December 21, 2006
Seamans Airport (9N3)
Factoryville, PA

When David first took me to Cherry Ridge Airport for my inaugural flight in the Tri-Pacer, he told me that it would forever change the way I thought of airports in general.

“This isn’t JFK, Gail, there’s no passport control to bother you… but can I pat you down?“

I’ve been in many airports around the world, but they were mostly of the large-scale variety such as Heathrow (London) and Changi (Singapore). In the past couple of years, I’ve become acquainted with a new variety of airport, the kind that’s more like the Cheers bar, where the bartenders run you a tab and everyone knows your name.

David told me there are over 300 airports in Pennsylvania alone, and most of them are like this one — small, friendly, and with its own charm. He mentioned Seamans Airport before, I knew it by name. But we’d never touched down there in the Tri-Pacer, although we must’ve flown over it on numerous occasions.

On Monday I received an email from Ali, one of David’s former cadets, who mentioned that she and Eric were going to rent a plane and take a flight in David’s memory. They didn’t know I was in Scranton, so I phoned them right away to ask if I could join them and we discussed weather and timing. The best day for all of us was Thursday, and as you can see in the previous post we picked a good day to go flying. After all the praise David heaped on Eric’s skill — “He’s a better pilot than I am, Gail” (what an endorsement!) — I thought it was fitting he’d be in charge on this particular flight.

What made it even better, though, was a pitstop at Cherry Ridge Airport where we happened to bump into Alan, one of David’s fellow Civil Air Patrol senior members. The look on his face when he saw the three of us taxiing past was absolutely priceless. He’d just bought a Super Cub, which I had a feeling he would eventually buy because David told me about his predilection for it. I commented on his deluxe windows — our rented Cessna needed a wash and it was ruining my photos! — and he showed us the best part, the door that swung upwards and allowed for real aerial photos. The one that requires a cast-iron stomach and confidence in a seat belt! (I should take up skydiving, right Krisanne?)

That happy coincidence made my day — not just having the opportunity to go flying with people who knew David for years, but to have another flying door open for me (was that a pun?). That is, to go up with Alan in his deluxe Super Cub, which is perfect for aerial photography!

All of us had the same idea to go flying on Monday, but Thursday was the day when it all worked out. “Guess who arranged it?” Alan said, pointing upwards.

Thanks, David.

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