When they took off from the airport at Perth, he was flying but as they approached the field in Port Auckland, she was in control.

"Woo hoo!" Moxie Cooper called as she felt the strong nautical winds catch the little plane.

Ty pointed down at the runway they were to use.

"If you set up a drift angle to keep you over the runway, you'll wipe out the gear at touchdown.  Don't tell me you can kick out the drift angle because you can’t. Even I couldn't" he shouted.

"I can handle it. Don't worry."

Ty gave her a thumbs up but he was obviously worried.

There is only one way that you can land in a strong crosswind with a little tail dragger like the one they flew, and that is, land on the upwind wheel first. 

He hung on as she circled, lined up and began the decent. The crosswind was rough and she pushed the stick forward a little. Coming down slowly she dropped the elevators and at this pint, Ty closed his eyes.

Slowly, surely, Moxie brought the downwind wheel on to the runway, and then she gently dropped the plane until the tail wheel touched. She kept control as she pedaled the brakes to keep the plane from somersaulting. Ty never opened his eyes until he felt the engine rev up to taxi.

Ty was unbuckled by the time she stopped in front of the hangar. He jumped out once the engine was shut down and dropped on his knees to kiss the ground.

Placing her goggles on her head, she put her hands on the bulkhead and lifted herself out of the seat.

"What's that all about, Ty? My landing was flawless."

He rose to his feet and offered his hand to her to help her down from the wing. "i know it was, honey, and I'm thanking the good Lord that you had the best flight instructor in the world."

"Boy are you up your own arse. " she snarked as she stepped on the tarmac. "and you know what?" Mox smiled "I love you just the way you are."

Taking her into his arms, he kissed her until she had to push him away to get her breath. The smacking sound that their leather bomber jackets made as they pulled apart was just short of the volume of the sound of a gunshot.

"Well, Coop, we're here, now what do we do?"

"C'mon, Mox. You know I don't like when you call me that. I feel like I should have a couple of hens in my trousers or something."

"Ha, six months of marriage an you still don't know me." she chuckled. Turning around in place she took a good look at the surroundings. "Damn if this doesn't remind me of the salt flats in America. I don't see any crops to dust or bush to pilot."

"Don't you worry, Mox. We'll have plenty of work here. First things first though. Let's get a look at our temporary digs. I reckon we'll have to set something up in this hanger until our house is ready."

Moxie walked over to the hanger with Ty behind her. She pushed the door open and was promptly greeted with a mass of spider webs and dust.

"Oh shit, damn I hate spiders."

Ty entered behind her, brushing the dust off of her shoulder.

"Yeah me too, but I love the smell of aviation fuel in the morning."

Mox turned to grin at him. "You're a strange man, Ty Cooper."

"I know." he replied "but that's why you married me."

"It sure wasn't for your money, Ty. Must be the fact that you're crazy."

He reached for her to kiss her again and she slapped his hand away.

"Listen, buddy. Until we have a place to sleep, cook and watch TV, its hands off for you." she scolded before turning to explore the hangar more.

"You’ll never last!" he teased as he followed her further into the hanger. Ty pinched her butt with ever step until she stopped and turned to glare at him.

"We’ll see who caves first, Coop. "

"Yeah, we’ll see."

Shuttling her over to a dusty sofa in the corner of the hanger he pushed her down and fell on top of her before she knew what hit her and there they stayed until the late afternoon winds subsided to sweet scented evening breezes without a hint of aviation fuel in them.