Welcome Loki, We're going to have fun getting you your pilot's license!

welcome Loki

You mean I get to fly???

Yes you surely do! We will be giving you lessons and assigning an aircraft for your family to use!

YAY

Way to go Figgy, I think you are going to like flying!

I AM THERE, BUT THERE IS NOT A BOX on my page like the rest of my family with my groups listed.

It's a beautiful day for flying!
Anyone wants to go?

Great idea, Kibbles let's get in our flight suits and go flying!

Talley and Whiskers helped clear the table, while Pete saw Neekah Boo off with Angels Lucy Sylvie and Flower. Angel K Malachi sat in front of his laptop studying the weather and planning his flight. When he was done, he inserted a memory stick in the computer and downloaded his flight plan to it. Once he was in the Grand Caravan, he would load the data into the flight computer.
Pete sat down across the table from him. Pete slid a folder across the table to him. Pete said, “I need to give you all of this before you leave. This is a contract for hangar space at your local airfield; this is a Royal Squadron credit card for fuel, fees and minor maintenance. You can also put meals on it that you buy when you’re away from home. Major Maintenance can be done, by bringing the aircraft here, or by having our maintenance crews come to you. With regard to making arrangements for maintaining the aircraft, just call Angel Lucy and she’ll take care of it.” Pete also slid a spare set of keys across the table.
Maggie finished packing a lunch for him to take aboard. She had prepared shrimp salad sandwiches, Macadamia, white chocolate cookies and a thermos of peach iced tea. Princess Ana watched as the Maggie explained that she was leaving the top of the thermos, slightly loose so that the pressure could escape when they climbed, Maggie said, “If you close it tight on the ground, and then open it at a higher altitude, the contents sort of gush out all at once.”
Ana understood the logic of it but she hadn’t thought of it and would probably have closed the thermos tight creating a big mess at twenty thousand feet.
Pete came back inside he had been sitting on the deck for a while just thinking about how happy Neekah Boo had seemed yesterday and last night. Sure then had been sadness in her eyes when she would think of Fatty, but being with kitties who loved her and appreciated her was of some help. He made a note to do something very special for on Tuesday to celebrate her second birthday.
The family was preparing to go down to the airfield to bid Angel K Malachi and Ana farewell as they left to return to their home. Talley and Whiskers had changed into flight suits. Pete suspected that they would be taking advantage of the rising thermals to do some soaring in their Taurus. Flower and his sisters had made a book of sketches for Malachi and Ana. There were sketches of them at the airfield, with the new Grand Caravan; there was one that Flower had done from a photograph of Whiskers and Malachi soaring above Mount Sylvestris. There were some twenty sketches in all and they had bound them into a lovely coffee table book. When they presented it to Ana and Malachi, they were reward with hugs and amazement. Ana said, “You are the most wonderful kids in the whole world.”
Malachi hugged each of them. “Thank you so much! This is a wonderful gift.
Pete helped carry the luggage out to his SUV and Flower tagged along. He asked, “Uncle Pete, I was watching Uncle Whiskers do those aerobatics and it looked like so much fun, do you think sometime my sisters and could go up and do some aerobatics like that?”
Pete said, “Flower, let’s go ask your mom, and if it’s all right with her, we’ll go up this afternoon. She may have other things that she needs you to do, so don’t be disappointed if she doesn’t want us to go up today, okay?”
Flower nodded and he and Pete went back in and found his mom in the kitchen, looking at recipes that she was considering for dinner.
Pete asked, “Pearl, the kids would like to do some aerobatics and we were wondering if it would be okay with you, if we went up this afternoon. We won’t do anything dangerous. What do you think?
Pearl looked at Flower, standing by Pete and holding his breath for her answer. She said, I think that sounds marvelous, I wonder if Mitch and I could get a ride too.”
Pete said, “You most certainly can! I’ll take the kids down to the airfield and we’ll see Ana and Malachi off then we’ll get the Eclipse Jet out and preflight it. It should be a fun afternoon.”
Flower seemed to be quivering with excitement. Pete tousled his fur and said, “Go get into your flight suit, and bring your sisters down.”
Flower ran from the room. Pearl said, “Thank you, Pete, Flower is so happy.”
Pete told her to bring Mitch, and come down to the field. “We’ll meet at the Flight Line Café.”
Flower and his sisters ran down the stairs. Tabitha asked, “Uncle Pete are we really going to do loops?”
“Do you want to do loops, Tabitha?”
She nodded and Pete said, “Then, we’ll do loops. Do you remember the airshow at the coronation with the jets doing loops and rolls and starburst climbs? That’s what we’ll do!”
They clapped their paws in delight.
Whiskers and Talley pulled out and headed down the road with Malachi and Ana riding with them. Whiskers drove onto the Tarmac and stopped by the Grand Caravan.
Pete and the kids pulled up behind them. Pete took the luggage out and stored it aboard the aircraft. Ana carefully carried the lunch container aboard and stored their food in the refrigerator. She carefully placed their coffee on the galley counter and secured it with strap. Malachi began his preflight check and methodically circled the aircraft. When he was through with the exterior checks he climbed into the cockpit and turned on the master switch bring the electronics to life. He loaded their flight plan and ran the cockpit checks. He came to the hatch and retracted the steps, he gave the family a salute and said, “We can’t thank you enough for this wonderful weekend, we’ll see you again soon. Kids, I’ll see you in school tomorrow. We have another lesson on the cats of ancient Egypt.”
Malachi secured the hatch and climbed back into the left seat, He called “Clear Prop” and the big turboprop whined into life, He taxied out and moments later he and Ana were airborne.
Talley and Whiskers said that they were going to go soaring and Pete told them that he and the kids were having an afternoon of aerobatics.
Pete rolled the Eclipse Jet out of the hangar and completed his ground checks. Then he took the kids and went in to the Café to wait for Mitch and Pearl. The wait was short and as Mitch and Pearl walked in the kids spotted Talley and Whiskers taking of in the Taurus.
As they reached ten thousand feet, Whiskers shut the engine off and retraced, He turned toward the mountain and the cumulous clouds that were rising on the eastern face. Talley placed her paw on whiskers leg and said, “This is wonderful, why haven’t we done it more?”
Whiskers said, “We live very busy lives, and we have lots of interests. But you’re right we should make more time for this. It’s almost like meditation. The soared the cloud canyons and danced along the high corridors. Talley thought it felt like a sacred time and place. She said, “Whiskers, you are my greatest treasure in life your love for me is as important to me as the air that I breathe. Thank you for making me your wife.”
Whiskers turned to her and said, “Talley if you weren’t my wife I would have never known true happiness.”
They rode the thermals for the better part of two hours, As they turned toward the airfield they saw an Eclipse Jet drop the nose to dive and gain speed, then pull into an inside loop. As it came over the top it began a crisp eight point hesitation roll. They touched down and rolled to a stop on the grass. Whiskers started the engine and taxied to their hangar. They secured the Taurus and walked out to the front of the runway side of the café where a small crowd had gathered to watch the impromptu airshow. The Jet made a high speed pass at the edge of the pattern, rolling inverted half way down the runway. Then the jet climbed back to pattern altitude, slowed and circled into the pattern to land.
Talley said, “Looks like we missed the show. That’s got to be Pete flying; I don’t know anyone besides you, who flies that precisely.”
Whiskers said, “Well I can think of some of our friends who are that good.” As the Eclipse Jet taxied toward the apron Talley and Whiskers walked around to meet Pete,
They were surprised when the door opened and Flower came running down, followed by his sisters and then Pearl and Mitch.
Talley laughed, “Only Pete would fly a precision aerobatic routine with a full load of passengers.” Pete secured the aircraft and joined his laughing happy passengers for hugs. Pearl saw Talley and said, Talley we just had the most amazing experience. I understand completely why Flower loves flying so much. I almost think I want to learn!”
Flower and his sisters shouted, “Oh momma, do it, learn to fly!”
Mitch was smiling broadly as he hugged Pearl.
It had been a great afternoon and it was going to be a great family evening too. Callie, Orangie, Whitey and Angel Maggie had been busy preparing Spaghetti and meatballs. They had made fresh bruschetta and a huge fresh salad. Raven and Murphy had rented Planes 2 for the evening movie and they had made cannoli for dessert.”
After dinner, and after the movie, Talley and Whiskers knelt by their bed, and said their prayers. They included prayers of thanks for answered prayers and they included prayers for the sad and ill kitties and pawrents. When they finished, Talley added a prayer of thanks for miracle that was her husband Whiskers, He smiled and added his own prayer of thanks for Talley.
They snuggled together, luxuriating in the feel of their soft fur. They kissed and fell into wonderful dreams of dancing on the clouds to soft strains of “till then”

With the kids safely in school, A K Malachi and Whiskers hurried back to the SUV and turned toward the airfield. It was still raining hard when Whiskers drove through the security gate and on to the airfield, He drove slowly and approached hangar #4, where A K Malachi’s Cessna Grand Caravan awaited their arrival. Whiskers used his smart phone to send the code that opened the hangar doors, and drove inside. The cavernous building was dimly lit by security lights and was dry and cool.
A K Malachi climbed out of the SUV walked to the circuit breaker panel and switched on the overhead lights. They looked outside where sheets of rain driven by strong gusts swept across the tarmac.
Whiskers shook his head, “I’m thinking maybe we ought to wait a while and see if the weather moderates some. What do you think?”
A K Malachi nodded, “I think I’m going to do the ground checks in the hangar. And when I get done, I’m going to check the weather again. I’m not going to try to takeoff in that weather. There could be hail in some of those squalls and I sure don’t want to chip the paint on the Caravan.”
The two Toms began the preflight inspection.
Talley and Princess Ana had gone aboard and were stowing the lunch in the refrigerator. Whiskers had placed the ladder by the wing so that Malachi could do the visual check on the fuel quantity and then he retrieved the luggage from the SUV. He took it aboard and placed it in the aft luggage area. He switched on the Master Switch and the Panel came to life. The aircraft had its own highspeed internet which initialized quickly.
Whiskers rejoined Malachi and they completed all of the ground checks. The rain continued unabated.
They began the cabin checks and when they finished Malachi brought up the aviation weather link on the aircraft’s flight computer. The forecast was for scattered thunderstorms in the morning, followed by mid-day clearing and return of the storms in the afternoon and evening. He called up Castle Fields weather radar imagery and looked at the reds and yellows that were marching across the screen, but off to the west was a clear area. It was moving toward the field.
He said, “It looks like we’ve got a break in the weather coming this way. Talley had brewed a pot of Venetian coffee in the small galley and she said, “Well then, why don’t we have coffee and a nice chat. When the weather breaks, we can roll the aircraft out and you can be on your way.”
They chatted happily; the conversation was about the sleepover and sports day that was coming up at Ana’s home. It would be lots of fun with board games snacks and conversation tonight and good healthy exercise and fun outdoor games tomorrow.
Every so often Malachi glanced at the radar and at last he saw a clear area approaching and he said, “I think this is our break. Let’s get the aircraft outside and I’ll activate our flight plan.”
Whiskers attached the electric tow unit to the nosewheel and with the press of a button began to roll the big aircraft toward the open hangar doors. The rain had decreased to a drizzle. Malachi began the start sequence and when the big turbo prop was running, Talley and Whiskers said goodbye and climbed from the aircraft. Ana and Malachi waved happily as Ana retracted the steps and secured the hatch.
Malachi taxied out, and Talley and Whiskers watched as the Caravan turned on to the runway, surged forward and climbed into the sky.
Whiskers hugged Talley close, and said, “They seem to be as happy as we are!”
Talley replied, “Maybe close, but I don’t think any couple could ever be as happy as we are!”
Back at the House Callie and Maggie had their heads together as the planned what to make to take to the Sleep Over and Sports Day. They would need snacks for the sleep over, and more hearty fare for the sports day activities. Pete was with them and he suggested, “Since it’s likely to be cool tomorrow, why don’t you make a big pot of chili, with tortilla chips and various toppings like cheese, peppers, green onion and cilantro.”
Both Maggie and Callie liked the idea and wrote it down.
Whiskers said, “Angel Malachi and Ana are safely airborne. The weather was marginal but there was a break and once they get up to twenty thousand feet it should be okay.”
Pete said, “That’s good I was a little worried about the weather, it seemed that the system slowed down, it was supposed to be clear this morning.”
An hour later it was clear and there was a nice breeze, Talley asked Whiskers if he felt like a run and he said that he would love a run with her. She packed to small back packs with water and energy bars and they set off, Talley leading and Whiskers trailing as he enjoyed the view of his beautiful wife. They set a steady jog up to the picnic clearing and took a break; they drank water and looked out over the lake. The Eagles and Ospreys were fishing. Someone, (she didn’t recognize the bright yellow rowboat) was fishing, drifting slowly on the breeze and occasionally casting a shiny lure. Twice while they were watching, the cat jerked the line and reeled in nice sized fish.
Whiskers said, “”That sort of looks like Storm, but I’ve never seen that boat on the lake before. Look, whoever it is rowing toward the shore.”
Talley said, “I’ll race you down to the lake.” She took off down the steep slope, from time to time she had to leap from one ledge to the next below it. Whiskers marveled at how agile she was. She was like a racing free spirit! He caught glimpses of white and black fur as she darted through the underbrush.
It wasn’t even close, Talley reached the white sandy shore of the lake and looked back to see Whiskers just emerging from the tree line. He joined her and they waved at the boater. Sure enough it was Storm, He had a cooler of fresh fish in the neat little yellow rowboat, and as he pulled the boat up on to the beach, he spotted Whiskers and Talley. He smiled happily and greeted them. “I thought I’d see if I could catch dinner for us, and I’ve already got enough for a couple of dinners. Chloe said that if I caught them she would fry them for us. Talley said, “Why don’t you come by the house and pick some veggies and salad greens to go with the fish.”
Storm said, “Thanks, I will. It won’t be long before our plot in the community greenhouse is producing enough for us to use. All of the lettuce seedlings that flower gave us, are growing beautifully.”
Whiskers admired the trim little rowboat, “This is so cool, when did you get it?”
Storm smiled proudly, “Inky, Bobby and I built it. We ordered the plans from Chesapeake Boats and built it in the schools shop class. Don’t tell them, but we’re building one just like it for Flower and his sisters.”
Whiskers said, “You guys are wonderful. They’ll love it!”
Storm said, “Come look at this.” He led Talley and Whiskers to the little boat, and lifted up the seats revealing foam filled spaces. He said, “This little boat can be filled with water and it won’t sink. The video on line shows people in it paddling with the boat filled with water. It’s a really nice design and easy to build. We built a little trailer cart and we can tow it behind our bicycles. It’s light enough to be easy to handle by one cat.
I was just going to have my lunch would you like to join me; I’ve got an extra sandwich.”
Talley said, “We have some snacks too. We’d love to join you.”
Storm spread his blanket and took out a thermos of Iced Nip tea. He opened his Bologna and cheese sandwiches and opened a small bag of chips. The sandwiches had lettuce tomato and mustard and looked tasty. They ate in companionable silence and then after cleaning up their scraps, Storm climbed back in his boat and began rowing back to where he had launched his boat.
Talley and Whiskers looked at the sky and decided that they would head for home. Talley lead the way, climbing carefully up the steep slope. At the top, they paused a moment to catch their breath and then began to jog home. The rains came. They were soaked. When they ran onto the deck and under the canopy of the outdoor kitchen, Orangie saw them and brought towels. They thanked her and laughed happily as they dried one another’s fur. Pete sat on the sofa with a copy of Flying magazine in his lap. He flipped through the pages and put it aside. “You two got soaked, are you okay?”
Talley replied that she was a little bit chilly and said that she was going upstairs to shower and change into dry clothes. Whiskers told Pete, “You should see the neat little boat that Storm Bobby and Inky, built. In fact, when I get back from taking a shower, I’ll show it to you. I know where they got the plans and we can find it on line.”
Whiskers hurried upstairs to join his wife in showering and changing and Pete asked Pearl if he could help with anything in the kitchen. Pearl looked around, Murphy and raven were making ice cream, Maggie was baking a dark chocolate cake, Callie was preparing the veggies and meat for the Chili, and Orangie and Whitey were making Quiche and salad for dinner. Pearl said, “Pete you are so sweet to ask, but I think one more kitty in the kitchen wouldn’t help. In fact, I know Talley wants to make mini-apple pies for tomorrow and I just hope she can find enough counter space to work.”
Pete laughed, “Just let me know if I can be of any service then.”
When Whiskers came back he brought his laptop with him and went to the boat plan website, he found the rowboats and then located the one that their friends had built. They both admired the trim little craft. When Whiskers told Pete that the boys were building one for Flower and his sisters Pete was delighted. Those guys are great. Thoughtful smart hard working, they are really good friends!
Talley had found space in the kitchen and was humming happily as she peeled and sliced apples.
The boys found the plans for a small sail boat and began wondering if it might not be fun to build a couple of those that they could race on the lake.
It was going to be a long cold winter and having a nice indoor project might make for pleasant afternoons and evenings.
It was a rainy day, but a happy one.

Welcome to the Royal Squadron Figgy!