"Scott Ferrin" wrote in message
...

LOL. I thought about that one :-) There's another one about speeds
being called out:

"In his book, Sled Driver, SR-71 Blackbird pilot Brian Shul writes:
"I'll always remember a certain radio exchange that occurred one day
as Walt (my backseater) and I were screaming across Southern
California, 13 miles high. We were monitoring various radio
transmissions from other aircraft as we entered Los Angeles airspace.
Though they didn't really control us, they did monitor our movement
across their scope. I heard a Cessna ask for a readout of its
groundspeed."

"90 knots" Center replied.

"Moments later, a Twin Beech required the same."

"120 knots," Center answered.

"We weren't the only ones proud of our groundspeed that day as almost
instantly an F-18 smugly transmitted, 'Ah, Center, Dusty 52 requests
groundspeed readout.'

"There was a slight pause, then the response, 525 knots on the ground,
Dusty".

"Another silent pause. As I was thinking to myself how ripe a
situation this was, I heard a familiar click of a radio transmission
coming from my backseater. It was at that precise moment I realized
Walt and I had become a real crew, for we were both thinking in
unison." "Center, Aspen 20, you got a groundspeed readout for us?"

There was a longer than normal pause.... "Aspen, I show 1,742 knots"

"No further inquiries were heard on that frequency""


Nice story, but the groundspeed wouldn't show 1,742 knots. Groundspeed
readouts are to the nearest ten knots.