OK. It’s the only Skylane that I have ever flown. It was still a great treat!
You never have the camera rolling when the wild stuff happens. Here we are, on short final for Runway 17 on the longest cross country flight which I have been on this year. Suddenly, Todd Stanton states, “Go Around! Those are wild turkeys!”
So we flawlessly execute a Go Around, smoothly easing to the right of a gaggle of wild turkeys who had congregated on the left side of the 4,400foot runway. We climbed out above the turkeys, causing them to flee in highspeed, gobblegobble fashion.
Our next approach to Hannibal, Missouri, airport was less exciting. We touched down about the 1,000foot marker and taxied on to the itinerate traffic ramp.
Aunt Elaine was sitting in her car near the terminal building and got a frontrow seat to the turkey retreat. It could have been a fowl massacre!
Not that we want to see a flock of turkeys buzzsawed into a cloud of fuzzy feathers, but our main concern was damaging the beautiful flying machine from 1962. Large birds can leave ugly dents in aluminum flying machines. Just ask Sully!