Story by Heidi Axum, EAA Lifetime 1462447; Photos courtesy of Tucker Axum, EAA Lifetime 1418919
You would think with all the talking pilots do with air traffic controllers and with their buddies at the hangar, that they’d be better communicators. While I’m not a pilot, I’ve logged hundreds of hours with my husband at the controls. In fact, our first date was 23 years ago when he flew us at sunset over South Louisiana’s bayous in a Cessna 152. We were just young college kids, and I’ve been flying with him ever since.
Almost all these hours barnstorming across the beautiful United States have been pleasurable, but there was one coast-to-coast trip that made me question the FAA’s judgement for certifying my adventurous husband.
We loaded up our red-and-white Cessna Cardinal in Georgia and departed westward for our home in California. We leveled off at 8,500 feet and welcomed the calmer winds and cooler temperatures at that altitude. My husband, Tucker, loved the Hollywood movie, Flyboys, and had the soundtrack playing softly in the background of our headsets, which made the flight even more magical. My emotions swirled as a full orchestra of strings and horns accompanied our airplane’s dance around clusters of puffy white clouds. Below were small towns, country roads, and green pastures. Settling into the first leg of the journey, my heart warmed as I glanced in the backseat and saw our sweet chocolate Labrador sleeping. I was basking in the awe of flight and thinking how lucky I was to get a bird’s eye view of our gorgeous nation. That is until Tucker uttered four little words.
“We’re out of gas,” he said.
The blood left my face, and I felt my stomach knot up. My sight became tunnel-visioned, and time seemed to slow.
“WHAT?” I screamed, feeling the hair stand up on the back of my neck.
“That’s the name of the song,” he calmly replied, still looking straight ahead and enjoying the flight.
When my heart stopped racing, I shared a few choice words of my own. I never did get my magical moment back on that flight, but my handsome husband now understands the importance of providing context when making such outlandish statements in an airplane!
Heidi Axum, EAA Lifetime 1462447 and kindergarten teacher, looks forward to attending the builder workshops and Teacher Day at AirVenture 2025.