Flaps, Fire, and Fatalities

 "Flaps, Fires and Fatalities, of sorts".

Fire burned our facility 2.5 years ago, destroying the business. Chipper 2 N318KW survived because it was out at the hangar, but the flap extensions were in-town. They were recovered from the fire debris and have been sitting around ever since. They are still covered with soot.

I want to tell you about installing them yesterday, but first I want to tell you a little more about the fire. Back up your calendar to June, 2019. Before Covid.

Kathy Wiebe and I had gone out to eat, it had been a great meal and a great date night, our Friday evening tradition We were sitting in bed, late on a Friday evening. It was normality. It was about 11:15 and my cell phone showed an incoming call.

"This is the Wichita Police Department... There's been a fire at your facility. Someone needs to come."

Kathy and I threw on clothes and rushed to our building. It was firefighting on full display; 20 emergency vehicles; firefighters walking around mopping up details; rolling hoses.

Eventually, I went to the back of the facility and talked with a fire commander. I think we discussed possible fire origin points (the stupid CNC dust collector, of course) and I thought about the irony that one of our CNC operators was a recently retired firefighter.

And then I thought about our shop cats. I asked the fireman whether they'd been seen. He motioned to the ground, directly by where we were standing. A lifeless body of a cat was on the ground. No motion. Sooted. Dead.

I broke into hacking sobs, tears.

Back to those flap extensions.

Yesterday, I installed them for the first time. I have chosen to fly with them, covered with soot, and who knows, I may never paint them. They are a reminder of what was, how I felt, and also how far from then to now I've come. They provide an entry point of discussion for anyone who looks at the airplane -- why are those dirty pieces of s*** attached to that gorgeous airframe? And then I can tell the story, of which this narrative is a small part.