Bl_runner
December 18th 07, 05:04 PM
PLEASE SEE SEPARATE THREAD EXPLAINING THESE POSTINGS
(DIDN'T WANT TO POLLUTE THIS ONE)
Why We Fly :
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Making lazy circles in the sky at 1500ft, then suddenly hitting a
patch of 1000fpm sink, using full control deflections to roll into a
60 degree bank to escape, nose down to 80kts speed, coming down so
fast that ears pop,then shooting out of it and back into the lift.
Circling in loose formation with two friends, hearing a Cessna call
entering the pattern, asking if any gliders are landing soon, and
being
able to call back and say that everyone is doing fine and won't be
down
anytime soon.
Scanning for traffic, picking out the two friends, and suddenly seeing
a
C-130 cutting past a thousand feet above them.
Timing circles to be able to watch a friend practice a tow rope break
at
200ft off the end of the runway. Twice.
Entering the pattern after staying aloft for sixty minutes in thermals
in
the middle of December, turning final and performing a full
pedal-to-the-floor slip, then straightening it out just above the
runway
and greasing it on. Realizing that nobody was around to see it.
How lucky we are to be able to fly!
--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Flying over one of the great lakes to watch an icebreaker trying to
free up
a feighter stuck in the ice.
Riding with a guy who flew the hump in WW-II
City lights on a clear night.
Carving up the sky with back to back wingovers - right, left, right,
left,
each just a little more perfect than the last.
Slowing down in a headwind to watch the cars pass you on the freeway.
Taking someone for their first ride in a small plane.
Feeling for the ground and caressing it with the landiing gear.
Feeling the airplane getting light on the gear when it's ready to lift
off.
"Weightlessness"
Seeing the world "up side down"
Looking out the windscreen and seeing nothing but sky.
Looking out the windscreen and seeing nothing but ground. And then
making it
go round and round.
Listening to the sounds, feeling the vibrations, and knowing that all
is
well.
Auto-rough ;-)
Camping on some back country strip miles and miles from the nearest
human.
Having some other refugee from the weather drop into the same strip.
Snow in August.
Getting to know some real interesting people.
--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Cycling down the quiet road through the grainfields to the airport
at 6 AM on a summer morning, pulling out the homebuilt and flying
until work starts, at the airport, at 8. Flying at lunchtime. Flying
after work. Flying after supper on a calm evening, maybe with a friend
aboard. Flying over to the next small town to visit the legendary
restaurant there. Flying in late evening with a big thunderstorm
flashing in the distance. Waiting for a deer to get off the runway.
Dodging a trespassing coyote. Lifting a wing over the hawk who
challenges your presence in his airspace. Looking down on traffic
stuck on the freeway. Picking a stubble field and landing in it just
for the fun of it.
I wonder if Microsoft will have all these as add-ons anytime
soon?
Dan_Thomas_n
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Cruising down the Hudson river and looking UP at the buildings
Nobody
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Going home, heading west down Blue Canyon, and seeing a pair of NVANG
F-4s in trail heading up-canyon.
Waggling your wings at them, and seeing the trailing F-4 roll inverted
and waggling his wings back at you.
Steve Hix
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Watching the skydivers fall down past
you on the other side of the pattern.
Soloing.
Sharing the pattern with a C-130 and
the both of us doing touch-and-goes.
I only have about 80 hours. Give me
time and I'll have more...
Jim Stewart
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Taking off on a cool damp morning and once at 500+AGL observed what
looked
like a huge layer of cotton balls over the Susquehanna River directly
ahead.
The better part was the ability to take a picture or two that could be
shared with others that may never get a chance to see the impressive
site.
At 2800 feet straight and level and passing a leaf of a corn stock
floating
in a thermal.
Landing in high head winds and holding off the C-150 just above stall
and
watch the runway going the other way.
Landing on ILS approach under hood and just inside the outer marker
being
told by the instructor to raise the hood and land. Doing so and just
as my
eyes focused on the runway straight ahead saw two military jets on
final
approach to a nearby base crossing my flight path at my altitude just
ahead.
Arriving at the airport for an hours worth of instruction only to be
told
that there was freezing rain at allitude. But then my instructor said
that
we could go up and fly around the patch until we could not fly any
more.
Twenty minutes and at full throttle and full flaps and about 74 mph we
put
the C-150 on the ground. Only had less than 1/4" ice on the wings.
After passing my exam flew to another airstrip and picked up one of my
brothers for his first ever flight. Could not find the sicsack to
save my
sole.
Ok enough. Lots of memories. Thanks to all again. Too Kool.
Les ABLE_1
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
My wife and I getting into the Deb with snow on the ground and
temperatures in the teens, while wearing about all the winter clothes
we owned. Then 3 1/2 hours later stepping out into 70 degree weather
in Georgia.
Leaving Michigan with snow on the ground, bare trees and a bit over 5
hours later looking at green trees and perspiring from the heat in
Florida<:-))
Leaving Michigan at 2:30 in the afternoon with temps in the low 20's
and stopping in Kansas that evening to find it in the mid 70's.
Being able to beat the airline schedules from Michigan to Denver or
Orlando.
Seeing the moon come up over the clouds below me.
Or just going out and playing in 3 dimensions for an hour or two.
Being able to feel the forces when flying by "the-seat-of-the-pants"
Roger (K8RI)
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Popping out of summer cumulus into the smooth air of a valley formed
by the surrounding clouds with the sun streaming in.
--
Bob Noel
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Popping out of a wall of cumulus into clear air after spending an hour
and 8 minutes getting the snot beat out of me, looking back, and up,
and up, and up, and remarking, "WE were in THAT!"
On the brighter side....
Breaking out just above minimums and there's the airport out in the
clear right where the instruments said it'd be while a bit over a
mile either side the storm clouds extended almost to the ground.
Seeing the look on a kid's face who had been afraid of flying who had
just realized she really liked flying
Setting in a half mile line of airliners waiting for departure when
Ground tells me to turn right on the next taxiway which puts me second
for departure. I was probably 100 miles north by the time the one that
had been behind me finally took off.
Watching the snowmobiles below, passing the Cessna 150 as I weaved my
way through a bunch of lake effect snow storms on my long cross
country.
Being able to turn the two day trip to my son's place into a one day
round trip with time to eat lunch, chat, and still be home before
dark.
Roger (K8RI)
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Coming in low over the drop zone in a C-130 at night.
Seeing the glory of the rainbow -- in a complete circle.
Actually visiting people in Phoenix that you know and love, instead of
just pretending you flew to Phoenix.
The feel of the early morning air as you walk out to preflight for the
first flight of the day.
The sound of the engines on those early mornings. They sound different
in the morning than they do during the day.
Seeing actual St. Elmo's fire on the windscreen.
Somehow, being seven hours out over the ocean and having someone say
"Is that prop flux?" gets your attention far more than sitting at home
with a sim.
Same with losing several thousand feet of altitude in a few seconds,
having #3 engine put out by hail, the flight engineer thrown from his
chair and breaking his tail bone, the passengers screaming and stowed
parachutes deploying in the back, a lightning strike on the nose and
you are staring at the biggest funnel cloud you ever saw right in
front
of you -- that combo gets your undivided attention in a way that no
sim
ever could.
I have never heard of a sim where the 20 man life raft stowed in the
left wing suddenly deployed itself and wrapped itself around the
vertical stabilizer. And no sim could make that as interesting as real
life.
Having your first student pass his check ride.
Pouring a bucket of water on your first solo student's head.
Landing at Fort Stockton, TX, at 11:00 at night only to find the gas
is
locked, the gates are locked, you don't have enough fuel to fly
anywhere else, the taxis have stopped running for the night, and the
guy who drives the hotel courtesy van has gone home for the night.
The joy of listening to an A&P on the phone as he instructs you to
smack the fuel pump with a hammer to get it working again. Not many
sims let you smack the fuel pump with a hammer!
Wiping the bugs off a brand new airplane (which you just picked up at
the factory that morning) after a late summer flight into Liberty,
Kansas.
Yawning while riding the Kraken at Sea World in Florida and suddenly
realizing "I have students that fly worse than this!"
The smell of Korea from more than 100 miles out.
The burning in your eyes and nose from the fumes caused by your
hydraulic pump boiling over.
Opening up a window when it is -20º outside to get a picture of Mt.
Saint Helens erupting.
Learning that your student has been accepted to fly F-16s in Italy for
NATO.
Learning that your student has crashed in Iraq and waiting for months
to hear what his condition is.
Learning that your old airplane, in which you have many fond (and some
not-so-fond) memories has crashed and is at that bottom of the sea.
Sims cannot simulate people. Not people that you care about as much as
real people. And I hope they never do. Real pilots are not about
airplanes, or engines, or aerobatics, or going from point A to point
B.
(DIDN'T WANT TO POLLUTE THIS ONE)
Why We Fly :
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Making lazy circles in the sky at 1500ft, then suddenly hitting a
patch of 1000fpm sink, using full control deflections to roll into a
60 degree bank to escape, nose down to 80kts speed, coming down so
fast that ears pop,then shooting out of it and back into the lift.
Circling in loose formation with two friends, hearing a Cessna call
entering the pattern, asking if any gliders are landing soon, and
being
able to call back and say that everyone is doing fine and won't be
down
anytime soon.
Scanning for traffic, picking out the two friends, and suddenly seeing
a
C-130 cutting past a thousand feet above them.
Timing circles to be able to watch a friend practice a tow rope break
at
200ft off the end of the runway. Twice.
Entering the pattern after staying aloft for sixty minutes in thermals
in
the middle of December, turning final and performing a full
pedal-to-the-floor slip, then straightening it out just above the
runway
and greasing it on. Realizing that nobody was around to see it.
How lucky we are to be able to fly!
--
Michael Ash
Rogue Amoeba Software
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Flying over one of the great lakes to watch an icebreaker trying to
free up
a feighter stuck in the ice.
Riding with a guy who flew the hump in WW-II
City lights on a clear night.
Carving up the sky with back to back wingovers - right, left, right,
left,
each just a little more perfect than the last.
Slowing down in a headwind to watch the cars pass you on the freeway.
Taking someone for their first ride in a small plane.
Feeling for the ground and caressing it with the landiing gear.
Feeling the airplane getting light on the gear when it's ready to lift
off.
"Weightlessness"
Seeing the world "up side down"
Looking out the windscreen and seeing nothing but sky.
Looking out the windscreen and seeing nothing but ground. And then
making it
go round and round.
Listening to the sounds, feeling the vibrations, and knowing that all
is
well.
Auto-rough ;-)
Camping on some back country strip miles and miles from the nearest
human.
Having some other refugee from the weather drop into the same strip.
Snow in August.
Getting to know some real interesting people.
--
Geoff
The Sea Hawk at Wow Way d0t Com
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Cycling down the quiet road through the grainfields to the airport
at 6 AM on a summer morning, pulling out the homebuilt and flying
until work starts, at the airport, at 8. Flying at lunchtime. Flying
after work. Flying after supper on a calm evening, maybe with a friend
aboard. Flying over to the next small town to visit the legendary
restaurant there. Flying in late evening with a big thunderstorm
flashing in the distance. Waiting for a deer to get off the runway.
Dodging a trespassing coyote. Lifting a wing over the hawk who
challenges your presence in his airspace. Looking down on traffic
stuck on the freeway. Picking a stubble field and landing in it just
for the fun of it.
I wonder if Microsoft will have all these as add-ons anytime
soon?
Dan_Thomas_n
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Cruising down the Hudson river and looking UP at the buildings
Nobody
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Going home, heading west down Blue Canyon, and seeing a pair of NVANG
F-4s in trail heading up-canyon.
Waggling your wings at them, and seeing the trailing F-4 roll inverted
and waggling his wings back at you.
Steve Hix
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Watching the skydivers fall down past
you on the other side of the pattern.
Soloing.
Sharing the pattern with a C-130 and
the both of us doing touch-and-goes.
I only have about 80 hours. Give me
time and I'll have more...
Jim Stewart
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Taking off on a cool damp morning and once at 500+AGL observed what
looked
like a huge layer of cotton balls over the Susquehanna River directly
ahead.
The better part was the ability to take a picture or two that could be
shared with others that may never get a chance to see the impressive
site.
At 2800 feet straight and level and passing a leaf of a corn stock
floating
in a thermal.
Landing in high head winds and holding off the C-150 just above stall
and
watch the runway going the other way.
Landing on ILS approach under hood and just inside the outer marker
being
told by the instructor to raise the hood and land. Doing so and just
as my
eyes focused on the runway straight ahead saw two military jets on
final
approach to a nearby base crossing my flight path at my altitude just
ahead.
Arriving at the airport for an hours worth of instruction only to be
told
that there was freezing rain at allitude. But then my instructor said
that
we could go up and fly around the patch until we could not fly any
more.
Twenty minutes and at full throttle and full flaps and about 74 mph we
put
the C-150 on the ground. Only had less than 1/4" ice on the wings.
After passing my exam flew to another airstrip and picked up one of my
brothers for his first ever flight. Could not find the sicsack to
save my
sole.
Ok enough. Lots of memories. Thanks to all again. Too Kool.
Les ABLE_1
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
My wife and I getting into the Deb with snow on the ground and
temperatures in the teens, while wearing about all the winter clothes
we owned. Then 3 1/2 hours later stepping out into 70 degree weather
in Georgia.
Leaving Michigan with snow on the ground, bare trees and a bit over 5
hours later looking at green trees and perspiring from the heat in
Florida<:-))
Leaving Michigan at 2:30 in the afternoon with temps in the low 20's
and stopping in Kansas that evening to find it in the mid 70's.
Being able to beat the airline schedules from Michigan to Denver or
Orlando.
Seeing the moon come up over the clouds below me.
Or just going out and playing in 3 dimensions for an hour or two.
Being able to feel the forces when flying by "the-seat-of-the-pants"
Roger (K8RI)
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Popping out of summer cumulus into the smooth air of a valley formed
by the surrounding clouds with the sun streaming in.
--
Bob Noel
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Popping out of a wall of cumulus into clear air after spending an hour
and 8 minutes getting the snot beat out of me, looking back, and up,
and up, and up, and remarking, "WE were in THAT!"
On the brighter side....
Breaking out just above minimums and there's the airport out in the
clear right where the instruments said it'd be while a bit over a
mile either side the storm clouds extended almost to the ground.
Seeing the look on a kid's face who had been afraid of flying who had
just realized she really liked flying
Setting in a half mile line of airliners waiting for departure when
Ground tells me to turn right on the next taxiway which puts me second
for departure. I was probably 100 miles north by the time the one that
had been behind me finally took off.
Watching the snowmobiles below, passing the Cessna 150 as I weaved my
way through a bunch of lake effect snow storms on my long cross
country.
Being able to turn the two day trip to my son's place into a one day
round trip with time to eat lunch, chat, and still be home before
dark.
Roger (K8RI)
#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#-#
Coming in low over the drop zone in a C-130 at night.
Seeing the glory of the rainbow -- in a complete circle.
Actually visiting people in Phoenix that you know and love, instead of
just pretending you flew to Phoenix.
The feel of the early morning air as you walk out to preflight for the
first flight of the day.
The sound of the engines on those early mornings. They sound different
in the morning than they do during the day.
Seeing actual St. Elmo's fire on the windscreen.
Somehow, being seven hours out over the ocean and having someone say
"Is that prop flux?" gets your attention far more than sitting at home
with a sim.
Same with losing several thousand feet of altitude in a few seconds,
having #3 engine put out by hail, the flight engineer thrown from his
chair and breaking his tail bone, the passengers screaming and stowed
parachutes deploying in the back, a lightning strike on the nose and
you are staring at the biggest funnel cloud you ever saw right in
front
of you -- that combo gets your undivided attention in a way that no
sim
ever could.
I have never heard of a sim where the 20 man life raft stowed in the
left wing suddenly deployed itself and wrapped itself around the
vertical stabilizer. And no sim could make that as interesting as real
life.
Having your first student pass his check ride.
Pouring a bucket of water on your first solo student's head.
Landing at Fort Stockton, TX, at 11:00 at night only to find the gas
is
locked, the gates are locked, you don't have enough fuel to fly
anywhere else, the taxis have stopped running for the night, and the
guy who drives the hotel courtesy van has gone home for the night.
The joy of listening to an A&P on the phone as he instructs you to
smack the fuel pump with a hammer to get it working again. Not many
sims let you smack the fuel pump with a hammer!
Wiping the bugs off a brand new airplane (which you just picked up at
the factory that morning) after a late summer flight into Liberty,
Kansas.
Yawning while riding the Kraken at Sea World in Florida and suddenly
realizing "I have students that fly worse than this!"
The smell of Korea from more than 100 miles out.
The burning in your eyes and nose from the fumes caused by your
hydraulic pump boiling over.
Opening up a window when it is -20º outside to get a picture of Mt.
Saint Helens erupting.
Learning that your student has been accepted to fly F-16s in Italy for
NATO.
Learning that your student has crashed in Iraq and waiting for months
to hear what his condition is.
Learning that your old airplane, in which you have many fond (and some
not-so-fond) memories has crashed and is at that bottom of the sea.
Sims cannot simulate people. Not people that you care about as much as
real people. And I hope they never do. Real pilots are not about
airplanes, or engines, or aerobatics, or going from point A to point
B.