SBD-2U3
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 30, 2004
- Posts
- 100
Fred Wants To See More
Fred didn't seem too impressed with my key collection so I brought out the big gun -- an FOPM (flight operations procedures manual) that I had kept without making any updates from the day I got it in 1978.
"How in the world did you keep this so long without making any of the revisions?" Fred asked. "Didn't you get in trouble for not keeping it up?"
Naw ... I figured out the whole thing when they issued the book to me on my second day with the airline. The book was only required to be in the flight bag of the captain. Lowly engineers like me weren't supposed to carry it. I calculated that it would take 20 years to make captain and who wants to do 20 years of revisions on a book? I never did a revision on this book and, when I made captain, I paid the 20 bucks to buy a new, current one.
The book I handed to Fred described exactly how the flight operations department of the airline ran itself in 1978. It talked about our three-day-a-week London flight. It discussed how to do weight and balance using a pencil and a piece of paper. It summed up how to fill out something called a "Pay Sheet" and another thing called a "Flight Attendant Time Tab." It is priceless information from a time when the company owned exactly one computer that took up the bigger part of a big room. The only flaw in the book was a crayoned rendition of He-Man that my three year old son drew in 1985.
I could see that Fred was getting a little excited so I brought out a few more artifacts.
My toolkit was my next contribution to the ages. Pilots used to carry small toolkits in their flight bags so they could tighten the odd screw or fix something in the galley for the girls. We can't anymore because the TSA boys think we might hijack ourselves with our adjustable wrenches.
My bourbon flask was next to go into the mists of airline lore. Almost every pilot carried some sort of alcohol in the suitcases for those late arrival layovers. Mixers were no problem -- we took sodas and snacks off of the airplanes -- but if you wanted Jim Beam or Jack Daniels to accompany you to your room, you often had to pack him yourself.
My final donation before I rejoined the modern airline flying world and drove my 757 to LAS was a Zippo lighter and a pack of smokes. We pilots didn't carry butane lighters when we flew. They leaked and could start a fire. Your smokers -- and in the late 1970s almost all of us smoked in the cockpit -- carried Zippos just like the scratched one I gave to the museum.
Fred Sums It Up
"I can use most of this stuff and I thank you for it," he said. "I don't think I can use your wad of metal motel-room keys. I have a feeling that absolutely nobody will understand what they are and what they mean to you."
I had to admit that Fred had a good point. Still, I didn't want to carry five pounds of metal keys around on my upcoming trip. Just getting those suckers through security would be a hassle. It was Fred who solved my problem with a crystal-clear logic that I remembered he had when I flew with him.
"Hey, just drop them all in the mail. The keys all say the post office will return them for free."
Great idea! I can imagine the excitement at 97 different motels when they get their room keys back 20 years or more after they left. It'll bring airline history alive.
Fred didn't seem too impressed with my key collection so I brought out the big gun -- an FOPM (flight operations procedures manual) that I had kept without making any updates from the day I got it in 1978.
"How in the world did you keep this so long without making any of the revisions?" Fred asked. "Didn't you get in trouble for not keeping it up?"
Naw ... I figured out the whole thing when they issued the book to me on my second day with the airline. The book was only required to be in the flight bag of the captain. Lowly engineers like me weren't supposed to carry it. I calculated that it would take 20 years to make captain and who wants to do 20 years of revisions on a book? I never did a revision on this book and, when I made captain, I paid the 20 bucks to buy a new, current one.
The book I handed to Fred described exactly how the flight operations department of the airline ran itself in 1978. It talked about our three-day-a-week London flight. It discussed how to do weight and balance using a pencil and a piece of paper. It summed up how to fill out something called a "Pay Sheet" and another thing called a "Flight Attendant Time Tab." It is priceless information from a time when the company owned exactly one computer that took up the bigger part of a big room. The only flaw in the book was a crayoned rendition of He-Man that my three year old son drew in 1985.
I could see that Fred was getting a little excited so I brought out a few more artifacts.
My toolkit was my next contribution to the ages. Pilots used to carry small toolkits in their flight bags so they could tighten the odd screw or fix something in the galley for the girls. We can't anymore because the TSA boys think we might hijack ourselves with our adjustable wrenches.
My bourbon flask was next to go into the mists of airline lore. Almost every pilot carried some sort of alcohol in the suitcases for those late arrival layovers. Mixers were no problem -- we took sodas and snacks off of the airplanes -- but if you wanted Jim Beam or Jack Daniels to accompany you to your room, you often had to pack him yourself.
My final donation before I rejoined the modern airline flying world and drove my 757 to LAS was a Zippo lighter and a pack of smokes. We pilots didn't carry butane lighters when we flew. They leaked and could start a fire. Your smokers -- and in the late 1970s almost all of us smoked in the cockpit -- carried Zippos just like the scratched one I gave to the museum.
Fred Sums It Up
"I can use most of this stuff and I thank you for it," he said. "I don't think I can use your wad of metal motel-room keys. I have a feeling that absolutely nobody will understand what they are and what they mean to you."
I had to admit that Fred had a good point. Still, I didn't want to carry five pounds of metal keys around on my upcoming trip. Just getting those suckers through security would be a hassle. It was Fred who solved my problem with a crystal-clear logic that I remembered he had when I flew with him.
"Hey, just drop them all in the mail. The keys all say the post office will return them for free."
Great idea! I can imagine the excitement at 97 different motels when they get their room keys back 20 years or more after they left. It'll bring airline history alive.
