Breaking in a New Navigator
Several years ago, when cockpits had round dials (plus flight engineers and navigators), a crusty old-timer captain was breaking in a brand-new navigator. Read more…
Photographs From the Air
A famous photographer for a national magazine was assigned to take aerial pictures of a great forest fire. He was advised that a small plane would be waiting to fly him over the fire. Read more…
Airplane "Gripe Sheet" Reports
After every flight, pilots fill out a form called a “gripe sheet,” which tells mechanics about problems with the aircraft. The mechanics correct the problems and document their repairs on the form, then pilots Read more…
The Parachute-Folding Contest
An Englishman and an Irishman were fierce competitors. One day, their discussion turned to skydiving, and they began arguing about who was best at folding a parachute. Unable to resolve their dispute on the ground, they Read more…
Ten Dollahs Is Ten Dollahs
Every year, Stumpy and his wife, Martha, would make the trek down from their mountain home to visit the State Fair. Every year, they walked past a 1936-model biplane, and Stumpy would say, Read more…
The Balloonist’s Dilemma
A hot air balloonist realized he was lost. He lowered his altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. He shouted, “Excuse me, can you help me out? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t Read more…
Pilots With Dark Glasses
One day at a busy airport, the passengers on a commercial airliner are seated and waiting for the pilot to show up so they can get Read more…
First-Class Flight to Detroit
A plane is on its way to Detroit when a blonde woman in economy class gets up and moves into an open seat in the first class section. The flight attendant Read more…
A Turbulent Flight
Flying through the Midwest in the summertime means one thing: turbulence. I was working as a flight attendant on one particular flight when we hit a patch of very rough air just after a young teenager, obviously on her first flight, had entered the bathroom. Read more…
