After her second Sunday sewing tears in the wings of some of Olafson's planes, Barbara got her first ride. It was in the still-serviceable Flying Jenny which had become the flagship of Olafson's small fleet of planes.
Olalfson helped her up on the wing and over the sill into the front cockpit, then told her to strap herself in. After he got into the seat behind her, within moments the oily engine clattered into a roar and the plane bumped and bounced up the runway.
Barbara's heart began racing when the plane taxied a few minutes, then soared off the ground. She felt another sensation then, inside her stomach. She discovered she was airsick, even when Olafson flew the plane level.
"How you doing?" Olafson called up to her. "If you need to upchuck, just lean your head over the side. But be sure the wind isn't in your face."
Barbara followed her pilot's instructions. Gradually, she began to feel a little better. Until she looked down and saw how far off the ground she was.
Looking down through flight goggles, she saw trees shrink to mere bushes as the plane climbed higher into the bright blue sky. Corn and alfalfa fields and cow pastures below blended into a beautiful patchwork quilt of yellow, green. and brown.
Often, Barbara had to catch her breath from the slipstream, the air pushed back by the Jenny's revolving propeller. She nearly choked on the engine's strong exhaust fumes. But the queasiness in her stomach did not return.
Olafson gave her one of his longest rides, almost half an hour, taking her over the city of Chicago so she could practically reach out and touch the tall buildings. He then flew her over the Lake Michigan shoreline before turning the plane back west toward his airport.
The crazy assembly of struts and wires Barbara was riding the sky in wobbled and tilted as Olafson began the plane's descent. Moments later, the old Jenny touched back on terra firma and bounced several times before slowing on the runway and her first ride in a plane was over.
When her pilot helped her back out of the cockpit from which she had had the adventure of her life, Barbara not only hugged him but gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"It was fantastic! I'll never forget it! How soon can I learn to fly it?"
"Whoa! I've lots to teach you before you can fly this or any plane. It'll take a while."
Barbara had her feet back down on the ground then. "Meaning, it'll take a lot more sewing torn wings."