First impressions of flight

Mxsmanic wrote in
:

"Darkwing" theducksmail"AT"yahoo.com writes:

This is such a moronic question.

I consider it an intelligent question and relevant to the group, and
I've seen one or two intelligent replies. Unfortunately, I cannot say
the same about your reply.

Tell me how you fell Rex Grossman losing the Super Bowl?

I don't know who Rex Grossman is, or what the Super Bowl is.

Who do you think you are MX, Barbara Walters??

I don't know anything about Barbara Walters, either.

I suppose I can answer my own question, though, just to encourage the
intelligent people to reply:

My very first experience was as a passenger on a Southwest Airlines
737-200. I was most surprised by the apparent flimsiness of the
aircraft. I had previously been in non-moving aircraft on the ground
many years earlier, but this flimsiness was much more obvious in a
moving aircraft. Of course, I realized that the aircraft was not
actually flimsy and that it was strong for its weight, but it was
still subjectively surprising. The efforts to keep things lightweight
inside the cabin (seats, inner window panels, etc.) were obvious (and
understandable).

I was surprised by how rough the roll down the runway was; I had
assumed that runways were very smooth. I was surprised by how much
the aircraft moved in the air (I had imagined a glassy-smooth ride,
like a slow-moving train), and by the magnitude of the movements at
times. I was also amazed by the extreme noisiness of the aircraft. I
was surprised by how easily I could hear things like gear retraction
and extension, and movement of flaps, and so on.

I had steeled myself for a potentially unpleasant experience, as I
knew that many people are afraid of flying and I thought perhaps there
were good reasons for that. However, I thought it was all great fun.
Take-off was the best part, followed by landing. I experienced no
motion sickness, and the view out the window was fine, not bothering
me in the least even in turns and when slicing through cloudtops. I
take this as a reliable sign that I have a strong fundamental interest
in aviation.

I have never flown an aircraft in real life, so I can't comment on
that, although I've sat in various cockpits from time to time
(including 747 cockpits).


Good god. You need to adjust your dosage.


bertie