[Vfw-times] Adventures In Chattahoochee Hollar - On Eagle's Wings - PART 1 (4/?)

[Heartsh0t at aol.com]

The hot July sun was baking down on Cloudchaser, who was sitting inside his
scorching metal plane.   He hoped that that boisterous old windbag, 
Mr. Thomas Richards, a black bear and the mayor of Chattahoochee Hollar,
would go ahead and kick off the day’s festivities.   The black bear certainly 
did
not have an ending to his words.   The audience were sitting in some makeshift
stands that were quickly erected for this event.  Cloudchaser sighed, folded 
his
arms behind his head and leaned back towards the sky.  He longed to be in the
air.   It was too hot to let the motor idle and... 

“...and the moment you’ve all been waiting for!   That fearless daredevil 
from the
Great Smokey Mountains in Sevierville, Tennessee, the king of the flying
gypsies himself, Mr. Cloudchaser Shaconage from Shaconage’s Flying Circus!”  

The crowd erupted into a hail of cheers and adoration for Cloudchaser as he 
sat
up and waved his hands into the air.   Pastor Frye stepped onto the stage and
stood beside the mayor.   The two discussed quickly something in private, and
then the applause was curtailed by pastor as he held his wings into the air.  

“Okay...” the great horned owl said, waiting for the cheers to simmer down.  
“I’m
glad each and everyone of you were able to come out today and be a part of 
this
Fourth of July celebration.   I want to let you know that not only have 
Mr. Shaconage flown in his family’s flying circus, he is now running a 
missionary
aeroservice called Shaconage’s Aerial Ministries that has flown over, 
what...the
east coast?”  Pastor Frye looked to Cloudchaser for confirmation.   

“Yes, and I’m hoping that I’ll soon be able to start a mission work over the
midwest,” Cloud called from his plane.

Pastor Frye turned back towards the crowd.   “So you see, let’s be much in
prayer for Mr. Shaconage in his mission efforts.  Mr. Shaconage will be giving
his testimony and will preach the services tomorrow at church.  Now, let’s go 
into
a word of prayer for this young pilot’s safety in the air today and ask the 
Lord’s
blessing on our celebration.   And then I want each and everyone of you to 
think
about the men and women who have faithfully served our country to ensure the
freedom of our great nation.”

Pastor Frye led the audience into prayer and thanked God for those who had
laid down their lives for America.   He thanked God for the freedom that was
bestowed upon each and every citizen.   He also prayed for Cloudchaser’s
safety, and then the safety for each person on the field.  He also prayed that
God would be glorified in all that was said and done.

When the prayer was finished, Mr. Richards stepped to the podium again.  “Now,
the moment you’ve all been waiting for!”   The bear took out a pistol and 
aimed it
in the air.  'Pop!'   The sound of the gun when off!   That was Cloudchaser’s 
cue!  
The red wolf looked into the crowd of onlookers to see if he could spot the 
young
fox maiden.   Unable to find her, the wolf gave his biplane full throttle.    
 The
little Jenny rumbled down the field building up speed to force air pressure 
under
its wings.    Finally, the biplane lifted off the ground.   Another round of 
applause
and cheer surged from the ecstatic crowd below.   Cloud glanced at his fans,
then urged his plane into a climb.  

The mayor continued his announcements.  “And Cloudchaser has taken off in
his Curtiss JN-4D Jenny!   The Jenny, as some of you are familiar with, was
used to train pilots in the war.    It has an OX-5 engine, which is a 
water-cooled
V-8, and it runs on 90 horsepower.   I was also informed that our brave
barnstormer had installed a Scintilla magneto, which is more reliable than the
standard that comes with the plane.    Now ladies and gentlemen, let me bring 
it
to your attention that Cloudchaser is operating this plane without any 
brakes.  
Planes that were built before the war had no brakes, and so the pilots had to
ensure their speed before landing.   Usually 45 to 55 miles an hour is a good
landing speed.”  

'No brakes!'  Stephanie thought.  She looked at her parents in astonishment.  
They were still following the pilot, as were her sister and brothers.   
'What if he...?   Oh, Dear Lord, be with him and protect him!'  Stephanie 
looked
back up into the air and followed the pilot’s path.

“Okay, now that Cloudchaser has reached an altitude of about a thousand feet,
he will be doing a series of loops first,” the announcer said.   As if on 
cue, Cloud
increased his pitch, sending his plane into a perfect loop.   Next, the rufine
performed a rollover in his Jenny, and performed another climb.   Again, Cloud
brought his plane into a successful loop.   Two more loops followed in
succession.    Then, Cloudchaser sent his biplane into a dive, heading for
Mr. Jabe Parker’s barn!

“What’s this?!  What is Mr. Shaconage doing?,” the excited mayor announced.  
“It looks like Mr. Cloudchaser is heading straight for the barn!”  

The crowd hushed in silence, afraid of making the slightest sound.   Knowing
that this was part of the act, Jabe ran and slid back the front and back 
doors of
his barn to let the daredevil through.   When the badger was safely out of the
way, Cloudchaser decreased his plane’s angle of attack and flew past the
announcer’s stand, sending all of Mr. Richard’s papers into the wind and flew
straight through the barn, upsetting the chickens inside the loft, and 
scattering
hay across the field!  The crowd stood up from their seats and clapped at the
reckless pilot.  The rufine picked hay from his goggles and spit a few strands
from his mouth before attempting his next stunt.

Mr. Richards, still holding on to his hat with one hand, quickly grabbed the
podium with the other.  “Now what is that scoundrel up to now?” the bear
announced.   At only twelve feet from the ground, Cloudchaser flew a pass over
the field and circled around.  

“Okay...members of the audience, please keep quiet.  Cloudchaser is going to
attempt a very dangerous maneuver, and he needs your absolute silence!”

The crowd watched in a deathly silence as the rufine pilot flipped his plane 
over,
and flew upside down past the stands only six feet off the ground!   Oh, the 
skill
of this fearless young pilot!   Not even highly trained pilots dared to 
perform such a
stunt!    

“Okay, Mr. Shaconage is going to take a break while he gets ready for his next
performance!  Meanwhile, everyone, let’s take ourselves a break and get some
lunch!  The show will resume in about two hours.”