"Lady Pilot" wrote in message
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| I've only ever heard the stall horn once. That was enough for me...

We were taking off from Fort Franklin on a flight to Norman Wells and the
young pilot asked me if I ever did a "Fighter Take-Off"... to which I
replied No. Well-l-l-l-l... he cracked that baby and at the very end of the
runway pulled back hard and this little plane just shot up... a couple of
seconds into the climb I heard the stall horn and an "Oh Oh" from the
pilot.. he caught it and eased back on the lift I guess. He circled up to
get what he called "Working Altitude"... I should have known then I was in
for a fun trip. We did some rolls and he showed me some stalls and
recoveries on the way over. He said something about how it was stuff he had
to learn to get his license. It was a blast. It's all heavy bush below,
remote stuff... they'd be a month finding you if you crashed. So we're
flying along... much higher than normal for an approach to the Wells... I
pointed out that I thought the little community down below us must be Norman
Wells. He looked down and agreed.... then he said "Hold On" and we dipped
sideways... rolled and went into what looked like to me as a straight dive
for the ground. What a friggin RUSH!! I loved it. I had the headphones on
and heard the tower... they were telling him to pull up... he didn't until I
was certain we would pancake. When he did finally pull up it felt like my
heart was dropping into my stomach and I'm sure I saw the wings bent and
flex. He did a perfect 3 point smooth as silk touchdown at the edge of the
runway and we pulled in at the apron nicely. I requested this same pilot for
my next two trips. I don't know what happened to him but it sure made flying
a real adrenalin shock.

CM