Mimi, a couple of posts ago you made this interesting statement: "My DH does that all the time..hence he does not drive..thinks he can but is happy to let me do it. Make sure he does not drive now. I told my DH that " you do all the driving and my freeway skills are getting puny..I think you need to let me do some of it more often" (this was a fiblet..my driving was fine) so he was all for it and now just hops into the passenger side and says, "wheels up pilot". I'd like to know more about it. I've read about "wheels up" landings (disastrous), but not in this context. Is this what a pilot says to his Co-pilot shortly after take-off? The reason I ask is it would make a wonderful title for a book, but I'd like to know more about it before I think of using it. Thanks.
mary75m - not mimi i am sure she will check in here on this its surely a very good title for a book! my DH was a pilot as am i ..he had many different planes over his 40yrs of flying. he logged more hrs than an overseas commericial pilot. he also said on occasion the 'wheels up.' comment if i had the controls as a joke. now of course this all depends on if you have a plane with retractable gear! haha.. i flewa little 150 cessna fixed gear alot and no wheels came up but it didnt keep me from always looking just to be sure.. :) my DH made a couple of belly landings..aka no wheels down. i watched him do one as i was ther to pick him up. landing on the runway at a small airport thankgoodness not alot of traffic. sparks a-flying and it came to rest and he jumped out. tower guys were going bananas. i always wondered 'later' if AD symptoms were to blame...
Divvi, Thanks for your encouragement! I've started the first chapter, not sure if I have the right "voice" yet. I usually have to rewrite the first chapter about 9 times to get it right. There's so much you've got to get in: the age and gender of the protagonist, at least a hint of the conflict, plus grab the potential reader's interest. It's the first time in 3 1/2 years that I've felt the energy and have the time to do it. All thanks to the new care facility and it's caring staff. DH is pleased that I'm back writing. It's interesting, which makes me think that he knows I've had to step in to take care of him and let the writing go. There was still a flash of anger when I moved him from one care facility to another; he still thinks he should be at home, and I should be taking care of him. But even with paid aides at home, he wanted me be the one who took care of him. Anyway, he continues to thrive there, and his wounds have healed up.
DIVVI! FLYING???? AND a writer.....all these smart, motivated and talented women here. I feel like a brown mule in a line of thoroubreds......*sigh* Maybe I should write a book. They always tell you, write or paint about something you know and understand. GOOD LUCK!! (I'D buy a copy of your book!!)
First , if you use" Wheels UP, Pilot" for a title, credit for the title please :) I am an ameture photographer and all my work is copyrighted...
Now as to my expression...my DH logged over 5000 accident free missions in his military flying career, two tours of which were in Viet Nam ( there he flew 407 fixed wing combat missions and for those not in the know, that is a lot of missions for a fixed winger. A helo driver who takes troops in and extracts makes many many more sorties). DH flew props and jets. His favorite prop was the AD Skyraider which carried it's own wt in ordanance and was the only AC to be able to do that. But in Viet Nam it was too slow to get pull out after dropping it's load...so he transitioned into the A4Skyhawk, nicknamed the Scooter by Navy pilots, DH was a Marine. By the way, those were attack aircraft not fighters. He was also a designated Nuclear Weapons Delivery Officer. He was an instructor and an aircraft accident investigator during his career.
Not all a/c have wheels that retract but the ones he flew did. In formation flying, when the section or division has made the rendez vous, the lead pilot (Dash1) will give the visual motion ( a cranking motion) to Dash 2 to get the wheels up! And they do it at the same time. Precision flying.( A section take off is with 2 ac and a division take off is 4 and a division take off is extremely dangerous.
So often he will use aviation terms with things and for him Wheels UP would mean lets get going..or he might also say " Pull Chalks" which would mean the same thing. The crews on the ground remove the chalks that are used when the AC is parked so as to keep it from moving..You may see the crews pull this long blocks from behind the wheels..those are chalks.
Now if someone ever says to you...I'd like you to go down that "road" and bring back some flight line... they are asking you to go down the runway but you can't get flight line..that is where the planes are parked..on the flight line...also another good one used on boot Lts would be for someone to task him to get a bucket of Prop Wash.. or they might talk about a special "plane" called a Gu11 ( a gull) or a B1Rd( a bird) : )...they have all sorts of methods of induction for the new boot Lt.
Oh and one little funny I just thought of... DH is of Mexican ancestry.. He was Squadron CO and they were on deployment to MCAS YUMA, AZ. On the way back to MCAS El Toro where the squadron was stationed, he had trouble getting his gear up. As a result, he flew, quite by accident, into Mexican airspace..a no no..could have set off an international incident..but didn't. However, it did not escape the notice of one of the other pilots. At the end of the month, they held Kangaroo Courts...and when someone flubbed, there was court. But to bring the case to "court" ( at the O'Club) one had to make the charge in the form of a poem..The one to bring the charges against DH started with " As the moth is drawn to the flame......! and it cost him 50 bucks.
Thanks, Divvi and Mimi, for all the fascinating background info. and details. Mimi, do you want the title acknowledgement to read Mimi or whisky mike or your full name? I'll send you my email address, and you can answer me there if you'd like.
Okay, I'll include your maiden name. It's a good Irish one and should be flaunted. I like the picture of you going to the hospital on your visits; it warms my (Irish) heart.
Mary, today I took communion to a man in ICU and nearly fell on the floor he looks so much like my dad did right down to expressions and gestures. And yes he is of Irish decent. When I told him he smiled and was happy he made my day.I told him my dad is in heaven now and he said he hopes he will be good enough to get in too. I told him of course he will get in the pearly gates...he is Irish!