I think this "Story Time" thread is one of the most entertaining things I've seen on RAS. I hope it keeps going! This isn't a soaring story per se, but it's pretty amusing.

One of Sundance Aviation's tow pilots in Moriarty was renowned for his quick and sardonic wit. He told us of an occasion (shortly after the establishment of the TSA as a result of 9/11) when he ferried an airplane to San Francisco, CA. He flew back commercially on an airline. While going through the new "security" check (before the days of X-Raying the carry-on and taking off your shoes, he ran into a particularly snotty Asian female TSA agent who was VERY impressed with the uniform epaulets. Hers, not his.

She was digging through his flight bag (his only baggage) and pulled out his handheld radio, headset, charts and all the rest of the detritus that makes an airplane fly (according to the FAA) when she came upon his portable Garmin GPS.

Obviously perplexed with the device, she demanded, "WAAT DEES!?"

Without missing a beat, he replied, "It's a vacuum-actuated water-inducted overhead fiber duster."

She looked at it again. Looked at him (all innocent and compliant). Looked at it again and snapped, "No turn on in airplane!" He adopted a pleading expression and said, "But, but, I have allergies!"

She relented, and quietly said, "Well...OK.)

The guy behind him in the TSA line who watched the entire episode was another pilot and was absolutely convulsed with laughter and was almost choking himself trying to stifle it because at that time, you NEVER laughed around an annoyed TSA agent, lest you become a candidate for a random cavity search.

Ever since then one of our catch phrases at Moriarty when seeing an unfamiliar piece of equipment is, "WAAT DEES!?)