Up In The Air
Posted at 6:00 AM on December 17, 2009
by Dale Connelly
(28 Comments)
Today is the 106th anniversary of powered, heavier-than-air flight - the day the Wright Brothers became airborne. Others had flown before, but Orville and Wilbur managed to maintain control, which was the big challenge in 1903.
And control is still important today, especially when it's time to land.
Orville stayed aloft for 12 seconds on that first skyward adventure. Who in 1903 could have predicted that over a century later the biggest news regarding human flight would have to do with forgetting to land?
I'll always recall our family trip to Australia in 2001. I'm still amazed that an airplane stayed aloft long enough to get us there - and back. When I make a list of all the places I've lived the longest, my current home is at the top of the list but United flight # 839 places sixth.
I'll dig through the library for songs that include airplanes and flight. Suggestions are welcome.
What is your most memorable flight experience?
Comments (28)
Good Morning to All,
Usually I don't like flying because it means sitting in a very cramped seat for several hours,but I have had some interesting experiences when flying.
When I returned from doing volunteer work in Bulgaria, I sat with a young woman from Romania who was flying to Texas to get married and live in rhe US.
She told about how sad she was about leaving her home and about work she had done in the Romainian orphanages which had been in the news. I'll always remember this woman and the things she told me.
Greetings! Probably the first time I was on a plane when I was 20 and traveling to California. Personally, I still get a rush every time the plane goes speeding down the runway and becomes airborne. It's always a marvel to me how tons of steel can even get off the ground. Nothing else really memorable, though.
i've never flown a long, long distance - and we don't fly much anymore (they don't allow goats - not even in business class - geez, it's our business, right?) but in early 70s my cousin and i sold all of our earthly goods and flew to Europe to join about 50 per cent of our peers in the US and Canada traveling Europe. flights were very cheap. think we flew Pan Am. we left NY at 7 :30 pm and got to Amsterdam at 7 am (i think, but of course the flight was really only about 6 hours) don't remember much of the flight but the excitement of being somewhere else - away from "home" was intense. i never sleep on flights - like to look out the window.
I'm thinking your goats would be like you Barb, and want to look out the window, but they probably couldn't manage to open the emergency latch (eat it yes, but not necessarily open it), so they couldn't have a window seat, but would still want to look out.
Then there is the pressure change thing-I have to wonder if chewing cud would work like chewing gum.
Goats on a Plane-my mind will be spinning for the rest of the day.
Raise your hand if you love this Northwest Passage song.
One New Years, we went with a group of band parents to watch kids march in Tournament of Roses parade (go SF Lincoln!) and the day we returned, it was so foggy in Denver, the plane had to make a blind landing. We waited a long time to take off, while the pilots checked the instruments and communicated with dispatchers. It was harrowing as the plane made its descent, not being able to see ANYTHING, and a great relief when we finally touched down. All flights out of Denver were canceled, so we took a Grey Line bus back to Sioux Falls. A 12+ hour bus ride is no cakewalk either.
Circling the Cities along with many other planes after a sleet storm came through, waiting for clearance to land. Pilot said five more minutes or we go elsewhere. Then he announced we were best lined up so had first clearance. We skidded and fishtailed to the very end fo the runway, where the pilot "slammed on the brakes."
At the gate he announced we were the only plane that would land. I was last out of the plane. The pilot came out looking white.
Is Jet Plane too obvious? If not, Mary's version would be prefered.
thank you for that last song, one of our favorites
i hate to fly
i heard an interview with a former "stewardess" last night , she wrote a book about flying in the 50's , what a difference
Eee gads - I just thought of one! Don't you have an Indigo Girls/Roches song about an airplane?
How about the Amelia Erhardt, First Lady of Air song.
?
Come Josephine in My Flying MAchine
Longest flight ever...22 hours from Seoul with 3 infants who were headed to adoptive homes. They had never seen a caucasian and had wonderful foster mothers who held them 24 hours/day. They were not happy. I was not yet a parent but as an experienced babysitter thought I could manage. Didn't count on having pneumonia and feeling tired. We all made it!
Good morning...too many flights...but probably the most memorable was my first one. I was in high school visiting a friend in the Upper Peninsula and flew home in a DC10 (perhaps) and was enthralled with it.
Oh...and that flight from Puerto Rico to St. Thomas on a 1940-ish vintage plane with one seat rows on either side of the aisle. We were seated according to how much we weighed...I worried the whole trip because I had lied about mine by 10 pounds. One of our group spent the entire flight counting the number of missing bolts on the wings. Then there was the landing strip between mountain and sea...
How about Gordon Lightfoot's "Early Morning Rain"?
Thanks for John Hartford. (smile)
Happy Thursday, y"all!
I don't fly often anymore, but once I got seated next to a very large man, who had drunk too much alcohol and who had eaten onions. He fell asleep leaning on me. Certainly a memorable flight for all the wrong reasons!
The first thing that came to mind was an old Laurie Anderson piece "From The Air". Probably not something for this show.
How about I'll Fly Away.
Thanks for the Christine Lavin!
Good Morning Heartlanders--
No memorable flying stories. I think that's a good thing! How about Bill Staines' Song for Tingmissartoq?
Julie
Hillsdale
I don't travel by air much, and all my flights have been uneventful. I prefer it that way.
How about Red Staggerwing?
Flying back from Korea with my youngest niece was pretty fabulous. There were several babies on the flight on their way to new homes in the States - and only one who didn't like the flight (not my niece - she was busy flirting with the man two rows back who was playing peek-a-boo with her). The flight itself was pretty uneventful, but the homecoming was about the best. Customs took awhile, but the waiting family was a fabulous site to see.
I used to fly around rural Alaska, had no scares but many memories. When you fly to Bethel or Barrow you are often in an eight-seater 747; the rest is cargo containers behind you. I would wonder how well the containers were tied down. The flights to Barrow are fun because most people on the full passenger flights know each other. The Attendants have song and dance routines. It turns into a sort of party. Several times I flew across the very top of Alaska, the “North Slope,” in a four-seater (counting pilot) and then in a sixteen passenger, on which before you take off everyone has to shout out how much they weigh so the can calculate fuel capacity. Once in that plane when there were only four of us leaving Kaktovik, the Russian escapee pilot wanted to show me polar bears, because my wife is Russian ancestry. We circled several times on wing tip over eight adult polar bears sleeping in a pack like kittens.
how about sky pilot?
i fly quite a bit and the only thing that is scary is that you have no control when the stuff is going on. it would be like sitting in the back seat of your taxi with the windows blocking the view of the road in front of you while the hopefully competent driver negotiates through the challenges ahead. they all do fine but i am a much better driver than a passenger. indonesia, back woods china and turkey are some of the more interesting places i've experienced white knuckling. arkansas puddle jumpers provided the best coffee off the ceiling air pockets i've experienced.
goats would be interesting
Jefferson Airplane?
or Paul Simon "Further to Fly?"
thanks for a fun topic, Dale
I just remember taking my 4-year-old child out to Clif. to, as I told him, "see Auntie Sue." We were seated at front of Coach, and once we were in unbelted mode he stood up, looked over his seat at the sea of people, and practically yelled "MOM, ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE COMIN' TO SEE AUNTIE SUE?" Lots of chuckles - it was the funnest flight I recall.
I've had several memorable flights for poor reasons. But one flight that stands out in my mind was back in 1984. I was flying back from helping my sister move to Pittsburgh and I was on a flight that took off at about 10pm. The plane was practically empty. There were perhaps 20 of us on the whole plane. I got the entire row to myself. I flipped up both arms, flipped down all the tray tables, stretched out, and leisurely made my way through the current issue of Games magazine while having snacks and sodas. Best flight EVER.
My first solo flight as a pilot in 1983. I had 5.9 hours with the instructor before he sent me up alone. I got up about 100 feet and had a panic attack. I AM ALONE UP HERE!!!
I calmed myself down and made 3 left hand turns and landed without incident.
VronJ's comment reminds me of when my Dad was taking lessons. He went up with his instructor and the flight went very well. When it came time to land, Dad really wanted to make a good impression. So, he gently and slowly nosed it down. Very pleased with himself, he turned to his instructor and said, "How's THAT for a soft landing?" The instructor smiled, nodded, and replied, "Very nice, but you might want to check your altimeter." They were still 20 feet up in the air. Whoops.
The goat on a plane discussion made me remember this:
The “Mad Russian” pilot (as everyone called him) who flew me around the North Slope says while a pilot in far eastern Russia he let a woman talk him into transporting her cow with her. Before they made their landing approach, the ground radio operator used their secret code to let him know officials were there to greet his plane. When they landed, they no longer had the cow.
He was such a character that you do not know if this is true or a very good lie. I cannot imagine how you would push a cow out of a plane.
Clyde Grounded - Yikes!
Flying in rural Alaska sounds so cool. Did you ever get to try out an ultra light like Maggie flew on No. Exposure?
My favorite Far Side cartoon shows people in the front of the plane with horrified expressions as, coming from the cockpit, is the word "Yahtzee!" Could be why those guys missed Minneapolis...
To me a four-seater is an ultra-light. I am actually very afraid of heights, but the flights were so interesting that I was never scared. But an ultra-light, no. Never.
We flew the whole cost from Pt. Hope to Kaktovik. Flew along some of the Brooks Range, over much of Prudhoe Bay oil fields. Saw amazing things. Brought my wife to Barrow for one trip.
I love NE. Own three years of it so far.
Returning stateside from Korea decades ago. Our plane rattled down the runway engines whining and wings slowly rising and falling. (Does this crate really fly by flapping??) We reached the end of the runway and stopped. As the plane turned around, we were told we'd try again and this time maybe get enough speed to get airborne.
I'd find this a little unsettling now but I was young then and immortal.
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