Lost In Time by W. M. Wiltshire

Author:W. M. Wiltshire [Wiltshire, W. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-14T22:00:00+00:00

74

Amelia eased herself through the overhead hatch and into the pilot’s seat. She looked out the windshield and realized there wasn’t enough natural light yet. Checking her watch, she decided to wait another ten minutes. The extra time would also give the runway a chance to dry up a bit from the earlier rain.

While Amelia was waiting, newspaper reporters and photographers continued to gather along the length of the runway, all hoping to be the first to record history in the making. There was sufficient light for the spectators to see her takeoff, but she wasn’t sure there would be enough for the photographers to get good clear shots.

When the time was right, Amelia yelled out the window to tell Fred and Harry to get on-board. They entered through the rear cabin door, securing it and themselves. Soon after, they signaled Amelia they were set to go.

“Clear right,” Amelia yelled out the cockpit window. When she received the all clear sign, she started the right engine and, then, repeated the process to start the left engine. When both were running perfectly, she signaled for the wheel chocks to be removed.

Amelia taxied the airplane to the northeast end of the runway. She swung the Electra around and lined it up slightly to the right of the centre line of the runway. She turned to check on Fred and Harry; they were both ready.

A light wind was coming out of the southwest, barely enough to move the windsock on top of the hangar. The sky was now broken and visibility was good. Amelia made one last check of the engines’ gauges and reset the directional gyros to match the compass reading.

Everything was ready. Amelia, with her feet firmly planted on the brakes, closed her eyes for just a moment, took one deep breath, and then opened them. While her left hand gripped the control yoke, her right advanced the throttles to half power. Keeping her right hand on both throttles, she released the brakes as she applied full power.

As the airplane slowly gathered speed, Amelia applied back pressure on the control yoke to keep the tail wheel firmly on the ground. She applied more pressure to the left rudder since the plane was drifting toward the right.

One of the mechanics, who had worked on the propellers earlier, had positioned himself at about the midway point along the runway to watch Miss Earhart’s takeoff. As he watched and listened to the approaching airplane, he thought the left engine was turning over a little faster than the right and it was pushing the plane off to the right, closer to where he was standing.

“I can’t watch,” Dani whispered, as she buried her face in Daric’s shoulder.

“You know she’ll be all right,” Daric whispered, not wanting Mila, who was standing on the other side of him, to hear their conversation.

“We don’t know that. Our being here may have altered things,” Dani murmured.

The airplane accelerated down the runway, Amelia applied elevator and aileron forces as needed.

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