- Joined
- Feb 23, 2005
- Messages
- 4,573
- Location
- Georgetown, ME
- Display Name
- Harley Reich
- Home Airfield
- KIWI
The following memo I received from a friend who no longer flies but is a former CFI and ATP rated pilot. He was returning from a convention in Las Vegas to Cleveland(the Leg), though he lives North of Manchester, NH.
"On the way back to Cleveland my boarding pass did not have a seat assignment. At the gate I was asked if I would accept an emergency exit seat. YES,Of Course!
B-767, 3 seats, I'm at the window, middle seat a 300 lb woman, aisle seat 300 lb 40ish male. The escape hatch has to be brought into the seats for clearance to get out. On approach, heavy rain, visibility less than one mile. We're getting too low. Power applied, we're climbing, level off, now a series of "S" turns in the overcast, rain pounding on fuselage. I'm on the edge of my seat! I've become a very poor passenger, sitting there feeling everything going on and don't have the yoke in my hand!
The woman's shoes are off and under the seat ahead. I say to her it would be a good idea to put them on, explaining our circumstances; and she brushes me off with hand gestures. I'm thinking how the hell will I be able to get this ignoramus out of the plane if necessary?
BUT.....
Great professional United pilots pull it off with aplomb! (I'd rather be
in the front left seat than in the cattle car! Can't hardly stand it.)"
Though a former pilot, Bob has a couple friends who are well up there in aviation and often get Bob "in" to "fly" most of the big airplanes via some big Flight Simulator in NH. On one occasion he told about "flying" some big Air Force plane and was on the landing approach. The Colonel exclaimed, "Hey, what are you doing? You can't land that plane there!"
"Shhh; don't bother me; I'm busy." Some time later:
"Well, I'll be damned. How did you put that bird down in there?"
"Practice, Colonel, practice; and experience."
HR
"On the way back to Cleveland my boarding pass did not have a seat assignment. At the gate I was asked if I would accept an emergency exit seat. YES,Of Course!
B-767, 3 seats, I'm at the window, middle seat a 300 lb woman, aisle seat 300 lb 40ish male. The escape hatch has to be brought into the seats for clearance to get out. On approach, heavy rain, visibility less than one mile. We're getting too low. Power applied, we're climbing, level off, now a series of "S" turns in the overcast, rain pounding on fuselage. I'm on the edge of my seat! I've become a very poor passenger, sitting there feeling everything going on and don't have the yoke in my hand!
The woman's shoes are off and under the seat ahead. I say to her it would be a good idea to put them on, explaining our circumstances; and she brushes me off with hand gestures. I'm thinking how the hell will I be able to get this ignoramus out of the plane if necessary?
BUT.....
Great professional United pilots pull it off with aplomb! (I'd rather be
in the front left seat than in the cattle car! Can't hardly stand it.)"
Though a former pilot, Bob has a couple friends who are well up there in aviation and often get Bob "in" to "fly" most of the big airplanes via some big Flight Simulator in NH. On one occasion he told about "flying" some big Air Force plane and was on the landing approach. The Colonel exclaimed, "Hey, what are you doing? You can't land that plane there!"
"Shhh; don't bother me; I'm busy." Some time later:
"Well, I'll be damned. How did you put that bird down in there?"
"Practice, Colonel, practice; and experience."
HR