Rita Stout

Adventures and Misadventures: Stories from an Alaskan Lifestyle Rita Stout

Jack spins his plane around and lines up with the short runway. He sits looking down just over one thousand feet to the other end and, maybe another six hundred feet to the tall trees. He cranks the prop out flat getting the engine up to twenty-seven hundred rpm. He sets the brakes and pushing the throttle all the way in, releases the brakes as soon as the engine hits full rpm. The plane starts moving, a little slow at first, and then it starts to accelerate. With about six hundred feet of runway used up, Jack has to hunker down to see the tops of the trees. Jack pulls ten degrees of flaps and eases the wheel back. The plane comes off the ground. The air speed indicates only thirty-five miles an hour. Jack holds the plane level with the wheels only a foot or so off the ground. At he end of the runway his air speed is seventy-five miles an hour. He pulls the control wheel sharply back and the plane seems to leap straight up. He claws for enough altitude to miss the tall trees and level out. Whether it is that moment of elation when the wheels leave the ground and Jack is airborne or the delight brought on by the hum of the engine when the boat goes up on step, life is exciting. Living with the great wilderness of Alaska out their backdoor, Jack and Rita Stout sample all that life has to offer. They boat, fly, drive offroad with snowmobiles and ATVs and tell about their adventures.