Just Another Day In The Park
by
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"We lifted off, circled the scene a couple of times and then headed for the airport, about fifteen minutes away. We''d been airborne about a minute or two when I started feeling really bad. It was a completely different feeling than I''d ever felt, before. I looked over at Jim and told him that I wasn''t feeling well. It was almost like the safety harness was trying to squeeze the breath out of me. He looked at me and asked if there was something he could do to help.
"At that point, I looked back at him and I think my words were something like "Do you think you''re pilot enough to get this bird on the ground, ''cause I don''t think I''m gonna make it''.
"I guess that got his attention, because his head jerked around like I had a rope around it.
"He replied, ''God, Walt, I don''t know. What do I do?'' with the most worried look I''ve ever seen on his face.
"I think I told him to grab the stick, put his feet on the rudder pedals and at that point, everything started getting fuzzy as I slipped into a semi-conscious state.”
Jim started letting his mind drift back to that fateful night. Walt had been right about the worried look on Jim''s face, because he was scared shitless.
Walt had just barely gotten the words out of his mouth, when his head dropped and sort of rolled to one side. His hand sort of drooped then slid off the stick. His seat harness prevented him from falling forward, otherwise, he would have put the chopper into a nose dive from which neither of them would have survived to tell about.
As it was, the helicopter immediately started to yaw to one side and turn at the same time, careening wildly in the air, starting to lose altitude as it did. It was a lucky thing that they were fairly high up, because Jim would need all of the altitude he had to get the aircraft under control.
"Come on, dummy, get hold of yourself," Jim said out loud to himself. "Don''t let this bucket of nuts and bolts get the best of you. It''s just a big dumb machine, but you gotta tell it what to do." Jim was fighting to gain control of the complaining helicopter. "Think, dummy! How''d Walt do it?!"
He was starting to settle down, thinking through the control surfaces and trying to remember his basic aeronautics. He slowed his movements and started making small adjustments in the stick and rudder pedals. Looking out the windshield, he started to see the turning stopping and he started easing back on the stick to slow the descent and the rising airspeed, and the turning completely stopped. He remembered that the throttle control was on the other side of Walt''s seat, so he leaned over him and slowly rotated it until the forward movement had ceased and he was just hovering in one place.
"Whew!!" he sighed. Turning to Walt, he reached over and lightly slapped his face. "Wake up, Walt!" he said and continued shaking him.
Still holding the stick in his right hand, he reached over and loosened Walt''s flight suit and felt next to his adam''s apple for a carotid pulse. "Thank God. It''s there, but weak." Walt had broken out in a cold sweat and was very pale. His breathing seemed very labored and slow. Jim lifted one eyelid and thought he saw a slight response to the dim lighting emitted from the instrument panel.
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About the Book
Jim Wilson wants to make you think he is just your ordinary, average guy. His job as Director of Park Operations is nothing out of the ordinary. Serving as a Deacon of his church and even occasionally filling the pulpit is what an average man can do. Being a father of three, and even having to mend a marriage where spouses have drifted apart is nothing unusual in today’s society. Come to find out, he just happens to have a knack for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time…though for Jim it may just be the right place, at the right time.
When Jim catches a couple of kids putting graffiti around his park, instead of having them arrested, he takes matters into his own hands, but not the way you may think.
When a CHP pilot suffers a heart attack, the ordinary Jim becomes an extraordinary hero.
When drugs are being sold to kids in his parks, Jim doesn’t play nice or safe. This ordinary man also vows to protect and to serve.
For Jim Wilson, landing a helicopter, busting drug-dealers, getting shot at, prompting gangs to care about their community, aiding stranded women is… “Just Another Day In the Park.”
About the Author
John Wheelock was born and raised in Southern California. He had a very varied life style that he uses for the background in his writings. John graduated from San Bernardino Valley College with a degree in electronics. He lived in San Bernardino County and spent twelve years in the park maintenance setting.
He also spent many years in various volunteer organizations such as search and rescue, volunteer fire fighting, and reserve law enforcement. Many of the incidents he chronicles in his books have actually happened to him or his friends, though he has fictionalized them in prints. He is a licensed pilot and feels that flying is the ultimate way of freeing oneself from the hectic pace of today’s living.
In the mid-nineties, his family moved to Southern Oregon, which will serve as the locale for his next book. He continued his volunteer service by immediately becoming involved with law enforcement reserves.
He enjoys traveling, model railroading and working at his computer.
He likes to joke about his writing by telling the story of his early childhood. His grandmother was the chairperson of the english department at a major Southern California university and who swore thought he’d never amount to a hill of beans. Wouldn’t she be surprised? Watch for his other works planned for publication in 2006 and 2007.