341.     Yakovlev YAK-55M
(aka "Yakking it up in RI")
A swift "flight of fancy" down "memory lane" to hometown haunts of long ago in RI! Dedicated to Anne Marie, with stamp carved by Kirbert as part of his airplane collection.

Checked - OK 14 March 2011

Hey, Anne Marie, nice to be talking to you again! Yeah, it's been a long time... you know, we were just out in California, and found out RI was in a state of emergency! Yeah, all that flooding was happening right on the street where we grew up down by the river in Westerly! So, naturally I got "flooded" with a whole bunch of memories from when we were kids in school together and used to take off sometimes on Saturday to play tennis over by the old airport! Remember, I'd walk over from my house to yours with a tennis racket or two, we'd continue on down Canal Street, pass under the railroad bridge, and cut through the park. Then we'd head up the hill, past the high school and out by all those farms that used to be along Franklin Street back then before the strip malls took over everything. Yeah, I can still remember those cow smells before we turned off towards the airport, no lights, no businesses, nothing but a few farms - nothing at all like today! The town had just put in some new tennis courts across from the airport, so - can you believe it? - we would actually walk 4 miles just to get to the courts, then we'd play tennis for an hour or two, and then we'd walk all the way back home - just for kicks! Sometimes we would walk even further - all the way to the beaches! No, there were no "soccer moms" back then to shuttle kids around like they do nowadays. We considered ourselves lucky if we managed to spare an extra nickel out of our lunch money to buy an ice cream at Tuti's on the way back home! My, times have certainly changed...

Anyway, I wanted to tell you - this guy from Florida sent me up a couple of airplanes that I told him I'd fly for him. Well, turns out the floods left us stranded on our own little "road island" for over a week, but as soon as I could get out - without a boat, that is! - I headed on out to that spot I remembered from our long ago walks. Sure enough, the tennis courts are still there, right across from the airport, so I decided to taxi one of those planes right along the runway between the courts and the playground. I lifted off at the end of the asphalt following the dirt extension, and banked right just before a stream crossing to land and come to rest in a little hangar of cement just a short ways down on the right. Maybe if you're ever back in town, we can take a spin out there and do some "yakking it up" like we used to do in the "old days"! Take care - love ya!

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