Fit to fly, and so is my airplane
“Aren’t you going overboard, Greg?” said my wife Jean. “This is your seventh straight day cross-country skiing.”
“My eighth day, actually. I’m shaping up for my flight physical.” Throughout the fall I’d biked daily. When snow arrived, I’d switched to skis.
“You’re already in shape. What could they possibly find wrong with you?”
“Who knows, but why take chances? Just as preventive maintenance keeps the Flying Carpet healthy, I’m optimizing my own fitness to ensure passing. Which reminds me, I want to lose a few pounds so let’s skip dessert tonight, okay? Oh, and avoid stress for the next few days.” Jean rolled her eyes.
“Speaking of flying, Greg, would you drop me in Tucson Wednesday for tennis regionals? And pick me up on Sunday?”
“Sure; we can land at Scottsdale for my flight physical on the way down.” I’d hardly made the offer when it struck me: What if I fail and can’t get Jean to Tucson? So much for avoiding stress…
Continue reading Greg’s April column, “Preventive Maintenance”. (Please allow a moment for the column to load.)
Photo: The Santa Cruz River irrigates farm fields near Tucson’s Marana Regional Airport. See additional photos, here.
©2011 Gregory N. Brown
If you enjoyed this story, you’ll love Greg’s book, Flying Carpet: The Soul of an Airplane. Autographed copies available!
I enjoyed your article (as usual). It’s pretty neat how we get to know our planes and the sounds they make. And it’s a good thing we do so we can indeed identify when there’s a problem. We’re waiting impatiently for our plane to be finished with it’s annual. Red Bird has been out of commission since Jan. 2. She needed 2 new mags, which had to be built! Yikes! $$$
Enjoy flying!
Blue skies!
Thanks, Linda. Get that Red Bird flying again!