Read Online Final Turn: A story of adventure, intrigue and suspense. by maurice engler - Free Book Online Page B

can give you a hand putting this thing together before we go."
    After some handshaking and polite exchanges welcoming Sandy into the club, Jack took charge of his helpers. Jack was full of energy and enthusiasm. He looked even stouter dressed in shorts and a light shirt than he did in the office. His hair and skin told of many hours under the sun. He wore a white cap visor, without the cap, held about his head with an elastic band. Around his neck was red bandanna with white spots and he wore dark sunglasses, Italian. He had a look as if he were about to drive off in an expensive sports car, presumably also Italian. In way he was; except this one had wings and came from Germany. The bright sunshine, the crystal sky and the unbounded countryside wore well on Jack. Roger saw his friend as a happy man when he saw him out here. He thought briefly of the other Jack bound in a tight shirt and tie beneath a suit and sitting before the overbearing Lindquist. Roger quickly ejected the thought.
    "Roger, can you take the wing tip and we'll do the hook-ups?"
    "No problem." Roger replied as he took hold of one of the wingtips, lifted and walked away from the trailer along the fuselage pulling the wing with him.  When Roger had pulled the wing nearly from the trailer, Jack took hold of the other end, the heavy end, and lifted it from the trailer leaving the wing dolly behind. Roger then walked around in an arc to place the wing tip in its normal position. Roger held the wing tip at about chest height and waited for Jack, with Sandy's help, to place the root of the wing properly into the fittings on the fuselage. Roger then rested the wing on a stand that Jack had already placed in position. He was glad to be relieved of the burden.
    They repeated the procedure with the other wing. Both now rested on the fuselage with one end and the other end supported by wing stands. Jack took out a small bag containing steel pins, one large and four smaller. Roger came over to explain the process to Sandy as Jack continued to put his sailplane together. Roger knew that it was best that the tow pilots had some understanding of the vagaries of sailplanes. They had some flight and strength characteristics quite distinct from conventional powered aircraft. The necessity of rigging and de-rigging each day introduced special safety considerations. Glider pilots had developed habits of being insufferably careful when rigging their machines. Their lives literally hung on the proper placement of pins and safety pins. It was never excusable to rush anyone who was busy with that task. There had already been one fatal accident in the club caused by someone having needlessly rushed through the rigging process.
    "This large pin is the main wing pin. Holds the wings together. The smaller ones here hold the wings onto the fuselage." Roger pointed to the four smaller pins each of which connected a fitting on the wing to the fuselage. There was one located on each side where the leading edge of the wing came against the fuselage and one on each side at the trailing edge.
    "You can see that each of these pins has a small hole in the end. Jack is putting the safety pins in place." Roger indicated where Jack inserted a small pin not unlike the old safety pins used to fasten baby's diaper. "That keeps these load bearing pins from working their way out. There is a tremendous amount of stress at these points. Turbulence can really rattle everything around, it can shake things loose that you could never imagine. If one of these safety pins comes out it wouldn't be long until the pin itself came out. That would be the end of it." Roger could see Jack grimace at the mere thought of it.
    "You're in a diabolical mood today Roger" He said as he finished and put the covers in place.
    Roger watched Sandy look around him and take in a deep breath of the fresh morning air that was being carried to them by a light breeze from the mountains to the west. People were stirring around the