The view from 40,000 feet

callsign4223

callsign4223

Staff member
So, I have been in Orlando all week for a business conference. This is the first time I have flown anywhere in 20 years. I spent every flight staring out the window and watching the wings. What can I say, I am a tech and mech geek and I had to watch the ailerons move, the flaps and slats deploy, and the thrust reverse engage. A few observations from a total flying neophyte. Number 1, I thought flying was smooth, the first time we hit turbulence I thought we were gonna fall outta the sky. Number 2, Planes are loud, not people talking loud, a/c, wind noise, engine noise loud. Number 3, You never get the window seat, out of 4 flights I only got the window seat once(Southwest, no reserved seats). Number 4, It doesn't take hardly any deflection of the aileron to get a 737 to roll. Number 5, The world looks so different from 40,000 feet. The best flight of the 4 was the last one. We had a Houston to OKC flight and I finally snagged a window seat, right in front of the wing. The first thing to note about this flight is that it only take 1 hour to get from Houston to OKC, and you spend 20 minutes climbing and 20 minutes descending, so there is hardly any level flight going on here. Well, as we started to descend I noticed a giant lake out of the window, and I realized it was lake Texhoma(this lake sits on the border between Texas and Oklahoma). Then the plane basically started following I-35(the main highway going from Dallas to OKC). As we flew I watched cities that I had been in, and it was amazing to see them from above. One thing to note, I drive to Texas on a fairly regular basis because my wife's family lives in south Texas, so I drive this highway on a regular basis. It was weird, and cool, and eye opening to see all the thing that were just off the highway that I had never noticed before because the terrain blocked it from view. As we flew over Norman I saw the airfield where Tony flies and I am thinking about joining, didn't see anyone there though.:) Anyway, that is my long winded story of how I saw Tony's field from on high.
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
I have never been in a plane, and unless I can do loops and rolls, I will never get in one. Great story though. Now hurry up and join the club hehe.
 
callsign4223

callsign4223

Staff member
I'm tellin ya, I thought we were gonna do flips and rolls the first time we hit turbulence. Talked to my boss after we landed(he flies a lot) and he said that was a SMOOTH flight.
 
Tony

Tony

Staff member
Never in my life. I was in a helicopter once at the fair. We hit a down draft and went from 1000' to 500' in a very short period of time, and that was it. I told him to land it and I have not put foot in another aircraft. I was in the air for about 5 minutes. Like I said, I have issues with putting my life in someone elses hands. If I can fly the plane, then yes, I will go up again. But I will not get on another one where they lock me out of the cockpit so there is no way to at least try to save myself lmao.
 
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