Most liked posts in thread: For 30 Seconds, I became religious.

I flew into Denver one winter day and right when the plane touched down it started rotating sideways - strong crosswinds and an ice covered runway were my guesses - there we were going 150 miles an hour on the ground and I could see the entire runway ahead of us thru my window on the side of the plane! We slid along like this for a bit and then the plane snapped straight again - I was amazed it didn't rip the landing gear off, but we rolled up to the gate like nothing had happened.

I don't fly a lot anymore, not because of this but the general cost and poor treatment of paying passengers make driving more appealing to me now.

 

Glad you are still with us Eric.

 

All of my sketchy air travels have been on the government...

Try a combat landing in a commercial 747-400 from 15000 feet over Kuwait city in 2003...

Or the return trip (still on a 747) landing at Fort Campbell's air strip, when the pilot thought there was more runway than there actually is. The right wing almost clipped the ground when we got to the end of the road and made a fast left onto the taxiway...

Or flying from Denver to Barstow CA in a should have been decommissioned 757 that had a hole in the fuselage. The pilots parked it at the aircraft grave yard we landed at, and took their own ride home! A month later we got back on the same plane, parked in the same spot, with the same hole...

Then there was a high cross wind landing on ice in Bangor Maine, that one almost made me go from tightly clenched, to let it all out!..

The most fun, that would be doing a combat launch in a C-17 Globetrotter out of BIAP (Baghdad). That thing will set you back in your seat harder than any car I have ever been in! (Combat launch, is when the pilot locks up the brakes, and builds thrust until the plane starts to move, then releases the brakes and gives it everything the jets have! Your'e literally off the ground in the time it takes a commercial pilot to hit peak thrust.)

Or flying a UH-60 Blackhawk so close to the ground in the middle of the night, that you can hear the tops of the trees whacking the bottom of the bird, then coming to a dead stop out of nowhere and getting the green light to rope out!

Anymore, no thanks! I will just drive!

 

Strange how all I can remember are the dozens of flights with "issues" but none of the hundreds of routine ones. Guess it's because the routine ones didn't cause "pucker" moments or people to pull out paper bags. Like Minidave, I don't fly much anymore due to cattle herding, delays, costs, passenger aromas, etc.

 

I used to fly a lot. I've had engines die on take off, land gear fail on landing, sliding down the runway at a 45 deg angle, and parts fall off waiting for take off. But like DryMartini said I don't recall all the trouble free flights.

 

I don't like any form of transportation I can't walk home from if it breaks.

 

I was on a night flight on Pilgrim Airways (Is it still around?) out of Boston - a small plane where the pilot didn't even close the door to the cockpit. Fog was reported where we were headed in Maine, but I really wasn't worried about it until the pilot yelled back to the passengers: "Hey, let me know if any of you see lights down there." :eek6:

 

So that, my friends, is the definitive description of flying...period: "Hours and hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror." Had three of those. Once alone and twice with a couple of passengers, never in a heavy though.

Nathan doesn't have enough bandwidth if Buzzsaw steps in with his stories.

 

I've had a few of those "sphincter clenching" moments on planes.

I still think the most nervous I have ever been on a plane was on a twin engine turbo-prop "puddle jumper" flight. My window seat lined up perfectly with the left propeller. I spent the whole forty-five minute flight thinking about what would happen to my body if that prop let go. :shocked:

CD

 

Shucks, Eric, they could have at least given you a new, CLEAN pair of undershorts! :ihih:

 

No real flight terrors for me, but I did find Enlightenment in the back of a Korean Taxi.

Back in '93 I was teaching English in Chonju, South Korea. To get to work I often took taxis. Korean Taxi Drivers are an insane category of people, and one morning mine decided to race a train. There were no barriers at this particular rail crossing, and the train was moving at a fairly good clip.

So my driver swerved on to the shoulder to go around the stopped cars in front of us, and floored his tiny Hyundai sedan that was carrying me and a second fuel tank in the trunk (they all do) and tried to beat the train.

Being in the back seat of a tiny car, and already crammed into that confined space, there wasn't much that I could do but watch.

And in that moment of watching the train, hearing the engine, and knowing that my life was totally out of my hands... the universe slowed, I sensed my own heartbeat, I knew myself, and I felt complete and absolute tranquility.

Later I freaked the ever-loving hell out.

 

Fox hole religion, at it's best.

 

Not unlike telling the cab driver in Sasebo; 'Hayaku'. That was back in '68. Only made the mistake once.

 

Yikes. I've only ever flown once, and it was a long, long time ago, in sunny weather with clear skies.

 

Keep an eye here, might tell you of the details of the aborted takeoff.

Aviation Safety Network >

 

Years ago I had s flight from Columbus to San Diego.

All of s sudden pilot says "we are going to have to make a stop. This is not a drill. I will tell you more in a bit".

After a bit: " we have an error we can't clear. We are landing in Kansas. Be prepared. It s going to be rough"


On approach; "folks the computer says the engine is on fire. I can't clear it. We are going to land hard and fast. Fire trucks are lined up and ready just in case".

Slams the runway at what feels like full speed. Fire trucks chasing. Damn scary moment. No fire just bad sensor. Couple hours on the ground for electrical repair and we were on our way.

Ahh. Good times.