I hate flying and this is part of the reason why:
It's good to know Boeing builds its aircraft to withstand that kinda stress and shock. Us passengers? Not so much. I've more or less resigned myself to flying Back East this year but I'm damned sure NOT looking forward to it.
In other news... we took the day off from watching Olympic hockey and had a lie-in this morning, staying abed until 0945 hrs. There wasn't much point in getting up early to watch the laggards in the tournament play their last-gasp games in hope of staying alive for the quarter-finals. Russia was one such team playing this morning and they had a tough time beating winless Norway 4-0, according to ESPN. I think I'm gonna have to revise my opinion about the Russkis' gold medal chances... they're seeded fifth by the powers-that-be now and even that may be a bit optimistic. OTOH, if the Russians get by Finland they'll have an easier road to the gold medal game than either the Canadians or the Americans, who will face each other in the semifinals if they win their quarter-final game. Anything could happen, though... that's the beauty of this game.
Our run of good weather looks like it will continue for the next ten days or so:
It's 68 big-ass degrees outside as we speak... and it's not even noon yet.
* No, Virginia, not that "Fear of Flying."
It's good to know Boeing builds its aircraft to withstand that kinda stress and shock. Us passengers? Not so much. I've more or less resigned myself to flying Back East this year but I'm damned sure NOT looking forward to it.
In other news... we took the day off from watching Olympic hockey and had a lie-in this morning, staying abed until 0945 hrs. There wasn't much point in getting up early to watch the laggards in the tournament play their last-gasp games in hope of staying alive for the quarter-finals. Russia was one such team playing this morning and they had a tough time beating winless Norway 4-0, according to ESPN. I think I'm gonna have to revise my opinion about the Russkis' gold medal chances... they're seeded fifth by the powers-that-be now and even that may be a bit optimistic. OTOH, if the Russians get by Finland they'll have an easier road to the gold medal game than either the Canadians or the Americans, who will face each other in the semifinals if they win their quarter-final game. Anything could happen, though... that's the beauty of this game.
Our run of good weather looks like it will continue for the next ten days or so:
It's 68 big-ass degrees outside as we speak... and it's not even noon yet.
* No, Virginia, not that "Fear of Flying."
It's somewhere between 47 and 53 according to the intertubes.
ReplyDeleteMy thermometer (on the porch above the neighbor's cat) says 49.
The forecast improves, depending upon your point of view, as the week progresses.
My aversion to flying has nothing to do with the aircraft, takeoff, actually being airborne, or landings.
It has much to do with people.
I am afraid I'm becoming a crotchety ol' grump.
It has much to do with people.
ReplyDeleteI'm there with you. I'm "of an age" when people dressed up to fly and the flying public was somewhat limited. These days flying is like what riding a Greyhound used to be and I mean that in the worst way possible. My second issue with flying is the fucking TSA. Those idjits haven't made us one whit safer but have managed to piss us all off to a degree that only an inept gub'mint bureaucracy can do. I really, really, REALLY dislike those people.
TSA is people.
ReplyDeleteGranted, they aren't nearly as bright as you or I.
When I used to fly, the pilot would warn us there was a large crosswind. That usually meant that they weren't planning to grease it, and were more likely to just crash it onto the runway, or what we called a carrier landing. I always gave my seat-belts a big tug and made it hurt, because any flopping around would hurt worse.
ReplyDeleteNormally on a tricycle airplane you can just kick-out the crab (angle) using your inner clock. Some pilots have very bad clocks, and by the time the wheels hit pay-dirt you are blown 40 feet right or left (which isn't good). So yea, when in doubt - crash it, it saves a lot of work, because you are what they call "assholes and elbows" as the co-pilot tries to help you recover the blimp without scraping the engines on the pavement... In 100's of landings I've never had the main tires blow, although I hear the fly-boys destroyed an E-3 at Nellis by landing on the nose wheel first (doh!)... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:E-3NellisPhotoa.jpg
That was a painful pic. I'm reminded of that old joke about landings, wherein the sweet old lady asks the captain at the door while deplaning "Did we land? Or were we shot down?"
DeleteOur favorite was always asking what the landing time was for our forms: the first bounce or the second... :-)
DeleteSeems like every time I have been to Maui, the landing was JUST like that. Then there was one time flying into Zurich where we actually did a touch and go because another plane had pulled out onto the runway. Ahh.... those joyful moments of flying... you never forget!
ReplyDeleteAnd I STILL iron my clothes and shine my shoes before flying... can't stop myself.
I've had my moments, too, and I think flying into the old Kai Tak airport in Hong Kong was among the worst. And I still dress appropriately when flying, as well.
DeleteThis reminds me of one time I flew into Cleveland, many years ago. I was lookin' out my window, as I always do when I'm flyin', and it dawned on me that I was lookin' straight down the runway. We glided in, all dog-tracked, just like in the vid (but maybe a tad less bumpin' and rollin'), and the pilot kinda did a little pivot on the first set of landing gear to touch down. Then we continued down the runway for maybe a quarter-mile or so, with just that one set of gear on the ground, and the wings makin' about a 20-degree angle with the ground (I was on the uphill side of the plane). Definitely broke out in a sweat that time, and I generally enjoy flying. . .
ReplyDeleteDefinitely broke out in a sweat that time...
DeleteI would have, too.