Larry Peterson, a friend of Jasper Woodbury, flies an ultralight plane
over Cumberland City. Soon, Larry begins to teach Emily Johnson to fly the
ultralight. He gives her some information about the plane: Its total
weight is 250 pounds. It can carry a payload of up to 220 pounds. Larry
explains that payload is the weight the plane can safely carry in addition
to its own weight; payload includes the weight of the pilot, the fuel, and
cargo. Larry then shows Emily a box used for carrying extra cargo. The box
weighs ten pounds when it is empty. The cargo box holds a 1-gallon gas
can.
Emily comes closer to the ultralight so she can see as Larry is teaching her. He explains that the propeller does the pushing, just like it does with a boat; the wing does the lifting. He then demonstrates how the unique shape of the wing helps lift the plane.
A few days later Larry teaches Emily about the engine of the ultralight.
He tells her that his ultralight's engine was originally used for a
snowmobile, so it uses regular fuel and not aviation fuel. The net weight
of the five gallon fuel tank is 30 pounds. Emily points out that one and
one-half gallons of fuel are left in each of the two sides of the fuel
tank. She asks Larry how far he flew on the two gallons missing from the
tank. He tells her that he had filled up the fuel tank in the morning and
had flown over to Headlyville and back which was about 30 miles. She asked
him how long that took. Larry replied, "My rule of thumb is one mile every
two minutes ‹ on a calm day, that is." Larry tells Emily that he only
needs a field 100 yards long to take off.
A few weeks later Emily takes her first flight.
Emily, Larry, and Jasper go out to supper to celebrate. At the restaurant,
Jasper talks about his plans for a fishing trip. He says that he plans to
drive the 60 miles from Cumberland City to Hilda's Service Station and
then hike to his favorite fishing spot, which is about 18 miles on foot.
Larry mentions that he flew his ultralight to see Hilda the previous week
and that he landed in the field next to her service station.
For dessert, Emily orders a dish of strawberry ice cream and Larry orders
lemon jello in a sugar cone. Their bill comes to $17.50. Emily suggests
they include a 20% tip, and they agree to split the check equally. They
each put money down on the table: Jasper puts $11.00 down, Emily puts
$12.00, and Larry puts $9.00 down. Larry calculates the total bill and
makes change for each of them.
Before leaving the restaurant, Emily and Larry weigh
themselves. The scale shows that Emily weighs 120 pounds and Larry weighs
180 pounds.
While fishing, Jasper hears a gunshot. He discovers
that an eagle has been shot. After giving first-aid to the eagle, he makes
an emergency call to Hilda on his two-way radio.
A customer in a convertible drives up to Hilda's. The speed limit on the
road is 60 miles per hour. Hilda is pumping gas for her customer as Jasper
radios for help. When Hilda is finished, the gas pump shows that the
customer got a total of 13.9 gallons and that gas costs $1.259 per gallon.
Her customer records his mileage and tells Hilda that he got 312 miles on
his last tank of gas. His bill for the gas comes to $17.50, and he pays
for it with a $20.00 bill.
When Hilda answers Jasper's emergency call, Jasper
tells her about the wounded eagle and explains that he needs to get it to
Dr. Ramirez, a veterinarian in Cumberland City, ASAP. Jasper tells Hilda
that he is at Boone's Meadow, which is about a five hour walk from her
service station. He asks Hilda to call Emily Johnson and explain the
situation.
Emily drives to Dr. Ramirez's office. They go into
his office where he has a map of the area on his wall. He marks the
locations of his office in Cumberland City, Boone's Meadow, and Hilda's.
Dr. Ramirez points out that Hilda's is right off the highway and that
there are no roads leading into Boone's Meadow. Emily asks how much a bald
eagle weighs. Dr. Ramirez estimates that it would weigh about 15 pounds.
On the map, Dr. Ramirez determines that the distance by air between
Boone's Meadow and Cumberland City is about 65 miles. He tells Emily that
most planes need about 2,000 feet of runway and Boone's Meadow is just
half that long. Before he leaves, Dr. Ramirez tells Emily that the sooner
he can treat the eagle, the better chance he has of saving it.
Emily plans for the eagle's rescue. She uses the map
to determine that the distance by air between Boone's Meadow and Hilda's
is approximately 15 miles. Next, she calls Larry, who is just down the
road. She learns that Larry is available to fly, that the ultralight is
fueled up and ready, and that the winds are calm.
Emily thinks about the information she has gathered. She estimates that if
the ultralight is used in the rescue, she had better add five minutes for
each stop.