Hal's assignment that day was to fly to Broken Bow, Oklahoma, pick up a gentleman, drop him off at Dallas Love Field to catch a plane and then return to Highway 77 Airport. Because I sometimes gave Hal the opportunity to get taildragger time in my Cessna 140, Hal on this day, gave me the opportunity to get some free retract time in a great four-seater--the Mooney Executive 21 shown below.
N2914L at an airport in Arizona
We left Highway 77 airport long before sunup. It was still dark. I started the engine, taxied to the south end of the runway, took off to the north, raised the landing gear and turned east northeast for Broken Bow. We climbed to 5500 feet MSL and flew VFR all the way--about a one hour flight.
Approaching Broken Bow, the sun was just kissing the horizon and a thin haze hung over the quiet green fields around Broken Bow. It was a beautiful place. We entered the pattern, flew downwind and put the gear down, turned on base and put down a notch of flaps, then turned on final and put down another notch of flaps.
There was no squee squee of the tires hitting the concrete pavement because we landed softly on a lush, thick, dark green grass runway. Rolling to a stop halfway down the runway, we turned south through the just-appearing sun and headed for the grassy parking area where the grass was a bit taller than the growth that made the runway.
The humidity was high, the dew was thick, the sun was golden and the propeller tips formed a crystal clear but mist-lined tunnel that we taxied through with ease. Could anything be so beautiful? Yes it could. Reaching the parking area, I turned the plane to the west putting the sun at my back and, coming to a stop, pulled the mixture out to lean. During the last light quiver of the plane as the engine fell to silence, I found myself, with the sun at my back, in the middle of a lush green sea of awesome beauty and the near magic spell of an emerald and dew drop morning.
May it some day happen again.
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