Power of the Paw Needed for WHN's Mom

WHN's Mom is in the Hospital with lung issues and she needs the PWP.

She was feeling bad this afternoon, and had to go to the Hospital, where she was sent to the ICU.

Please lend us your paws!

The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 10

"Can't they glide down if they run out of gas?", Easy asked. "I heard that planes can do that."

"It's not like that with a blimp", Ernie said. "Planes are heavier than air. A plane has to keep moving to stay in the air. The shape of the wings cause air pressure to build up underneath the plane as it moves forward, and pushes it up. Forget about what you see in the cartoons, if a real plane got tied to a mountain or a building, the minute it stopped it would crash. A plane is always moving through the air when it's flying. As it slows, it starts to come down. Remember, we said if a blimp loses power, it drifts, and the rudder is useless."

"I still can't reach them", Snoopy said. "And with all that manipulating of the throttles, they're going to burn up more fuel."

"So what can we do?", Easy asked.

"I have an idea", Snoopy said. He pulled out his cell phone, and dialed. 

"Blogville Tower."

"Baxter? Snoopy. Is the jet jeep there yet?"

"Yep, arrived about an hour ago."

"Great. It is airworthy?"

"Ranger's setting it up now."

"As soon as he gets it set up, get him to the tower and have him call me at Squeaky Toy Tower on the land line."

"Will do."

Snoopy hung up the phone, and said, "Ranger's got the jet jeep."

"There's a jeep with jet engines?", Easy asked.

"The jet jeep was a type of mini helicopter the Army experimented with about 50 years ago", Ernie said. "It came in a kit, and the soldiers would have to put it together on site before they could fly it. They were good, but not good enough. Ranger's got one that still flys, and we're going to use it to catch the blimp."

"Who's going to catch the blimp?", Muffin asked, climbing up the stairs with a big picnic basket.

Snoopy hugged Muffin, and said, "I'm going to catch the blimp."

Muffin set down her basket, looked out the window, and said, "No, you can't, Snoopy! It's too dangerous. You might fall, you might crash! Please, Snoopy, don't go! Please, Snoopy! Please!"

"Muffin, I gotta do it!"

"Okay."

Just then , the phone rang. Walter lifted it and said, "Squeaky Toy Tower, Walter Speaking............Yeah, he's here.....Snoopy!"

Snoopy grabbed the phone. "Ranger...........You got it ready? Great. Okay, here's what I need you to do.........Get it over here as fast as you can. ........ You can be on the flight line in five minutes? Great! Thanks!"

Dad an WHN are both Sick!

Tuesday night Dad started feeling like he was trapped in a Johnny Rivers song, 'cause he's got the Walkin' Pneumonia and the not so Boogie-Woogie Flu. The two-legged medical person gave him some yucky antibiotic stuff on Thursday, and some cough syrup (double yuck).

Then, on Friday, Mom (aka WHN) got visited by that little bird called Enza. It was a big surprise. She just opened the Window, and in flew Enza.

J. Snoopington Puppy, MD, FPCP (Fellow, Paw College of Physicians), and Tasha RN, and Anna Rose RN are on duty at the DWM Hospital, attending to Dad and WHN's every need, but they could use the PWP this week.

They will keep you updated on Dad and Mom.

The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 9

Tasha and Shasta brushed themselves off, and saw that the blimp was now on an even keel. But all was not well. Tasha was still wearing the headset, but it was no longer receiving a signal. Carefully, Shasta traced the cable from the headset down to where it ended, which should have been a plug on the panel. It wasn't.

The end of the cable was hanging loose, and to make matters worse, where the plug should have been were two bare wires. 

They looked at each other, and over to the control panel. The plug was still in its jack. Tasha reached out for it, but Shasta grabbed her paw, and said, "That's electric. If Snoopy's transmitting, you could get a big shock."

"So what do we do?", Tasha asked.

Shasta sat down in the pilot seat, and said, "We're going to have to try to land this thing ourselves."

"But we don't even know how to steer it."

Shasta grabbed the throttles, and said, "We've got two propellers. If we run them at different speeds, that will make the blimp turn, just like soldiers steer a tank by moving the tracks at different speeds."

"I should have known that. My grandpaw used to drive a tank."

Shasta moved the port throttle forward, pulled back on the starboard, and the blimp started turning. It was then that they saw the storm moving back across the field. Shasta kept the blimp in a twist turn, and said, "But we can't land in this weather."

"So what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do is keep flying around until the storm clears."

"But you don't have a license to fly this thing. And besides, won't Badyear be mad at us for taking their blimp?"

"Look, if we land now, the blimp'll be torn to pieces by that storm. This way, when we bring back the blimp, it'll still be in one piece."

Shasta brought the starboard engine up to full speed, and they headed off to the sunlight.

On the ground Snoopy saw the blimp heading away, and said, "What are they doing?"

Ernie looked up, and said, "They're probably trying to outrun the storm."

"But what if they get lost?"

"Shasta's a pilot, and it looks like she's already figured out how to steer it."

"But what if they run out of gas?"

"Oh my dog! I knew we forgot something!"

The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (Not Necessarily in That Order)

Chapter 8

They all looked up at the blimp. It was now at an upward angle, and did not appear to be rising. But it wasn't falling, either.

Nervously, Easy asked,  "Why isn't it coming down?"

Without taking his eyes off the blimp, Snoopy said, "They're probably tail heavy. Squeaky Toy Tower to Badyear one, over!"

Nervously, Tasha said, "Go ahead, Snoopy."

"Above your head and to the left is a big panel with some silver knobs sticking out of it. They look like big mushrooms."

Tasha gazed up, and said, "I see them."

"Okay, listen carefully. We think that the snoot of the blimp is stuck because the ship is tail-heavy. Those buttons are the air ballast release valves. They're mounted on a cable, and you have to pull them out. The one you want is to the left."

Tasha grabbed it with her paws, and said, "I got it!"

"Okay, pull it out, slowly."

"Will do."

As they watched, Easy asked, "I see Snoopy pull those knobs all the time. What do they do?"

"They release air from the balonets", Ernie said.

"Balonets?"

"They're big rubber air tanks inside the hull. The air balances out the blimp in flight, and keeps it from going too high too fast. Right now, Snoopy is trying to get the nose down and level out the blimp. And it looks like it's working."

Everyone cheered as the blimp leveled out. Once it was on an even keel, Snoopy said, "Squeaky Toy Tower to Badyear One. Do you read? Squeaky Toy Tower to Badyear One. Do you read?"

Through the headset he heard only silence.

"Badyear One, do you read?"

The Wild Blue, Black and Tan Yonder (not necessarily in that order)

Chapter 7

Tasha reached up and grabbed the throttles. With a trembling paw, she pushed them forward, slowly. Below, she could hear sputtering. Then, a whirring noise, that grew faster and faster.

Remembering what Snoopy had said, she slowly moved the elevator wheel back. She then pushed the throttle further forward.

Down in the tower, amid the cheers, Snoopy said, "Tasha, do you read? Over!"

"Snoopy, it sounds like the engines are turning, but I can't see from here."

"Okay, I need you to look at the control panel, and find the altimeter."

"Where is it?"

"It looks like a big dial, and it says 'altimeter'."

Tasha looked around the panel, and said, "I see it."

"Okay. What does it read?"

"Looks like...........400 feet."

" And what color is it?"

"The whole display?"

"Affirmative. That means 'yes.'"

"Red. And it just went down to about 390."

"That's good."

"Okay. Wait a minute. It just turned green."

"Are you sure?"

"Affirmative."

Seeing the nervous look on everybody's face, Easy said, "What's the matter?"



Ernie turned and said, "The blimp was going down, but now it's going back up!"