Alarm at 6:05. Breakfast, boot up ATC equipment. NOTAM filed, TFR in effect, waiting on the first call.
“Attention all aircraft, time 0730 local. Victorville Class D surface area in effect. Air traffic control services now available.”
“Victorville Ground, Angel Flight ready to go.”
“Angel Flight, Victorville Ground. Wind variable at 4, altimeter 30.03. Which runway would you like?”
“Angel Flight, we’ll take 3 or 35, your choice.”
“Roger, Angel Flight, runway 3, taxi via C C3. If you wish to use the full length, C C2, cleared onto runway 35.”
“Angel Flight, we’ll go full length. C C2, cleared onto runway 35.”
“Angel Flight, roger. If or when able, could you give me a sequence or hierarchy of ship numbers for my reference.”
“1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 8. Same as last time.”
“Roger, thanks. You can monitor tower now, 118.35.”
“18.35, Angel Flight. Oh, and by the way, I just heard from company that Angel 3 will be joining us tomorrow.”
“Angel Flight, roger.”
“Victorville Tower, Angel Flight ready on 3.”
“Angel Flight, Victorville Tower. Remain within a 15 NM radius at or below 15,000 to remain inside your TFR. Runway 3, cleared for takeoff. Time To Be Awesome!”
“Cleared for takeoff, Angel Flight.”
After the last Angel raises gear, I check the weather station and begin ATIS cycling.
“Victorville Information A, 1420Z, wind 120 at 3, visibility 10, sky clear below 12,000. Temperature 15. Dew point 4. Altimeter 30.03. Notices to Airmen. All runways restricted access. Prior permission required. Temporary Flight Restrictions in effect, 15 NM radius of midfield, surface to 15,000. Air Traffic Control services in effect sunrise to sunset. Advise on initial contact, you have information A.”
“Attention all aircraft, ATIS information A current. Altimeter 30.03.”
I don’t expect any calls since all aircraft are forbidden from entering the airspace anyway, but in some cases, emergency aircraft may need the field. In which case they are the only time I allow public ops on my property.
For the next couple hours, no calls make the radio waves. I take advantage of personal time with Rosalina. Given the work environment, it would behoove us not to talk about the divorce.
About 45 minutes later, I get my next call.
“Tower, Angel Flight, landing.”
“Angel Flight, Victorville Tower. Which runway would you like?”
“17.”
“Angel Flight, roger. Runway 17, your discretion, cleared to land.”
“Cleared to land, Angel Flight.”
“Attention all line staff, Angels inbound for fuel stop. Angels inbound for fuel stop.” I transmit on ground frequency.
One at a time, each ship lands in order. “Angel [1, 4, 2, 6, 5, 8], exit runway when able, taxi to the ramp, cross runway 21. Remain this frequency.”
Since this is a fuel stop, they’re on their first break. I have to remain in the tower in case anyone violates the TFR.
“Victorville Airport Information B, 1715Z, Wind 130 at 7, visibility 10, sky clear below 12,000. Temperature 18, dew point 4, altimeter 30.06. Notices to Airmen. All runways restricted access, prior permission required. Temporary Flight restrictions in effect within a 15 NM radius of the field, surface to 15,000. Air traffic control services in effect 0800-1800. Advise on initial contact, with information B.”
Rosalina then returns with lunch and asks if she can take a trick at the radio. I approve and ask what she brought. Home cooked soup and sandwiches of various ingredients based on what we had in the fridge, so it’s a leftovers meal. No complaints whatsoever, we share a meal and keep an eye on Angels as they take their break.
Dash then texts me and says, “hey, next round is everyone but me. Can I join you?”
“Yeah. Though I am confused as to why you specifically are excluded.”
“Well… I’ll explain once I’m with you.”
“Cool. We have lunch, mostly leftovers, with us. Come on up!”
“Awesome!”
A few minutes later, as Dash decides to fill a plate with food, I keep my eye on ramp ops. Field UNICOM is alight with chatter, but ground and tower? Dead.
“Victorville Ground, Angel 1.”
“Angel 1, ground.”
“Angels 1, 4, 2, 6, and 5, taxi.”
“Angel Flight less 8, roger. Wind 140 at 7, which runway would you like?”
“Uh, 21.”
“Roger, Angel Flight, runway 21, taxi via C A.”
“C A, runway 21, Angel Flight.”
“Angel Flight, monitor tower, 118.35. He’ll call you.”
“18.35, Angel Flight.”
After the five ships line up and taxi in formation, Dash then joins me as Rosalina then tugs on my headset and asks to take tower. I stifle a chuckle but nod and let her take the reigns.
“Angel Flight, Victorville tower. Runway 21, cleared for takeoff. Remain within a 15 NM radius of the field at or below 15,000.” Rosalina keys as we leave the tower.
“So, Max. About my new car for Florida. I need something fast, quick, and awesome!”
“How do you feel about luxury?”
“Well…” She hums just as the whoosh of the Angels, making a buzz of the tower, drown out anything she would’ve been trying to say.
She continues, “I want something loud, something that’s very me. Something I can enjoy for its speed, and sound. Oh, it has to be a V8.”
“You drive a GT3. What happened there?”
“Uh, heh…” She blushes. “I broke.”
“Not like I can judge; you know my garage.”
“For the man who has everything.” She says crossing her arms enviously.
“Well, if it’s a loud and fast V8 you’re looking for, I imagine American muscle piques your interest?”
“Yeah it does! But I don’t like GM products.”
“How about FCA? Or CDJR?”
“What?”
“Fiat/Chrysler? Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram?”
“Oh. Eh??” She shrugs.
“Let me guess: you like your American muscle, so long as it’s Blue Oval.”
“Not necessarily.”
“Would you rather drive an import?”
“Well, that’s the thing. I love my Mustang, but it did get old kind of quickly.”
“Sure. Do you know how to drive a manual?”
“No…” She blushes even brighter than last time.
“Why is that a bad thing? It’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
“Well, I assume someone like you would hold something like that near and dear to you. I just feel self-conscious about not being able to be proud of it.”
“It is. I do. Would you be willing to learn?”
“No.” She responds immediately.
“So why are you so concerned with being embarrassed about it but are not willing to learn?”
“Old dog, new tricks?” She shrugs.
“Come on now, you’re not as far along as me.”
“Fair, but Spitfire does, and you already know my nickname.”
“Oh my god, you think driving stick would get you into an accident?!”
“Yes it will! And it hurts!” She shouts feigning a tantrum.
“As sympathetic as I am for you, that is funny.”
“Well, I’m tired of it!”
“Does the nickname “Crash” bother you that much?”
“That was what childhood bullies used to call me. Fluttershy would know.”
“You two grew up together?”
“Yeah.”
“Nice. So, V8, Muscle preferred, automatic gearbox.”
“Yeah…”
“Your options are pretty open still. With V8, you could go from Mustang all the way to AMG GT.”
“Ok then. Let’s stick to the US.”
“That would leave you with Mustang GT, Challenger, Charger, and the trucks: F-Series and RAM.”
“No trucks. Too big.”
“Fine. Mustang, Challenger, Charger.”
“Ugh. After all that, I should basically just take my Mustang then?”
“You could, or if you really want to, go exotic.”
“Well…”
“How about this? What do your colleagues drive?”
“Uh…”
“I’ll give you a few to think.” I say as I check on Rosalina via text. She says she’s fine but tells us to go to the garage.
When the collection was in Peotone, it was sorted across 14 stories as follows:
Here in Victorville, it’s sorted across 7 stories as follows:
After I boot up the vehicle sorter, I show Dash how to run a query, but all her available options from my garage are ruled out, because they all have a clutch. In response, she says, “Ugh! I guess it’s gonna be either the Mustang or the Porsche.”
“Oh alright then. Mustang it’ll be.” I respond rhetorically.
Just then, Rosalina calls.
“Hello?”
“Hey, fuel stop, and Rainbow’s back on.”
“On the way.” I finish, to which she hangs up. “You’re due up again.”
“Awesome!“
We quickly head back to the ramp, but before I head for the tower, Spitfire pulls me aside and asks,
“Hey, do you by chance know if San Bernardino has passenger service?”
“They don’t. Volaris was the only candidate, but nothing happened.”
“Okay. Um, Angel 7 is gonna do prelims tomorrow. I don’t know if she’s gonna file IFR, but just in case, since I’m sure it’s been a while since you’ve gone through ATC training.”
“Actually, I haven’t. The only reason I booted up tower is to keep your TFR protected.”
“Well, you better get your shit together.”
“I’m doing the best I can. I never received any ATC training. All my experience comes from my career.”
“Well, you’re not any worse than our guys.”
“Good. I’m glad my instructions are at least comprehensible.”
“It’s fast paced and rapid fire, all at once.” Dash interjects. “I kind of like that. Our guys are pretty slow.”
“Says you, Rainbow Crash.” Spitfire, uh, spits back.
“Well, I don’t want to interrupt your break, so I’ll head back and see you off. By the way, how’s Rosalina at tower?”
“Better than you could ever wish.”
“Cool. Talk to you on the go.”
Back at tower, Rosalina immediately hands me the headset and says, “glad you’re back. I want to put the food away.”
“No problem. You mind handling the one Ground though? You can hand them over to me once they all get going.”
“Why not?” She says as she grabs another headset.
“Victorville Ground, Angel Flight back to full strength, ready to go.”
“Angel Flight at full strength, Victorville Ground. Which runway?” Rosalina responds.
“Uh, 3.”
“Roger, runway 3, taxi via C C2, hold short runway 35.”
“Angel Flight, monitor tower on 118.35, he’ll call you. Good luck.”
Holding back a laugh, Rosalina then removes her headset and grabs the food. When she leaves, I switch to transmit on both ground and tower and wait for Angel 1 to cross C2.
“Angel Flight, Victorville Tower. Cleared onto runway 35. Runway 3, line up and wait.”
“Cleared onto 35, Line up and wait on 3, Angel Flight.”
Once Angel 8 turns around and lines up in formation, I transmit, “Angel Flight, formation your discretion. Remain within a 15 NM radius of the field at or below 15,000 to stay inside your TFR. Runway 3, cleared for takeoff.”
“Cleared for takeoff, Angel Flight.”
As I keep my eye on the radar, a couple of targets pop up on the ground. Fat Albert then starts up and queries.
“Victorville Ground, Fat Albert with G, request runway 35.”
“Fat Albert, Victorville Ground. Would you like the full length?”
“Affirm.”
“Roger, runway 35, taxi via C C1. Passing C2, monitor tower 118.35.”
“C C1, 35, monitor at C2, Fat Albert.”
As Fat Albert gets going on taxiway, Angel 7 calls with no radar return.
“Victorville Ground, Angel 7.”
“Angel 7, Ground.”
“Just to let you know, I’m heading to San Bernardino for venue testing. You think I should file IFR?”
“Angel 7, that would be up to you. If you’re asking for my experience, I haven’t flown into San Bernardino in some years, but standby. Break. Fat Albert, Victorville tower. Say direction of departure.”
“Departing to the north. Doing practice approaches into Apple Valley.”
“Roger.” “Angel Flight, company Hercules departing runway 35 northbound. Fat Albert, runway 35, cleared for takeoff. Passing 5,300, contact Joshua Departure, 124.55.”
“Fat Albert, cleared for takeoff, see ya soon!”
“Angel 7, if SoCal can’t give you radar vectors, all of their approaches have the same initial approach fix, the Paradise VOR, PDZ, so it doesn’t matter either way.” I say just as Fat Albert initiates a steep climb.
“Angel 7, roger. I’ll go ahead and file.”
“Angel 7, roger.”
“Attention all aircraft, information J now current. Wind 160 at 5, altimeter 30.02.”
“Ground, Angel 7. Is my flight plan on file?”
“Angel 7, Ground. Not yet. How recently did you file?”
“Uh, about 25 minutes ago.”
“Angel 7, roger. Um, normally, flight plans take about an hour to enter the system, but let’s check in 5 minutes.”
“Roger, Angel 7.”
Just a few seconds later, it pops up, so I call back after chuckling, “Angel 7! Looks like it just popped up on my screen here. You ready to go?”
“Affirm.”
“Angel 7, cleared to San Bernardino airport via direct. Maintain 11,000. Departure frequency 124.55, squawk 5646.”
“Cleared to San Bernardino via direct. 11,000, 24.55, 5646, Angel 7.”
“Angel 7, readback correct. Runway 21, taxi via C A.”
“C A, 21, Angel 7.”
“Angel 7, monitor tower 118.35.”
“Monitoring, Angel 7.”
“Angel 7, Victorville tower. Runway 21, line up and wait, pending IFR release.”
“Angel 7, 21, line up and wait.”
“Angel Flight, company F-18 departing runway 21 for San Bernardino. Angel 7, runway 21, cleared for takeoff. Fly heading 170.”
“Cleared for takeoff 21, 170, Angel 7.”
No sooner does Angel 7 disappear from my radar does Fat Albert return.
“Victorville tower, Fat Albert 2 E SCCAT, RNAV GPS 17.”
“Angel 7, contact Departure.”
“Angel 7. Cya!”
“Fat Albert, tower. Continue inbound. Traffic company F-18’s in formation currently 10 o’clock, 7 miles. Report SUZZQ.”
“Report SUZZQ, Fat Albert.”
“Angel Flight, traffic company Hercules on approach course for runway 17. 7 miles southeast of present position, 4,800 descending.”
Not too long after, Fat Albert reports SUZZQ.
“Fat Albert, Roger. Runway 17, cleared for the option.”
“Cleared option 17, landing. Fat Albert.”
“Roger. Angel Flight, company Hercules now 4 mile final for runway 17.”
When Fat Albert lands, they take their sweet time to the taxiway, since they just missed E3.
“Fat Albert, welcome back. Left at D, D E, cleared across runway 21, taxi to the ramp.”
“D E, cross 21, Fat Albert.”
“Tower, Angel Flight, returning for fuel.”
“Angel Flight, roger. Which runway would you like?”
“17.”
“Roger, runway 17, your discretion, cleared to land.”
One by one, I give each ship their taxi instruction, but just as Angel 8 touches down, Rosalina texts me,
“When do Dash’s parents arrive?”
“She didn’t specify a time. I probably should ask.”
Since her airplane is on the ground, I look for her on the ground, but no sooner do I reach for my phone does she run up to the tower and exclaim, “my parents landed about 20 minutes ago!”
“Let’s get to it!” I respond, but just as I put my headset down, I get a call on the radio.
“Mayday, mayday, mayday!…”