Jim and I had agreed that it'd be a good idea to take a tour of the tower over at Athens Ben Epps airport (KAHN). I had done most of my training at a uncontrolled field and didn't have to deal much with Class D airspace. Though I'd flown to Athens several times before, I always seemed a bit intimidated by the controllers and a bit wary about talking to them. Jim thought meeting them and seeing what they did would help; plus, it would be fun, so off we went.
The trip had been rescheduled twice, so I was actually excited to hear that we would finally be going. Flying out of Winder, KAHN was all of ten minutes away, but I did the normal cross-country procedures: save for getting flight following, by time I would have made my request, we were there.
Conditions at Athens were less than ideal. Runway 27 was in use and reported a stiff right crosswind. Jim, ever the vigilant CFI, asked if I thought I could do it. "I'd like to try", I responded. I'd never landed in such strong crosswinds, but I believe in learning through experience and Jim was always willing to let me try. I guided her down and touched down right wheel first, then left and gently lowered the nosewheel to the ground as the tower called with a compliment on the landing and taxi instructions. "Good" I thought, "it'll be easier touring the tower if they at least think I'm a descent student".
Securing our plane, we were met with our first unplanned outing. A pair of Airforce Hawker Beechcraft T-6A Texan II trainers sat on the ramp. We cautiously floated their way and took our own little tour. Now, we didn't touch the planes; afterall, they looked really expensive and I'm sure the guys that had flown them there wouldn't have appreciated it, but we did visually inspect them. I imagined what fun it must be to train in such sophisticated and capable craft; "one day", I told myself.
We made our way up to the tower with the maintenance guy that let us in. The top revealed a very unique room. Two men sat in seats in front of a bank of buttons, switches and screens. They introduced themselves and showed us the equipment they'd obviously seen us glaring at. Athens has radar available, but doesn't have all the equipment and requirements to provide radar service. What this means, as they explain it, is they can see you just like a radar facility, but can't say they have 'radar contact' or provide services based solely on the radar.
We stayed as one controller talked us through the system and the other controller demonstrated it with several arriving aircraft. We got a bit of a show as a regional airliner had sent some of it's pilots to do instrument approaches. The large jet screamed over each runway at regular intervals to the delight of a crowd that had gathered near the terminal building.
Before leaving the tower, we learned that the same winds that had made for an interesting landing were now keeping us from departing. No problem, we were two pilots at a moderately busy airport; we'd find something to do. At the terminal, we learned our plane had been moved by the linemen and tied down at a safer spot due to the stronger winds: both a testament to these often forgotten employee's dedication and an assurance that they'd receive a good tip.
As I said, we'd find something to do and soon, something interesting taxiied to the ramp. The Gulfstream jet, I forget what model it was, warranted us removing ourselves from the pilot's lounge and walking out to greet the pilots. We did the normal exchange of niceties and I even helped a pretty lady carry her bag from the plane before we joined the copilot for a smoke break (neither Jim nor I smoke, but we stood with him in conversation).
It turned out that the jet we were looking at happened to be the personal jet of a member of the band REM. The people flying on it that day were the family of the owner of the jet's leasing company. Jim had told me before that another of his current students was the drummer for REM and I didn't know it, but he was supposed to accompany us on this particular trip. He couldn't because he was busy with 'work': whatever 'work' rock stars generally do.
Now, if you haven't noticed from my Examiner articles, I have a knack for being in the right place at the right time and talking my way into some things I'd otherwise never get to do. That day I was joined by Jim who also has the same knack, so we were soon touring the jet. The copilot walked us around the outside first pointing out the jet's many fascinating features and it's turbofan engines. Then, we got to go inside and experience, at least for a while, the luxuries of personal jet travel. Most interesting to me was when he let us watch him program the FMS and start the APU.
Soon, the winds died down and we set off towards home base. It had been a great day and we landed at Winder with quite a story to tell. I no longer felt timid or inadequate talking to the tower controllers and we'd spent some quality time with some wonderful aircraft. It's things and days like this that I enjoy the most about being an aviator.
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