*Disclaimer* Again, with all my stories I try to keep the non fantasy ones 'somewhat' grounded in reality but not enough to bore you with too much detail. I know my radio traffic is not right, my flight terminology may be off but I hope it's not enough to detract from the story. (Sorry Actual Pilots!) All straight sex, all over 18 and all that. Enjoy!
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I sat on the runway after taxiing back to the hangar and waited for my instructor to finish off his chart. It was the last thing I needed to complete before I was allowed to fly at night, having completed all of the hours and training I'd needed until that point. He'd known me for a long time and was a great supporter of me getting my full pilot license.
"Well, Marcus my friend, I really wish all of my evaluations were that smooth. I honestly can't find a single fault in your check flight today, you handled everything I threw at you with calm and poise. Congratulations, I'm putting this down as a very accomplished pass, one of the highest scores I've ever given," he said, shaking my hand.
"I have your guidance to thank for this, Mark, you're a great instructor. Between you and my Dad, you make this feel natural," I replied.
"I taught you how to work the plane, you put in the work to make it feel easy. I'll call that company for you too, this will take a couple of weeks to come back but I know they'll love having you fly for them."
A few months later I was working for a company that repaired and refitted aircraft. They took otherwise good planes, stripped out older, heavier wiring and replaced with newer, more modern, lighter wiring. They'd have me deliver planes to our customers, most of them wealthy, private owners that preferred us to drop the plane off back at their airstrips. I got to fly a wide range of planes, from single-engine to private jets. My Dad was an airline pilot, he gave me the desire to fly and I loved working through all the licenses so I could eventually follow in his footsteps when I had enough hours.
I picked up a delivery job close to spring break, it had me deliver a newly updated plane to its owner then I'd drive back home in a rental car. It was close to where my younger sister was going to college so I arranged for her to meet me in the car and we'd drive back together. She was super excited when I told her.
When I had parked the plane in one of my customers' hangars, he came out to greet me.
"Marcus, thank you for getting this back to me, I'm looking forward to taking her up. How does she feel?" he said to me.
"Oh, you're going to love it Mr. Granger, the lighter electricals and upgraded equipment make it feel like a new plane. Colin wasn't kidding when he said the new wiring dropped the weight by a third, it handles like a dream," I replied.
"Please, call me Jack. Listen, you've been so great through this whole process, that test flight in the same model I have sold me so I want to give you something. I've had this old bird sitting for years, kept up on the regular stuff but it's time for her to move on. On paper, you're buying this from me for a certain amount but for me, I'll get more in tax write-offs and you're not giving me a dime. Come, she's in the hangar next door."
Jack led us to a hangar less than 50 feet away, in it, an older business-style private jet was parked.
"She's expensive to fly as she is right now but the way you fly and with your company's know-how with making it lighter, you can be an owner-pilot. I'll recommend you to a few very wealthy friends to get you started but your flying speaks for itself my friend," he said to me.
"Mr. Gr... I mean, Jack, you're giving me this plane?" I replied, I was stunned.
"Yes, John has all the paperwork for you, give it a once over but fuel her up at my tanks and take her home, no point driving 4 hours when you can be there in 30 minutes."
"This is incredible, thank you so much!"
"No problem, how's your Dad doing by the way, is he still flying for British Airways?"
"Yes, he loves it. He's actually going to be home for the next week or so."
"Well, good. Please give him my regards. I have to run, thank you again and I hope you enjoy the plane.
I signed all the paperwork, checked the plane over then called my sister.
"Hey, baby Sis, what you doing?" I said in the most annoying voice I could find.
"Don't fucking call me that, especially after having me waiting here for two hours you dick. I'm still waiting, that's what I'm doing," she replied.
"Well, you're going to take your bags out of the shitty rental you got, give the keys to Mike who's on his way to you and he'll bring you to the plane I was just given and we're flying home."
"I swear I'll punch you right in the balls if you're winding me up."
"I'm not, I promise. I'll tell you all about it when you get here."
"Is Mike really tall and good-looking?"
"He's tall and about as old as Dad but yes, that'll be him, move your ass."
Mike dropped my sister, Clara, off in a little golf cart less than ten minutes later. I was still going over the pre-flight checks on my new plane. She was in deep conversation with Mike.
"So, to save paying the taxes and refurb on it, it's cheaper to just gift it to Marcus?" she said to him as they pulled up.
"Yes, your brother will be able to get the work done close to cost but it's good business and a wonderful tax break for Mr. Granger. Hey, Marcus, good to see you again," he said to me, shaking my hand.
"Good to see you too, Mike. Thanks for taking care of this, I looked over your logbook, looks amazing," I replied.
"Yea, the engine and avionics are sound, she's just old. With a replaced wiring harness like you put in Jack's plane, I'm sure it'll be a great asset."
"I'm still in shock, this changes my life."
"From what I hear, you deserve it my friend. Call Dave when you're ready to fuel up, watch that weather over Mayberry though, it seems to be all over the place. I did take the liberty of stocking your little kitchen in case you need to take a longer way home."
"Thank you so much, Mike, I'll talk to you soon."
Clara was still wide-eyed, walking around the plane with a grin on her face.
"I can't believe this is yours! We should fly to Cabo or something instead of home," she said with a laugh.
"No, it's a good plane but needs a little modernization. I've already spoken to my boss, she said we can work out a deal on that stuff but this is a life changer for sure."
"Did you tell Dad? He'll be so proud of you."
"I've a feeling he already knows, him and Mr. Granger go way back. Let's get your bags on board, I have some more pre-flight to do then we'll be ready to go."
The cabin was nice but dated like the internals on the plane. I knew it was nothing I couldn't handle and couldn't stop smiling. Clara sat herself in one of the chairs and strapped in, knowing fine I wouldn't want her touching anything in my cockpit. She'd grown up a lot since I'd last seen her too, I couldn't help but notice the dorky, skinny teen was replaced by a very pretty young woman who was growing to be just as beautiful as our former model mother.
"What was that look for?" she said to me, noticing me looking at her.
"Nothing, you're just looking more and more like Mom is all," I replied.
"Well I'm totally taking that as a compliment."
"It's how it was intended, Sis. Please strap in, I'm getting ready to depart."
I checked my weather charts again and was thankful to see the storm moving away. Once I was in the air, I put the plane on autopilot and went back to make sure Clara was okay.
"This is fucking amazing, Marcus, this is yours!" she said, grabbing me in big hug.
"It sure is, I'm still in shock," I replied.
"Is it going to take a lot to modernize?"
"It will need some work but it's what the company I work for specializes in. I'll basically be working off my bill and when I can take clients, I'll be able to pay it off in no time. Well, there should be enough food to make us both sandwiches at the very least, would you mind?"
"Fine, since you're flying us, I'll make the food," she said, grinning.
I sat back down and looked at my charts again, the weather seemed to be getting worse, even at the altitude I was at. Clara came back with a tray of sandwiches right as we hit some turbulence. When the weather system showed a storm right on top of me I called my nearest tower.
"Tower, this is Golf Whiskey four nine two eight, not getting a pattern reading but I may need to divert from this storm, seems to have come from nowhere," I said.
"Confirmed, 928, we've been tracking it but it looks bad. I can't see you in my scope either, please confirm transponder is on 983hz," they replied.
"Confirmed on the correct channel, am I good to proceed on heading 342 to get away from this weather?"
"Negative, please proceed to heading 148, I'll alert ground control there. I see you now, pattern has you in 3 different places, last reading you said you were over Maysville?"
"Confirmed."
"Okay, please proceed with caution on heading 148 at 10,000 feet, maintain contact until in range of Greensville tower, over."
Before I could reply, the plane started to shudder and lightning struck the tip of one of my wings. I was losing fuel and my instruments were flickering pretty badly.
"Come in Mayport tower, Mayday Mayday Mayday, I'm losing altitude, power is fluctuating and fuel is leaking from my starboard wing where the lightning hit it," I said, remaining calm.
"What the fuck?" said Clara, her eyes wide.
"Clara, go strap yourself in and try to relax, we're okay, just don't panic okay?"
I repeated my mayday call but my electronics were not responding. I was flying over a dense forest, not the fields and towns my gps map was showing but I knew I was going to have to land. I found a clearing and began my emergency descent, remember swearing about snow in spring but there was enough of a clearing for me to crash land without hitting any trees on the way down. We landed pretty hard but kept sliding into the forest. We narrowly missed one big tree but as we got deeper into the trees, I lost a wing before we came to a sliding stop.
"Are you okay?" I yelled out.
"I'm okay, I'm okay," said Clara.
I'm not sure what happened next, all I remember was a pretty loud bang then everything went black.
"Hey, take it slow, you're okay," said Clara, helping me sit up.
I looked around, we were in part of the plane, she'd made a shelter out of the emergency landing craft but it was warm.
"What happened?" I asked.
"Well, apparently trees don't like getting smacked with a plane's wing and a huge branch landed on the plane. We're okay though. You took a little bump on the head but it doesn't look bad. Do you feel sick or anything?"
