I flew up to Fullerton, CA to pick him up. He has been diabetic for about 20 years, and really has suffered from not managing it well. He can hardly walk and I knew the biggest challenge was going to be getting him in and out of the airplane. It took some efforts but eventually he was up on the wing and then sitting in the right seat.
We had no particular destination, but decided to head east to Flabob. The winds were really gusty and crosswinds were straight across the runway. I did a go around, since the airstrip is really narrow. We then flew around Riverside and made our way over to Corona. I decided to stop there and get some cheap gas. We taxied over to the restaurant on the field, but they were closing and I knew that getting him out of and back in the airplane was going to be hard. We took off and headed back to Fullerton and then we drove nearby to have a late lunch. Getting him out of the airplane actually was a bit easier than getting him up and in. It still took quite the effort to get his legs under him to be able to stand up on the seat.
I took off near sunset and had a nice smooth flight back to Ramona.
I'm not sure I'll ever get him in the airplane again, but it was a memorable ride for both him and me. It made my weekend, and his.
CJ