{"id":17832,"date":"2022-03-18T10:26:23","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T14:26:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/?p=17832"},"modified":"2024-08-27T16:57:58","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T20:57:58","slug":"the-flight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/2022\/the-flight\/","title":{"rendered":"THE FLIGHT"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\n THE FLIGHT\n <\/h1>\n \n \n <\/header>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n<\/section>\n\n

THE FLIGHT<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure that\u2019s a good idea, Deb.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we flew high above the Adirondack Mountains, my co-pilot was insisting that we look for a landing airfield below. We were suddenly flying into an unpredicted ugly rain. It was getting a little bumpy in our small Cessna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, I don\u2019t like this at all, so I think that would be best\u201d, came her reply, as though she were the pilot-in-charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Flying toward one of the world\u2019s busiest airspaces\u2013New York City\u2013 was apparently freaking her out. That and the rain, that noisily pelted us. Small aircraft do not come equipped with windshield wipers for a reason. But the atmosphere inside was becoming as disturbing as outside on this late September afternoon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Until now, we had had a beautiful flight from Ottawa. This was my \u2018long cross\u2013country\u2019 flight as a qualification for my Commercial Pilot\u2019s Licence. So I was a relative novice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018No, Deb, I believe we should stay the course to Teterboro Airport as planned. In five minutes the New York tower is going to pick us up on radar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I could sense her agitation mounting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These were busy skies and about to get more crowded, and she obviously wasn\u2019t up to it. I knew the important thing was not to get upset by her behaviour\u2013that Job One was to keep my head and land this thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, after a little self-talk, I convinced myself to ignore her mood, focus and tell myself..\u2026.\u201cYou can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a few seconds, I made the call to the Teterboro Air Traffic Control:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCessna 172, Canadian; Whiskey Tango Foxtrot calling Teterboro. Over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYes, come in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, what\u2019s your destination; can I help you, over?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou sure can, thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After setting the appropriate radar dials, it was a supremely happy moment to hear,
\n\u201cOK, I got you! \u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One thing I had learned is that Air Traffic Controllers are smart, sensitive, helpful and want only one thing\u2013to keep you from flying into other aircraft. This lovely southern-accented woman was no different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other thing I understood is that there is no place for \u2018ego\u2019 to get in the way of your safety, as I announced to her,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m a reasonably new pilot flying from Ottawa, Canada. We didn\u2019t expect this rapidly deteriorating weather. And, I\u2019ve never flown into New York.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her answer was clear and caring, \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Whiskey, Tango Foxtrot, you will be fine; y\u2019all carry on this course. Over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I was then guided on a more easterly course to divert to New Republic airfield. And yes, she assured me that this weather was worse than predicted. I wasn\u2019t alone in miscalculating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

New Republic Airport has a series of runways, like spokes on a wheel. My so-called co-pilot still maintained her silence and it was obvious there would be no help, no extra eyes. In fact, there was no help as I overflew the runway and needed to go around again, not an unusual occurrence at an unfamiliar, crowded airfield.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDamn, I missed that\u201d, I said, irritated at myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI saw it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She had simply refused to tell me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And finally came the call,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhiskey Tango Foxtrot\u2013you are clear to land; have a good evening.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

552 words<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tuesday, March 15, 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE FLIGHT \u201cI\u2019m not sure that\u2019s a good idea, Deb.\u201d As we flew high above the Adirondack Mountains, my co-pilot was insisting that we look for a landing airfield below. We were suddenly flying into an unpredicted ugly rain. It was getting a little bumpy in our small Cessna. \u201cYes, I don\u2019t like this at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-memoir"],"acf":{"cu_post_thumbnail":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17832"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17839,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17832\/revisions\/17839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carleton.ca\/lifelong\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}