An AOG story in the best kind of “nowhere.”
Last week, my wife and two of my kids were planning to fly from Newnan, GA (KCCO) back to Denver, about 7.5 hours in the Saratoga with a couple fuel stops planned as I could only carry 64 gal at a time due to weight. First fuel stop was in Paragould, AR, where my daughter noticed at the gas pump that we wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. My landing was not rough, so this was certainly an unexpected surprise, but not totally unexpected, as I’d noticed the right main hadn’t been holding pressure well for a few days.
Fortunately, as I’d been near Aircraft Spruce’s eastern distribution warehouse in Peachtree City, GA, I’d picked up a spare tire and tube literally the day before. That turns out to have been a really good move. However, I don’t carry a jack in the plane and I don’t have all the knowledge to do a proper tire swap, anyway.
I called the airport manager, Roger, super nice guy, but he lamented that their on-field mechanic was out for surgery. I tried several other nearby airports, but being the Saturday of New Year’s weekend, I got a lot of answering machines. Thankfully, I spotted a couple pilots my age (OK, maybe even a bit older) pulling a beautiful C140 into their hangar. I noticed workbenches in the hangar and a spark of hope arose. I introduced myself and my predicament and asked if I could borrow a jack. “Do you have tools?” they asked. “Yes, but probably not exactly the tools I would need. “Let’s take a look.” These kind gentlemen spent the next hour and a half jacking the wing, replacing the tire and tube with my spares, and re-attaching the brake shoes (with freer wheel rotation than before, I dare say). One of them was certainly an A&P, though not currently practicing.
We encountered a few hiccups. The jack wasn’t quite tall enough, but airport manager Roger, following my call, had decided to stop by and check in on me. He had a pallet so that solved that problem.
The jack didn’t want to retract from the initial lift, but we hunched under the wing and lifted with our backs to take pressure off the jack. Then the jack with pallet was slightly too tall. Back under the wing and lift again…
Roger was kind enough to let us use the airport maintenance hangar for warmth to fit the tube in the tire and the three men worked together like a surgeon with skilled nurses anticipating the need for every tool: socket and opposing wrenches, needlenose pliers, valve stem puller, talcum powder, air compressor, wrenches again, DONE!
It was just a treat to watch these guys, and of course, I’m super thankful they were willing to give up a couple hours of their Saturday morning to get me back in the air. They asked for no payment and wouldn’t even let me buy them lunch. Thanks again, guys!
One of the things I truly love about flying is the sense of community, and the smaller the airport, the better, it seems. I no doubt fared better than I would have at one of the big-name FBOs under a class Charlie. Often they don’t have mechanics, either, and certainly not on a holiday weekend.
“Dad, you’re the luckiest unlucky person I know.”
My daughter
Indeed I do feel lucky, but more than that, I see it as yet another example of how a loving God takes care of me all the time. I had my plans and my reasons for picking Paragould, AR as my first stop (cheap gas!), but God knew exactly what I would need that fine Saturday morning. In exchange for a minor inconvenience, I was blessed with the kindness and generosity of total strangers. In our ever-changing world, that feels pretty priceless.
2nd Wind Aviation 