"Come on, Emil!" Billy said to his brother excitedly. "We have to go watch them take off this morning!"
Emil looked up from his book. Billy was dressed to go out. Suddenly, Emil remembered that today was the big day!
"I can hardly wait!" Emil exclaimed, as Billy handed him his jacket to wear, because it was cool outdoors.
The boys arrived downstairs to find Jolena waiting for them by the front door.
"Let's go," Jolena said. "We don't want to be late!"
The three dolls let themselves out through the big front door.
Jolena had already taken the bicycles and helmets out of the store room, so they were ready to go. All the dolls needed to do was put on their helmets to protect the air inside their heads. (That air is where their pretend brains are!)
The dolls rode along the trail that led to the park in the woods.
Soon their destination––a human-person-size bench facing a long strip of paved open space––was in sight.
After they left their bicycles leaning against the bench, they took off their helmets.
Then they climbed up onto the bench, and looked at the strip of paved open space. That strip of paved open space was an airstrip, the runway for the small airport near them. Small planes could take off and land there. (They were called "small," but they were big enough to carry real human people.)
The Writer had told them that she had found out some real human neighbors who had a plane in a hangar (or a plane garage) in this airport would be using the runway to take off this morning. They finally had a chance to see it happen!
The dolls had seen the planes fly right over their street before, on the way to land at the small airport
It didn't happen often, but when they heard a small plane coming close, they always ran out to watch. They had seen the small planes up close, flying over, but they had never seen a plane actually take off or land. This was their chance!
"I found these in a box in the cereal cabinet," Jolena said after they had finished pretending to eat the donuts. "It's nice to have doll-size donuts, but I don't understand why they come in such huge boxes. There are enough donuts in each box for our whole school to pretend to eat!"
Suddenly they heard something that sounded like an engine starting. It was far away, but the sound definitely came from the direction of the opposite end of the runway. They cocked their heads and tried to listen.
Jolena and Billy listened with their doll ears. Emil used his special glasses to listen. They knew that you can hear the plane before you can see it. That's how they always knew when a plane was going over the house. They were excited. They were so glad their eyes don't close, because they didn't want to miss it!
The engine seemed to be running for a few minutes, but it sounded just as far away, and there was nothing to see. They waited.
"I think they're checking to be sure everything is ready for takeoff," Billy conjectured. "They don't want to get up in the air and discover they forgot something."
"Like not having enough fuel," Emil agreed.
"Listen!" Jolena exclaimed. "I think they're moving! It sounds like they're getting closer!"
The dolls listened. It did sound as though the engine was getting louder.
Soon they could see the plane coming their way. It rolled along the ground toward them.
"You can see it now!" Billy exclaimed.
"It's picking up speed!" he shouted. (He had to shout, because the plane's engine was getting very loud, and doll voices are heard in your head, so they aren't very loud unless the doll shouts.)
"It has to go really fast," Emil shouted, "or it will stay on the ground and crash through the fence!" He was almost afraid to look...but he couldn't NOT look.
The dolls watched as the plane came closer and closer. Would it make it into the air before it reached the fence? Would it roll through the fence and roll right over the bench they were on?
Then suddenly, the plane left the ground. It flew over the fence at the end of the runway. It flew over their heads.
The dolls looked up and watched the plane.
Then they turned around on the bench and watched the plane fly away. When it got high up, it went around in a circle. They watched until it disappeared over the trees and was gone. Billy waved to the plane. He didn't think the human people in the plane could see him, but it made him feel good to wave at them.
"That was fun," Billy said.
"Yes," Emil agreed. "Too bad we don't know when another plane will take off or land."
They all thought that it was indeed too bad. They would have liked to see it again.
"Planes don't flap their wings, the way birds do," said Billy, "I wonder how planes can fly without flapping their wings."
"I'll bet," Jolena, "it has something to do with how I can guide my landings when I'm doing aerials."
She was remembering her last training session, in the summer, when she and her team mates used the ski jump to ski down, do their tricks in the air and then land in the pool at the base of the ski jump. She knew she used the air and the wind, but she didn't understand exactly how that worked.
All three dolls wondered about that how the plane could fly.
"Let's ask Mandy!" they all exclaimed at once.
The dolls could hardly wait until they got home, so they could ask Mandy. Mandy would know.
Jolena: Götz Happy Kidz Lena in Aspen
Billy: Götz Happy Kidz Lily at London
Emil: Götz Happy Kidz Emilia
Photo of plane flying over the dolls by Cody Fitzgerald on Unsplash
"The Doll's Storybook" is not affiliated with Gotz Dolls USA Inc. or Götz Puppenmanufaktur International GmbH.
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Copyright © 2021 by Peggy Stuart
This was much more exciting than the Tour de France. Just to help those boys understand, you do a pre-flight check by walking around the engine and looking at the plane before you ever start the engine. You check the gas to make sure it is okay. You check the landing gear. You make sure there is no visible damage to the plane and wings. You check the ailerons (the little flaps on the back of the wings) to make sure they can move. After you start the engine, you perform the run-up. That is when you check all of your gauges to see that they are in working order. You have a check list to make sure you check everything. But before you get to either of those points, you have to check the weather and file a flight plan so that the air traffic controllers can know which airplanes they should watch for. Each airplane has a tail number that is registered with the FFA so the controllers can identify the planes.
ReplyDeleteGlad they were able to see this exciting event.