ENGINES, DON'T QUIT ON
ME NOW
I always enjoyed flying
in and out of Washington National Airport, now known as Reagan International.
It was especially beautiful on a clear crisp winter night because of all
the lights and the close proximity to the city. The air traffic controllers
did an excellent job of moving the air traffic in and out of that tight
location. When they gave you instructions, they meant everything
down to the last "jot and tittle." It was "gear up" and turn now!
Call me weird, but I always enjoyed being a part of a complex picture and
helping to make it happen. I think what pilots fear
the most is the "unknown." We are very procedure oriented.
If this happens, then we will do that. If that happens, we will do
this and so on. We study and are checked and study some more then do it
all over again. I don't think Mr. Rogers could even say "It's such a good
feeling" if he were a pilot in a situation he didn't fully understand.
Fortunately it doesn't happen that often. It was a hot day and we were
pretty heavy coming out of Washington. There were no storms in the
area and no real wind to speak of. The airplane that we were flying at
that time was a Shorts 360 which looks like a Winnebago with a wing bolted
on top. It wasn't much for passenger or crew comfort but it fit the
bill for short (no pun intended) flights. Also, it was not known
for its high performance, but it got the job done. We got airborne
with an immediate turn down the river but we were not climbing at all,
zilch, none, nada, etc. The airplane was configured properly and
I even added "extra" power to the engines, but nothing. We got an
up close and personal view of the river for what seemed like eternity.
Finally, we started to climb. To this day I don't know
for sure why we were not climbing. All that I could think about then
was "Engines, don't quit on me now!" |
