Morning Flight

The air is thick with moisture. The temperature is still cool from the night and radiant fog emanates from the pavement as I approach the Cessna 421. She’s a fine bird, maybe the finest Cessna 421 in all of Houston. Her white metallic skin glints in the soft morning light and I appreciate her smooth, sleek appearance as I walk around her, inspecting her in a preflight ritual.



All is well on the exterior and I open the door and enter the cabin. I stow my gear in the baggage area and move forward to the cockpit. Like a hand slipping into a fitted glove I slide into the Captain’s chair and get settled. Battery Switch—ON and I check the fuel gauges. I turn the batteries “Off” and start a quick, confident flow check before pulling out the checklist and methodically work through the “Before Engine Start” items.  One by one, I check each item off of the list in preparation of waking my benevolent, sleeping friend. I set the parking brake and climb out to finish my preflight preparation.



A quick call to the airport office produces a fuel truck carrying the prerequisite load of 100 Low Lead. As the tanker truck rumbles down the ramp toward us, I call Flight Service to check weather and Notams. The fueler jumps down from the truck and approaches me for the fuel order. “50 a side” I tell him while still listening to the briefer. He nods and repeats “50 a side!”  He drags out the grounding wire and attaches the ground to the airplanes nose-gear. I watch him as he unfurls the hose while I file an IFR flight plan to the destination airport in Louisiana.

Along the Gulf Coast, at this time of year and this time of morning, fog is always a concern, but today the Greek Goddess, Aer ,smiles favorably upon us and holds the fog at bay, at least for now. The METAR indicates southerly winds at 5 knots and a visibility of better than 6 miles. No ceiling. Perfect. I hope it stays that way.



The fueler finishes his chore under my watchful eye and begins reeling in the fuel hose. I walk around the aircraft completing a visual check of the fuel caps and taking fuel samples. The Avgas is blue in color and I see no evidence of water or contaminates so we are good to go. I sign the fuel ticket and send the fueler happily on his way. I pull the chocks and climb aboard The Golden Eagle and secure the door.

“Before Starting Engines checklist complete” I say aloud and move to the Starting Engines checklist. Mixtures forward, the boost pump motor whirs as I prime the engine and send fuel to the hungry GTSIO-520’s. The starter coaxes the engine to spin then fire takes over and the left engine sputters, hesitates and then roars into life. The steel propeller blades rend the air, ripping it to shreds and thrusting it aft-ward as 375 horses awaken and strain at their harness. Throttle to idle and she settles into a steady idle thrum. I repeat the process on the right engine and soon she’s running smoothly and warming up. I complete the After Starting Engines Checklist and call Clearance Delivery for my IFR clearance.



The engines are warm and ready for the air as I taxi to the runway with clearance in hand. Neither I nor my 421 can wait to get into the air and as we approach the hold short line, I call Tower ready.  “Golden Eagle one five one zero Golf, Turn left, heading 150, climb and maintain 5000. You are cleared for take-off!” the tower controller responds.



I pull onto the runway and line up with the centerline. I check the heading indicator and it agrees with the runway heading so I push the throttles forward. The Continentals respond with a surge of energy and thrust is triumphant in the battle with drag as we accelerate down the runway.  We reach rotation speed and I pull back on the yoke. She wants to fly and breaks free from the earth in a graceful transition as lift overpowers gravity and ferries us skyward. “Positive rate of climb—Gear up” I recite as I retract the landing gear and set the power for the climb. I start the turn to the South East and finish the After Take Off checklist and settle in for flight.



The sun and sky greet us with open arms and I marvel at the beauty of the sight like a first timer. The green farmland unfurls below us. The wispy, misty clouds mix with the baby blue of the morning sky. Above it all now, I remember once again why I do this. The challenge. The training. The satisfaction of completing a flight safely and efficiently.  The mastery of a complex task. I smile. I am happy. I pat the dash and say “Good Girl!” and it seems that my airplane smiles with me.