| After several e-mail exchanges, I was intrigued to
meet Phyllis. The details I had accumulated prior to the visit were
as follows; one of the few female Commercial airline pilots in the
70s, commanded sailboats, excellent writer, lover of books,
lived in Guam, researched WWII in the Pacific. All these details
snowballed leading me to the inevitable conclusion I was going to
meet a true adventurer. Disappointment was not going to knock on my
door today. The additional stories I accumulated from this petite,
animated woman left me mesmerized. John enquired into her most
memorable flight experience. During the beginning of her
flight career, she was completely on fire to fly. Due to this, she
tended to throw caution to the wind, if it meant she could be
airborne. At this time in her life, she lived in Florida. Arriving
at the airport one day, a fellow pilot asked if she would like to
join him on his aircraft with a new annual (inspection). Checking
the gas first required breaking the rust off the seal so the lid
would come off. Not a problem. Up in the air and out over the water,
her fellow pilot performed acrobatics (in a non-rated aerobatic
plane) over and around islands before handing the controls to her.
About this time, the plane cut off. Phyllis said she had to give the
other pilot credit, he resumed control of the aircraft and put the
plane back on earth on a remote, uninhabited island. Into the
evening, they attempted radioing for help but quit after they
depleted the plane's battery. As I mentioned above, Phyllis had
sailing experience. Looking through the plane's survival gear, she
found a signaling mirror with a hole in it. During her sailing days,
she learned how to use one. The next afternoon, she spotted in the
distance a boat's sail. Using the mirror, she signaled toward the
boat. The second the boat's sail changed course, she knew they had
been found. She may not be here today had it not been for that
mirror and her quick actions. At a later date, a barge
retrieved the plane from the island.
Phyllis's husband George didn't have any wild flight stories that
involved him, but he did have a friend whose story rivaled
Phyllis's. On board the plane was the friend, friend's brother and
his nephew. While out over water and the nearest airport over a
hundred miles away, the plane's engine started shaking so
violently the pilot thought the engine would literally fall off.
Slowing the plane helped, but they lost altitude in the process.
Changing the fuel selector didn't help. At 250 feet above water with
a seemingly inevitable water landing in their future, the pilot
switched the magneto from both to left. The engine's shaking
stopped, they resumed altitude and later safely landed on land. In
inspecting the plane, he found a tool mistakenly left inside the
engine, a tool left by the mechanic that had just performed the
annual on the plane. It had shorted out one side of the magneto
causing the horrible imbalance. I probably would have thrown a
punch. Scary!!!!
Besides hearing wonderful adventure tales, John and I spent the
afternoon with George and Phyllis , visiting the Kula Lodge for a
delicious lunch and wrapping up the afternoon with a tour of the
Lavender Farm. |
