Subject: Fw: Pilots............................
----- Most of you will find something in this to relate to. Hope you
enjoy it, Gleeso
You see them at airport terminals around the world. You see them in the
morning early, sometimes at night. They come neatly uniformed and
hatted, sleeves striped; wings over their left pocket; they show up looking
fresh.
There's a brisk, young-old look of efficiency about them. They arrive
fresh from home, from hotels, carrying suitcases, battered briefcases,
bulging, with a wealth of technical information, data, filled with regulations,
rules.
They know the new, harsh sheen of Chicago's O'Hare. They know the
cluttered approaches to Newark; they know the tricky shuttle that is Rio; they
know but do not relish the intricate instrument approaches to various
foreign airports; they know the volcanoes all around Guatemala.
They respect foggy San Francisco. They know the up-and-down walk to the
gates at Dallas, the Texas sparseness of Abilene, the very narrow
Berlin Corridor, New Orleans' sparking terminal, the milling crowds at
Washington. They know Butte, Boston, and Beirut. They appreciate Miami's
perfect weather, they recognize the danger of an ice-slick runway at JFK.
They understand short runways, antiquated fire equipment, inadequate
approach lighting, but there is one thing they will never comprehend:
Complacency.
They marvel at the exquisite good taste of hot coffee in Anchorage and
a cold beer in Guam.
They vaguely remember the workhorse efficiency of the DC-3s, the
reliability of the DC- 4s and DC 6s, the trouble with the DC-7 and the propellers
on Boeing 377s. They discuss the beauty of an old gal named Connie. They
recognize the high shrill whine of a Viscount, the rumbling thrust of a DC-8
or 707 on a clearway takeoff from Haneda. And a Convair. The remoteness of
the 747 cockpit. The roominess of the DC10 and the snug fit of a 737.
They speak a language unknown to Webster. They discuss ALPA, EPRs, fans,
mach and bogie swivels. And, strangely, such things as bugs, thumpers,
crickets, and CATs, but they are inclined to change the subject when the
uninitiated approaches.
They have tasted the characteristic loneliness of the sky, and
occasionally the adrenaline of danger. They respect the unseen thing called
turbulence; they know what it means to fight for self-control, to discipline one's
senses.
They buy life insurance, but make no concession to the possibility of
complete disaster, for they have uncommon faith in themselves and what
they are doing.
They concede the glamour is gone from flying. They deny a pilot is
through at sixty. They know tomorrow, or the following night, something will
come along they have never met before; they know flying requires
perseverance and vigilance . They know they must practice, lest they retrograde.
They realize why some wit once quipped: "Flying is year after year of
monotony punctuated by seconds of stark terror."
As a group, they defy mortality tables, yet approach semi-annual
physical examinations with trepidation. They are individualistic, yet bonded
together. They are family people, yet rated poor marriage bets. They
are reputedly overpaid, yet entrusted with equipment worth millions. And
entrusted with lives, countless lives.
At times they are reverent: They have watched the Pacific sky turn
purple at dusk and the stark beauty of sunrise over Iceland at the end of a polar
crossing. They know the twinkling, jeweled beauty of Los Angeles at
night; they have seen snow on the Rockies. They remember the vast unending
mat of green Amazon jungle, the twisting silver road that is the father of
waters, an ice cream cone called Fujiyama. And the hump of Africa. Who can
forget Everest from 100 miles away, or the ice fog in Fairbanks in January?
They have watched a satellite streak across a starry sky, seen the
clear, deep blue of the stratosphere, felt the incalculable force of the
heavens. They have marveled at sun-streaked evenings, dappled earth,
velvet night, spun silver clouds, sculptured cumulus: God's weather.
They have viewed the Northern Lights, a wilderness of sky, a pilot's halo,
a bomber's moon, horizontal rain, contrails and St Elmo's Fire. Only a pilot
experiences all these.
It is their world
--
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