Harry climbed back out of the airplane and untied the ropes securing the plane to the dock. He had watched float plane pilots pump out the floats before flying but wasn't sure how it was done. Since the airplane had just flown in, how much water could there be? With the airplane floating free, Harry climbed back in and moved into the right seat. Airplane pilots usually sat on the left. But as a helicopter pilot Harry was much more comfortable on the right. The panel of airplane instruments looked much like his training helicopters from his prior life. He looked for a key and the checklist without any luck. Surely they must have hidden a key somewhere. Finally Harry found the checklist sitting on the glare shield in plain view. Still no key, though. In frustration Harry simply unscrewed a retaining nut and pushed the ignition switch out of the panel. He tore the wires off the switch to un-ground the magnetos.
Now it was a matter of hot-wiring the starter relay. Harry took a few seconds to read the checklist for starting. He closed the mixture control and tried to figure out how to put the prop in fine pitch as indicated by the checklist. There was a prop control lever, but not being sure which way it should go, he guessed and pushed it all the way forward. Where was the fuel selector valve? At least it was painted red which made finding it easier; he turned it to right tank. The checklist called for using the wobble pump but Harry didn’t know what it was. He used the primer to inject some gas into the intake manifolds, but wasn't sure how many pumps; four should be enough, he hoped. Harry looked at the checklist again. He wasn't sure where he was on the list and chided himself to be more methodical.
Harry touched the wires in the ignition switch together trying to identify the wire which led to the starter relay. None seemed to work. Then he realized he had turned the master switch off to save battery power. Turning the master back on, he could hear static on the radio. He again tried touching the wires together figuring the black wire was the ground. The orange wire, when connected to the ground, caused the starter relay to close and the big radial engine began to groan and turn over. The engine coughed yet failed to catch. Harry relaxed his death grip on the wires and allowed the starter to cool for a few seconds. He really needed a third hand: two to work the wires and one to work the throttle. He advanced the throttle twice the quarter inch recommended on the checklist and again touched the wires together. The big radial again groaned as the prop slowly turned over.
The engine again coughed, but this time kept on coughing and finally caught with a loud throaty roar. Harry let go of the wires and looked up. He was headed directly to the beach! A gentle breeze had been enough to turn the airplane around while he was concentrating on the wires. Harry stomped on the left rudder and turned the yoke all the way to the left. But there wasn't enough time and the tip of the right float crunched against the rocky beach.
Harry left the engine running but pulled the throttle back to idle before climbing back out onto the floats. He pulled the paddle free from the clips holding it against the float. Paddling furiously, he tried to turn the airplane around without any success. Throwing the paddle into the water in frustration Harry jumped into the nearly freezing lake, almost up to his waist. He pulled the airplane backwards off the beach and slowly swung it around until it was pointed straight out into the lake. Harry then let the airplane float back toward the beach figuring he would set the aft tip of the floats on the beach to stabilize the airplane. The water rudders were down and the rudder tips dug in before he could secure the floats. Harry's feet no longer hurt because the ice cold water had already numbed them.
Pulling himself back up onto the floats, Harry was met with the cold prop wash from the running engine. A few degrees colder and the wind would have turned him into a human icicle. His silk and wool suit provided little protection and he wished for his operational uniform. Ignoring his chattering teeth, Harry crawled back into the Beaver and sat on the right side. He strapped in using the seat belt only because the shoulder straps didn't have enough reach for his large frame. Forcing himself to concentrate, Harry again examined the checklist. He tried securing the door, but having destroyed the latch earlier, it was hopeless. Harry did his best to set the flaps for takeoff but turning the lever didn’t change anything. The large handle between the seats finally caught his eye and he gave it a few pumps which moved the large flaps down a notch. It was time, Harry applied full power. The big radial engine roared with the sound of a gigantic Harley motorcycle and Harry was plowing across the lake in his high-speed airboat. Instinctively pulling back on the yoke, Harry got the plane to rise up onto the step in the floats and the speed began to increase. Harry glanced at the airspeed indicator. He was doing 50 mph and then realized he was no longer touching the water. The checklist had said something about the water rudder but Harry was too busy to worry about it. The airspeed indicator was now showing 90 mph, but the engine tachometer was nearing the red line: 2450 rpm.
The door banging against the side of the airplane let in large amounts of cold air that Harry tried to ignore. He had already pulled on the knob for cabin heat, yet wasn't noticing much heat. Harry pulled back the power a little to keep the engine below the red line. Controlling the airplane seemed natural enough despite the difference in controls from his helicopter days. He was now headed in the direction of the departing helicopter which was nowhere in sight. Harry tried to work the radio but found it inoperable, dead as a door nail. Too late, he realized, he had forgotten to turn off the avionics when he was starting the engine; maybe a power surge had blown the circuit breaker to the radio or maybe the radio was fried. He tried to find the appropriate circuit breaker, but whenever Harry took his attention off the horizon, the airplane would pitch down and prop speed increase dangerously.
Harry began playing with the prop governor and finally figured out how to control the prop speed. By adjusting in a coarser pitch the engine rpm settled down and his airspeed increased significantly. He was now showing 120 mph. The helicopter had probably a 10 minute head start. Was he going to be able to catch it? Harry was fighting the pressure on the yoke to keep the airplane level with only partial success. The airplane was flying not level but in an undulating up-and-down pattern. Turning the trim wheel seemed to help. With some experimentation, Harry was able to take most of the pressure off the yoke and the airplane settled down. It had been several years since Harry had flown, but the feel was coming back.
Harry turned on the transponder and its lights flickered. He dialed in 7700 as the squawk code hoping someone would detect the emergency signal. Hopefully José had found a working phone or repaired something and was in contact with Theodore. He had screwed up by not protecting the radio though there was nothing he could do about it now. His mission was to hunt down the helicopter that had taken his wife. Harry kept the engine speed and manifold pressure right at redline. The oil temperature and cylinder head temperatures were both high, but protecting the engine was not Harry's concern. All the plane had to do was stay together until he caught up with the helicopter. The airplane wasn't happy being pushed this hard: it was vibrating enough that the gauges were hard to read and the old magnetic compass was bouncing around.
Forcing himself to concentrate, Harry again looked at the checklist. He was supposed to have set the flaps at zero for cruise. Harry looked around trying to remember where the flap indicator was and finally reset the flaps appropriately. The few seconds he had spent looking for the indicator was enough time for the plane to have veered 20° off course. The speed built up and he was now indicating 130 mph. The helicopter could have easily outrun him. But he knew it was damaged and hopefully he would be able to catch it.
Harry tried to do the math in his head. If the helicopter was making 90 miles an hour and had been flying for 10 minutes it would be 15 miles ahead of him. If Harry were making 120 miles an hour that would give him a 30 mph advantage. It would take him 30 minutes to make up that 15 miles; if his pursuit angl
e was off at all he would never find them. The reality sank in, yet Harry continued on, any chance better than no chance.