| Prior to September 11, flying in the | | | | Jerry: "Andrews Tower, Yellow ultralight |
| Washington, D.C. area was a lot different. | | | | requests authorization to turn base." |
| Getting a waiver to security regulations was | | | | |
| as simple as a well-placed phone call. This | | | | Tower: "Yellow ultralight, turn base runway |
| is a story about one such flight - an | | | | one left." |
| aviation first - that will never be repeated. | | | | |
| | | | My eyes caught sight of several F-16 aircraft |
| "We don't fly north of our airfield. That's | | | | on the runway about to take off, and to our |
| where the Andrews Air Force Base controlled | | | | amazement, Air Force One taxiing behind! |
| airspace begins." I told this to thousands | | | | "What a photo that will be!" I exclaimed, |
| of flight students from 1984 thru 1998 when I | | | | only to realize that I had forgotten my |
| worked as a full time ultralight flight | | | | camera. To my surprise, Jerry unveiled a |
| instructor in Fort Washington, Maryland. | | | | camera from underneath his jacket and began |
| Thoughts of flying into such secure airspace | | | | clicking away. As we enjoyed this aerial |
| - home of the president's Air Force One and | | | | view of the dozens of military aircraft on |
| some pretty lethal "fighter" aircraft - | | | | the flight line, I pointed out anything of |
| conjured up visions of being shot down in | | | | interest. |
| flames for veering a few feet into Andrews' | | | | |
| airspace. In the Nation's Capital, you do not | | | | Inching along, we neared our 90-degree left |
| think about even vaguely resembling a | | | | turn for final approach. I was somewhat |
| terrorist. A sense of humor is not a job | | | | perplexed, however, as two F-16s had just |
| requirement for those employed by the FAA, | | | | departed, and two more were waiting at the |
| FBI, Secret Service, etc. When it comes to | | | | end of runway one left behind Air Force One. |
| work, they are all business. Period. And that | | | | As I became convinced that we would spend |
| was seven years ago when terrorists were only | | | | eternity circling waiting for clearance to |
| a theoretical possibility. | | | | turn to our final approach, the traffic |
| | | | controller's voice came over the radio. |
| My friend Jerry Carlson and I were just | | | | |
| minutes away from doing the impossible and | | | | Tower: "Yellow ultralight, would you land |
| forbidden: flying an ultralight aircraft into | | | | runway one right? Please be advised that the |
| Andrews Air Force. We envisioned the display | | | | last 2,500 are not useable. The runway length |
| at the annual Open House - which attracts up | | | | is 10,000 feet. Will this present a problem?" |
| to a million visitors - as an exciting | | | | |
| opportunity to spread the word about | | | | Since ultralight aircraft take about three |
| open-cockpit flight. | | | | hundred feet to land, Jerry and I agreed that |
| | | | with an incredible sense of the elements and |
| We discussed communication procedures in the | | | | superior airmanship, we could avoid |
| event they could not hear us over the engine | | | | overshooting the limited runway. |
| and wind noise of our open-cockpit craft, or | | | | |
| if radio contact was lost. All of the | | | | Jerry: "Ultralight turning final. One right." |
| contingencies seemed to be covered. | | | | |
| | | | We held cruise power to fly the ultralight |
| Jerry sat in the front seat furthest from the | | | | over one-half mile to the taxiway turn off. |
| engine and its noise, to handle radio | | | | Meandering through the grass, I imagined the |
| communication. I sat in the back seat and | | | | Tower Manager looking at us through |
| flew the aircraft. A take off in an | | | | binoculars, observing our scenic route to the |
| ultralight airplane is a 100-foot hop, skip | | | | display area. "Can't those stupid ultralight |
| and before you know it, you are airborne, | | | | pilots keep on the centerline of the |
| angled back precariously - staring straight | | | | taxiway?" she must be wondering. Nonetheless, |
| at the heavens. As we climbed to 500 feet, | | | | the tower got us across runway one left - |
| Andrews was in sight. This is not to say that | | | | where seconds ago an F-16 thundered by at a |
| our vision rivals that of an eagle, it's just | | | | few hundred miles per hour before rocketing |
| hard to miss an airfield that seemingly | | | | straight up and out of sight. I can only |
| occupies half the state of Maryland. At 1,000 | | | | imagine she let out a huge sigh of relief as |
| feet we leveled off, throttled back and | | | | she turned us over to ground control. |
| contacted Andrews' approach control. | | | | |
| | | | After two days of sharing flying stories with |
| Jerry: "Yellow ultralight" | | | | the new friends we had made, it was time to |
| | | | go home. The Ground Control personnel advised |
| Tower: "Yellow ultralight, say your heading | | | | us on the radio to trail behind the FOLLOW ME |
| and position." | | | | truck. It soon became obvious that this |
| | | | driver leads aircraft that travel a lot |
| Jerry: "Andrews, Yellow ultralight 060 | | | | faster. Racing toward the runway at about 50 |
| entering airspace over Route 301." | | | | miles per hour, we were fighting to stay on |
| | | | the ground. At the runway, the truck peeled |
| Tower: "Yellow ultralight, approach downwind | | | | off abruptly 180 degrees to the left, as we |
| west of tower, then turn downwind." | | | | comically banked in our right turn onto the |
| | | | runway. |
| At this point, the controller must have | | | | |
| thought that we were flying a lot faster than | | | | A green light from the tower gave us the all |
| say, 50 mile per hour. In an F-16 it takes | | | | clear. Checking high and low in both |
| just a few seconds to go around the traffic | | | | directions revealed no other aircraft. Good |
| pattern at this monstrous airfield. In an | | | | to go! |
| ultralight aircraft, one must allow at least | | | | |
| a half hour. | | | | Departing the field we saluted the |
| | | | accommodating tower personnel and the |
| After a few minutes, we were now to the west | | | | audience with a rock of the wings, and we |
| of where our base leg would be. | | | | were on our way. |
| | | | |