Modern Day Cavegirls - Bobbi's Tale

"This is the oxygen line," she said, "when I tell you; just lift this up to your nose. The two little bits here go just into your nostrils - just enough to feel comfortable. And don't worry; these are one-use only. When we're done for the night, I'll toss these ones. You can try it now. The oxygen is on. Go on."

Malikah inhaled through her nose and nodded. Bobbi drew out a second hose and repeated everything for herself before she turned a valve and told Malikah that she could remove it and just lay it on her T-shirt for later.

She reached over to the back of Malikah's seat for something and then handed her a headset.

"Here. Put this on with the microphone to the front. You'll be able to hear what's going on and before we're airborne, I'll set it up so that we can talk to each other. It just gets too loud in here with the engines running."

Malikah took the headset and put it on, trying for a little adjustment, though overall, it fit easily. Bobbi reached over to help with the cable and handed her the plug, pointing to where it ought to be plugged in. She smiled then and held up a finger to her lips and Malikah nodded.

"Los Angeles Departure, de Havilland November 7746. Ready to copy IFR clearance to 2-4 November."

There was a short pause and then a pleasant-sounding female voice seemed to purr in the headsets, "De Havilland November 7746 is cleared to 2-4 November airfield as filed. Fly runway heading. Climb and maintain one four thousand. Departure frequency is 113.4, squawk 0074. Clearance void 30 minutes from now."

Malikah listened as Bobbi read back the instructions. Another short pause and then the voice was back, "November 7746, read-back is correct. Good day."

Bobbi adjusted the radios and then Malikah heard her voice again as she requested and received start permission as well as preliminary taxi instructions to the active runway. After that, Bobbi listened to the airport advisory loop for pilots and adjusted the altimeter.

A moment later, Bobbi was doing something else, flicking things with ease and certainty as she turned on the fuel flow and engaged the starter of the left engine. There was a long whine and Malikah could just see the tips of the propeller on that side begin to windmill around before the turbine caught and they appeared transparent as they spun. Malikah could see that Bobbi had been quite truthful about the sound level. It wasn't terrible, but the headsets sure made conversation easier.

She noticed that Bobbi was looking in her direction. She raised her eyebrows and Bobbi grinned, pointing past her. When Malikah looked in that direction, she saw that Bobbi had been looking that way as she began the starting procedure for the engine on that side.

"I wondered - " Malikah began and Bobbi kept smiling.

"I know," she chuckled, "But that time, I was looking to see the engine turn over."

"That time?"

Bobbi actually laughed then and Malikah found the sound to be a little infectious and very nice to hear.

Bobbi didn't say anything more, but she was thinking that she could look at Malikah all day.

She was absolutely cognizant of the fact that the singer was there to get her groove back and to do that, she needed to feel removed from the wants of others who made requests of her for her time or attention in some regard or maybe a thousand other things which must be thrown her way all day long, and so she resolved not to become just something and someone else, but ...

In Bobbi's self-admittedly too-small world these days, she'd never seen a woman like Malikah and she felt drawn to her in a few ways. She sighed quietly and in the flight deck environment, it went by unnoticed by Malikah, while Bobbi got back on track to get them moving.

"Ok, can you look for and find the seat restraint belts and put them on?" she asked, "Let me know if you have any trouble."

A minute later, Malikah looked over and nodded that she'd gotten everything fastened and Bobbi nodded back as she reached to tune one radio to the Ground Control frequency, "Let's get out of town then."

"Ground, November 7746 is unfamiliar with the airport. Request taxi instructions to the active."

The response was immediate and there was a booming male voice in Malikah's ear then, "November 7746, taxi to and hold short Runway Two-Niner Right using taxiways Charlie, Alpha, and Juliett."

Bobbi repeated the instructions and advanced the throttles a little as she released the brakes. With that, the aircraft began to move and Bobbi glanced at her notepad once for a second to keep the taxi instructions top of mind.

They turned and began to roll along the apron as Bobbi took them to Taxiway Charlie, and from the end of that short piece of asphalt, they made the right turn and began to rumble along the long Taxiway Alpha in order to get to the active runway which they'd been assigned to; Runway 29 Right.

The trip took about eight minutes during which Malikah had time to look around and wish that it was the daytime so she could see more than the flashing anti-collision strobe lights on all of the moving aircraft. They had to wait as two other aircraft left, since they'd gotten there first.

Finally, they stopped just short of the edge of the runway and Malikah heard Bobbi's voice in her ear, "Torrance Tower, de Havilland November 7746 at runway Two-Niner Right. Ready to go, IFR to Two Four November."

A different voice came back this time, "November 7746, hold short Runway Two-Niner Right. Traffic is Fairchild Metroliner on final."

Bobbi answered as she pointed off to their right so that Malikah could watch, "Hold short Runway Two-Niner Right, November 7746."

Malikah had to lean a bit for a moment to see it, but there was a sleek white aircraft approaching and getting lower. They watched as it passed them, landed and rolled away down the runway. When it had slowed and turned off onto a taxiway, the voice in her ears said, "De Havilland November 7746, cleared for takeoff."

Bobbi reached for the throttles, "Cleared for takeoff, November 7746."

They eased onto the runway and turned to face the length of it. Bobbi set the flaps for takeoff and then Malikah noticed that the whine and roar of the engines increased as Bobbi pushed the throttles all the way forward and then they were rolling when she released the brakes.

There was a lot of the runway left when Mlikah felt the first little push upward just as the hum of the tires on the runway stopped abruptly. They were airborne and climbing. Malikah doubted that they'd used even half of the runway.

She guessed that Bobbi understood the expression that she must have been wearing.

"This plane is made to handle short and rough fields. I wouldn't need all of that if I had a flat tire." she pointed out ahead of them, "I think I could almost takeoff and land twice in that length or just a little more."

A few short radio exchanges and they began a long turn to the east.

Malikah got used to the angle of the turn quickly. She was much more interested in the view of the city as she'd never seen it before.

Bobbi told her to position the oxygen cannula into her nostrils now rather than later to save forgetting, and when Malikah had it, she turned on the valve.

When Malikah had satisfied herself with the view for the moment as the ground dropped farther away below her, she looked over at Bobbi - since the pilot was busy and didn't have time for anything other than turning as she climbed to their assigned altitude while handling the radios.

"De Havilland November 7746, contact Los Angeles Control on ..."

Malikah was a little startled to hear the voice out of nowhere, but she guessed that Bobbi had been expecting it. She replied and then changed frequencies as directed.

"Los Angeles Control, de Havilland November 7746 is with you at four thousand eight hundred climbing for one four thousand."

"Roger November 7746. Turn right 081, climb and maintain one four thousand."

Bobbi acknowledged and things fell a little silent then - well on the rather loud flight deck.

Malikah realized that Bobbi bothered the hell out of her somehow, though it was no fault of her own. There was something about her, a quality that she couldn't quite categorize. Their brief introduction at the terminal had not done Bobbi any justice at all she realized, and she put it down to the flight suit with a small smile.

But she realized then that Bobbi had her attention from her first smile back there. She was more than attractive to Malikah. She recognized that on some level she found that she liked to be near to Bobbi and that irritated her to no end.

She'd never - absolutely never in her life - felt much of any sort of attraction to another female other than idle daydreams. To her, it didn't even make sense. So she tried while she had the chance at some quiet observation to try to think of what this was. Was Bobbi all that different really?

Malikah knew that the correct and purely logical answer was no.

But somehow ...

Somehow there was this thing about Bobbi. She was beautiful to Malikah, but there was something else to it. She could see that Bobbi was confident and knew her business well in terms of her proficiency.

As far as her appearance went, Malikah could give Bobbi points over her beauty and the appeal which her features and complexion seemed to be able to exert on her. She didn't know much of anything about the woman, but she had the impression that this had been a long day for her - and yet, she saw as she looked, that face looked fresh and even mildly pleased - as though she'd just washed it and was happy about feeling invigorated.

She'd seen and met enough Caucasian people. What was different about this one?

The answers to that came to Malikah in a few seconds. Though she'd seen all sorts of shades of hair, she'd never really seen one like Bobbi had. She guessed that she must have seen it before, just never this close at a time when she'd had a reason to look.

And then she wondered what her reason was.

She couldn't see Bobbi's eyes from where she sat and she was a little glad of it, because whenever they'd looked at each other there had been the danger of Malikah's gaze seeming to want to lock on to those eyes in fascination.

She could just see something of those lips though, even in the dim environment as Bobbi's face was lit by the indicators and screens in front of them. She had an absurd thought for a second as she wondered what it would be like to have lips that color.

Bobbi had been right. They were very close in their heights as Malikah had noticed earlier. And yet, the confidence or the loveliness that she saw seemed to add to her somehow and it made Bobbi seem a little larger than life somehow.

She thought that she had it then; what this unknown quality was that Bobbi seemed to have.

She watched for a little longer and decided that there was another thing about Bobbi's beauty as well. She was dressed in little more than coveralls and yet, ... her beauty still seemed to be able to get past the less-than-flattering apparel.

She didn't know where her eyes had been looking the next second when she noticed that Bobbi was looking at her.

"Hey," the pilot smiled, "Are you ok?"

Malikah nodded, feeling a little flustered, "Yes. This is all very interesting to me."

Bobbi nodded, "You seemed to be looking a little lost for a second there. I want you to know that as uh, ... informal as this was when Damian and I arranged it, I will do what I can to keep you comfortable and even entertained if I can."

Malikah didn't see it as she rolled her eyes, "I just wasn't prepared at all when I got Damian's call. He said that a friend of his was really stressed-out and needed a break and could I help at all. I asked him why this friend couldn't just run off to Mexico for a vacation like everybody else.

That's when he told me about you and how you'd likely go nowhere even if you did get some time away. He told me to make you disappear for a little while, so I agreed."

She chuckled for a moment and then said, "I've been trying to think of places to take you that you might find interesting ever since. Angel Fire isn't really much of an exciting place, to be honest with you. I mean they try, don't get me wrong, but there's not all that much to it. They have one festival a year, and that's chamber music. But I promise that I'll keep trying to think of something."

Malikah smiled her thanks, but she really wanted to tell Bobbi that there really wasn't all that much of a need to keep her amused and entertained. Actually, she'd be more than entertained just speaking with Bobbi, but she didn't want to say that.

"So you live in Angel Fire? How did you come to be in this business?"

Bobbi laughed a little, "Well way back when, my great-great grandfather came out to the west to settle down and start a farm. Angel Fire was as far as he got, I guess. I don't live right in town. I was born and raised on the farm that great-great granddaddy started.

I've always wanted to fly. It's kind of in our blood now, you might say. My grandfather joined the Navy and he was a pilot during the war. My father was a pilot in the Air Force, since he wanted to fly, but he also wanted to piss off his father a little by NOT joining the Navy," she chuckled.

Anyway, he started out flying for them and he got sent over to Vietnam. Actually, he was stationed at a base in Thailand and he flew missions into Vietnam. My grandfather was a fighter pilot, but my dad was a transport pilot. One day, he got a job offer to fly for Air America and since the money was way better than what the Air Force paid, he went there after two tours."

She laughed a little then, "Turns out, that he was flying the same kind of plane, only it was in civilian paint and he flew out of the very same place where he'd been before. He was still there after most or all of his buddies had rotated back home, only by then, he was only flying into and out of Laos, making resupply drops to guerrillas who were fighting the North Vietnamese.

Me, I joined the Air Force too, flying transport just like my father, though the planes were bigger. I flew Hercs - uh, Hercules for a while and then I transitioned to a few other things. I got out after three tours flying into and out of Iraq, mostly."

Bobbi made a small course change as advised by the air traffic controller for the sector that they were in before she continued.

"Anyway, I came home and Dad had a surprise for me. I don't know where he got the money, but ...

Malikah you have to understand. My grandfather was the kind of man who couldn't see the sense in learning something if you were only going to have to stop doing it someday. He was a fighter pilot, so he came home and started up a crop dusting company. That's the kind of flying that Janey does most now."

Seeing that Malikah didn't understand, she explained what that was before she went on.

"So my dad was a pilot even before he joined the Air Force, not that they'd have cared at all. When he came back, he took up crop dusting with his father, but well, he'd always wanted to have a company that flew hauling freight.

Well it didn't happen until much later. As I said, when I got back, he'd bought an old Caribou. It's a medium transport, bigger than this and it was the same as what he'd flown on the other side of the world.

But he never actually got anywhere with his dream other than that. Grandad got old and sick, so Dad had to go on dusting crops to pay for the medicine and the stays in the hospital for his father.

I was the one who built up Quicksilver's Air between us, mostly. I've still got that old Caribou, though I only use it when I have a bigger load than this can fly. They were designed by the same company and they can both do rough field work and short takeoffs and landings. Anyway, I managed to make a fair living at it and I was able to get financing for this beauty. It's mostly paid off now.

So that's my story I guess."

"How much did this plane cost to buy?" Malikah asked, and then immediately felt as though she must have come across as being nosy.

"They were originally built at the de Havilland plant in Toronto, Canada. But production stopped when they began to work on the next models; the Dash 7 and the Dash 8. They were bought out then by Boeing and then sold to somebody else.

A company named Viking Air bought all the rights to make and sell parts for these and they eventually got the rights to build new ones. This is one of those, built in British Columbia. It's a DHC-6 Twin Otter Series 400. That means it's got engines rated for hot and high airfield operation. I ordered it as two-thirds cargo, so that's why it's only got room for six passengers."

She remembered then and apologized, "Sorry, I just love this thing, I guess. It cost just over seven million, US. I was actually gonna get a Dash 7, since I had a line on one that was for sale and in great shape.

Only Quicksilver's isn't big enough for that yet. Besides, a 7 isn't all that much different. Well, besides that they have four engines instead of two and they can carry more and are quicker.

They've also got bigger balls to get out of crappy short fields with. But the downside to that is that they've got four engines and that's twice the maintenance costs right there. I'd still love to get one though. I get the work that I do because a lot of my customers are in places where most of my competition just can't or won't fly into.

But if I could, I'd love to get one. It would be like flying a mini-Hercules."

She laughed, "There's nothing like the feeling of being on the ground and looking at a short runway and just KNOWING that you've got the juice under your hand on the throttles to do something that a lot of pilots just can't do.

Another thing that they're good at is being pretty quiet for a turboprop and being able to get a planeload of passengers or goods right into and out of small airports in the middle of big cities. That's some turf that the big boys won't ever be able to squeeze you out of. 'Cause they just can't do it well.

You just wait until we're ready to leave the Apache field. You'll see what I mean then."

There was another call from their controller and after leaving that sector and checking in with the controller of the sector that were just entering, Malikah asked about it.

"I thought that, ... I think that I have always had the idea in my mind that a pilot has to ... find his or her way, ... I cannot think of the word for it."

Bobbi looked over, "You mean navigate?

We still need to do that. But since there's no place up here to pull over and check the map, I do that before we leave. And these days there's GPS," she smiled as she pointed to the screen on the instrument panel. "I know where I am at any time. I think I know why you asked, though. You're watching me interact with air traffic control."

Malikah nodded, "It seems to me that you do whatever they say."

There was a call to them on the radio then, "De Havilland 746, you are 7-0 miles northwest. Turn right heading 1-1-0. Expect the visual approach, vectors to 24 November runway One-Seven. Current altimeter 24 November: 29.77."

Bobbi acknowledged and began to comply. "Well I have to do what they say," she said, "but I filed my plan before we left and all that I'm doing is flying with THEM watching me and my plan - since I asked them to in this case.

They see us on radar just like they see everybody else up here tonight. Also, we're flying into mountainous areas in the dark, so it helps to have them watching. And on top of all of that, ..."

Malikah saw Bobbi pointing and she looked to see the heavy cloud front in the distance up ahead.

"It can snow something awful out here sometimes in the winter, but it doesn't rain here that often. Tonight just seems to be one of those nights. I guess, and I'd rather have ATC telling me which way to go when I can't see. We're already flying higher than the tallest mountain between LA and Angel Fire. Underneath that mess, it's pouring rain in thunder squalls. We just won't be seeing much of the neighborhood."