Space-AAAUUGGHH!

Well, we're back . . . after 7,000 miles with three chatty little girls in tow. Wow, don't I feel refreshed! Sure sorry I couldn't give an imbedded account of life in the military's Space Available travel system, but I was having computer problems and some fairly significant emotional trauma. Stay tuned over the next few daysand I'll try to give you a glimpse of this adventure on the installment plan.
EPISODE #1: In-flight Emergency! What would have shut down a normal airliner didn't make the loadmasters on our C-5 cargo plane even blink. Either they are incredibly cool professionals under fire or they are not sufficiently informed as to the dangers of open doors on cargo jets during take-off. About 10 seconds after the pilot gives it full throttle, and we are speeding down the pre-dawn runway at Travis AFB at what I would estimate to be 100 mph, the right emergency exit door flies open. That's rightfolks, I said OPEN--wide open! I was only one row back, and I could see runway and everything. I'm just a chaplain, so what do I know? Still, that didn't look right to me. Aren't all of the doors supposed to be closed when you are taking off? (See, I did learn something during my time as chaplain of the 305th OG at McGuire!) My first reaction to the fresh C-5 exhaust in my face was, "Hey, I've been awake for about 24 hours trying to negotiate a ride on this bird, so I'm probably just having the beginnings of a really bad dream." The fog of morning (0530 at that time), the scream of the jet engines (which are loud enough without the door open), made it seem like it was all happening in a surreal slow-motion. That thought didn't last long, because my second reaction was to scream like a girl (my best command voice at the time). In a second, I shot up and began yelling at the head loadmaster, who was reading the paper, "ABORT! ABORT THE TAKE-OFF!" (something else I picked up from my AMC days). Of course, he couldn't hear me, nor could he see the problem. So I screamed with my best preacher voice, "ABORT-THE- TAKE-OFF--THE DOOR IS OPEN! PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD!" (OK, I didn't actually say that last part, but I sure was thinking it). So he trots up the aisle (with a speed nowhere near commensurate with my fear) looks at the door, picks it up and resets it in place. And here's the kicker--he then returns to his seat without a word and picks up his newspaper finding the spot where he left off! Leigh, sitting three rows back, leans forward with the understatement of the morning, "Should I be worried?" "No dear," I said, my voice squeaking only a little this time. My mind was racing. Just before take-off, I had made Sarah and Rachel sit behind me. Didn't really think about it, I just did it. Now I know why. You could say a sovereign God made the first of His many inteventions on this trip. Later in the flight, I called the junior loadmaster aside and asked if he had ever seen anything like that before. He said no, and neither had the MSgt (who apparently had kept his newspaper from blowing out the door). I couldn't decide if that was good or bad, so I kept my eye on that little yellow handle that latched the emergency door . . . for the rest of the flight. First impressions are lasting impressions, they say. Thus went our first impression of Space-A, or as we now call it, "Space-AAAUUUGGHH!!!"
Stay tuned for our next exciting travelogue episode!