Fly Away Home Page #3

...again.

Broken promises are the worst.

It's better not to promise.

I'm having trouble figuring it out.

I didn't say I was giving up...

Amy!

Amy!

Oh, God. Amy, please.

Talk to me. Talk to me, Amy.

- Hi.

- Oh, God!

Oh, sweetie. Are you hurt?

I don't think so.

You're crying.

Yeah, I thought you were...

Suppose I built another aircraft.

And then taught Amy how to fly it.

What?

Look, the birds will fly with her,

she'll fly with me.

I could lead them all south.

You're joking, right?

She nearly broke her neck yesterday.

This is a joke, right?

No, it's not.

It's a great idea.

We can make it work.

The birds follow me, I follow you.

We all go south.

It's brilliant.

I knew you could think of something.

It's the most stupid, irresponsible,

harebrained scheme I've ever heard...

It's the only way they'll fly

with her. That's the way it works.

What is wrong with you?

- I thought you liked the geese.

- I do like the geese!

It's a lot more dangerous for her

to drive on the expressway.

It's the safest ultralight out there.

- It has to be safe as possible.

- But it's pricey.

I don't care about that. It has to be

simple to fly and gentle to put down.

Well, yeah, it'll fly

at 28, 29 miles an hour.

- Really?

- Or even climb at that.

There you go, fellas. Enjoy it.

Thank you very much. Take it easy.

Turn to the right.

Lean. Lean to the right.

Push far to the left. That's it.

Remember, you've got 34 feet

of wing tip up here.

It's kind of like having

real wide hips.

All right, let's make a hard right.

Hard right.

Good leans, like you're flying.

Good girl.

Keep the bar pushed down.

Really bringing it around.

You got it. I'm not doing anything.

It's all you, Amy.

Beautiful! Good leaning.

Go hard to the right, just like

we're flying. Now, swing to the left.

Lean it, lean it, lean it!

There you go!

Beautiful!

Nice and straight. Bar centred.

Nice and easy, eyes straight ahead.

Hold on to the bar, Amy.

Smooth. Push out on the bar.

And up we go!

Thattagirl! Thattagirl!

You're doing it.

You're doing it, Ames!

Get the bar, right about there.

Get it up there. You got it!

I've been around

a lot of flyers in my time.

- I think you're a natural.

- Do you really think so?

Some people are, when it comes

to flying. You're one of them.

The wind is coming

from right straight at us.

So it'll go right under the plane.

It's gonna be perfect.

- The plane's gonna be a lot lighter.

- I know, Dad.

Your takeoff roll will be shorter.

You'll climb real fast. But still,

do the smooth push-out with the bar.

Now, I'm coming up right behind you.

Just make passes around the field.

If your engine cuts out,

glide down onto the field.

Don't go anywhere except the field.

- Yeah, I know.

- You're gonna do good.

Lift prop.

Mama Goose, come in.

They've flown the coop.

Mama Goose, can you read me?

They've flown the coop.

Mama Goose.

Come in, Mama Goose.

Amy, can you hear me?

Amy? They've flown out.

- Come in.

- Mama Goose.

Amy, can you hear me?

Mama Goose, is your radio working?

- Tom, do you read me?

- Yeah, Barry, her radio's out.

Yes!

I don't believe it!

It works!

Mama Goose.

Mama Goose. Come in, Mama Goose.

- Maybe the jack's no good.

- I'm about to give her a visual.

Hello, Papa Goose. This is so cool!

Hello?

Dad?

Can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Yeah. Hey, who's that

on your right shoulder?

Long John!

Look, they're really flying with me!

- So they're flying now, are they?

- What do you want?

- I came by to say hi to your father.

- He's out.

He told you to stay off our property.

- Where does he keep the aeroplanes?

- What aeroplanes?

Well, I know he's

planning something crazy.

- Who's the new guy at the house?

- That's my Uncle David.

He's got a black belt.

We call him "Killer."

Okay, Amy.

I'll see you again.

You can count on it.

Hey, that... Wait a minute.

That's funny. Just go...

- and I'll play, okay?

Ready, on three. And spit. Go!

I just think that we need

to have very clear notions...

...of when we're going to fly

in the day, when we're gonna land.

How long you're gonna lay over.

And then where you're gonna end up.

- That's the most important thing.

- Do me a favour. Get me some maps.

Just, like, go down...

Just go like:

Here's us, here's Florida.

I'll look at the map

and pick the route.

I'm gonna make a call

because I know this guy.

A bird guy...

...in North Carolina.

- You're kidding.

He knows, like, migratory paths and...

We called him Birdbrain.

Yes, but this idea

of using aeroplanes...

...to reintroduce

migratory flocks. It's...

Look, I'm sorry.

It's absolute nonsense.

Can you imagine thousands

of little tiny aeroplanes...

...buzzing suburbia at 4 a. M...

...showing the birds the way south?

The birds wouldn't follow a plane.

But they do. I've seen them do it.

It really works, if it's done right.

And if geese can do this

then maybe really rare birds...

...like whooping cranes and

trumpeter swans can learn it too.

We can start new flocks...

...and give them a crack

at a comeback, you know?

Do you really think

you can pull this off?

Yes, sir. All we really needed

was a place like this.

Well, of course, there is a catch.

It's right over there.

These 300 acres are all that's left

of what used to be thousands.

In the '30s, the government set this

aside as a wild bird refuge.

But with fewer birds wintering here,

it's been encroached on.

Some people have made a lot of money.

If no wild birds show up

by November 1 st...

...these chaps are

just itching to take over.

November 1 st? Really?

So if we're here by then, it's ours?

No, not actually yours.

- The birds'.

- Right.

It's perfect!

I sure hope you're right. I don't

want to find out I'm in trouble...

This spot that we found, it's perfect!

It's just perfect.

- But we don't have that long.

- Can you land there?

- Perfectly.

- Okay.

Good, flat surface right near.

- Stop moving back. I'm pushing.

- I felt that.

Squeeze it down a little bit.

Not so it hurts.

Well, it'll move back and forth.

Let's see how it looks.

Get your finger out of your nose.

Nice move, Tom. Very good.

The journey will take

four days of good weather.

Thirty nautical miles

to Lake Ontario.

Then 30 more across the lake

to the U.S. Of A.

Now 65 miles further on

is rendezvous number one...

... at a farm outside

Franklinville, NY.

Day two, we're going to Pennsylvania.

Across the Appalachian Mountains,

120 miles to rendezvous number two.

On day three, we fly over Maryland,

east of Baltimore.

Then south across the Potomac

to the lowlands of Virginia.

On day four, we go along Chesapeake

Bay to the town of New Hope.

From there, it's just

10 miles to Valhalla.

- How are they doing?

- They're panting hard after 20 miles.

I really don't think

they can go 150 miles a day.

They've got it in there somewhere.

Wild ones can fly 1000 miles.

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