Sunday morning
It was one of those rather murky Sunday mornings with moisture dripping from the trees - teardrops of fog falling softly on the bed of old pine needles below. Sounds were dampened by the fog and visibility was poor all around. Even the animals stayed huddled up in their holes, dens or whatever sort of shelter they occupied.
Emma Field Airfield, normally bristling with life and a pool of noise in the otherwise quiet forest, was now a pool of silence. Not even the stork could be seen or heard. Gone was the usual hammering sound coming from the hangar near the runway. No smoke rose from the clubhouse or restaurant chimneys. Airplanes were tied down; their cockpits covered and wings glistening with moisture.
There was some movement at the far end of the deserted runway. It looked like a white-grey rabbit of sorts, diving back into its burrow. Perhaps it was just a trick of the light.
All doors on the buildings were closed and so was the gate to the field.
The quiet, almost solemn atmosphere was not that unusual this time of the year, with the summer gone and the rainy season starting in a few weeks, but it emphasized the somewhat decayed state of many of the buildings. At one time Emma Field was really thriving with over a thousand enthusiastic club members. Now, most of them remained only on paper, and forgot to pay their contributions, or to spend any dollars in the restaurant on Sundays. The tied-down aircraft along the runway belonged to the last hardcore Emma pilots!
The club had all but run out of money and things looked bad lately, especially since Fritz, the caretaker, was often away trying to find some other income somewhere.
But unknown to most, this was going to change!!!
If one could have taken off from Emma Field and flown west and if there hadn't been this darned fog, one would have seen a thin column of smoke rising from the dense forest towards Lake Cushman. SOMEBODY was out there!
And it was this hint of smoke, or rather what was at the base of it, which would change the history of Emma Field once again!
Visitors
That Sunday morning a car engine could be heard approaching from the south. The driver slowed down as he approached the gate to the airfield, and then pulled over across the road from it. Two men got out. They looked like hunters and were dressed for the damp and cold circumstances. They locked the car, looked around, studied the deserted airfield for a while and then suddenly took off into the woods across from Emma Field. The only witness was a small dog sheltering from the drizzle underneath the overhanging roof of an old shed. The puppy didn't think much of it, of course, other than that he would have a few extra car tires at his disposition to pee upon.
Now, just walking off into the woods like that would be a tricky thing to do. You see, rumor has it that there is a still being operated in them there woods. Mind you, rumor also has it that a few ATF inspectors are said to have mysteriously disappeared over the past few years. Perhaps all this talk about stills, moonshine, shotguns and Fritz' old Uncle Elmer was just something to take the mind of flying on those dreary winter evenings, while propping up the bar at the Emma Restaurant,. None of this has ever been officially confirmed but locals would think twice before heading out into those woods.
Anyway it was already getting dark that day when the two fellas reappeared from the depths of the dark forest. They seemed pretty happy, laughing and slapping each other on the back before they climbed aboard their Ford truck. They took off with some vigor and headed back south to where they had come from.
Rumors
The reason I have reported the above story is because there are more rumors - AND some facts - to share with you.
The rumors have it that the two guys mentioned above came down to Emma to do 'business'. And with 'business' we mean that they talked to Uncle Elmer about expanding his ‘fluids business’ to a much larger area than just family and the local flying club!
THAT would explain where Fritz, all of a sudden, found extra funds to have a MAJOR upgrade done to some of the buildings. And perhaps how he got the money to finally get that old Piper Cub airborne again?
And facts......
Well, I leave the rumors for what they are and you can discuss them in the bar or in the clubhouse. Let me get down to some facts about Emma Field X then:
FACT #1: the work on Emma Field X (our rendition for the new Flight Simulator X), that had already started, has been stopped. The original main author, Richard Goldstein, regrettably has no time to work on it anymore and had to bow out of this long-running project.
So, with that bad news out of the way, here's the good news:
FACT #2: we have found two worthy successors to Richard and the NEW Emma Field X will be built from the ground up by them. They are Bill Womack and Holger Sandmann !!
FACT #3: Emma Field X - and its community - will continue its long tradition of being a cozy, secluded and quiet place for GA pilots, built with the highest quality of techniques, creativity and support. Yes, there will be some changes but the atmosphere of the place will remain the same!
FACT #4: we have started work on the new title and we welcome ideas and suggestions from all customers and potential customers. That said, we will NOT add an ILS or other newfangled stuff that bush pilots and Sunday flyers really can do without
We will keep you all updated via our various websites and forums, and above all via the Emma Field Community Forum on simFlight!
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