I spent 6,1/2 years working in Aviation, the industry had its share of characters and many stories, one of the stories I witnessed was the return of a pilot ferrying a Cessna 206 from Seattle to Ketchikan…

Terry was a great coworker and wonderful pilot, yet not the most practical fellow when it came to basic hands on type working with things or equipment…

He picked up the plane and began the flight back north with an overnight stop in the Canadian coastal town of Bella Bella… Apparently, the cabin that he was lodged in had an oil stove for heat of an old style he was unfamiliar with, feeling a chill he tried to get it going, somehow through his efforts a cloud of soot was produced and he spent the night with its evidence all over his face, without his knowledge…

Until he arrived in Ketchikan, I was working that day at Westflight aviation and caught the plane when he arrived at the dock, smiling and cheerful as usual he replied “everything went great!” when I asked him how the flight went? Unbeknownst to him that his face was completely black with soot from the night before…then my brother and the freight manager showed up, immediate howls of laughter and the question “ what did you do to your face?” Erupted from them both when they saw him…Then it was Terry’s turn, to laugh as he became aware and apprised us as well…” No wonder those people were looking so strange at me at Breakfast!”