Well, you’ll like this story then..

We took our 172 to an airshow as a static exhibit. Believe it or not, it
was one of the most popular planes with longer lines than most of the
military planes. The kids loved it. It was cute, sort of like a car, and
they could imagine themselves flying it.

I spent the day baby sitting the plane, helping kids in and out, and doing
things like stopping one from sticking his gum over the static port just in
the nick of time. We were parked right next to the line of porta potties
and lines were long. I walked to the rear of the plane just in time to see
a large, red faced man back up to the elevators, take a furtive look around,
and start to park his rear end on the tail. My scream sent him almost head
first into the porta potti that was just opening up. He was terrifically
incensed but I told him people's lives depended on that tail and he could
stuff it.

I got to fly the plane out. The runways at this military field are long.
The tower asked which intersection I would like. I thought about all the
little hands that had been plucking at our plane for two days and said,
“Please Sir, could I have the whole thing?” You could hear the guffaws in
the tower. The tankers, big bombers, warbirds, and everyone else were all
taking off from the intersection. This little 172 wants THE WHOLE 9 YARDS!
I taxied down what seemed like miles and miles of taxiway that looked like
they hadn’t seen wheels since WWII. Finally found the end and took off. I
was at my cruising altitude before I came abeam of the tower but it was a
real comfort.

--
Roger Long