I went to a dinner for sea plane pilots, hosted by Tom (pilot/President of Lake County Airmen's Association) and Ruth Lincoln of Lakeport. It's been a Tom and Ruth tradition to host the seaplane pilots' dinner to kick off the Splash In event.
With my small VW Bug I was able to park close enough to the entrance of the Lincoln's place. Little did I know it was a hike, surrounded by beauty, to get to the dinner. The food was great, the people were super and the fire dancers was unexpected entertainment.
I've never been in a sea plane. I've seen them land on Clear Lake. I saw one crash during one of the past Splash In events. I asked Herb Lingl (Education director of Clear Lake Flying Club) who invited me to the dinner, not to pair me up for a ride with the pilot who crashed. He laughed his infectious laugh, which I took for, "Hell no!"
The best part of the dinner was meeting seaplane pilot Alberto Rossi and his wife Carol. Boldly asking Alberto if I could hop a ride with him the next day during the Splash In event he graciously said, "Yes!"
During dinner I saw that Alberto was the go-to guy for questions about planes. I chose the right pilot to fly with; he knew what he was talking about even though I didn't understand a word of the mechanical/plane jargon.
The next day I woke early; 2am, 4am, 6am…excited about my flight. I've been flying in all sorts of planes; a Red Baron Stearman Biplane (acrobatics!), the sky sailplane I recently wrote about, I've even ridden in a giant Huey helicopter that was used in Viet Nam. Fun fact: The foot holds to get into it was so high up that a Marine had to push me by my bum to reach the first step!
Alberto and I rode to Lampson Field where Alberto's big yellow Cessna 185f was parked. He flew it up from the Bay Area a couple of weeks before the event to do a safety check on the First Street ramp. He parked his seaplane on Park Street and was given a parking ticket!
Who says pilots (and cops) aren't fun!
Once we took off from Lampson there was a short period of me adjusting to the visual of plane vs the ground, and a little wobble. Alberto reassured me that everything was alright.
Flying over Clear Lake with the blue cloudless sky and the lake shimmering below was breathtaking. I hadn't seen the lake with such perspective. We flew the shoreline where I live, saw the docks of Buckingham and other areas of the lake.
Alberto kept saying, "Take a picture!" but I was actually oohing and gasping, seeing what there was to see rather than try and capture it on my iPhone.
The flight was fun and too short, until Alberto said, "We have a little problem…"
I waited a beat. "What?"
"I'm not taking the plane up the ramp so I'm going to have to let you off…in the water."
I looked at the ramp and at the dozens of people lined up watching our plane.
I laughed. "You want me to get off the plane, into the water?"
Alberto nodded and his next ride, Alan Eustace (another pilot), hopped up on the pontoon, ready to help me disembark.
Getting up on the plane at Lampson Field was easy. The plane didn't move with the waves and the footholds weren't slippery from the lake water. The footholds were relatively thin pieces (think maybe two inches wide) of metal with skid pads on them. After we landed at First Street ramp, those footholds looked to be only wire thin. How would I navigate that?
Eustace reached up to grasp my hand, but I knew that would land me in the drink. It took a minute to grab onto his shoulder and maneuver my way down to the pontoon. I prayed that my pants, which were too big for me, wouldn't fall off as I jumped into the knee-high water. Didn't need that spectacle!
What was a girl to do?…I waved to the crowd and yelled at Carol, "Take a photo!"
Lucy Llewellyn Byard is currently a columnist for the Record-Bee. To contact her, email lucywgtd@gmail.com
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