It was now October 1995, and it was a beautiful sunny, chilly October day in Santa Barbara.
Fifty-one years had passed since Ben Grayson lost his life in the South Pacific during World War II. Carl Eastman stayed married to Diana, and he raised Ben and Diana's son, Robert, who grew up into a wonderful man. Robert was now fifty-one years old and was married to Kathy, who was forty-eight years old, for the past twenty-nine years. They had a son, James Eastman who was now twenty-eight years old.
Carl and Diana never had any kids since Carl wasn't able to father a child. This was from a blunt testicular trauma and war wound he received while in the Marines.
When James was younger, Diana told countless wonderful stories about Ben, his real grandfather. James wished he had the chance to know Ben, but fate never allowed that to happen.
Jack Grayson and Ernie Eastman both retired from the construction business in 1975 and turned the company over to Carl.
Then when James graduated from UCLA, Carl gave him a job at the construction company per Diana's request. Robert didn't enjoy working in the construction business and became a Stock Broker and opened up his own office in Santa Maria.
James worked as the financial manager for the construction company since he had a business degree. And business had been great with Carl becoming financially independent.
He made so much money from all the construction jobs that per the request of Diana he purchased a Corsair F4U airplane and had it restored to USMC markings. She wanted him to restore the Corsair in honor of Ben.
Carl loved flying and became a certified flight instructor and taught James how to fly the Corsair. James had a private pilots license and enjoyed flying the World War II fighter. He became quite proficient with handling this beautiful aircraft.
It was October 20th, 1995 and Carl took the Friday off early to take his Corsair up for a spin. He wanted to practice some maneuvers since he was going to perform in an upcoming airshow at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Back in his office at the Eastman Construction Company, James worked diligently at his desk. Stuck to his computer monitor was a yellow post-it with a reminder to get the power turned off at the Bannister house on Monday. This was an action Carl assigned to James the other day.
While James worked, he heard the sound of a Corsair outside his office window.
He ran over to the window and saw Carl's Corsair while it flew over their office building.
Carl rocked the wings of the Corsair, as he knew James was probably looking out his window.
Carl flew the Corsair away over the city.
James walked back to his desk and looked at his watch while he sat down and saw it was 4:30 p.m.
He turned off his computer and walked out of his office.
James walked down the area of numerous cubicles.
"Goodnight, James. Have a great time at the airshow tomorrow," Roger, a male employee called out from his desk while was getting ready to head home.
"Goodnight, Roger, and thanks. We will," James replied while he walked by an "Office Halloween Costume Party - October 31st" poster tacked to the bulletin board.
James walked farther down the office area and went past Carl's grand office where the door was closed with a "Gone Flying" sign that hung on it.
Carl's administrative assistant, Mindy, was getting ready to leave for the day. "Goodnight," she called out when she saw him.
"Goodnight, Mindy," James replied then walked away.
James walked out of the building, and while he walked to the parking lot, he searched the sky for Carl's Corsair. The airplane wasn't in sight in the sky.
He must have landed. James thought to himself while he walked to his 1992 Mustang. He got inside his car and started it up then drove off.
James drove through the streets of Santa Barbara and parked along the street in front of some shops.
He got out of his car and walked down the sidewalk and stopped at a "Designs by Teri Eastman" office. He went inside Teri's office.
Inside the office was Teri Eastman, a twenty-seven-year-old beautiful Italian female, who worked on a graphic design on her Macintosh computer. She started this business three years ago after working for a local firm after she graduated from college. So far, the business was profitable for Teri, and she loved the feeling of being her own boss.
Teri and James had been married for two years now. They first meet when the Eastman Construction Company hired her services for some advertisement brochures. It was love at first sight.
"Are you ready, Teri?" James said then gave her a kiss on the cheek.
"In a minute, I want to wrap this up," she replied while she placed the final touches on a book cover design.
James walked over to a table and picked up some of her finished products. He admired another book cover design and a brochure.
"Are you sure you're not a descendant of Rembrandt?"
Teri chuckled. "He was Dutch. I'm Italian."
"You could probably get away with working for a counterfeiter," he said jokingly.
"I won't do anything illegal," Teri said while she got up from her computer. Her eyes widened with a smile when she remembered something. "I have good news. My college best friend Mandy called. She just got her dream job with a publisher in New York," she said.
"That's great."
Teri turned off her computer.
She walked over and closed the blinds to her window.
They walked to the door, and she turned off the lights.
They walked out of her office.
Outside her office, James walked her to his Mustang and opened up the passenger door. Carl had always stressed to James on the importance of being a gentleman. She got inside the Mustang, and he closed the door.
Ten minutes later, James and Teri drove down an old run-down residential area. All the homes on Memphis Avenue were over fifty years old, shabby and the lawns were taken over with weeds. This was once a beautiful neighborhood over forty years ago when folks cared about their houses and yards.
Teri looked curious while she stared out her window. "You've never driven down this street to go home," she asked.
"Grandpa Carl wanted me to check on something."
He drove down Memphis a little farther then saw a big old two-story house that looked like termites have been feasting on it for years. A big excavator was parked in the front yard.
He stopped his Mustang by the street by that house, and they both looked at it.
"Are they going to tear down the old Lloyd Bannister house?" Teri asked curiously.
"Yeah. We got awarded a contract, last month, to build a fancy apartment building on that huge lot. Grandpa Carl wanted to see if they started demolition."
"That old man Bannister was a kook," Teri said.
"How's that?"
"Mom was his nurse when he was on his death bed back in eighty-two. She would tell a story how Lloyd claimed he built a time machine," Teri told him.
"Time machine? You never told me that story," James asked curiously while he drove his Mustang down the street.
"I forgot about it until I saw his house. I haven't been down this street in probably ten years," she replied.
"That's interesting. I wonder if he actually time traveled?" James asked while he glanced back at the Lloyd house. He loved watching time travel movies like The Final Countdown, Back to the Future and Somewhere in Time.
While he glanced back, he started to drift toward a parked car.
"Keep your eyes on the road!" Teri cried out and smacked his arm.
James looked forward, and his eyes widened in a little shock when he saw the parked car. He quickly turned away and missed hitting the car by inches.
"I hope you pay better attention when you fly," she lightly scolded him.
"I do," he replied while he drove away.
He stopped at the end of the street and looked to his right. He remembered this area. "Grandma would take me down here when I was a kid. She said Grandpa Ben's house was four streets down," Ben told Teri.
"I can imagine this area was really nice back in those days," she said.
"It was," he replied, then turned left and drove away.
Later that evening in their bedroom, Teri read the book Girl Of My Dreams while James played a video game on their computer at the desk. On the floor near the desk was a silver Kanstul Chicago model trumpet on a stand. James played in the marching band in High School and over the years, and he practiced to stay proficient.
While Teri read her book, James played the World War II video game called Be A South Pacific Ace. This game used some actual ace pilots from World War II, but James opted to use his own name.
During this battle, James was a Naval pilot, and their aircraft carrier was under attack. He flew a Corsair, and he dog fought with a Japanese Zero. He fired his machine gun and shot down the Zero, and it crashed into the Pacific Ocean. He jumped out of his chair and did a victory dance around the room.
"I'm an ace pilot. Yahoo!" he called out in joy while "Ace Pilot" flashed across the screen.
Teri looked up from her book and watched while James danced around the room. She rolled her eyes. "Boys will always be boys," she muttered to herself.
"This game is great training for tomorrow," he said while he jumped in bed.
"I hope you know I worry about you every time you get airborne," she said with a worried look in her eyes.
"Did you know it's safer to fly than drive a car?"
"That's what they say, but I still get that sick feeling in my stomach," she said.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine. Grandpa Carl was an excellent teacher," he replied, then kissed her on the cheek.
"You better be safe," she said while she continued to read her book.
"I'm always safe," he said then he got a huge grin. "Grandpa agreed to let me perform in the show this year," he said.
"Perform in the show? What does that mean?" Teri said and looked really worried.
"You know, fly some aerobatic maneuvers for the crowd."
"What? You never told me that!" Teri said a little upset and placed her book down on her lap.
James realized he goofed. "I'm sorry. I was planning on telling you at dinner, but I forgot," he said.
"You're going to have me worried sick. But I knew I was marrying a pilot. I guess I'll just have to get used to it," she said then continued to read her book.
James got under the covers and looked excited about performing in front of a crowd.
It was Saturday morning, and Teri and James had a quiet breakfast.
"Is your mom still planning on being at the show?"
"Mom said she was still coming and grandma will pick her up," Teri replied while she sipped her green tea.
"Good," he replied, then sipped his coffee.
After breakfast, James was ready to leave.
"I'll meet you at the airport," he said then gave her a kiss on her lips.
James went into his bedroom and removed a World War II A-2 jacket from the closet. He wore the jacket and left the room.
Later that morning, James drove to the Santa Barbara Municipal Airport.
He walked over to a hangar and went inside.
He walked up to Carl's Corsair and walked around it and looked the plane over. Then he looked at the fuselage and stared at the "Carl J. Eastman - Pilot" and "In Memory of Ben Grayson" markings.
Carl Eastman, now seventy-four years old with a head of white hair and still looked great for his age, sat inside the cockpit getting it prepped for its flight. He also wore a World War II type A-2 jacket. Carl heard someone enter the hangar and glanced down at James. "Good morning, James."
"Is she ready?" James asked.
Carl got out of the cockpit and climbed down the fuselage.
"She's in great shape," Carl said while he walked up to James.
Diana Eastman walked out of the unisex bathroom, and was now seventy-four years old and looked great for her age.
James looked excited while he glanced at the Corsair and couldn't wait to perform in the show. "I've been practicing for the show all night with my video game," James said with a gleam in his eye.
"Good morning, James," Diana said while she walked up to him and gave him a kiss on his cheek.
"Morning, grandma," James replied and followed with a kiss on her cheek.
"Are you ready for the air show?" Diana asked.
"You bet!" James excitedly replied. "Grandpa told me last week that I could perform this year."
Carl looked serious at James while he placed an arm around James' shoulder.
James could sense something was wrong.
Carl hesitated then he glanced at the Corsair. "Listen. I was doing some thinking last night, and I think it's best I do the show. I still think you're still too green."
James looked disappointed, as he had his heart set on performing in the airshow.
Diana sensed this and frowned at Carl. "Did you tell him he could perform, Carl?"
"I did Diana, but this is an expensive airplane. Doing aerobatic maneuvers can be very tricky, and he already had one close call."
Diana saw James disappointed look and felt sorry for him. "Can he at least fly it to the air force base?" Diana asked.
Carl thought about his offer. He was going to turn down her offer, but her eyes told him he better agree. "Of course," Carl said.
Diana gave Carl a kiss on his cheek. "Good. I'm going to leave and pick up Teri and her mom. Robert and Kathy will meet us at the air base. I'll see you both at the show," she said then gave Carl another kiss on his cheek and gave James a kiss on his cheek.
She walked out of the hangar.
"Okay, get her airborne," Carl said with a pat on James' shoulder.
After Carl had airport personnel tow his plane out of the hangar to the flightline, James climbed up the Corsair and got inside.
"Okay, James, she's your plane. Be careful flying to Vandenberg," Carl yelled out from down below.
James waved down at Carl. He then made sure the ignition switch was off and mixture control to idle cut-off.
"Ready," he yelled to the maintenance man outside the Corsair.
The maintenance man stepped away from the Corsair.
James configured the fuel selector and opened the cowl flaps. He then configured the propeller, carburetor air, supercharger, throttle, battery and instrument switches, electric auxiliary fuel pump, and the electric primer switch. Then he placed the mixture to rich, turned off the auxiliary fuel pump and turned the ignition and starter switches. The engine of the Corsair started.
After receiving the proper ground clearance from the tower, James taxied the plane over to runway 7.
Then he performed his run-up checks. He received clearance again and rolled the Corsair down the runway.
James performed a smooth take-off and was airborne.
Thirty minutes later, he was climbing and flying along the beach and headed toward Vandenberg Air Force Base.
Later that day, James leveled the Corsair out at 9,000 feet. Then he got a smirk and performed a perfect barrel roll in the Corsair.