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After Big Foot returned to the Guppy’s ight deck, First Of cer Steve says, “No cord showing here!”
I also wore my large work boots and apparently a toe brake was depressed during one of my touch-and-goes, thereby causing a multi-cord thin spot on the right main tire that even Rogaine could not hide. So, instead of a glorious return to the air reciting sweet-nothings to the Duke, I found myself grum- bling expletives about tread wear and a hurried checklist. Two weeks later, B-737 first officer Steve Price helped to ensure that Big Foot’s return to the Big Show was enjoyable and uneventful with no cross-feed issues or balding tires; only sweet landings for hundreds of passengers and sweet-nothings for the Guppy.
Solo: The Loneliest Number
From Latin solus “alone.” When the pilot is the sole occupant of the aircraft.
After a stable approach, landing an airplane is all about where we perceive the ground to be while in the flare. In the Duke it’s about four or five feet, and in the 737 it’s a little over twice that distance. If we can remember the picture from the last time we flew, then one landing should do it. But landings number two and three are always better than the first, so maybe there’s something to that three-landings-to-get-current thing after all.
Like sharing a great meal after hours of painstaking prepa- ration, landing is unquestionably one of the most rewarding parts of flying, especially when shared with passengers – unless we pork it. And a porked landing is the reason we should fly with an instructor or solo if we’re rusty or non-cur- rent. “One” may be the loneliest number (Three Dog Night, 1968), but being the sole occupant of the aircraft allows us to practice those landings in solitude. And since we don’t want our passengers to experience th•at first potentially embarrassing, burned-the-turkey dinner landing or hear us mumbling exple- tives, it’s good that we fly alone. And then, rather than exple- tives about the wind, weather, runway and messed-up check- lists, they can witness a great landing and hear us whisper sweet-nothings to the airplne. T&T
Kevin Dingman has been flying for more than 40 years. He’s an ATP typed in the B737 and DC9 with 23,000 hours in his logbook. A retired Air Force major, he flew the F-16 and later performed as an USAF Civil Air Patrol Liaison Officer. He flies volunteer missions for the Christian organization Wings of Mercy, is employed by a major airline, and owns and operates a Beechcraft Duke. Contact Kevin at dinger10d@ gmail.com.
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