Got Gas, Will Fly

I was thinking about the gas crunch that we had this past summer, and in North Carolina I saw prices over $5.45 per gallon for JetA. I know in other parts of the country the prices were even worse. But as I was thinking about this gas crisis, it brought to my mind a very funny flying story that I think ya'll might enjoy.

I made several flights with my Director of Operations, Betsy, when I worked at AUTEC, flying a Beech 1900D. Before I knew her very well, she was very difficult to read. She has piercing blue eyes, that when she looks at you, she looks like she's seeing right through you. She's one heck of a stick too I might add, so having an ego in the cockpit is not only going to go nowhere, but will be delt with a piercing blue-eyed stare and one mean right hook!

It took me quite a while not to be intimidated by Betsy. She could fly circles around most people that I knew. She asked me one day during a check ride, "Do I intimidate you, Scott?" Ummmm, nooooo.

After about 7-8 months, we became good friends and the intimidation factor went away. I had learned to fly the airplane much better and she was very comfortable with my decision making and handling of the aircraft.

One day we were paired up together to fly, she was to fly the first leg. With about 15 minutes left in the flight I decided to put forth a challenge of precision and skill, which I knew she would be all over like flies on stink. I told her that I would challenge her to a precision landing dual. The challenge was this: The pilot who exercised the smoothest landing...wins...and you could not hold the plane off the runway for hours trying to squeak it on. The landing had to touch down on the first 1/3 of the runway. Of course, when I made the challenge, her response was, "You're on", accompanied by a very evil laugh.

By the time the rules of engagement had been discussed and agreed upon, we were turning final. Now everytime she would land the plane, she had a special routine that she would go through. It was like clockwork. She would bounce in her seat a few times, pushing herself up high in the seat, make a few passes with the trim wheel, and you could see the level of excitement starting to escalate. "Aaaaawe, I have this one nailed, you are going down, Irene!" She was obviously getting rather excited about the on-coming slaughter, as the name Irene might indicate, and with a sh*t eatin' grin, she reached up with her hand and brushed the 4 bars on her shoulder, as if to say, "Hey, Rookie, lemme show you how a pro does it".

She had the plane trimmed to perfection, speed dead on, and as we were coming across the numbers, I doubled over in my seat and moaned out, "AWWWWE, I'VE GOT GAS!!" "WHAT??", she said in a complete shock. She was so thrown for a loop on that one that she lost all concentration and we went "SLAM" into the runway. Well, at least the second hop wasn't quite as bad as the first, but as you all know, we log them all!

With my arm black and blue and sore from the followed right hook, I laughed until I couldn't stand it anymore.

So, the next time gas prices have you down, think about this story, and after a chuckle, maybe it won't hurt so bad.

Happy New Year Hangar Talk

Happy New Year Everybody!

I am having so much fun with this Blogging escapade, or should I call it Barn-Blogging. Well whatever you call it, it is very refreshing to know that there are actually people out there that are aviation buffs and enjoy hangar flying. I know, I know...it is really difficult to get a pilot to talk about airplanes....I know what you mean. But finally, instead of the vacant stares we get from the "obviously uneducated", we can pontificate about our heroic gravitational defeat and defying death at any and all possible opportunities.

That being all said, how many pilots out there still have flying jobs? My thoughts are that there are probably more of us without jobs than there are with. So the stories of when you had the aviators scarf tied tightly around your neck, and were battling...whatever...are probably at an all time high right now, since you are not actually out there living the dream or making the stories. I see that there are all kinds of websites out there that say they can help you find that perfect flying job, and almost all of them charge you to join there members section. I have found that a good many of them just copy jobs from other jobsites, and aren't really offering anything new.

So are there any suggestions out there amongst the vast masses for all of the good pilots that have been stepped on again and are looking for jobs all over again? Is there anything else out there that these people can find work to help feed their families? If you have any ideas, thoughts, or pontifications of your own, please feel free to leave a message. Please make it positive opinions or ideas. I personally feel that if we as pilots could pool our thoughts together, we could possibly find ways to generate jobs on our own. Just my opinion. There are many pilots out there that would like to bring in the new year on a more positive note.

A Pirate Looks at Fifty

Everybody who knows me knows that I really like Jimmy Buffett music. I own many of his CD's and listen to him quite frequently. The sounds of the carribean music mentally stretch me across a hammock laced between two lazy palm trees with ice blue water in the near distance as I suck down countless pina coladas. It's just pure heaven for me.

I flew Beech 1900D's to a Navy Submarine Base located on Andros Island in the Bahamas. Could possibly have been the best flying gig known to man-kind. Fly out to the island, 1 hour, land, change into swimming trunks and go lobster hunting for the next 3 to 4 hours, change back into my uniform, pre-flight, and 1 hour flight back to Palm Beach....now ladies and gentlemen, that is a flying gig!! And on top of all that, I GOT PAID TO DO THIS!!

Well, one afternoon, on the trip back to Palm Beach, the radios were unusually quiet. I had the speed pegged at the barber pole so as to get home a little early. "Palm Beach approach, AUTEC ONE, Ten thousand with Yankee!" Then I heard, "Palm Beach, N208JB, 7000 Yankee." I knew that voice!! It was like I heard the strumming of guitars in the background as he called in.

Now it just so happened that I had been reading one of Jimmy Buffett's books, "A Pirate Looks at Fifty" and had taken it to the island for some catch-up reading. I knew that he had to clear Customs just like I did, and I knew that I was going to get there first. So, I waited there a few minutes , just like any loyal Parrotthead would do.

When he finally came through Customs, I greeted him with a smile and a hand shake. He was extremely friendly and asked me all about my flying. I told him that I was reading his book, and would he mind signing it for me, which he did. I then told him that the stories he wrote were really interesting to me and that I was enjoying them alot. And with a smirk on his face as he was leaving the Customs Building, he threw one arm up in the air and proudly proclaimed, "They're all Lies!!"