Now that was pretty cool!

[Ticker]

Man!!! They keep getting better!

 

[NuGuy]

Sitting in my MSP one day, as I watched the the airport cops come and arrest a obnoxious dude, hog tie him, and drag him down the jetway steps, where they tossed him into the back of the waiting squad car.

I was like "damn, that looked REAL uncomfortable".

Nu

 

[Long Time Gone]

Being on the ground in Aberdeen, Scotland on Summer Solstice and walking out of a pub at about 230am with it still dusk out, then waking up at 400am to expel said pub issues and having the same amount of light as if it were still 230am. Too bad I didn't stay up all night. I could've seen if it ever got dark.

 

[JustaNumber]

Circling the Statue of Liberty at 500', then flying up the Hudson and being buffeted by wake turbulence from the twin towers.

Seeing a meteor that looked like a HUGE flaming ball of fire.

Being above a white stratus undercast at sunrise; clear dark blue above, flaming red from below peeking through holes in the layer--it looked like we were flying over a lava field. I took some awesome photos, but even they didn't do the scene justice. I'll never forget it.

Kicking the autopilot off and handflying "turns around a cumulonimbus" to keep VMC. Still love that.

Listening to the car radio one day for only a couple of minutes; the talkshow host gave a brief description of a comet that should have been visible that night, but unfortunately for us it probably wouldn't be visible in ATL due to our southern latitude and rain that day. Later that day I was drafted for a trip to Canada. On the way back at sunset, I was confused by what looked like a large aircraft's contrail, but it hadn't moved in it's relative position for hundreds of miles. Finally my small brain put two and two together, and we both enjoyed the view of the comet for a couple of hours.

I could go on and on... best damn job in the world!

 

[~~~^~~~]

• First leg of the day at dawn.
• Parallel visual approach with Air Force One.
• Watching the Concorde depart Kennedy.
• First leg on any new aircraft type, particularly the 757 and 767 with the Pratt 4060's.
• Getting served breakfast while you watch the sun come up.
• That "paint it on landing" that only seems to happen about once every other month.
• Being the Captain.
• First visit to Oshkosh during EAA's annual show.
• When your #1 airline choice hands you a letter that begins, "Congratulations, welcome aboard..."

 

[Turtlesfly]

(don't ask how I got this opportunity)

Flying on a 777 delivery flight from the Boeing factory to Texas with only 5 souls on board. Flight was fully catered for a small army - spent the whole time taking pictures of us hand-flying in cruise and then going back in the first class galley and cooking yourself dinner and then picking your first class seat to eat. The new-777-aircraft smell was better than the smell of the dinner.

 

[Charlie Brown]

I saw the best hoots once when I got flashed in the cockpit...truly amazing!

 

[Colonel Savage]

Not visually related but something I heard on the radio...

I was returning to EWR from YYT a few years back. We were in the flow of aircraft returning to the States from Europe. There was a "Reach" Air Force transport on frequency with us all morning. When Moncton handed us off to Boston Center, the Reach pilot asked the controller if his name was "Steve" (or something similar). He replied yes and the pilots asked him to standby. The next voice on the radio was a young female who replied, "Hi Dad!" They talked for a few minutes and apparently she was returning home from a tour in Iraq. Before he was relieved (he was obviously pretty choked up), everyone on frequency thanked that girl and her family for their sacrifice.

Thinking about that story still gives me goose bumps...did I mention it was Christmas?

That's really cool. Made his year, I'll bet.

 

[Colonel Savage]

Being on the ground in Aberdeen, Scotland on Summer Solstice and walking out of a pub at about 230am with it still dusk out, then waking up at 400am to expel said pub issues and having the same amount of light as if it were still 230am. Too bad I didn't stay up all night. I could've seen if it ever got dark.

Take my word for it, it didn't!

 

[chuckthepilot]

I used to fly jumpers and worked with some really great people. The last load of the day would put me over 1000 flight hours, so the boss grabbed another pilot and off we went. I got to fly up, turn the plane over, then tandem out. All set to a beautiful San Diego sunset.