My very first flying job was in Chester CT. I was actually the airport grunt. Mowing the lawn, trimming bushes, cleaning airplanes, pumping gas. Once in a while the owner would let me do a "91" flight. In the summer I did a few fire patrol flights. I would take the Cessna 172 up to Hartford, pick up two people and fly a big, BIG square around the state at around 7000'. This would take like three and a half hours at 70 knots. It was a struggle to stay awake. Most of the fires we saw were people burning leaves and such, nothing big. We'd land in Chester for lunch at noon, then fly another big circle in the afternoon.
One day I had two people I'd flown with a few times before, a young lady in front and a big forest service guy in the back seat. When we landed for lunch the woman stayed in the plane, which was odd. I asked if she wanted to get out and use the bathroom or have some lunch but she said no, she was fine. So a little later we took off for the afternoon trip. When we landed in Hartford later, they both jumped out and went to their cars. I was to hop over to another airport and pick up a friend of the boss, then fly him down to Chester. When I got there the man went to climb into the seat, put his hand on the cushion and said "Hey, did someone spill their Coke here?"
I didn't say anything except "Yea, maybe..." and later, in Chester, I scrubbed the seat. I felt sorry for that woman. She had to fly around all day after wetting herself, it must have been humiliating. I didn't mind though. Stuff happens. But I never saw her again. I think she was too embarrassed to fly again.
The Connecticut Department of Natural Resources helped us get through some rough times. When everyone else was going broke, we were doing little trips for the state and bringing in a little income. One memorable trip was a the fisherman recon flights. We'd take off in a 172, N734TB, and head down to the shoreline. Then, at 500' and 70 knots, with the windows open, we'd fly along the shoreline, counting fishermen on piers and boat trailers at boat ramps. I thought it was a crazy use of taxpayers money, but I was getting paid and having a blast doing it. We did several of those flights. So much fun!
