homepage Forums Air Combat & Civil Aviation Battle of Britain + Battle of Britain II Here's what happened (Continued)

Folks,

Thank you Fittop.

It was on just such a day as this that I took my very first flight on a Delta heavy. They were considered the best back then. The clouds were thick and hovering low over the Raleigh Durham International airport. The grey of the clouds matched the grey of the buildings and the tarmac. My mood was not much brighter. The passengers found their seats and buckled in for the takeoff under the protective gaze of the female flight attendants.

The safety instructions were spoken and demonstrated by an especially good looking stew. Odd what you remember isn't it? The luggage was finally stored and the vehicles moved away. The fellow with the two volcano lamps, on in each fist, motioned to the crew. The engines whined.

Finally we backed out and taxied away from the terminal to the active runway. Permission was given for takeoff and our jets turbines began to wind up louder and louder. We started rolling. I was seated by a window. Faster and faster the buildings of and scenery of RDU airport moved past my view. It seemed more like that was moving than us. Then I was suddenly aware we had rotated. I felt the sensation of being lifted from below somewhat like Galland mentioning his 262 being pushed upward by the hands of angels.

At some point the captain said a few words but I do not remember what he said. I was totally absorbed with the view from my window. When I did come back into the cabin it was somehow obvious to me that we were climbing. How could I tell with no reference point outside? I looked back out. We had risen to just below the cloud base. Then we were rising into the misty gray. I heard the flaps coming up. I had not paid much attention to the gear when it came up.

I felt that push from below my seat again as more power was added and we climbed higher. I could not see the ground at all now. All was gray as far as I could see. I was about to turn away from the useless window when suddenly we broke out of the cloud into blue sky and a brilliant sun. The clouds were below us now.

I was deeply impressed by that experience. It was something I had never really thought much about before. The sunshine above the clouds. When I was a kid I was in love with the sky on sunny days. But on those gray, rainy days that come in everyone's life, the dark sky simply lost my attention.

I would never quite get over that first flight that carried me above the clouds of gray. I had finally broken through the "cloud barrier". Now, on days like today when all is gray and dark and rain falls upon us. I am not depressed. For now I know that way up there above us the sun still shines and the sky is still a beautiful blue. Tomorrow or some tomorrow the all clouds will blow away and I will see that too. There is a metaphor in there somewhere.

Lucky you and lucky OG. You have experienced that moving transition from dark to light so many more times than I. I dunno if God actually exists. I think so. Anytime I am soaring in the air I feel the presence of something far greater than I. I am far closer to whatever that is when flying or deep in an old growth forest than anywhere else even in church. I can certainly say that, and I just did.

A preacher was flying a big box kite on a cloudy day. A little boy from his congregation recognized the man and walked up and watched for a while. Eventually he was noticed. The preacher looked down at the boy and smiled. Seeing the man looking at him, the boy asked a question that had been nagging him for days.

"Preacher", the boy asked, "How do you know there is a God, we can't see him." The preacher was surprised by the question and while tugging on the kite string he thought hard and and soon enough, had an inspiration. "Well, young man", he began. " Look up there, my kite has entered the clouds and I can no longer see it." The preacher continued, " Though I can no longer see it, I know it is there because I can still feel it pulling on my kite string." "My boy, we cannot see God it is true, but we can feel him pulling on our heart strings."