Ted
The pilot formerly known as Twin Engine Ted
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2007
- Messages
- 30,006
- Display Name
Display name:
iFlyNothing
In a Facebook discussion, a friend of mine commented he'd been running numbers on Citation 525s. I responded with a Controller link to a Lear 35, one of my favorite jets (albeit not single pilot, etc.), mostly joking. And then he responded (jokingly) "What're those round gauges for?" Here's what they're for:
Ted DuPuis said:Those instruments are for men. Real men. Men who like to fly like it was done back in the day when men were men and women found a man who knew what all those dials meant attractive. And those gauges are for women, because we know that aviation prowess is not restricted to those with a Y chromosome (says the man married to the worlds greatest pilot).
Men (and women) who remember back in the day when hand flying an approach to minimums, in icing, at night, surrounded by thunderstorms, was something you did because you could and it was a badge of honor. You grit your teeth and shot the approach. When autopilots were tools, and it wasn't an emergency when one failed. When you filed /A and knew what a VOR was and how to track it. When noise abatement was about making as much noise as you could, and being proud of it. When children stood at the fences taking in the sweet smell of Jet A exhaust and saying "One day, I'll be a pilot" with the American flag fluttering in the background and Bill Lear saying "If they can't fly my damn airplane then they deserved to crash!"
That's what those instruments are for, my friend. They're for America. I'm not crying, that's just something in my eye.