A Georgia Girl in Germany

This summer, we had our first Cook family experience with Space-A. For my non-military friends, Space-A, or “Space-available,” flights are just that: military flights that have extra seats available for military members and their families to “hop” onto. Of course, there are rules to follow and a priority for who gets the seats, but it’s a really good way to fly if you’re flexible with your dates and travel destinations. And the price simply can’t be beat!

We were hoping to catch a flight to Charleston, S.C., but there weren’t any scheduled flights in the timeframe we were looking at, so we readjusted and went north. Flying into Dover would have been ideal (since that’s where my parents live), but McGuire, N.J., was pretty close so when there were seats on a C-17 heading there, we took that opportunity.

Here we are in our seats shortly after take-off. The bonus for the C-17 is that there’s plenty of floor space for us to spread out. Once we were in the air, we laid out our blankets and slept a few hours (we had an EARLY morning show time, so needed to make up for lost sleep).

After two weeks in the states (traveling from McGuire to Dover for a few days, visiting family in south Georgia and spending three days at Disney World), we headed to Charleston to catch a flight back. Benjamin was very intrigued by the salesman refilling the vending machine at the passenger terminal there. The man was very gracious, and showed him where the money went (that’s what he’s holding), how he restocked the items, and how it opened and closed. Very cool for a 6-year-old to experience and see “how things work.”

For our return flight, the kids wore shirts from the Air Mobility Command Museum to “show the love” to the crew. At first Zachary didn’t want to wear a “walking encyclopedia” for a C-5 with all the stats on the back of his shirt, but he hesitantly wore it. It paid off! As we were getting ready to climb the stairs to the passenger compartment of the C-5, one of the loadmasters approached him and told him the pilot liked his shirt -- and wanted to know if he’d like to sit in the cockpit during takeoff! How cool is that! Of course, he jumped at the opportunity, and he ended up staying up front for the entire 3-hour flight to Bangor. He had a blast talking with the crew. From what he told me, they seemed to enjoy having him up there too. He didn’t tell me everything that they talked about (I could tell he was hesitant to talk about some things -- girls, perhaps?), but he was able to hold a decent conversation with them about how the flight controls work based on his experience flying a Cessna a few years ago. He now considers that C-5 shirt his “lucky shirt!”

After our short layover in Bangor, Zachary rejoined us in the passenger area, which was good since we needed to sleep some on the overnight leg of the trip. One unique aspect of flying in a C-5 -- in the passenger area -- is that you’re seated facing backwards. I didn’t notice it at all during the flight, but takeoffs and landings were different because of it.

Benjamin was very observant during the flight, and asked me about the yellow bag in the seat pockets.

Benjamin: Mommy what’s that?
Me: A life vest for in case we have to land in the water.
Benjamin: Oh, like a boobie?
-- pause --
Me: A what?
Benjamin: A boobie, like what floats in the water.
Me: Oooooh, a BOUIE.

Hopefully we’ll be able to take a few more hops across the Atlantic during our time in Germany. My parents have been able to hop back and forth to visit us twice since we moved to Ramstein, and we’re thankful that we’re all able to take advantage of these flights!

Labels: Benjamin, Kid Quotes, MacKenzie, Stateside visits, Travel, Zachary