Family Day at the Airfield

I was a lucky duck when Todd's unit invited me to Family Day. This was a chance for all the wives, mothers, girlfriends, kids, etc. to come watch their pilot man do his thing. It was really cool to watch Todd's helicopter and know that it was moving because TODD was working the machinery, steering it, doing all the work. I felt like a mom spying on her kid at driver's ed.

The sweetest part was that I got to go up into the control tower and give Todd some commands over the radio. You know, a little bit of, "Ninety-nine Charley, winds are calm, lane 5 panel 2 clear to land." And then he would respond back, and land his 'copter. The first time, I was a little hesitant, afraid I would say the wrong thing or whatnot. But I stayed up there and got to give Todd permission to land and take off five or six times, and by the end, I had the total radio twang in my voice, fast and furious. The control tower guy told me I was "a natural." It was awesome!

Todd got a little too comfortable, as well. The last time he gave his, "Ninety-nine Charley, coming in to lane 5 . . . " or whatever, and ended with, "Thanks, babe!" The boys in the tower thought that was hilarious. They were like, "Should I get on the radio and say, 'What did you call me?'"

I worked the video camera, and Todd spliced it all together into another sweet video for you to watch. He likes to watch it and "check out his hover," etc.

Feast your eyes on Todd the Pilot!