The Last Flight of Four Papa Mike

By Peter Julier

Gary, a 45 year- old self-employed businessman, is close to obtaining his pilot's license.One of his final steps is to accomplish a solo cross country flight across the plains of northern Colorado.The weather is close to perfect, and his airplane, a Light Sport Gobosh is ready to go. Unfortunately Gary realizes something has gone very wrong soon after takeoff, and he now has to face the challenge of flying a crippled airplane. His life is now in jeopardy, and he must utilize everything he's been taught to return to the airport and attempt a safe landing. Will this dire situation prove to be too much for a student pilot to handle? Will Gary live to tell this tale? Grab a copy of this short story to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peter Julier
• Release date: Jan 9, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310801716

Peter Julier

Peter is an aviation technician for a major airline, and has been in the aviation industry for the last 28 years. Prior to that, he cooked fries and fish fillets at a local McDonald's. He says that although working for an airline does have its share of drawbacks, such as losing your pension so the CEO can purchase an island in the Caribbean, at least now he doesn't have to wear a paper hat. He was first published in his early twenties when he started to write poetry. Several of his poems won top placements in nationwide contests; the rest are now in the crawlspace next to the leftover linoleum from the kitchen project. Peter currently resides in Colorado with his wife of 24 years. He believes the key to a happy marriage is good communication, a willingness to compromise, and vacuuming once in a while. One of his favorite things to do is to relax in his almost-favorite coffee shop with his laptop and allow his imagination to run wild.

Book preview

The Last Flight of Four Papa Mike

By Peter Julier

Copyright 2014 Peter Julier

Smashwords Edition

With his checklist in hand, Gary, a 45 year-old self-employed businessman, started the preflight inspection of the Gobosh 700. He was feeling a little nervous about his first solo cross country flight. This was one of his final steps towards obtaining his Light Sport pilot license. He'd just had the fuel topped off; 18 gallons will be more than sufficient for his 53 nautical mile roundtrip flight from Centennial Airport (KAPA) to Greeley (KGXY). Although it is extra weight for the small Gobosh to carry, it's a great insurance policy to have just in case. Just in case of what? he asked himself. Getting lost? Diverting to another airport? Unexpected weather? There is a saying about Colorado weather; If you don't like it, just wait 10 minutes and it will change. That saying couldn't be more true, especially this close to the Rockies.

Why was he worrying so much? There wasn't a cloud in the sky, and the briefer told him the weather enroute would not be a factor; just a little wind from the northwest at about 10 knots. This would be the second most memorable flight of his life, second only to his first solo last month.

Just six months ago