Taking Flight...
- Thread starter Debi
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OP
OP
I love planes...if I'm not on them. I only fly under extreme emergencies, and that's been 3 times. After the first flight, I took a bus back home.
Stevedog
Truth Seeker
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I love planes. As a kid I used to play flight simulator games on the computer. When my uncle was working on getting his pilots license he needed to log a certain number of hours on a rental plane and he would often take me along. It was fun for me.
The best flight was when I was in the military and we were going on deployment to South America. It was a long flight and one of the pilots wanted to take a little break. As he walked out of the cockpit he looked at the guys in the unit, most of whom were asleep, and probably saw that I was the only one who seemed to be actually enjoying the flight. He pointed at me and asked "Hey, do you wanna sit up front?" I happily jumped up into the pilots seat next to the co-pilot. The co-pilot started telling me about the controls in the cockpit like he was tour guide, things like "This is called the 'Throttle' can you guess what it does?" And of course I knew each and every control in the cockpit.
The co-pilots demeanor changed a bit, instead of asking "Can you guess what this is" he started asking things like "Do you know how this works", which I did. He then started naming controls and asking me to find them and tell him what the did and why they are necessary. He even started using pilot jargon and technical terms, giving me hypothetical scenarios, like "We're on an ILS approach and are cleared for runway 27, what do you do?". I wasn't quite as up to speed on some things but I was demonstrating to the co-pilot a lot of aviation knowledge. I didn't know what he was thinking but I was having a blast. Though I still wasn't prepared for what the co-pilot did next.
He said something the lines of "For not being a pilot you sure know an awful lot about planes" as he looked around at the various controls. Then he said "I think we've covered pretty much the entire cockpit, except this right here" and he placed his finger on a switch next to a digital readout. He said "This is the automatic pilot, and you turn it off like this" as he flipped the switch. He then leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms and said "Take the stick and be ready for a course correction in 10 minutes". For the next 2 hours or so I flew the plane while the co-pilot talked me through how the controls should feel and other minor details they can't program into a computer game.
The best flight was when I was in the military and we were going on deployment to South America. It was a long flight and one of the pilots wanted to take a little break. As he walked out of the cockpit he looked at the guys in the unit, most of whom were asleep, and probably saw that I was the only one who seemed to be actually enjoying the flight. He pointed at me and asked "Hey, do you wanna sit up front?" I happily jumped up into the pilots seat next to the co-pilot. The co-pilot started telling me about the controls in the cockpit like he was tour guide, things like "This is called the 'Throttle' can you guess what it does?" And of course I knew each and every control in the cockpit.
The co-pilots demeanor changed a bit, instead of asking "Can you guess what this is" he started asking things like "Do you know how this works", which I did. He then started naming controls and asking me to find them and tell him what the did and why they are necessary. He even started using pilot jargon and technical terms, giving me hypothetical scenarios, like "We're on an ILS approach and are cleared for runway 27, what do you do?". I wasn't quite as up to speed on some things but I was demonstrating to the co-pilot a lot of aviation knowledge. I didn't know what he was thinking but I was having a blast. Though I still wasn't prepared for what the co-pilot did next.
He said something the lines of "For not being a pilot you sure know an awful lot about planes" as he looked around at the various controls. Then he said "I think we've covered pretty much the entire cockpit, except this right here" and he placed his finger on a switch next to a digital readout. He said "This is the automatic pilot, and you turn it off like this" as he flipped the switch. He then leaned back in his seat, crossed his arms and said "Take the stick and be ready for a course correction in 10 minutes". For the next 2 hours or so I flew the plane while the co-pilot talked me through how the controls should feel and other minor details they can't program into a computer game.
garnetsilver
Truth Seeker
garnetsilver
Truth Seeker
(Twilight Zone ref
Did the stewardess look at you and say, "Room for one more, honey?"
Tworivers71
Bigfoot Researcher
You can tell him the wobbly part of the video at the beginning was when I had the phone touching the window and it wasn’t until I pulled it off the window when it stabilized
OP
OP
Many years ago you could go to an airport and just sit in an observation area to watch planes take off and land. It was actually an outing we did as a family every so often. This was well before all the screening and security, but I remember it as being fascinating to watch. We each got a soda and snack and just enjoyed the coming and going of planes for a few hours.
My Peoria son deliberately chose a home near an airport. And a military airport close by as well. He loves sitting on his deck watching the flights come and go.
My Peoria son deliberately chose a home near an airport. And a military airport close by as well. He loves sitting on his deck watching the flights come and go.
Tworivers71
Bigfoot Researcher
Many of those observation areas were closed prior to 9/11, primarily due to liability concerns by the airports and airlines. Some airports had an outdoor observation deck atop terminal buildings, complete with coin operated binoculars. I haven't seen one open in years, and I would bet 9/11 put an end to them for good.
OP
OP
Ohh...I remember those, too! Used a few coins in those!