Aerobatics
"Sabre Seven Tango Fox departing zero-three
Out to waltz the sunrise 'round a cloud at zero g
Do a raggae hesitation roll, ballet upon the breeze
Dive to see the leaves do slipstream shimmy on the trees"
- Barb MacLeod
Credo Aerobaticus
words and music by Barb MacLeod
(c) 1995 Fly-By-Night Echolocations
We were meant to twirl around,
Rocket high and slide back down,
Marvel at the wonderland
Above us on the ground.
It's a simple, soulful thing,
Not arcane or boggling;
Feels so good to pull and swing
The world around our wing.
When all of us were children playing
Underneath the sky,
Dreams and birds and circus rides,
They showed us how to fly.
We get religion in the air;
Stomp the rudder, say a prayer;
Pushin' out to minus five
Just because it's there.
We are bold, and crazy, too,
But so are all the rest of you,
Since landing is so obviously
Scarier to do!
We are grownup children who
Now play up in the sky;
And dreams and birds and circus rides
Still show us how to fly.
You Can't Tie An Eagle Down
words and music (c) by Barb MacLeod
There comes a time when injustice draws a line in the sand,
When the laws that protect us deal a dark upper hand;
We can close ranks together at the line, or we can fall,
For the hand dealt an ace may be awaiting us all.
There's a twin Shrike Commander doing loops in the blue,
Floating on feathered engines, diving low, pulling through;
The man at her throttles is a prince among his peers,
Has the heart of an eagle and the grace born of years.
Oh, you just can't (oh no, you can't)
Tie an eagle down (tie an eagle down),
Clip his graceful wings (take away his wings),
Keep his spirit bound (stake him to the ground);
We are one voice (we are one voice)
All the nation `round (all the nation `round);
We stand and say to the FAA,
You let him fly, or you tell us why;
Though you may try, you just can't tie an eagle down!
He's been an ace of the airshows two decades and more,
And a champion flier for a long time before;
Bob Hoover's in Oklahoma, got the feds on his tail;
They say he's losing his touch, getting old, looking frail.
An endless chain of opinions, rulings and appeals;
A good man is grounded in the turning of the wheels;
In other lands he is legal, but at home he cannot fly;
They've tied down the eagle, and his home is the sky.
Oh, you just can't (oh no, you can't)
Tie an eagle down (tie an eagle down),
Clip his graceful wings (take away his wings),
Keep his spirit bound (stake him to the ground);
We are one voice (we are one voice)
All the nation `round (all the nation `round);
We stand and say to the FAA,
You let him fly, or you tell us why;
Though you may try, you just can't tie an eagle down!
But they gave him his freedom in the hour of the game
When they held all the cards, bent the rules to their aim;
The Washington Shuffle's just a play for saving face,
And the stand that we made changed the terms of disgrace.
There comes a time when injustice draws a line in the sand,
When the laws that protect us deal a dark upper hand;
We can close ranks together at the line or we can fall,
For the hand dealt an ace may be awaiting us all.
Oh, you just can't (oh, no you can't)
Keep a good man down (keep a good man down),
Take his golden years (take his silver wings),
Take away his crown (tie an eagle down);
We are one voice (we are one voice)
All the nation `round (all the world around),
He got away from the FAA;
They won't say why, but they let him fly;
Though they were sly, they couldn't tie Bob Hoover down!
There's a twin Shrike Commander climbing high in the blue,
Looping down to the numbers as no twin ought to do;
The man at her throttles is a prince among his peers,
Has the heart of an eagle and the grace born of years.
Oh, you just can't
Tie an eagle down,
Clip his graceful wings,
Keep his spirit bound;
We are one voice
All the nation `round;
We stand and say to the FAA,
You let him fly, or you tell us why;
Though you may try, you just can't tie an eagle down!
Though you may try, you just can't tie an eagle down!
Haze From Hell
words by Barb MacLeod and Jeff Poehlmann
music: "Grey and Blue" by Barb MacLeod
(c) 1995 Fly-By-Night Echolocations
It's another lousy, hazy, smoggy, sunny, sucky, schlocky
Hour of flying at four thousand AGL;
Seems it's been this bad forever, and we cannot help but wonder
Why the August afternoons have gone to hell.
Check the ATIS just for grins--they say the viz is down to three,
But where we are the sky is powdered styrofoam;
Gnash our teeth and search for traffic, wipe our palms and sneak one snap roll,
Call it quits and tell Approach we're headed home.
In the sultry summer swelter, grounded pilots grouse and grumble,
Wishing only to be up there upside down,
Drip our sweat into our coffee, drum our fingers, draw Aresti,
Dream of winter winds that kick our tails around.
Gimme an H! (H!)
Gimme an A! (A!)
Gimme a Z! (Z!)
Gimme an E! (E!)
What's that spell? (NO AEROBATICS!)
What's that spell? (NO AEROBATICS!)
HAZE FROM HELL!! NO AEROBATICS!!
(repeat first verse)
Aerobatic Chiropractic
words and music (c) by Barb MacLeod
My back went pop! on a windy day
As the leaves went skitterin' `round;
I took a break, put down my rake,
Crept in and lay right down;
But it seized up bad; a week's gone by;
The pain is killin' me;
I see this chiropractic ad;
Says, `first two sessions free';
In my frugal, frazzled state that seems
A pretty good deal to me.
Here's the perfect spot in the parking lot;
Here's a Porsche right next to me;
Got a red-and-white sunburst bumper sticker sayin',
`My other car's an S-2B';
I've got no clue; the Porsche is blue;
I turn and limp on in;
I'm greeted by a big grizzled guy
With a little impish grin;
He says, "my treatment is unique;
Lie down and let's begin".
Well, he chatters in chiropractic-ese
As he feels along my spine,
Says, "ligaments torn and cartilage worn;
We'll get this all in line;
I guarantee you by tonight
Your back'll be of no concern;
What you need first is an English bunt,
Then a push to a hammerhead turn".
I'm thinkin' they're
Rolfing terms or wrestling moves;
It isn't a surprise to me
Till he puts his finger on a map,
Says "be here at half past three";
When I stammer "why?", he winks his eye,
Says, "don't worry, it'll be OK;
You've got nothing to lose", so I find my shoes,
Limp out and drive away;
I'm pale with dread, have a giddy head,
But I go there anyway.
There's a sky-blue Porsche by the hangar door,
There's sweat upon my brow;
The biplane shimmers in the sun;
He says, "put this parachute on now";
"Yow, Doc, I really hate to fly;
I shoulda told you this before";
"I'll fix that too, and tomorrow you'll
Be desperate for more".
My mind was numb when he strapped me down;
Could I have heard him right?
He said we'd do a sequence of
Outside, inverted flight;
"Oh no!", I cry, "I'm gonna die!";
He laughs and says "hang on!";
Blood is rushing in my ears;
The world below is gone.
No mortal can survive this ride;
It's got to be a dream;
He's talking chiropractic-ese,
I'm choking back a scream;
He says "lomcevak" and "sacroiliac";
The sky goes throbbing red;
My lumbar disks all decompress,
And then they're made of lead,
And all the while these tiny bells
Are ringing in my head;
I've got to stay awake or I
am gonna wake up dead.
Then my back goes crack! and the grey goes black,
And I come to upside down;
The green earth where I long to be
Is whirling `round and `round;
He says "now we're in an inverted spin;
Just count and meditate";
I get to twenty-two, and he pulls it through
To an outside Cuban eight.
Well, I know that I am gonna die,
But I know it's gonna take a while;
Part of me still wants to scream,
And part just wants to smile;
When he rolls that airplane right side up,
Says "that's it for today",
Above my chin is a silly grin,
And my pain has gone away.
Now chiropractors claim the spine
Is the residence of the soul;
My daily aerobatic fix
Has made me sane and whole;
But I've never raked those leaves again;
To this I must confess;
I sold my house and bought myself--
Go on and make a guess--
I keep my spine in line just fine
With my little S-1S.
The Long Spin
words and music (c) by Barb MacLeod
I see them in my mind's eye as the compass wheels around;
They're down there somewhere squinting in the sun;
Friends who love the sky are gathered on the chosen ground
To watch us circle up and do the long one.
These hands that hold the turn and lean the mixture as we climb
Are sweaty with my raw anticipation;
Ten thousand feet to go and all my thoughts to pass the time;
Can't separate my fear from my intention.
It wasn't very long ago that I was one of those
Who tries to live forever on the ground,
But flying has a tempered edge that keeps me on my toes;
It's gold made from the lead that weighed me down.
The child I used to be had wings, could dance upon the moon,
Could soar and dive with swallows way up high;
Though it was just a random strike, it grounded her too soon;
The broken wing would heal but now her confidence was shattered;
A bird afraid of taking to the sky,
For thirty years and more I wouldn't fly.
I saw a vision in the brilliant blue,
And a gift was given me;
And from my prison I saw the open sky,
Touched the lock and turned the key;
I checked the windsock, and got a little airspeed,
And I was free!
He must have seen the wild streak in the corner of my eye;
Jim, who rides the second seat, just grins;
He put me in a spin before he taught me how to fly;
I laughed and took the hook at the beginning,
And now I test that tempered edge in spins.
They call us on their handheld radio to say hello;
Their voices give me heart and make me smile;
Six hundred feet a minute with six thousand still to go;
They've had us in their scope for quite a while.
This trusty little Aerobat in which I logged my time--
My student trials and triumphs, every one,
Today, for love and honor, goes as high as she can climb
To challenge unofficially
(And document it faithfully)
The record longest spin that has been done.
Arcs of sun and shadow sweep across my field of view;
Feelings bright and dark--I let them flow;
Some have called it reckless, and I've given that its due,
But this is my frontier and I will go.
Yes, there is wisdom in radical attitudes,
And there's a pure and sweet delight,
And there is grace in finding courage;
I saw the light.
The air is cold and rare now, and the twelve-five point has passed;
My breath becomes a silent meditation;
I've wrestled with my doubts and know our purpose here at last--
To barnstorm at the gate of all creation.
I've never been so blessed, or seen such beauty anywhere;
White contrails cross the cirrus in the blue;
This lightness that I feel--it's got to be the thinning air,
Or maybe it's what we're about to do!
I haven't seen the gauges play this ragged line before;
V y and VSI, they tell the story;
And now that the altimeter has crept up past the four,
It's time to stop the climb and go for glory!
I heard the music in the brilliant blue,
Saw the dance that I would do,
Embraced the wind, and learned to fly,
Learned to whirl down through the sky;
And I climbed so high, I tell you true,
'Cause I just had to!
Check in with ATC--we're all alone; they're standing by;
Check in with our companions far below;
Then cast a glance at Jim and catch that wild streak in his eye,
Grin and say I'm ready, see his nod of reassurance,
Pull the carb heat, close the throttle,
Ease her back and keep her level,
Watch the airspeed bleed away, and here we go!
I hear my measured breathing in the silence of the stall,
Above that tiny whine so razor-thin;
I balance on the brink, then kick the rudder to the wall,
And hold her tight and let her tumble in.
This whirling, plunging, reeling with its stillness at the core
Suspends me in exquisite fascination;
The grace I've gained in every spin that I have done before
Has brought a stillness to my concentration.
The roads of white, the fields of green
Turn again and turn again;
And as they turn we count together:
Seven, eight, and nine and ten;
It feels so steep, but now it's flatter;
Turn again and turn again;
It goes so slow, but now it's faster;
Turn again, again, again;
Keep an eye on the oil streak, and watch the airspeed;
Thirty-three and thirty-four;
Keep the ailerons neutral, and watch the altitude;
Never gone this long before;
But here I am; can I keep on going?
I think I can; right now I can,
So turn again, and turn again,
And turn again.
I see them in my mind's eye as the earth goes wheeling `round;
They're down there somewhere squinting in the sun;
Friends who love to fly are gathered on the chosen ground;
They've come to watch and cheer us,
Share the plunging reeling with us,
Keep the cameras rolling while we do the long one.
The image of a broken wing comes suddenly to mind--
A childhood fear of falling--nothing more;
"Grace in finding courage"--these are words to heal the blind;
My fear's a fair companion, whets the edge and keeps me careful;
The count goes on; we're up to fifty-four.
A field of gold, a lake of blue
Turn again and turn again;
And as they turn, our path is true;
Sixty-one and sixty-two;
Scan the panel: we're down to five thousand,
Airspeed holding thirty-two;
Gonna be so close; can I keep on going?
I think I can; right now I can,
So turn again, and turn again,
And turn again.
Fingers tense against the yoke, left rudder's at the stop;
I cannot let her spiral; hold her in!
It's something to hang onto while I'm whirling through the drop;
Feel the tension rising, keep the faith and keep on counting;
We get too low, we're gonna auger in!
At thirty-five I've gotta break the spin;
What's it gonna take to break this long spin?
A sea of green, a line of white
Turn again, again, again;
Let go the left, kick in the right;
Turn again, she's slowing down;
Now push her forward, and watch the airspeed;
She is diving toward the ground;
Pull her up easy, and feel that g-load;
Got her out at twenty-two;
Now she has power; how sweet she rises
Into the blue!
Cheering on the intercom and on the radio--
A chorus of distilled exhilaration;
See our friends below us, key the mike and say hello;
We are jubilant and laughing;
We are pounding on the panel,
And my gyros keep on tumbling;
It was close but it was legal--
This off-the-record first in aviation.
And if you still ask why, I must reply: because it's wild,
Because it is a drug and a religion,
Because of all those years in which the spirit of a child
Languished on the earth and longed for heaven!
Yes, there is wisdom in radical attitudes,
And there's a pure and sweet delight,
And there is grace in finding courage;
I saw the light, I saw the light;
I saw a vision in a whirlwind,
Saw the dance that I would do;
Got born again, and learned to fly,
Learned to whirl down through the sky;
I heard the music in the brilliant blue,
Wrote this song for all of you,
And I'll take that ride, I tell you true,
'Cause I just have to!
Yes, I'll take that ride, I tell you true,
'Cause I just have to!
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