Touchdown!
Thanks for letting me know you're OK now.
No worries mate! I always tap the fuselage of the plain as I board and, a la Han Solo, say, "Here me baby, hold together!" Works every time...so far!
Couple of interesting tidbits about my flying past. You have to take into account I used to fly over 50,000 miles a year with all my trips to Europe.
1) Had originally booked the same flight number out of Dulles to LA for Monday, 10 September 2001 as the one that was hijacked the following day. My trip got cancelled a week earlier. I always took the early morning cross-country flights for the one of the same reasons as the hijackers. Not as crowded! Plus I would gain 3 hours and be able to goof off in CA all day before having to work the following day. I still have the page from my planner with the flight number written down. A family friend who was a pilot for United at the time flew the other early morning flight out of Dulles on that actual day.
2) Once flying to Inyokern, CA on a puddle-jumper from LAX, we hit major turbulence on the approach. Inyokern is the airport for China Lake and Death Valley, as in the high desert just on the other side of the mountains in CA. This is a short flight, but always eventful. I was seated in the back row by myself, which meant I had 4-5 seats to myself, as this particular plane had seats all the way across the back row. So I sat in the middle seat so I could stretch into the aisle. I thought I had it good. Then we hit the strong winds on the other side of the mountains screaming across the desert. I was in the very back of the plane. Meaning I got to feel the tossing and turning more than anyone else. For the final five minutes of the flight, we bounced up and down, sideways, and all over. Honest to fucking imaginary deity you may or may not believe in, just before touching down we got rolled up and the plane was at least 45 degrees off the center line of the direction we were actually going. While I never got "scared" during this ordeal, as I am a bit of an adrenaline junky, when we got off the plane I thought it would be funny to pull a Pope. Since I was the last person off before the crew, I maximized my performance and as soon as I got my feet on the ground I went down on all fours and kissed the tarmac. The pilots and flight attendant laughed their asses off. The co-pilot said, "C'mon, it wasn't that bad!" Then, quietly under his breath, I overheard him say to the rest of the crew, I have never been in such a rough landing before and was very nervous.
I love flying and have always wanted to get my pilot's license, but it is too expensive.
