By this time I was a good size stud and just about invincible. Somewhere in the meantime I made a commitment. Without further adieu and limited formalities I chose a co-pilot and a wife. God for a co-pilot and Erma for a wife. Since that time I found that God cannot be relegated to such a menial status so He has been upgraded many fold.
Hope springs forth eternal.
A few seconds ago, I was dead for sure and now a chance, if only a slight one. I thought if we could only hit that small bit of grass and get on the ground then maybe we could slide on into the pine forest on the other side of the field and just maybe, we could survive. I evaluated this situation for a good part of a second. Simultaneously I pulled the gear up and reduced the power to idle and called for a crash or crash landing. I heard the engineer as he slammed the crash-bar off.