Once again
Just when Janice thought she had all her little surgeries behind her and would have a whole summer outside of any hospital, she had to go in this AM for a simple 'intervention' (read surgery) once again. It was a quickie of sorts for feminine plumbing issues (no relationship between the two) and its beginning to look like she is making this a yearly event. She was back home today, none the worse for wear.
My poor bride will have the rest of the summer to recuperate.
How we spend a lazy summer day....
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| http://www.1000islandsphotoart.com/ |
The book
About a year ago, we were contacted by a Australian writer who had seen the Cottage Life Television Network segment featuring our Island. She wrote that she was writing a book on "Island Homes of the World" and was interested in including the Bee. We traded emails and phone calls over the last year, answered her questionnaire and sent her all the pictures she requested.
Last month, she sent us a copy of the finished work, a 125 page hardcover book featuring 15 island homes from all over the world, but Honey Bee being the only private island of the lot. Ours is also the only one featured in North America and one of two in both North and South America. Obviously, it is not a book about the Richard Branson type mega islands of the rich and famous but islands owned by little people like us.
There are 8 pages of text and pictures on each island, telling its story and of their resident owners. The book is available in both hard and softcover through Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other booksellers. What a kick!
Projects update
Hey, would you like to hear about our latest construction projects?
Me neither.
We don't have any so, so much for that.
Me neither.
We don't have any so, so much for that.
The fantasy
If you are not in the mood for stupid airplane stories, you can probably stop right here as this was a BIG aviation month in these parts.
In 2000 when we bought the island, I had a secret fantasy to be able to have a float plane here. Needing to renovate the place first meant putting that crazy idea way back on the back burner.
In 2000 when we bought the island, I had a secret fantasy to be able to have a float plane here. Needing to renovate the place first meant putting that crazy idea way back on the back burner.
Sometime in
2008, friends Wayne and Barb were over for a BBQ when Wayne asked why we had a broom
stick handle sticking out of the mud by the shore of the island. Janice
nonchalantly replied "Oh, that's where Michael wants to put a dock for a
float plane he is going to build and learn to fly". They didn't know if
they should laugh or cry but they nearly choked.
I am far more prone to let the cat out of the bag after he is in it,
but Janice prefers to spill the beans before we get a cat or the bag.
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| This is going to take a while... |
In
the summer of 2009, the 3000 parts that comprised the aircraft were
delivered, with my goal to have it all assembled that summer. Life got
in the way but in 2012, I finally took to the air. Then, in
2010 I bought an aircraft carrier (also know as a pontoon boat lift)
and had a half dozen friends help me position it in the river, in
anticipation of building the dock around it for the plane.
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| In 2015, it
was a done deal... but still no floats on the plane . |
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| Finally this year, after getting my float rating I got to bring it home, making a dream come true.
The TIAF (Thousand Island Air Force) sea base located at Honey Bee
Island was now open for business and was ready to begin patrolling the area, on the hunt
for terrorists, democrats, criminals and Canadians trying to sneak into the land of the free and the
home of the brave :)
The
first time I landed at the island, I was so excited I thought I would pee my
pants. There was testosterone flying all over the place and I was as pumped
up as Henry the VIII double fisting cans of Red Bull, eating a turkey leg and
demanding another wife to behead!
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Up, up and awayyyyyy
The rest of the story...
I won't belabor the situation, but when I touched down on the water the floats delaminated (split in two) and the plane instantly went up on its nose. I didn't fall out of the sky and 'crash', I was one foot off the water and landing. Nevertheless, the cockpit filled with muddy water and I went through my emergency egress mental checklist (non dramatic way of describing crawling out of a cockpit full of muddy water while under water). I didn't have a scratch on me.
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OK, I'll admit it. Its an unconventional way to wash an airplane. |
Funny how while still under water and realizing that I was not hurt and would be fine if I just got out of there, my first though was... "I wonder how much damage to the plane there is and how long before I will be able to fly my baby again?". I got myself out and didn't even bother to inflate my life jacket. Within seconds I was surrounded by boats but I elected to stay in the water for some time inspecting the plane as it looked perfect, except for the floats and the nose first in 7 feet of water part. A salvage company pulled it out and it went into the shop for repairs.
Naturally, I called Janice the moment it happened and told her I was fine. She was waiting at our dock when the coast guard brought me home later and I sheepishly stepped off their boat. The first words out of her mouth were "fix the plane and get back in the air".
For all those who are yelling "I knew it!" or "I told you so", well, you have the satisfaction of knowing you were right. Since the incident, I have received both encouragement to "get back on that horse" and admonitions to "learn from this and quit while you are ahead, stupid". That said, I will never stop flying. I guess this means that other than wanting to prevent this from happening again, I have learned nothing:) I had a car accident once too and I didn't give up driving. How about you?
From the first moment, I took total, complete and absolute responsibility for this event. I am not good at blaming other people or things for my mistakes or shortcomings. I may have had over 500 flawless landings on wheels but I only had 6 landings on water so my lack of experience on this medium loomed large. There was this incident, I was the pilot so I am at fault, period. Right? I certainly thought so. Not so fast. Over the following weeks, a chorus of dissenting voices began to make themselves heard. Two flight instructors, the transport Canada investigator, the manufacturer of the floats, my mechanic as well as a slew of other pilots all concluded what became obvious when the floats were inspected post incident: that the floats suffered a rare, catastrophic de-lamination, like a banana being peeled, probably due to issues with age or previous ownership. There were no breaks, cracks, tears or shredding in the fiberglass anywhere, only a clean smooth separation between the top and bottom half of the floats. My instructor told me that there did not appear to be anything I had done - or that he would have done- that would have prevented the accident. The irony did not escape me that the only part on the airplane built by 'professionals' (the floats) failed but that the plane itself that was meticulously hand crafted by a so called 'amateur' (me) operated flawlessly. I am perfectly aware that if I had a car accident, no one would give a second thought to getting in my car with me afterward and driving off. But in a plane... few will likely want to line up for a ride now. The shame is that I so wanted to share the spectacular beauty of this area from this unique perspective with those interested. It is what it is. Speaking of which, you can total your car and no one will give a rip. Me, I get my plane wet and I immediately made the 6 o'clock news and the newspaper. I was never contacted by anyone, but people boating by asked "Is it true you ran out of gas?" or "Did the wings really fall off?" Our local magazine reported that I had been injured and the cause was "wind gusts". No point letting the truth get in the way of a good story, I guess. Then again, there was You Tube. Some guy sent a drone up to film it all, put it on the two You Tube videos seen below and to date have had over 6,500 views combined. Sooooo....anyone want to go flying? We could be on Ellen! :))) This concludes another quiet, laid back month at the island. |
