Was it always having to "dodge them" that changed you? <g>

Post #90,984 by mmoffitt 3/24/03 8:04:16 AM Reply	Was it always having to "dodge them" that changed you? <g> Q: What do you call 8 skydiving lawyers? A: Skeet. (YHMV - Your Humor May Vary ;-) bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
Post #91,053 by tuberculosis 3/24/03 1:01:01 PM Reply	No, jumping is cheaper And I felt more fun per buck. When I was current a C-172 was something like $60 per hour and a jump was $12. I can make 6 jumps in a day working hard and it lasts all day (plus it puts me in better physical shape because its a lot of work). Its also more social. Piloting is more solitary. Plus, look at all the great things I get to ride in. I have leapt from Cessna 172, 180, 206, 210. Beech King Air, Queen Air, D-18 Twin Otter (and some Czech clone thereof) Pilatus Porter DC-3 DC-4 SkyVan Casa C-123 Bell 412 Helicopter Hot Air Balloons Boeing 727 As a pilot, I have stick time in C-172s, C-180s, Piper Cherokees and one glorious hour in a North American AT-6 (show plane in Polish war colors - really great plane if you've got the unlimited bank account - I liked the open canopy flying). So for the aviation buff, I get to play with more kinds of aircraft with a rig on my back than with a pair of Dave Clark's in my flight bag. "Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes. Contestants in a suicidal race." - Synchronicity II - The Police
Post #91,175 by mmoffitt 3/24/03 7:49:28 PM Reply	Yabut. You're not sitting at the controls are you? :0) To each his own. My attitude is, "There's plenty of sky for all of us" (even those of us foolish enough to step out of a perfectly good airplane). Your points are all well taken. :-) bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
Post #91,194 by Ashton 3/24/03 8:59:34 PM Reply	Dunno if this is the place to point out - Every World-class (motorcycle) Moto-X-er began as a tyke, some with motorized thingies as early as 3-ish (?) They learned.. kinetics before they understood Fear of Death and, it shows.. Point: these folks return to Earth only to modify ballistic trajectories, clearly (on many courses) spending more time airborne than grounded. Ricochet: that's what they do. Now.. THAT's *FLYING !!!* :-\ufffd
Post #91,261 by tuberculosis 3/24/03 11:03:46 PM Reply	Well actually "You're not sitting at the controls are you? :0)" You'd be amazed how many pilots let me play in the right seat from time to time. :-P "Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes. Contestants in a suicidal race." - Synchronicity II - The Police
Post #91,531 by mmoffitt 3/25/03 7:26:21 PM Reply	If you've done this, you really have done my dream. Ever "drive" a DC-3? If so, details, please? bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
Post #91,682 by tuberculosis 3/25/03 11:57:07 PM Reply	Sadly, no DC-3s Although I've jumped out of plenty of them. I've gotten a little stick time in a King Air, and a Beech D-18, and I've spent time sitting (hands off) right seat in Twin Otters. If you really want to get some hours, get your commercial and start hanging around a parachute center. They're often looking. I know of a guy who was a jumper who just kept pestering the pilots at Skydive AZ ([link\|http://www.skydiveaz.com\|http://www.skydiveaz.com]) - they taught him to fly stuff just to shut him up. Those guys get really good too - they do quite a lot of tight formation flying and the sunset buzzjob is a tradition. "Packed like lemmings into shiny metal boxes. Contestants in a suicidal race." - Synchronicity II - The Police
Post #91,686 by boxley 3/26/03 12:01:41 AM Reply	call era aviation in AK they have an original DC3 that does the tourist thing. See if they have a flying vaca package. [link\|http://www.eraaviation.com/fs_DC3_Tours.stm\|http://www.eraaviati.../fs_DC3_Tours.stm] thanx, bill will work for cash and other incentives [link\|http://home.tampabay.rr.com/boxley/resume/Resume.html\|skill set] questions, help? [link\|mailto:pappas@catholic.org\|email pappas at catholic.org] Since corporations are the equivelent of human but they have no "concience" they are by definition sociopaths
Post #91,801 by mmoffitt 3/26/03 11:17:01 AM Reply	Thanks Box and Todd ;-) bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
Post #91,818 by rcareaga 3/26/03 11:46:34 AM Reply	Re: If you've done this, you really have done my dream. Some years ago (1994 or 1995, I believe) I spent an exhilarating two hours tooling round the SF Bay Area in a DC-3 (said to have been used by Hap Arnold for his visit to Normandy about a week after the initial landing--actually identified as a Douglas C-41 at this referenced site): [link\|http://www.geocities.co.jp/SilkRoad-Ocean/9934/as_warbird_e.html\|http://www.geocities...as_warbird_e.html] I was a mere passenger, of course, but I was allowed into the cockpit for ten minutes, and enjoyed the whole flight, which ended at dusk as a full moon rose, enormously. cordially, "Die Welt ist alles, was der Fall ist."
Post #91,822 by mmoffitt 3/26/03 11:53:04 AM Reply	Great Pics. In response to the question, "If you could own any aircraft without regard to how much it costs, what would it be?" most people say a Cessna Citation, Lear, King Air or something like that. Mine hasn't changed since I was 5 years old. A DC-3 is what I'd want. The next question I'm usually asked after that reply is, "So, your medication has worn off already?" I don't know what it is, but there's always been something magical about that bird for me. bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
Post #91,829 by deSitter 3/26/03 12:10:14 PM Reply	Great Pic Rick: And the names are Mr. and Mrs. Victor Laszlo. Ilsa: But...why my name, Richard? Rick: Because, you\ufffdre getting on that plane. Ilsa: I don\ufffdt understand, what about you? Rick: I\ufffdm staying here with him until the plane gets safely away. Ilsa: No, Richard, what\ufffds happened to you? Last night... Rick: Last night we said a great many things. You said I was to do the thinking for both of us. Well I\ufffdve done a lot of it since then, and it all adds up to one thing: You\ufffdre getting on that plane with Victor where you belong. Ilsa: But Richard, no I... Rick: Now, you\ufffdve got to listen to me. Do you have any idea what you\ufffdve got to look forward to if you stay here? Nine chances out of ten, we\ufffdd both wind up in a concentration camp. Isn\ufffdt that true, Louis? Politisjefen (Louis): I\ufffdm afraid Major Strasser would insist. Ilsa: You\ufffdre saying this only to make me go. Rick: I\ufffdm saying it because it\ufffds true. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Victor. You\ufffdre part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If that plane leaves the ground, and you\ufffdre not with him, you\ufffdll regret it. Maybe not today, and maybe not tomorrow, but soon, and for the rest of your life. Ilsa: But what about us? Rick: We\ufffdll always have Paris. We didn\ufffdt have. We\ufffdd lost it until you came to Casablanca. We got it back last night. Ilsa: When I said I would never leave you. Rick: And you never will. But, I\ufffdve got a job to do too. Where I\ufffdm going, you can\ufffdt follow. What I got to do, you can\ufffdt be any part of. I\ufffdm no good at being noble, but it doesn\ufffdt take much to see that the problems of three little people don\ufffdt amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you\ufffdll understand that. (Ilsa begins to weep) Rick: Now, now. Here\ufffds looking at you, kid. CLACK CLACK CLACK - BARUUMMMP! -drl
Post #91,834 by mmoffitt 3/26/03 12:24:03 PM Reply	Heh. I'm not that romantic. I just like the airplane :-) Er, maybe subconsciously, ...... That was very cool. Thanks. bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?
Post #91,954 by CRConrad 3/26/03 5:27:45 PM Reply	So, got that off a .no site, didja? (Or was it a .dk one?)
Post #92,000 by deSitter 3/26/03 8:36:21 PM Reply	Knew you'd spot that! What, you think I've got Casablanca memorized? Only the plot. -drl
Post #91,897 by Ashton 3/26/03 3:22:59 PM Reply	Somewhere in the lore I recall a remark ~ "the DC-3 may have been the most nearly perfect execution of an aircraft design goal" (One could add, "with available techno.. unexciting but reliable, predictable, able to fly with many parts with holes in them, survive hellish weather" yada) And IIRC - they were the heroes of the Burma run in WW-II; over mountains, lousy fields, overloaded etc. I guess Berlin airlift was the biggest project (?) But no stereo headphones or A/C :( Possibly related, and I've mentioned it before: the ex-Russ pilot who defected by driving his Fulcrum / MIG-29 to Turkey.. in an exciting night takeoff -- dragging the starter unit behind him until the cable broke off! He laid out a similar design philosophy for USSR fighters: no fancy schmancy techno-rebuild of 8? hours for every flight hour; movable intake filters so you could land / take off at rotten dusty fields. This while being capable of virtually hovering, like our cranky special-purpose thingies. (Think you might enjoy Fulcrum: A Top Gun Pilot's Escape from the Soviet Empire, by Alexander Zuyev 1992 Warner Books.) Ashton
Post #91,973 by mmoffitt 3/26/03 7:40:58 PM Reply	Amazon.com here I come - Thanks Ashton! bcnu, Mikem Osama bin Laden's brother could fly in US airspace 9/15/01, but I had to wait for FBI and CIA background checks, 'nuff said?

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