TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE OUR AIRPARk CHRISTMAS

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

Twas the night before Christmas and out on the ramp,
Not an airplane was stirring, not even a Champ.
The aircraft were tucked in their hangars with care
In hopes that come morning they’d be back in the air.

When the radio lit up with noise and with chatter,
Marv turned up the scanner to see what was the matter.
A voice heard clearly over static and snow
Asked for clearance to land at our airpark below.

He barked his transmission so lively and quick,
Marv swore that the call sign must be “St. Nick.”
When he called his position, no room for denial,
“St. Nicholas One turnin’ left onto final.”

And what to Marv’s wondering eyes should appear,
A Rutan-built sleigh with eight Rotax reindeer.
With vectors to final, down the glideslope it came,
As the pilot in charge called each reindeer’s name,

“Now Cessna! Now Sonix! Now RV and Mooney!
On Comet! On Cupid!” Was I getting loony?
He landed like silk, with the sled runners sparking,
Marv heard, “St. Nicholas One taxi to parking.”

He exited One Seven and pulled up real slow
And stopped on the ramp with a "Ho ho, ho ho."
He jumped from the sleigh with a bag full of toys,
He passed it to Marv “For all the good girls and boys!”

Red helmet and goggles were covered with frost
And his beard was blackened from reindeer exhaust.
His cheeks were rosy and jiggled like jelly,
His boots were as black as a cropduster’s belly.

A grimace, a wink, and a twist of his toes,
Showed clearly he needed to powder his nose.
He came out of Marv’s restroom and sighed with relief,
Then picked up a phone for a Flight Service brief.

He wrote in his log, signed, sealed, and dated.
Marv surmised Rudolph was instrument rated.
Completing his preflight, from front to the rear,
He pulled on his headset and yelled, “Clear!”

He sped down the runway, the ace of the base,
Into the night on his round the world race.
Marv heard him exclaim, as he flew out of sight,
“I’ll see you next year, if you guys all fly right!"

Amber Polo (with apologies to Clement Clarke Moore and acknowledgment to Anon, Dick Baker, and Alan Stebbins for earlier versions for the aeronautical community.)”