DC-3
Posted: Sat Sep 18, 2004 2:39 pmWell today was the day I flew my first commercial flight. A short flight from JFK to Logan International. The beer was iced down in my cooler in the cockpit. A cold one was opened and perched in my makeshift beverage holder, ( medicinal purposes only, to calm my nerves and to diminish my fear of heights.) Seat belts were all fastened and we were up and away off runway 4R.
As I circled around the city, thoughts of my dear friend Ozzy came to mind, and all the interesting flying styles he has demonstrated in the past.
With that beautiful bridge looming far ahead in the background, I just couldn't help myself. Passengers were instructed to keep thier seatbelts on as we may be experiencing some minor turbulence.
I began my aileron roll at about 2500 ft amidst the screams of terror coming from the cabin.
Once inverted, the screams turned to more of a whimpering sound with occasional cheers of whooopeee!! and CooooL!! from the children aboard. I didn't pay much attention to the passengers plight, as I had a much more serious problem on my hands.....I just spilled a perfectly good cold beer!
I still had quite some distance to go to navigate to the bridge while gradually decreasing altitude. "Turn it over" they cried, "turn it over!" "Quiet!" I shouted, "I'm busy up here, It's the turbulence I tell ya! calm down and eat your peanuts."
As we passed beneath the bridge, some of the passengers expressed concerns that we may land upside down in the water. I calmly reassured them by telling them that I had seen Ozzy do this hundreds of times with planes four times this size! Apparently they weren't the slightest bit concerned about whoever Ozzy was at this point in time.
As I began to climb out from under the bridge, those pesky screams began again. I calmed them down once more by insisting that I couldn't concentrate with all that noise back there.
As I continued to climb out, the cries of panic seemed to subside a bit as they could see that we were getting higher off the water. But, of course, you've always got a few who keep insisting "turn it over, turn it over, take us back to New York, we don't want to fly with you anymore." Wah wah wah! Believe me, no-one wanted to turn it over more than me, because you sure can't open a beer in this position!!
I finally had enough altitude to begin my rollout. But suddenly the cabin was completely quiet............hmmmm
Will the passengers survive? Will I get the plane safely back on the ground at Kennedy? The answers to these and other questions on page 2
As I circled around the city, thoughts of my dear friend Ozzy came to mind, and all the interesting flying styles he has demonstrated in the past.
With that beautiful bridge looming far ahead in the background, I just couldn't help myself. Passengers were instructed to keep thier seatbelts on as we may be experiencing some minor turbulence.
I began my aileron roll at about 2500 ft amidst the screams of terror coming from the cabin.Once inverted, the screams turned to more of a whimpering sound with occasional cheers of whooopeee!! and CooooL!! from the children aboard. I didn't pay much attention to the passengers plight, as I had a much more serious problem on my hands.....I just spilled a perfectly good cold beer!
I still had quite some distance to go to navigate to the bridge while gradually decreasing altitude. "Turn it over" they cried, "turn it over!" "Quiet!" I shouted, "I'm busy up here, It's the turbulence I tell ya! calm down and eat your peanuts."
As we passed beneath the bridge, some of the passengers expressed concerns that we may land upside down in the water. I calmly reassured them by telling them that I had seen Ozzy do this hundreds of times with planes four times this size! Apparently they weren't the slightest bit concerned about whoever Ozzy was at this point in time.
As I began to climb out from under the bridge, those pesky screams began again. I calmed them down once more by insisting that I couldn't concentrate with all that noise back there.
As I continued to climb out, the cries of panic seemed to subside a bit as they could see that we were getting higher off the water. But, of course, you've always got a few who keep insisting "turn it over, turn it over, take us back to New York, we don't want to fly with you anymore." Wah wah wah! Believe me, no-one wanted to turn it over more than me, because you sure can't open a beer in this position!!
I finally had enough altitude to begin my rollout. But suddenly the cabin was completely quiet............hmmmm
Will the passengers survive? Will I get the plane safely back on the ground at Kennedy? The answers to these and other questions on page 2
Oh and do you find it hard to hold the bottle to your lips whilst inverted to avoid spillage? 
