I've listened to ATC chatter, both routine and emergency, and have a lot of admiration and respect for the ATC folks. Ditto for the ladies and gents on the flight deck. Teamwork!

(Written on 2016/04/01)(Permalink)

A money-saving thought on post-merger AA+USA branding: leave all planes in the new AA scheme, but when pax lower their window shades, outside onlookers will see the words "US Air." It's symbolic. AA will wear the flight suit in this marriage.

(Written on 2013/04/02)(Permalink)

Gives a whole new meaning to that bumper sticker, "I'd rather be flying." Go in peace, and good tailwinds to you, Benedict.

(Written on 2013/03/04)(Permalink)

Impressive! Used to prep the pre-flight briefings on the USS Intrepid (CVS11). Never got to experience a cat or trap, but I did hitch a chopper ride once in an SH-3 on guard duty, so I've watched this from aloft. Always cool. I'm curious about the F18's altitude by the video's end. Any pilots here care to estimate his angels?

(Written on 2013/03/04)(Permalink)

Donna, a word of explanation. The voice you hear saying "retard" is computerized. Modern aircraft like this one are computer controlled all the way to landing (but the box accepts pilot input for course, altitude, etc.). Just before touchdown, the computer automatically reduces engine power to idle speed when the aircraft is above the runway (that quiet moment you experience just before landing). However, it doesn't physically move the throttles back to the idle position. The auto voice is reminding the pilots to manually "Retard" the throttles to idle to match the actual engine speed.

(Written on 2013/01/06)(Permalink)

About 20 years ago on a US domestic flight, in the days when cabin attendants still offered reading material to pax, a guy across the aisle in his mid-to-late 30s asked for "Playboy." The attendant quickly obliged him. After some 15 minutes of thumbing through the magazine, the pax rang his call bell. Holding several pages between his thumb and fingers and moving them back and forth, he said to the female attendant, "Could you bring me some talcum powder? These pages are all stuck together." (Surely they weren't.) "Why do you think that is?" he demanded, thinking himself cute and clever. "Huh?" The attendant politely ignored him and walked away as nearby passengers uttered low groans of disgust. That guy left no doubt that flight about how big a jerk he was.

(Written on 2011/08/22)(Permalink)