A New World Begins

Take me back to the Black Hills

Just after 9 am on the Tuesday morning before Thanksgiving, Kyle’s Bronco swept over Sewickley Bridge and then turned up Robin Hill towards Pittsburgh Airport. Instead of driving to the main terminal he turned onto Horizon Drive and headed towards the private aviation facility sandwiched between the main terminal and the USAF hangars on the far side of the runways. Almost before he had pulled up to a halt outside the private terminal, Will was disembarking and hurrying the others along.

“Come on guys, this way. Grab your bags. We don’t need to go through the main buildings and security and stuff like that, we just head in here and straight out to our plane.”

Travis smiled at Noah and Shane and then said, “And I thought it was my plane…”

With Kyle in tow, they all followed Will into the small private terminal building. Inside, the brightly lit lounge area was smartly furnished with a series of leather chairs and sofas gathered around small coffee tables. As they pounced on one of the sofas, Kyle wandered over to the small desk positioned discreetly in one corner of the lounge and spoke to the lady sitting there.

“Good morning, ma’am,” said Kyle, spotting her name badge a moment too late. “I’ve brought four passengers for a flight to Rapid City, South Dakota. They’re due to fly in about half an hour’s time I believe. It’s a flight in the name of Larson.”

“Yes,” smiled Mrs Pauley, “The aircraft has already arrived. It’s right outside on the ramp being fuelled. I’ll let the crew know you’re here. In the meantime, please just relax and help yourselves to drinks and snacks until you’re called to embark. If there’s anything we can do to make your stay with us more comfortable, just ask. To save time later, perhaps you could you bring over the young gentlemen’s ID and flight authorisation for me to check?”

Kyle wandered back to the guys and began collecting in the paperwork that had been prepared earlier. He’d already been beaten to them by a smartly dressed young lady who was pouring complimentary coffees and assuring Travis that yes, of course she could find him some cookies.

“The plane’s just being refuelled,” said Kyle to Travis. “They’re letting the crew know you are ready to board, it probably won’t be long before someone comes in to collect you. I’ll wait with you until then.” He looked around the quiet, well-appointed and almost empty lounge and added, “This sure beats scheduled flights.”

As the rest of the guys sat sipping coffee and re-packing their paperwork, Will was busying himself on his iPad, checking flight plans and refreshing his memory of the specifications of the Pilatus PC-12. Travis was the first to see someone approaching and jumped up from his seat, his face beaming.

“Hau Wowicakhe Woglaka Takoda Wicasa,” said the smartly dressed young woman, stepping forward to hug him. ”You’ve certainly grown in the few months you’ve been away.” She was about the same height as Travis but with raven black, shoulder length hair and the darker complexion of a Native American.

“Hau Kimimela,” laughed Travis, pulling her tight into him in a bear hug before eventually freeing her and turning to face the guys. “Guys, this is Kimimela. She’s going to be taking us home.”

As the guys jumped to their feet and held out their hands to begin introducing themselves, Shane was looking puzzled. “Er, what did you say, Ma’am?” asked Shane. “I don’t think I heard it properly.”

Kimimela smiled at him sweetly. “Oh, you probably wouldn’t have understood it anyway. I was just greeting Travis by his Lakota name. The name we call him back home.”

Travis blushed. “My name really is Travis,” he said hurriedly, “But some folk call me Wowicakhe Woglaka Takoda Wicasa. Or just Takoda for short. It’s easier to say, too.”

Kimimela was grinning. “You almost pronounced it right yourself, Travis. By the way guys, you can either call me ‘Kimimela’ or ‘Butterfly’, whichever is easier for you. They mean the same thing.”

“Kimimela is pretty,” said Noah. “I like that.”

“What does Travis’s name mean,” said Will. “That wikky-whacky-wiggly-takky thing…? Is it an Indian name?” Everyone except Travis burst out laughing.

“Oh, it’s difficult to translate exactly,” laughed Kimimela, “And it’s also missing a part that is only known by Travis and the Medicine Man. But roughly, the first bit means ‘Brave truth speaker’ and the last bit, ‘with wealthy parents’”

Everyone laughed again.

“Stick with Travis,” said Travis. “Come on, let’s be going.”

“Not so fast, Takoda,” smiled Kimimela, reaching into the smart leather case hanging from her shoulder and pulling out an iPad. “I have to file our final flight plan and double check the weather. You just sit down for a few minutes more and enjoy your coffee with your friends.”

Will was pushing forward. “Are you going to be our stewardess, Kimimela? Do you think the pilot will let me look in the cockpit? I’d love to check out the new navigation system.”

Kimimela exchanged a smile with Travis and then turned back to Will. “I sure am, Will. I’m also your baggage handler, flight engineer and pilot. So be nice, drink your coffee and when I’m done at the desk I’ll tell you all you want to know about the navigation system.”

Kyle was trying hard not to laugh as Will’s mouth moved but, for once, words struggled to make it out past his lips. “I guess,” he said to Kimimela, “That with a list of responsibilities like that, I can also hand over the guys to you as a ‘responsible adult’ too?” As Kimimela smiled and wandered over to the reception and information desk, Kyle turned to the guys and said, “Okay, I’ll leave you now. Have a great trip and Thanksgiving. Don’t forget to thank Travis’s family again for inviting you and flying you there. And don’t cause any trouble for Kimimela. Got that?”

“Yeah,” laughed Travis. “Be careful, Will. Kimimela will scalp you if you put a foot wrong…”

A few minutes later Kimimela returned from the information desk and sat down in a leather chair opposite the guys.

“Okay, we’re ready to go now. Just two things to do. First is a quick safety briefing about boarding the aircraft. Unlike a big jet, we won’t be boarding the Pilatus through an air bridge. We’ll just walk out of that door over there and straight to the aircraft. It’s parked just outside. Just follow me and stay clear of any other aircraft or vehicles that are out there – the fuel truck may still be packing up. Both doors on the aircraft are open: the rear cargo door and the front passenger door. Just drop your bags in through the cargo door then walk over to the front door, up the steps and into the cabin. Any questions?”

“No,” said Travis, Shane and Will.

“Yes,” said Noah. “What’s the second thing?”

Kimimela smiled. “I was just going to tell Will to download an app from the Pilatus website onto his iPad and I’d share the flight plan and a few other details with him to look at during the journey.”

“Oh wow!” said Will. “What’s the address for the apps?”

Once Will had downloaded a couple of apps, they followed Kimimela out onto the ramp and towards a sleek, single turbo-prop engined aircraft. Travis was the first to comment.

“Hey, it’s grown an extra propellor blade.” He paused, then added “It’s got bigger winglets too. And the radar pod looks different.”

“All part of the upgrade, Travis,” smiled Kimimela. “Just wait until you see the inside. Your pop has certainly spent some money on the old girl.”

“It’s a five bladed Hartzell prop,” said Will quickly. “The very latest. See how the blades have a skewed shape? It makes the aircraft faster, climb better and burn less fuel.”

Travis supervised the lifting of their bags in through the rear cargo door - “The only one on an aircraft of this size specifically designed to take a standard cargo pallet” - as Will was quick to inform them, then led them to the front airstair. First to board, Travis let out a whistle of surprise when he stepped inside.

“I thought you’d be impressed,” laughed Kimimela.

Inside the passenger cabin, the first four seats, large, cream leather armchairs, were arranged facing each other fore and aft with two fold-away tables separating them. Beyond those were two further forward-facing seats on the left side and a two-seat couch facing inwards on the right-hand side.  At the rear was a cargo area where their bags were sat. Travis pushed to the back of the aeroplane and quickly lifted the bags into a compartment in the tail of the aircraft, then secured a cargo net over them.

“Thanks, Travis,” said Kimimela as she double checked the bags were secure and then turned to the guys. “Make yourselves comfortable boys. I’d prefer you to use the four forward seats for take off but once we’re airborne and I give you the word you’re free to move around. Just don’t all do it at once, just in ones and twos. Okay?”

“It’s for weight distribution,” said Will. “Keeping the centre of gravity and the centre of pressure within limits is more important on small planes. Less leeway than on big jets.”

“Yes, that’s right,” smiled Kimimela. “For now, buckle yourselves in and get comfortable. I’m sure Will can tell you about the inflight entertainment systems built into each seat, and Travis won’t have forgotten where the drinks and snacks are kept. I’m just going to do a final walk-around check, then we’ll close the doors and be on our way.”

Travis and Noah sat down in the two foremost, and thus rearward facing seats, leaving Will and Shane to take the forward-facing seats opposite them. Travis pressed a button and slid the two tables out of the way, folding them into recesses in the fuselage. “It’s just a safety measure, for take-off and landing,” he said. “It means we can get out of the seats and aircraft faster if we need to. We can put the tables back out as soon as we’re cruising. The lavatory is immediately behind the cockpit just there, but we can’t use that either until we’re cruising.”

A moment later Kimimela appeared outside the rear cargo door and smiled. “Sounds like you have done the next briefing for me, Travis,” she said before closing the door and moving round to board the aircraft. She closed the door behind her and stood facing them, occupying the small space between the cabin and the cockpit.

“The only thing now is just a quick safety briefing. I can see you are all strapped in and properly buckled, so I won’t bore you with that announcement. There’s a lifebelt under each seat, and as I’ve filed a flight plan that will take us over the edge of Lake Michigan you’ll all need to know how to use it in case I crash us into the water.”

Travis laughed. “We all know how to do a lifejacket, don’t we?”

Everyone nodded.

Kimimela smiled again. “Basically, if we crash, get out of either the front or cargo door by swinging round those big red safety handles and pushing the door outwards, then get clear of the aircraft. If we’re in water, life rafts will automatically deploy from both doors. The important thing, on land or water, is to get away from the aircraft quickly. Don’t stop for baggage or anything. Understood?”

“We’ve got that.”

“Okay, just sit tight for a few minutes while I start the engine and get clearance for take-off. Will, if you fire that app up I’ll transfer the flight plan to you so you can track our route and get a weather feed. If you enable Bluetooth, I’ll even let you log onto the auxiliary channel and feed the aircraft instrumentation data to you so you’ll see some of the same flight information screens as I do.”

Will smiled. “It’s not like a commercial jet guys, where you can’t operate electronics during take-off. I’ve been reading up on it. Pilatus even have a dedicated output from the flight systems to display data on the passengers’ laptops or phones. Look here…”

As Will leaned forward and started telling the guys about the flight system, Kimimela busied herself in the cockpit, starting the engine and checking out all the instruments. After a couple of minutes she turned to face them and said. “Okay guys, we’re ready to go. Keep strapped in until I tell you otherwise.”  She paused for a moment, then said, “Will, are you happy back there, or would you like to come up and sit in the co-pilot’s seat?”

Travis, Shane and Noah would all later claim the first supersonic boom they ever heard was made by Will as he leapt out of his seat and hurled himself forward into the co-pilot’s seat alongside Kimimela. A minute later he was wearing a headset and testing the intercom microphone.

“Okay, Will. Just sit there and don’t touch anything. I’ve set your screen to replicate all the flight data and instrumentation I see on my screen, and the central screen is set to show the radar and thermal camera views. Those are very useful at night or bad weather but not really needed at the moment. Because the cockpit instrumentation has all been upgraded I’m going to keep them operational to familiarise myself with the new capabilities. Once we’re airborne and cruising, I’ll talk you through them. During the take-off and initial climb, you can actually be very useful. Keep a good lookout on your side of the aircraft and let me know if you see any other aircraft. This airspace will be quite busy and I like to keep a visual watch as well as trusting the tower. Okay?”

“Yes, I can do that Kimimela,” said Will excitedly. “I’ll keep an eye on the radar for you too.”

“Tower, this is Ox-cart Seven-Niner, outbound for Rapid City, IFR. Request permission to leave the VIP ramp and taxi for take-off.”

“Ox-cart, this is Pittsburgh Tower, you are cleared to move to runway One Four Zero and hold at Alpha One. Follow flight plan as filed. Departure frequency, One Three Two Decimal Two Seven Five.”

“Tower, roger, Departure frequency One Three Two Decimal Two Seven Five. Ox-cart, over.”

“Okay Will,” said Kimimela, “We’ve been told we can move off and taxi to the end of the runway and hold there until we are cleared to take off. Keep a good eye out for other traffic as we taxi.”

Almost imperceptibly at first, the aircraft began to move forward and then picked up speed as Kimimela gradually opened the throttle and the engine note rose. In the passenger cabin, Travis, Noah and Shane were looking out the windows and chatting, the sound proofing allowing them to converse without raising their voices. A few feet forward of them, Will was studying the screens intently, listening in on the radio traffic and observing as Kimimela ran through her departure check lists.

“Tower, this is Ox-cart holding at Alpha One for Runway One Four Zero. Ready for departure to Rapid City, IFR. Squawking Three Five, Five Seven.”

“Ox-cart, this is Tower. Cleared for take-off on Runway One Four Zero. Maintain heading One Four Zero out to three nautical miles and three thousand feet then request release to follow flight planned as filed. Over.”

“Tower, Ox-cart. Rolling now. Maintain One Four Zero out to three miles and three thousand feet. Out.”

“Okay Will. We’re off. I’ll take us down the centreline until we reach eighty knots indicated and then rotate. Any problems before that, I’ll abort take-off, after that I have the option of dropping back down if we have enough runway left, otherwise I’ll have to take off, declare an emergency and request an immediate return. See that open space ahead between the trees and to the right of the FedEx building? In an absolute emergency I’ll put us down there if I can’t turn back to the runway.”

Will nodded gravely. “I see it.”

“We won’t need it, but a good pilot should always be prepared for every eventuality.”

The Pilatus accelerated down the runway and Will watched, fascinated, as the screen instrumentation ahead of him came alive and heading, power and altitude markers began to scroll. On the centre screen, flight symbology and radar data started to overlay a flight path on the forward looking infra-red camera view.

“We just follow the synthesised road up into the sky,” smiled Kimimela, “Just like in a video game.”

There was barely a judder as the aircraft first raised its nosewheel and then the mainwheels left the ground.

“Airborne. Airspeed increasing, ninety knots, one hundred feet. Dab the brakes, gear coming up. Yaw dampers engaged. Three hundred feet. One hundred ten knots. Five hundred feet. Gear up. One hundred twenty five knots and increasing. One thousand feet. Gear locked and flaps up. Engine throttling back for low noise ascent. Systems all nominal.”

“Departures, this is Ox-cart. Cleared Runway One Four Zero, outbound for Rapid City. Request release to follow flight plan. Over.”

“Ox-cart, released for Rapid City, follow flight plan as filed. Next contact is Dryer Advisory on One One Three Decimal Six. Have a good day and out to you.”

“Okay Will, we’re now clear of the airfield and switching to the automatic flight controller for instrument flying. Autopilot on. Basically we let the aircraft follow the way points on a pre-programmed course for a while, but we still need to monitor the instruments and keep a very sharp look out for another few minutes until we are well away from this busy airspace.”

Will nodded and very obviously looked out of the window, scanning all round them.

“No aircraft in sight, Kimimela.”

Kimimela flicked a switch and the screen in front of Will changed to a moving map display overlaid with their route to Rapid City.

“You’ll see that our route is 1,030 nautical miles, so the flight control software has broken it down into about thirty shorter legs. Each of those is planned so that we’re never more than about fifteen to twenty miles from a recognised airstrip. From cruising altitude, we can glide about that far so if we lose the engine we can declare an emergency and get down onto the ground. We won’t need to of course, but…”

“But it pays to be ready with an emergency plan,” finished Will.

“It sure does,” laughed Kimimela, “And I’ll always be spotting fields big enough to land on anyway. For now though, we can settle back and enjoy the trip. We’ll be airborne about three and a half hours, so landing just around lunchtime. If you flick that switch there to ‘Co-Pilot’ and ‘Cabin’ you can make an announcement to Travis and your friends. Tell them our speed and altitude, and some of the information on your screen, then hand over to me to speak to them by flicking it to ‘Pilot’.”

“Gentlemen,” announced Will with an air of authority, “This is your Co-Pilot speaking. We are now climbing through eight thousand feet on our way to Rapid City. We will shortly be cruising at two hundred eighty knots and turning north west to head across the state border into West Virginia over East Liverpool. Stand by for an announcement from the Captain.”

“This is Kimimela,” laughed Kimimela, turning to face into the cabin. “You‘re all okay to unfasten your seat belts and move around. We’ll be arriving in Dakota in about three and a half hours. Travis, if you can find where the new percolator is, I’d love a cup of coffee…”

* * *

In the cabin, Travis had re-instated the tables and Noah had retrieved his sketch book from his bag and was spread out on the table he now had to himself to do some drawing. Shane was looking out of the window to his side, but also had a decent view through the front cockpit window too. Travis had been busy in the small but well-equipped galley area, finding that not only was there a built-in coffee percolator but also a small reheating unit to prepare food. Some pre-prepared snack food had been loaded onboard at Pittsburgh and so Travis was soon handing out slices of pizza before sitting down opposite Shane once more.

“So, Shane, what do you think of our plane?” asked Travis.

“It’s great,” said Shane between bites of pizza, “But I don’t have a lot to compare it with. I’ve only flown on an aircraft twice before, when Kyle’s parents took me to live with them briefly when they were back here in America, and then again when I flew with Kyle to Pittsburgh to start college.  They were jet airliners though, nothing like this. I prefer this.”

“Most of the time it doesn’t have all the seats in,” said Travis. “It only takes about thirty minutes to remove or fit the those two singles and the couch at the rear. Usually it’s flying cargo between our farms or plants, or doing survey work. We can fit a camera and sensor pod back near the cargo door and use it study crop growth and stuff like that. The old interior fit out wasn’t bad, but this upgrade is even better. Sometimes Kimimela or my pop lets me take the controls if no-one else is on board.”

Will and Kimimela were chatting between themselves and making some adjustments to the auto-pilot and navigation system before Will glanced back around into the cabin and then made another announcement.

“This is your Co-Pilot speaking. We’ve been routed slightly further north by air traffic control than originally planned to go around Chicago. We’ll be flying over Lake Michigan for a while and you’ll get great views of the city as we pass by. It’s just coming into view ahead of us now, so you should get a really nice view on the port side in about ten to fifteen minutes. That’s the left side, Shane. Once we cross the shore again a few miles north of Chicago, we’ll be turning slightly and then making a basically straight-line flight all the way to Rapid City.”

Travis, Shane and Noah all looked at each other and smiled. Will was clearly in his element. He wasn’t actually flying the aircraft but Kimimela was involving him in the flight and letting him enjoy the experience.

“Chicago looks amazing from up here,” said Shane a few minutes later as they got closer to it. “I can see the office blocks all clustered around the waterfront. And is that the Sears Tower there?”

“Yes,” said Travis, “But I think it’s called something else now.”

“Look, there’s a boat crashed up onto that bit of beach over there! Like a big old steamship. It’s got two funnels. See it?”

Travis and Noah both leaned over to get a better view out of the window, eager to see the crashed boat.

“No,” said Noah. “I don’t think it is. I think it’s a café on the beachfront built to look like a boat.”

“Yes, I think you’re right,” said Shane. ”I can see it clearer now that we’re getting closer. It looks good though.”

“One day we should go there,” said Travis. “Have a burger looking across at the Lake.”

“It’s more like a sea than a lake,” said Shane.

Will had overheard them and was quick to join in the conversation. “I’ve marked the café ship thing on the map guys. It’s just next to Lincoln Park, I’ve got its co-ordinates logged.  You’re right, we should come back one day. And our leg over Lake Michigan was nearly fifty-six miles. It’s a big lake. Nearly two hundred seventy miles in the north – south direction.”

“Look how flat it gets the other side of Chicago,” said Shane. “You’ve got the huge skyscrapers right here on the waterfront, then a few miles of buildings in each direction getting smaller and smaller, then just a big flat open plain. I didn’t know America was so big. I mean, I’ve seen it on maps, but from up here it looks real.”

“We’ve got another six hundred miles to go,” said Will from the front. “We won’t see anything like a hill right until we get to Rapid City. Just six hundred miles of the Great Plains. We have to go about another three hundred miles before we see another place. Sioux Falls. Even that doesn’t look very big.”

* * *

An hour and a half later Kimimela flicked on the intercom, rousing Shane and Travis from the college worksheets they had brought with them and Noah from his drawing.

“I’ve just been checking our fuel burn and speed over ground, boys. Usually, we’d be flying into a wind from the west over the Plains but today we’re lucky, it’s much lighter than forecast at our altitude. We’ve made good progress and used less fuel than planned.  First Officer Will has been doing some calculations for me and predicts we’ll arrive twenty minutes early over Rapid City’s Air Traffic Zone and with a much higher fuel reserve than we actually need. First Officer, over to you…”

There was no disguising the excitement in Will’s voice.

“We’ve just contacted Ellsworth Air Force Base Advisory and Rapid City Control to file a new digital flight plan. They’ve cleared us to go over the Black Hills National Forest and do a tour of Mount Rushmore, the Crazy Horse Monument and Custer National Park. You should be able to see the Black Hills on the horizon ahead in about twenty minutes guys. First Officer out.”

Shane looked over at Travis. “Wow! Those are places I’ve only seen on tv.”

“They’re in my back yard,” laughed Travis. “I’m nearly home. Do you remember when I was telling Craig about where I live and he said it sounded just like a list of film sets? Deadwood. Silver City. Wounded Knee. Cheyenne Crossing. Blackhawk.”

“Maybe we can send him a post card,” said Shane. “He’d like that. Do they have post cards?”

“Of course we have post cards,” said Travis. “And if we don’t, Noah can draw us one.”

* * *

The Pilatus dropped down to just over two thousand feet above ground and swept round in a broad, curving circuit around the Black Hills. The early afternoon skies were clear and the late Fall sun bright, highlighting the peaks and rock bluffs standing tall over the bright orange, red and yellow swathes of forest. It was a truly awesome sight from the air and even Will looked out of the window in awed silence as they soared over the presidential sculptures at Mount Rushmore and then the Crazy Horse Memorial.

Kimimela turned the Pilatus around after a final pass over Mount Rushmore and announced that she was now taking them towards Travis’s home so they could get a view of it from the air. As the hills and forest began to give way to grassland once more Travis picked up the commentary.

“We’re only a few minutes away from my house now guys. We’ll probably fly right over it. You see that old fashioned wooden church in the clearing over there? That’s where I was christened. I’ll probably get married and buried there too. And that creek over there? Winding its way along through the trees and then into the plain? That’s where I fell off my horse and broke my leg about five years ago. And those barns? Those are ours. Our house will come in sight any time now.”

“First Officer to Pilot,” interrupted Will via the intercomm, “Shush a moment Travis, we have an issue up here.”

“What’s the problem, Will?” asked Kimimela, not at all concerned.

“The autopilot and navigation system are wrong,” said Will. “They aren’t taking us back to Rapid City and the runway. They’ve set a solution to land right ahead.”

Kimimela turned and smiled at Travis, who was trying not to laugh.

“That’s right,” said Travis, “It’s nearly a forty-five minute ride to the airport by car, plus all that time in baggage claim. We always land in our back field. We don’t bother with the airport at all.”

Kimimela turned to face Will. “Good spot though, Will, you’re definitely on the ball. Now, I know you might not have done an austere landing before, but you can help me put us down right outside Travis’s back porch. I’ll take us round in a circle so you can see the lie of the land, then we’ll line up and touch down in the big field right behind their house. You up for it?”

Of course Will was up for it!

The Pilatus swept over Travis's house, a large whitewashed wooden building with a wing at each end, set in a clearing between two arms of forest jutting down from the Black Hills. East of the house was nothing but open prairie. There were several barns to the side of the house and a large flat field behind it that had been closely mown in a long narrow strip about a half mile long. Several people came out onto the porch from the house, and about half a dozen others from the barns and sheds as they heard the Pilatus swooping down.

Kimimela steadied the Pilatus and began to go through her landing check list as Will, following her instructions, divided his time between looking out of the window for obstructions – ‘like cattle or children’ – wandering onto the grass strip, checking the camera view beneath them and watchung the instruments.

“Gear down and locked. Check”

“Check” repeated Will. “Three green lights.”

“Flaps forty.”

“Flaps forty” repeated Will. “No obstacles on the field.”

“Airspeed ninety knots.”

“BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!”

“That’s okay, Will, just an alarm to let us know we’re approaching minimum airspeed and engine power. We’ll get a few more automatic warnings, mainly voice call outs about altitude, as we descend. This plane prefers to stay airborne.”

Will smiled and looked carefully at the screens.

“FIVE HUNDRED”

“Everyone seated and strapped in back there? Tables stowed?” asked Kimimela.

“Sure are,” said Travis, smiling as he saw Shane holding tight to his arm rests. “I bet we don’t even bounce, Shane,” he added reassuringly.

“APPROACHING MINIMUMS”

“Runway clear ahead, no obstacles. Wind speed just three knots on our port bow,” said Kimimela.

“Check,” said Will. “So we just follow that projected glide slope all the way down?”

“We sure do.”

“MINIMUMS”

“ONE HUNDRED”

“FIFTY”

“TWENTY”

“TEN”

There was a slight rumble as the wheels touched down.

“No brakes, reversing pitch on the engine, power to eighty per-cent. Gear locked and wheels rolling. Aircraft slowing. Welcome to Dakota boys. Don’t unstrap until we’ve finished moving, I don’t want you falling out of your seat if I put the nosewheel down a gopher hole.”

Travis was smiling again. “We might come out tomorrow with my rifle and get rid of a few gophers, guys. They’ve probably been multiplying like mad while I was away.”

Kimimela slowed the aircraft down to a halt after only a few hundred yards, turned it around and taxied it over to one of the large steel barns which, they could now tell, was a hangar. As she and Will went through the shut down check list, with Will actually being allowed to flick a few of the switches now they were on the ground, Travis unfastened his seatbelt and opened the door.

“Welcome home,” he said.