr. Duncan.”
    “Lesson? I don’t know nothin’ about no lesson.”
    “Mr. Wilson said you would give me flight lessons.”
    “OK, then kid, give me a minute.” He raised himself to a seated position and sat there for a long moment with this head down. Finally he stood up, unsteadily. Otto reached out a hand to keep him from falling.
    Duncan waved him off. “I‘m OK. Just a little sleepy. Lessee, where’s my helmet? Oh, here it is.” He plucked a dirty cloth flying helmet from the bed and pulled it on. He went to a small cabinet hanging on the wall and took out a cleaner twin. “Here—you’ll need this. Some goggles, too. I think they’re in the airplane.”
    Otto followed him as he walked unsteadily toward the hangar. The Fleet stood there in the darkness. “C’mon, boy, help me push it out.” He got on one side and Otto the other and together they pushed on the lower wing until the airplane was outside in the sunlight.
    Suddenly Sparky was all business. “OK, first thing is to check your fuel.” He unscrewed a cap in front of the forward cockpit, went back into the hangar and returned with a stick about two feet long. He stuck it in the opening and pulled it out. It was wet nearly its entire length. “See, plenty of fuel.” Otto nodded.
    “Next, we walk around the aircraft and make sure everything is still attached.” He and Otto made a circuit of the Fleet. Duncan pulled cables and manipulated control surfaces. When they returned to where they had started, he nodded and said, “Put your helmet on.” Otto complied and Sparky handed him a pair of goggles he had taken from the front cockpit. “Put these on when you get in. Now you prop the engine after I get in.” He climbed up the lower wing and threw one leg over the rear cockpit wall.
    Otto knew exactly what to do. He went to the front of the aircraft. “Switch on!” Duncan called.
    “Switch on,” Otto returned.
    “Contact!”
    “Contact!” With that, Otto put both hands on the upper portion of the wooden blade and pulled down hard, backing away as the prop swung through its arc. The engine caught, and Duncan revved it a couple of times. Otto went around and climbed in the front cockpit, putting his helmet and goggles on.
    Sparky advanced the throttles, and they moved out to the takeoff zone.
    “All right,” he called over the engine. “First, test your control surfaces. Make sure they’re all working like they should. Look around with me.” Otto twisted his neck first to the right and then to the left. He saw the ailerons move on the right wing, and then on the left as the stick beneath his legs moved.
    “Put your feet on the rudder pedals but don’t press down. Just rest them lightly.” Otto did so and swiveled his head to the rear of the aircraft. He saw Duncan looking very serious, and, beyond him, the rudder moving left and right as the pedal deflected under his feet.
    “Got it, kid?” Duncan shouted, and Otto nodded his head. “OK, here we go. Just put your hands and feet lightly on the controls.”
    Otto did as he was instructed and Sparky advanced the throttle. The Fleet bumped out to the end of the runway area. Otto rolled and compacted the