My Big Sister Can Beat Up Your Big Sister

Seriously, she can. Except for the fact that the only people who read this blog are related to me and actually have the same big sister.

I flew from the snowy cold wonderland of Dartmouth to the steel kingdom of Philly last night. Again, I was chosen to ride in the Right Seat on the plane ride over. And by chosen I mean that I pouty-face asked the captain for the honor of being his right hand man. And by right hand man I assured him that I wouldn’t touch anything or so much as make a peep. To which he excitedly replied, “If you must.” Flight two for FO Rudolphi. Consider this my log.

Magda and Erock picked me up from the airport with a quesadilla in tow. Who does that? It was awesome. So I nom’ed on some cheesy deliciousness while we zoomed home to Jersey, conveniently located between New York and Philly. I love their house! It is like they have channeled the Suz Christmas Spirit and decorative genius. Forewarning alert: I will be back sooner than they want. So I got an amazing night of rest in the aviator’s quarters (see below). They must have caught wind of my recent flight accomplishments!

Today was a busy day with many highlights. We commenced with a visit to Eric’s parents’ (think about that punctuation for a while). This was followed by a power lunch with my sister who was in her flight suit and pretty much secured us as the baddest-ass table in the restaurant. Did I mention we had steak?

Then, for the win, we drove to McGuire AFB where I got an elusive, exclusive VIP tour of Mag & Eric’s plane: the C17. That’s a huge b*rd! I knew my sister was sort of cooler than other people, but this just really put that over the edge. She’s pretty much the coolest. I’ll bet she inverts it so she can flip off Russians. Just a hunch.

If I would have gone home at that moment, the day would have been complete. But no. We sauntered over to the simulator, where I was enticed to try my hand at aviation. After a quick consultation with Wild Bill, who advised me to keep the “blue side up,” I felt ready to go. Since I had already logged two successful flights in the Right Seat of the Cessna, they thought it was time I move over to the Left Seat. Which I did. After buckling in, I suddenly began to feel a bit nervous. Was there any way I could break a multimillion dollar government appliance? If I crashed the C17, would alarms go off or would there be a very realistic screen depicting us careening to Earth in flames? I sort of felt like that might deter me from flying in the future. Well, my inner HBIC came out in full force and with Mag’s soothing coaching strategies in play I was able to take off and land a C17, simulator style! WHAT UP! I’m going to log that too. We also did a midair refueling simulation which did not go as well. I believe Maggie commented that she was a little sick to her stomach when we got out. Not bad for training day one. I expect that the Air Force will be sending me some wings or a flight suit or something in the mail soon. I’ll be checking for sure.