Every year, for as long as I can remember,
Ball Airport in Louisburg hosts a fly-in. Complete with pig and bluegrass music.
Last year, we went and Asher wasn't really clued in on what was happening. This year, we were excited to see his reaction to the airplanes.
The first time a plane buzzed the runway, loudly, Asher stopped what he was doing and screamed "Whoooooa!" With a huge grin on his face.
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This was that first whoa moment. |
From that moment on, the kid was in love with all things flying. Planes would buzz. He'd say some variation of 'whoa!', "wow!' or 'airplane' each time. We were all loving it!
Later in the day, a friend of my dad's and retired cropduster (read: really experience pilot), took my dad's Cub up for some fun. Rusty hopped in with him. I flew with Pilot Jim in my dad's plane several years back and together we looped the plane for the first time(!!). So, I trusted this kind man.
Here's the video Rusty captured on his flight. I was jealous. It looked way fun. You'll also see some clips of Asher's thrill while watching the planes fly by.
Rusty Cropdusting from
Rusty on
Vimeo.
Pilot Jim and Rusty flew around for a long while, dipping low over the fields and buzzing the runway. When he landed, Asher ran straight to the plane and wanted into Rusty's lap. My dad motioned for me to come over and asked if Asher could go up.
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Hi dada! |
Rusty and I had talked about this earlier. And we decided we were both ok with Asher flying, if it was something he seemed excited about. Plus, Asher tells us 'Yea' and 'No' pretty reliably, so we knew he'd let us know if he had objections.
So, without overthinking it, I looked and Rusty and we both said 'Sure!'. Asher loaded up and off they went.
At this point my sister comes running over saying, 'I didn't authorize this!' and my mom frantically walked over saying, 'Kira! Is Asher in that plane? There is so much air traffic. What about this and this and that and that?'
I was amazingly calm. I knew Asher would love it and I knew Rusty would love having that memory with him. I also knew my dad would be thrilled that Asher's first flight was in his plane. It just felt right.
Side note: My dad is great pilot, and takes great care when flying precious cargo. In this situation, he said that Asher was probably safer with Mr. Jim than he would have been with him. So, I had no worries. None at all. (Which says a lot for me, you know.)
So, we all watched on proudly!
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Taking off! |
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Buzzing the runway like a pro! |
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Look close. You can see his sweet head! |
I knew he must be loving it. They buzzed the runway a few times. Rusty told me that each time Asher would wave out and say "Hi! Bye!" as they zoomed by. How awesome is that?!
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Hi! Bye! |
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Greeting him after landing. |
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Photo with Pilot Jim. Smiles all around. |
Asher happily exited the plane as those standing around clapped for him. It was fantastic! I think it's safe to say that Asher's got the flying passion in his blood. And, we are ok with that.
Glad you had a great first flight, sweet boy! We love you and all of your awesomeness!
Hi Kira, I finally got a moment to get caught up checking out my favorite blog...thank you so much for sharing. I love seeing little Asher. He is adorable!! What an exciting life!
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