Last Sunday my brother and sister-in-law had us and the Randy Ames family over for Easter dinner. It turns out that Randy and I have both tried the airplane-pilot thing. We reminisced about our piloting experiences which were fun (or scary) to recall. No more than what I flew, I still have plenty of stories to tell. Like when I took off the wrong way on the runway while other planes were preparing to land from the opposite direction. Like when I got lost near Purdue University because some clouds were moving in. When I landed I forgot to lower my flaps and the wind pushed me to the edge of a 150 feet wide runway. I nearly ran off the side of the "road". Another time a helicopter asked if I was preparing to land because he was coming across the runway. I assured him that I was and that he was good to go because I would be landing under him...but as I watched him coming I didn't notice my own altitude and it became apparent that I would not be able to land as I thought. Luckily I was able to abort and do a fly-by without any problems other than a bruised ego. Another time I stalled from about 50 to 100 feet in the air and had a rather "hard" landing. No damage that I could tell so I took off again! Another time I took the video camera up but when we watched it, I had a bunch of video of the seat next to me. It turns out I was turning it off when I thought I had it on, and turning it on when I thought I had it off. Another time I was stating my position prior to landing, but was getting no response...it was late and at a quiet airport so I prepared to land anyway. That's when the radio crackled to see who I was...my communication switch had gone out and they couldn't hear me. I have other stories like flying in the dark, in the rain, in parachute territory, negotiating a blimp, fast flying jets nearby, etc.
I decided to give up flying when we had children...before the inevitable happened. My insurance wouldn't cover me anyway. Someday I would like to do it again, but then I will have a GPS system, auto-pilot, parachute and other necessary items!
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7 comments:
I promise I will go up with you right before I die :-)
I use to fly with a doctor friend who was probably a pilot friend of yours! I was YOUNG then and most likely didn't think real clear. I think at this point in my life I will only read about you and Dr. Bob flying. Keeping my feet firmly on terra firma sounds perfect....bette
Oh my David, it seems I only knew part of the instances. You had an angel very busy taking care of you it sounds like.
The story of the video camera brings back memories for me. My brother-in-law videotaped my wedding and reception for Leigh and me and did the same thing at the reception. When it was off--he thought it was on and vice versa. Needless to say, we have lots of footage of the floor and the back of peoples heads. Lol
Hi David,
Glad I found you. Here is the link to my blog,
http://tjlebaron.blogspot.com/
Tim
Oh my...I knew there was a reason I am scared of flying! ha! Martha is such a brave woman to be so loyal! I'll watch the kids while you two go up together...how's that?(Did you forget that your Mom reads your blog? Now she knows the whole story! Oh dear!) I had fun catching up on your blog...I was under the impression that it was mainly for your work... NOT! You are truly a hilarious guy!
The other blog is for my work. This one is for fun. I hope my work people don't know about this one!
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