the thrill of flying interview is here!

On Mon, 20 Oct 2003 09:08:26 -0400, nafod40
wrote in Message-Id: :

Dudley Henriques wrote:
Brandan; listen up; and get this straight once and for all.
As someone who has spent an entire lifetime devoted to teaching people that
flying an aircraft has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING at all to do with "thrill
seeking"; and actually using what you are selling as a perfect example of
negative motivation and negative incentive; I can tell you that if injecting
an element of thrill seeking into your "report" is your goal, you will find
no one here, at least in my opinion, no one who knows their butt from a bull
fiddle, who will allow this premise to exist on this group without cogent
and direct response. We are in the business of teaching people to stay alive
in airplanes; NOT seeking "thrills" in them!!!

1. Dudley, aren't you a fighter pilot guy? I have one word for you.
"Flathatting". The time-honored tradition of reckless thrill seeking in
airplanes. Pilots are drawn to it like moths to the bug zapper. Many's
the pilot who has tied the record for min altitude. Your politically
correct wish that pilot's real goal to is eradicate the seeking of
thrills flies in the face of overwhelming evidence.

2. Read his web page. It's kind of funny. After looking at it, I could
see where people would submit:
a. The thrill of flying a GCA and getting only "on glideslope/on
course" calls the whole way down.
b. the thrill of a first flight in a plane I built with my own hands
c. The thrill of my first solo
d. The thrill of my first guns kill
e. The thrill of ridge soaring 100 kts at 100 feet on a beautiful fall day
f. The thrill of flying a perfect aerobatic routine in glassy air

I suggest you forget about pilots for your "thrill report"; at least pilots
who know anything at all about flying an airplane.

I suggest he came to EXACTLY the right place.


Perhaps the disagreement stems from differing opinions of the meaning
of the word 'thrill'. Here's what Webster has to say:

thrill \"thril\ verb [ME thirlen, thrillen to pierce, fr. OE
thyrlian, fr. thyrel hole, fr. thurh through — more at through]
(1592)
verb transitive
1 a : to cause to experience a sudden sharp feeling of
excitement
b : to cause to have a shivering or tingling sensation
2 : to cause to vibrate or tremble perceptibly
verb intransitive
1 : to move or pass so as to cause a sudden wave of emotion
2 : to become thrilled:
a : to experience a sudden sharp excitement
b : tingle, throb
3 : tremble, vibrate
thrill noun
thrill•ing•ly \"thri-ling-le\ adverb

(Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.



thrill noun
sudden emotional stimulation, excitement, or enjoyment they both
got a thrill out of small-boat racing
syn bang, boot, kick, wallop
rel excitement, lift, stimulation, titillation

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated

First, I believe we can all agree that we experience 'enjoyment' on
99% of our flights, and perhaps even exhilaration at the sight of the
landscape spread out before us on many. But those are not the types
of thrill experiences to which the OP was referring. He was referring
to amusement-park thrill-ride types of extreme visceral, intensely
emotional stimulation.

SUDDEN SHARP FEELINGS OF EXCITEMENT, A SHIVERING OR TINGLING
SENSATION, PERCEPTIBLE TREMBLING, SUDDEN WAVES OF EMOTION, and SUDDEN
SHARP EXCITEMENT, are not sought by the overwhelming majority of
certificated pilots still living today, IMHO.

I agree with your first example regarding "Flathatting", the
time-honored tradition of reckless thrill seeking among fighter
pilots. But such renegade fighter pilots seem to be young, bold,
high-sperited types who are still developing their sense of
responsibility as they rocket along undisciplined in uncle Sam's
fighters. I also agree, that many of those types soon find themselves
in inextricable, disastrously tragic situations effectively removing
themselves from the gene pool.

However, I would characterize the emotions experienced in the six
submissions you cite in your second example more as joy than a sudden
sharp feeling of excitement.

joy \"joi\ noun [ME, fr. OF joie, fr. L gaudia, pl. of gaudium,
fr. gaudere to rejoice; prob. akin to Gk gethein to rejoice] (13c)
1 a : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune
or by the prospect of possessing what one desires : delight
b : the expression or exhibition of such emotion : gaiety
2 : a state of happiness or felicity : bliss
3 : a source or cause of delight

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

In any event, public portrayal the majority of airmen as thrill
seekers is wrong, and does a disservice to the image of airmen in the
minds of the public. The overwhelmingly vast majority of airmen are
not seeking thrills in the sky over the heads of the public. For the
most part, airmen are filled with a sense of public responsibility and
strive for professionalism in their conduct above (and on) the ground.
I would not characterize the joy they feel at the sight of the
landscape, or the exuberance felt as a result of adroitly
accomplishing a task, as thrilling.

It's a matter of semantics.


--

Irrational beliefs ultimately lead to irrational acts.
-- Larry Dighera,