Wings of Steele - Destination Unknown (Book 1) Read Online Free Page A

silver wing and fuselage panels,
not to mention remnants of her original camouflage scheme. Both
Stephen and Jack flew her on the rebirth run, to test the systems
and try out her new power plants. The hardest thing was to get used
to the layout of avionics that had been added to supplement the
original and updated gauges. As oddly as she looked on the outside,
the Sweet Susie flew like a dream, lighter and faster than she had
been when originally built. The engines were completely rebuilt and
tweaked, to wring out every last horse the power plants could
provide, thanks to Stephen's master mechanics and engineers. If Jack
hadn't seen the remarkable transformation step by step, he wouldn't
have believed it was the same plane he saw the first time he had
walked into the hangar. The finishing touch was the paint, and that
had been completed about a week ago.
    Jack,
bags in hand, strode towards the waiting copilot. "Damn, this
place looks so empty."
    "I
was thinking the same thing," replied Brian, thinking back. "It
looked so much smaller when all that equipment was in here."
Only a few months ago, scaffolding surrounding the plane, the
engineer's office was filled with blueprints and plans, the machine
shop, welding equipment... and of course, all the people filled
every corner of the hangar. Crews worked independently on their own
assignments, but together as a collective with the common goal to
totally restore the historic B25 to new condition.
    "Is
Susie ready to go?" Jack's voice snapped Brian back to present
reality.
    "Yeah,
for the most part. She's fueled but I'm waiting for our weather
report, and George is going to check all her fluid levels."
    "Ok,
great, let's get George to move her out onto the tarmac skirt and
we'll warm up the engines." Brian trotted off to find George.
    "Where's
the cooler?!" Jack shouted, as the copilot departed.
    "I
put it in the plane already!" Brian shouted back, as he
disappeared into the hangar.
    Can't
afford to forget sodas and sandwiches, Jack thought. While he
waited, he tossed his bags up into the belly hatch, then began a
general inspection of the aircraft. Just as he finished, Brian
returned with George. The mechanic climbed into the seat of the tow
tractor and started its engine. Jack called Fritz to his side and
Brian handed his Skipper a copy of the weather report. The two
airmen studied their paperwork while George towed the Sweet Susie
out into the warm Florida sun. The B25 and her crew were going all
the way to Brazil and getting a good handle on the weather was an
important part of a safe flight. Sweet Susie and several other
existing B25s, all from the US., were headed to Rio De Janeiro for
the filming of a new movie. The planes would rendezvous in Rio then
move further South near Sao Paolo to begin filming.
    Jack
motioned his copilot to the chart table. "I think we ought to
skirt this weather here," said Jack, pointing to the tip of the
Florida Keys. "We'll head east, pass Miami, and halfway to the
Bahamas we'll swing back south. We'll stop in Puerto Rico to fuel up
the tanks and take off in the morning."
    Brian
pulled on his lower lip, deep in thought. "Could we..."
    "Stay
an extra day? " interrupted Jack. "No, sorry..."
Brian frowned. "Besides," added Jack, "the scenery,
both geological and female is to die for, where we're headed."
    The
copilot's expression brightened quite noticeably, "No kiddin?"
    "Scout's
Honor," said Jack, crossing his heart and giving the Boy Scout
salute. Jack knew, because he'd been there the year before to
deliver a plane and was simply inundated with women. He wasn't sure
if it was him that attracted the women, or the simple fact that he
was an American. Being the kind of man who found it difficult to
turn down a beautiful woman, he didn't think about it much.
    “ I
gotta call bullshit on that one...” challenged Brian, “you
were never a Boy Scout.” Jack gave him a dirty look. "Ok,
Ok, I believe you, so where do we go from Puerto