Cypher
10th Mar 2004, 19:10
To refresh:
THE FULL CIRCLE
One fine hot Summer’s afternoon saw a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield. The Instructor was getting quite bothered with the student’s inability to hold circuit height in the thermals and was getting impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna 5,000ft above him and thought "Another 1,000 hrs of this and I qualify for that twin charter job! Aaahh.. to be a real pilot.. going somewhere!"
The Cessna 402 was already late and the boss told him this charter was for one of the Company’s premier clients. He’d already set MCT and the cylinders didn’t like it in the heat of this Summer’s day. He was at 6,000ft and the winds were now a 20kt headwind. Today was the 6th day straight and he was pretty damn tired. Maybe if he got 10,000ft out of them the wind might die off... geez those cylinder temps! He looked out momentarily and saw a B737 leaving a contrail at 33,000ft in the serene blue sky. "Oh man" he thought, "My interview is next month. I hope I just don’t blow it! Outa G/A, nice jet job, above the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for.. aahhh."
The Boeing 737 bucked and weaved in the heavy CAT at FL330 and ATC advised that lower levels were not available due traffic. The Captain, who was only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums had slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible inflight diversion, and arrange an ETA that would helpfully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The Company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was going to take a damn pay cut. The F/O’s will be particularly hard hit as their pay wasn’t anything to speak of anyway. Finally deciding on a speed compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the Captain looked up and saw Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his F/O’s shoulder as the 737 took another bashing, he said "Now THAT’S what we should be on... huge pay packet... super fast... not too many routes... not too many sectors... above the CAT... yep! What a life...!"
FL590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL570. Already the TAT was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down. That damn rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the F/E had said moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he’d like to see. Concorde descended to FL570 but the radiation was still quite high even though the Notam indicated hunky dory below FL610. Fuel flow was up and the transfer pump was intermittent. Evening turned into night as they passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the F/O could see a tiny white dot moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey Captain" he called as he pointed. "Must be the Shuttle. "The Captain looked for a moment and agreed. Quietly he thought how a Shuttle mission, whilst complicated, must be the be all and end all in aviation. Above the crap, no radiation problems, no damn fuel transfer problems... aaah. Must be a great way to earn a quid."
Discovery was into its 27th orbit and perigee was 200ft out from nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually U/S and a walk may become necessary. The 200ft predicted error would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk was to be required. Houston continually asked what the Commander wanted to do but the advice they proffered wasn’t much help. The Commander had already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10 bloody minutes to himself to take a leak. Just then a mission specialist, who had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the Commander to the scope. "Have a look at this Sir, isn’t this the kinda flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?" The Commander peered through the telescope and cried "Ooooohhhhh yeah! Now THAT’S flying! Man, that’s what its all about! Geez I’d give my left nut just to be doing THAT down there!"
What the Discovery Commander was looking at was a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield on a nice bright sunny afternoon.
THE REAL FULL CIRCLE
After returning from his flying lesson, the Instructor spent the next few hours into the night completing the club’s paperwork. A father and son walked through the door of the old aeroclub. “Daddy, I want to see a real plane” was the son’s impatient tugging at his father. “Hang on son, we’ll ask this young man here, he looks like a pilot.”
“Excuse me, I was wondering if I could show my son around a plane”
“Sure, not a problem, just follow me this way” was the Instructor’s helpful reply.”
“How long have you been flying?” asked the father, a middle aged man of solid build.
“About 2 years” pipped the instructor.
“Do you hope to get your commercial license and fly big planes one day?”
“Well yeah, one day” was the Instructor’s dejected reply. It was just easier to say this that rather having to explain that he already had his commercial license, and airlines wanted 1000s of hours before they even consider giving interviews. He closed his eyes and shook his head thinking, “Man, one day I’m going to get my twin job and get myself outta this dump. I’ll be able to afford things like food other than Weetbix and maybe a car without rust in it, Just need a chance to get a twin job..”
The Charter pilot had landed his C402 at home base after successfully delivering his passengers to their important business meeting. It was good to be back in a Capital City after spending all that time out in the country, away from all his friends and family. What was even better was that he could move back in with his parents while he scrimped and saved from his honest wage. “Yep, things are moving slowly, but at least it’s twin time” he thought to himself. “Another year of saving, and working that second job at Maccas, and maybe a loan or two, and I can afford that Boeing 737 rating and get that job… man that’s gonna be sweet, travelling and seeing the world..”
The 737 crew were just finishing their shutdown checks after the 3 hour flight across the Tasman Ocean. “Well Skipper, I guess I owe you a beer for bawked P.A to the passengers, heck I’ll shout ya dinner too..” “Cheers mate, your on, same place?” replied the Captain. “Yep, your on” as the F/Os thoughts lingered on that great steak that pub by the motel served. “Better hurry” he thought to himself, “don’t want to hold up the crew bus, or else I’m gonna have to buy the entire crew dinner and beers…”
It was great to be in different town now and then, but he thought to himself, it would be great to see some real cities of the world, not just these provincial towns. London, New York, Madrid… ahhh, some real cities of class… Well at least I’m flying, and I’ve got a great wife and a house that I can call mine..”
The Concorde crew had just finished their 3 hour sector from London and were preparing to paint the town red for their overnight stopover.
“Well better get that perfume Jennifer always wants” thought the F/E as his eye caught a glimpse of the Duty Free Store. “It’s all pretty good really, 3-4 hour sectors each way, I’m home a lot more than I would be than on long haul, and I can’t wait to take the new boat out fishing when I finish this tour” though the F/E as he slid out his Gold Card to the cashier at the duty free store.
Discovery’s commander was slowly settling himself into bed next to his wife. It had been a busy but successful day. He was glad to be home. The presidential commendation presented to him and his crew today was great he thought to himself, but it wasn’t the reason why he joined NASA.
He was looking forward to next few weeks of hard earned leave. “Honey, how about a trip in the C182 to the Caribbean for the next week?” “Sounds great, lets do it” was his wife’s muffled reply. “Yep, sure is great, I earn a excellent wage, enough to own my our Cessna, by tying myself to the world’s biggest firecracker, shooting myself into orbit at thirty times the speed of sound and I get to see what most people only dream of seeing, with earth so vivid and colourful and the blackness of space, so dark and overpowering. And I return home to a family that loves me and a wife that is close and supportive. Yep this is really living!”
____________________________________________________
Here endth wet blanket mode.. Spleen venting complete...
P.S I love ripping the stuffing out of teddy bears too.. :E
THE FULL CIRCLE
One fine hot Summer’s afternoon saw a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield. The Instructor was getting quite bothered with the student’s inability to hold circuit height in the thermals and was getting impatient at sometimes having to take over the controls. Just then he saw a twin engine Cessna 5,000ft above him and thought "Another 1,000 hrs of this and I qualify for that twin charter job! Aaahh.. to be a real pilot.. going somewhere!"
The Cessna 402 was already late and the boss told him this charter was for one of the Company’s premier clients. He’d already set MCT and the cylinders didn’t like it in the heat of this Summer’s day. He was at 6,000ft and the winds were now a 20kt headwind. Today was the 6th day straight and he was pretty damn tired. Maybe if he got 10,000ft out of them the wind might die off... geez those cylinder temps! He looked out momentarily and saw a B737 leaving a contrail at 33,000ft in the serene blue sky. "Oh man" he thought, "My interview is next month. I hope I just don’t blow it! Outa G/A, nice jet job, above the weather... no snotty passengers to wait for.. aahhh."
The Boeing 737 bucked and weaved in the heavy CAT at FL330 and ATC advised that lower levels were not available due traffic. The Captain, who was only recently advised that his destination was below RVR minimums had slowed to LRC to try and hold off a possible inflight diversion, and arrange an ETA that would helpfully ensure the fog had lifted to CATII minima. The Company negotiations broke down yesterday and looked as if everyone was going to take a damn pay cut. The F/O’s will be particularly hard hit as their pay wasn’t anything to speak of anyway. Finally deciding on a speed compromise between LRC and turbulence penetration, the Captain looked up and saw Concorde at Mach 2+. Tapping his F/O’s shoulder as the 737 took another bashing, he said "Now THAT’S what we should be on... huge pay packet... super fast... not too many routes... not too many sectors... above the CAT... yep! What a life...!"
FL590 was not what he wanted anyway and considered FL570. Already the TAT was creeping up again and either they would have to descend or slow down. That damn rear fuel transfer pump was becoming unreliable and the F/E had said moments ago that the radiation meter was not reading numbers that he’d like to see. Concorde descended to FL570 but the radiation was still quite high even though the Notam indicated hunky dory below FL610. Fuel flow was up and the transfer pump was intermittent. Evening turned into night as they passed over the Atlantic. Looking up, the F/O could see a tiny white dot moving against the backdrop of a myriad of stars. "Hey Captain" he called as he pointed. "Must be the Shuttle. "The Captain looked for a moment and agreed. Quietly he thought how a Shuttle mission, whilst complicated, must be the be all and end all in aviation. Above the crap, no radiation problems, no damn fuel transfer problems... aaah. Must be a great way to earn a quid."
Discovery was into its 27th orbit and perigee was 200ft out from nominated rendezvous altitude with the commsat. The robot arm was virtually U/S and a walk may become necessary. The 200ft predicted error would necessitate a corrective burn and Discovery needed that fuel if a walk was to be required. Houston continually asked what the Commander wanted to do but the advice they proffered wasn’t much help. The Commander had already been 12 hours on station sorting out the problem and just wanted 10 bloody minutes to himself to take a leak. Just then a mission specialist, who had tilted the telescope down to the surface for a minute or two, called the Commander to the scope. "Have a look at this Sir, isn’t this the kinda flying you said you wanted to do after you finish up with NASA?" The Commander peered through the telescope and cried "Ooooohhhhh yeah! Now THAT’S flying! Man, that’s what its all about! Geez I’d give my left nut just to be doing THAT down there!"
What the Discovery Commander was looking at was a Cessna 150 flying circuits at a quiet country airfield on a nice bright sunny afternoon.
THE REAL FULL CIRCLE
After returning from his flying lesson, the Instructor spent the next few hours into the night completing the club’s paperwork. A father and son walked through the door of the old aeroclub. “Daddy, I want to see a real plane” was the son’s impatient tugging at his father. “Hang on son, we’ll ask this young man here, he looks like a pilot.”
“Excuse me, I was wondering if I could show my son around a plane”
“Sure, not a problem, just follow me this way” was the Instructor’s helpful reply.”
“How long have you been flying?” asked the father, a middle aged man of solid build.
“About 2 years” pipped the instructor.
“Do you hope to get your commercial license and fly big planes one day?”
“Well yeah, one day” was the Instructor’s dejected reply. It was just easier to say this that rather having to explain that he already had his commercial license, and airlines wanted 1000s of hours before they even consider giving interviews. He closed his eyes and shook his head thinking, “Man, one day I’m going to get my twin job and get myself outta this dump. I’ll be able to afford things like food other than Weetbix and maybe a car without rust in it, Just need a chance to get a twin job..”
The Charter pilot had landed his C402 at home base after successfully delivering his passengers to their important business meeting. It was good to be back in a Capital City after spending all that time out in the country, away from all his friends and family. What was even better was that he could move back in with his parents while he scrimped and saved from his honest wage. “Yep, things are moving slowly, but at least it’s twin time” he thought to himself. “Another year of saving, and working that second job at Maccas, and maybe a loan or two, and I can afford that Boeing 737 rating and get that job… man that’s gonna be sweet, travelling and seeing the world..”
The 737 crew were just finishing their shutdown checks after the 3 hour flight across the Tasman Ocean. “Well Skipper, I guess I owe you a beer for bawked P.A to the passengers, heck I’ll shout ya dinner too..” “Cheers mate, your on, same place?” replied the Captain. “Yep, your on” as the F/Os thoughts lingered on that great steak that pub by the motel served. “Better hurry” he thought to himself, “don’t want to hold up the crew bus, or else I’m gonna have to buy the entire crew dinner and beers…”
It was great to be in different town now and then, but he thought to himself, it would be great to see some real cities of the world, not just these provincial towns. London, New York, Madrid… ahhh, some real cities of class… Well at least I’m flying, and I’ve got a great wife and a house that I can call mine..”
The Concorde crew had just finished their 3 hour sector from London and were preparing to paint the town red for their overnight stopover.
“Well better get that perfume Jennifer always wants” thought the F/E as his eye caught a glimpse of the Duty Free Store. “It’s all pretty good really, 3-4 hour sectors each way, I’m home a lot more than I would be than on long haul, and I can’t wait to take the new boat out fishing when I finish this tour” though the F/E as he slid out his Gold Card to the cashier at the duty free store.
Discovery’s commander was slowly settling himself into bed next to his wife. It had been a busy but successful day. He was glad to be home. The presidential commendation presented to him and his crew today was great he thought to himself, but it wasn’t the reason why he joined NASA.
He was looking forward to next few weeks of hard earned leave. “Honey, how about a trip in the C182 to the Caribbean for the next week?” “Sounds great, lets do it” was his wife’s muffled reply. “Yep, sure is great, I earn a excellent wage, enough to own my our Cessna, by tying myself to the world’s biggest firecracker, shooting myself into orbit at thirty times the speed of sound and I get to see what most people only dream of seeing, with earth so vivid and colourful and the blackness of space, so dark and overpowering. And I return home to a family that loves me and a wife that is close and supportive. Yep this is really living!”
____________________________________________________
Here endth wet blanket mode.. Spleen venting complete...
P.S I love ripping the stuffing out of teddy bears too.. :E