Golf Hotel Whiskey: for pilots and aviation enthusiasts
In today’s day and age, pilots who fly for commercial airlines need to disclose a little more information to passengers prior to take off than their predecessors would have done during more innocent times…
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reRRgEET6Kw[/youtube]
A twin-engined turbo-prop, operated by a major commuter airline, was making an instrument approach to land at Elko, NV, in a blinding snow storm. The aircraft’s left wingtip contacted the Elko VOR which is located on a hilltop about 4 miles south of the airport. The aircraft bellied into the ground and skidded down the front of the hill. Fortunately, although both crew members and several passengers received serious injuries, there were no fatalities.
A few weeks later, I was climbing the airstair to board a commuter flight out of Elko, on the same airline. An old gentleman who was at the top of the stair just ahead of me leaned into the cockpit where the captain and first officer were preparing for departure.
The man said to the Captain (a young fellow):
"Son, do you see that hill over there?" (pointing to the VOR hill).
The captain replied, somewhat hesitantly, "Yes Sir?"
To which the old man replied simply "GOOD."
With the rise of discount airlines, flying is NOT what it once was. Here is another reason to choose NOT to fly a commercial airline and to instead obtain that private pilot license!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MyoOlIQIsI[/youtube]
Taxiing down the tarmac, a DC-10 abruptly stopped, turned around and returned to the gate. After an hour-long wait, it finally took off.
A concerned passenger asked the flight attendant, "What, exactly, was the problem?"
"The pilot was bothered by a noise he heard in the engine," explained the flight attendant. "It took us a while to find a new pilot."
The story goes that Air Force One was over the UK a few years ago and called up a USAF base "requesting radar."
"What is you position?" asked ATC.
"You got radar, you find us!" Air Force One replied.
After a few minutes ATC announced: "Air Force One we’re changing frequency."
"What frequency are you changing to?" asked Air Force One.
"You’ve got 720 channels – you find us!" ATC replied.
Writing about Werner von Braun yesterday reminded me of the very satirical song by Tom Lehrer. I’m not sure there’s anything I can add to the coverage of the Apollo 11 anniversary but this is a small, funny footnote. Didn’t Tom Lehrer quit satire when Henry Kissinger won the Nobel Peace Prize, claiming unfair competition? “And I’m learning Chinese, says Wernher von Braun.”