The Tweet.
When you have your first solo you fly a few landings with your instructor and if feels you are ready you land and stop and he jumps out. Your instructor then goes to a small observation tower between the runways and grades your landings. On your first and second solo you do not leave the traffic pattern at the field... you just practice touch and go landings.
My first solo was very early... I flew a perfect ride... and no one knew I soloed. My second solo was different. I was very confident in the airplane. I was flying very precision approaches and landings. I was in my element, everything was perfect... it felt like art to me. On one of my approaches they threw me a curve ball and told me to go around (abort the landing) and I did... I flew a few more landings and my hour was up and I taxied in.
I walked in the briefing room and almost everyone was there. I hear "There he is!" I look around and everyone is looking at me... I took a quick peek to see who was behind me... nada... they were talking to me. One of the weakest (flying wise) guys in the class is standing at the podium with a trophy he won a few weeks earlier. Looking at me he says: "He doesn't even know!" The place erupts in laughter and cheers!
Then the trophy holder... with much pomp and fanfare... announced to me... "You forgot to put your landing gear down and when they told you to go around you didn't even notice that you didn't have to put you landing gear back up! You had your head up your A--!" The cheering and laughter was so loud that everyone in every classroom in the building was probably laughing too... a legend was born... in my mind.
So I was awarded his trophy... it was mine now... to sit at my desk until someone else made a dumb mistake. I deserved it. It was a trophy of a pilot bending over and had his head up his rear end...
After my little ceremony I sat down at our desk and my instructor (Captain Little) pulled out a pink colored grade sheet and gave me a failing grade... I was "Pinked." Jimmy was laughing and telling me I was going to be alright at the same time.
Adding insult to injury I was grabbed and carried out of the briefing room on the shoulders of my class mates and was thrown in an ice cold tank of water... everyone knew I had soloed...
That "Pink" changed my life. I would probably have been #1 in my class except for that "Pink." I ended up #7... right behind Jimmy. At the end of pilot training I was awarded my second choice... a 4 engine jet instead of a fighter. Jimmy got the last fighter. My inattention that day may have saved my life... it may have cost Jimmy his life... and I will never forget that.
I had that trophy on my desk for less than two weeks. Someone else committed a mistake... no where near as bad as mine... I was very glad to get it off my desk. I hated giving it away though... I hated being the center of attention again... I liked being quiet... invisible...
I award the "Wedge" to Captain Mink... Notice how big I can smile again...
No comments:
Post a Comment