Right Stuff Sightseeing Tour

NaBloPoMo Day 12: I'm back in Beantown, finally home sweet home with the lovely M., but I almost missed my flight back due to some unplanned tourist activity. For the final day of my trip to Columbus I was housed and fed (intestinally unchallenging but tasty food) by Mr. Dr. and Mrs. Dr. Joe, two very good friends from the good ol' Cornell days. The were very gracious hosts, and they have a terrific little Craftsman style house that they are rightfully proud of. This morning the plan was for them to take me to the airport on their way to work; having never needed to go to the airport before (they moved to Columbus at the beginning of the semester), Joe checked the directions with Google before we departed, and then off we went.

After half an hour or so of happily chatting and listening to NPR, we began to be a bit concerned by the lack of obvious signage directing us to the aerodrome, but then we spotted the discreetly marked turnoff. Onward we drove, passing woods, fields, and a lot of warehouses and hangars, never catching a glimpse of any indicators of long-term parking, baggage claim, departure drop-offs. It was weird. And then we saw the sign: Welcome to Rickenbacker Airport.



Named after Ohio's WWI super-ace fighter pilot (also race car driver and cartoon scripter), Rickenbacker Airport is the international cargo airport for Ohio. No passenger airlines (except charter). Google had steered us wrong! Following quick consultation of the glove compartment map (trusty paper, not fickle bits) we turned right around and sped off to Port Columbus Airport with the lift-off countdown clock ticking. We passed John Glenn Avenue on the way, and we made it to the airport in time for me to rush to my departure gate just as the plane was beginning to board.

I thought it was quite apropos to have driven by a couple of signs of Ohio's recollection of a couple of its native sons who definitely had The Right Stuff just a day or so after I'd finally finished reading the book. (Spoiler: Glenn made it into orbit.) Verdict: The true story was astounding, the book was excellent, the movie was pretty good, and Chuck Yeager was awesome.