Bush tries to fly a cessna
The Robiletor
NOT LONG AFTER Reisner's delicate trip to Midland[summer 1976], Bush banged
on the door of Susie and Don Evans on an otherwise placid Sunday afternoon
and suggested to Don that they head out to the airport and spend a few
bucks for a spin over the desiccated Permian Basin in a single-engine
Cessna. Susie Evans, who had gone to elementary school with Bush, was a
longtime Midland presence, and when she had been dating her future husband
in Houston, she had frequently stayed at the Bush house. She had moved back
to Midland, and after she had heard that Bush was back in town, she and her
husband had frequently invited him over.
snip.....
Evans said he'd love to go flying. At the airport he watched Bush stare at
the controls, at the panel, and he realized that Bush-though not admitting
it-had no idea how to fly the thing properly. After finally figuring out
how to launch the plane, Bush pushed the Cessna hard down the runway. Evans
screamed, "Give it some gas!" The Cessna's warning system was blinking and
crackling. Bush tried to lift his craft fast, almost as if he were piloting
a jet back in the Texas Air National Guard. The plane wobbled into the air,
and the unsubtle maneuvering threatened to shove it into a stall. Now the
rented plane was rattling in the sky over Midland
The endless petrochemical complexes, all the aluminum and steel and smoke
stacks that pockmark the Permian Basin, were spiking up just below the
aircraft. Bush nervously turned to Evans, put his hand on his knee and
blurted in his self-mocking West Texas way, "Okay, Evvie, I致e got it under
control."
After more seemingly endless moments, he somehow got control of the plane
again. He aimed the aircraft down, and the landing was as shaky and brutal
as the takeoff. The plane careened off the runway and onto the desert.
Evans sighed in relief. Then an unbelieving Evans braced himself as Bush
suddenly and unexpectedly spun the plane and bounced back along the runway.
Evans stared at Bush. He could see the fear and panic flooding his face.
Bush pressed on. Evans had no idea why Bush wanted to go again. The plane
wobbled uncertainly back into the West Texas skies, and Bush turned to
Evans. "Hey," said Bush airily, as if he had just had an original, amusing
idea, "let's fly around Midland."
The men began cracking up. Bush brought the Cessna back to the airport. It
was the last time he flew a plane. Evans would be one of the three people
at Bush's side in almost every public venture for the twenty-three years.
NoSur...@never.net
<stand...@operamail.com> wrote:
>Bush really flying in a Cessna 172 in 1976:
You shouldn't post this on SAA...you belong on ASS.
Ain't the truth beautiful!!
Have a nice day!!
Cheerio, and Hoo-Raah!!
Dennis, Proud America-Loving NEOCON CAPITALIST, Finest Kind Irish.