25 April 2014; Shannon Airport VA--
Today, Uncle Bob took off to fly to Fayetteville SC to visit his friend and sometime boss, Daryush. I playfully cautioned him to "be careful with my airplane".

I felt pangs of loneliness as he flew away; these feelings were to be quickly abated by the exciting things I was to experience subsequently, as the reader will perceive if you continue to follow this BLOG.

My Son Ward and I took the following photos of Bob's departure. The first photo shows his and Ward's goodbye after the push-back from the fueling station.

The next two photos show: 1.) The Mooney accelerating down the runway at the point at which I predicted it would leave the ground, and, 2.) The Mooney lifting off the ground, far down the runway.