Today, Ryan, a friend of ours from church, invited us to ride along as he flew to Pohaeng, ROK. It was the perfect activity after watching perfection elude the Patriots hands, but I digress.
Well, we got the plane ready to go, did all the checklists etc, and I sat there watching everything he was doing and knowing that I could do it. (which is another story--Those who have ADHD and are treating it by taking medication are ineligible for medical clearance to fly. If you were diagnosed with ADHD and no longer take medication, you have to run through hoops to get clearance). But, that wasn't going to stop me from having a good time. The last time I was able to fly with a friend who had a Pilot's License was back in 2000 when I was at the USAF Academy Prep School. So as we're getting to altitude we're notified of traffic in our area. As we're looking around, who spots it? That's right Cara! As we keep flying, we're getting close to restricted airspace. And so, we have to divert our course. I ask Ryan if ATC (Air Traffic Control) is going to tell us when we can return to course. He shrugs and asks ATC if he can turn back. They give him permission and he's like: "They probably weren't going to tell me when to turn back!" A little later, Cara asks if we can turn the heat up in the cabin. We pull out the cabin heat knob, and while this is happening, Incheon Approach (they control the largest amount of the the commercial aircraft flying through Korea) contacts Ryan about something. He answers their question. He then key
s the mike again, and asks: "Are your feet still cold?" I kinda paused when I heard that, and looked at his fingers on the transmit button. He suddenly looks at me, and we both kinda stare for a second, and then bust up laughing. He just asked the whole Incheon approach frequency if their feet were still cold. Awesome! I still have a smile thinking about it. Ryan also mentioned that flying cross-country flights prove challenging, not because of the skill required (Skill? What skill?), but because of the difficulty understanding the air traffic controllers when they speak English with a THICK Korean accent. Sometimes Cara and I'd have no clue what the controller said, but Ryan would figure it out, and answer back. One time though, the controller asked something, and then Ryan asked us: "Did you guys understand a single word that was just said?!" There were times when he'd ask two or three times for the controller to repeat part of the question. Sometimes I don't think he ever figured out what they said, but just gave the information that they would probably want at that point. We landed in Pohang, and got to park in front of some Korean Air colored Helo, an
d a Korean Air Force AC-130 looking plane. We took off from Pohang and ATC notified us of traffic at our 1200 @ 9500'. So we're looking around and... ooooooo, ROKAF F-4s are flying by us. I haven't seen or remember seeing an F-4 airborne...ever. (but there were probably some while I was at the Academy). We then proceded to fly into a sizable head wind. Oh, how we enjoyed that wind so much more on our way to Pohang. We get back to Osan and land without a hitch. Its a great reason for me to see that I do have this desire to fly, and its not going away. But why? I do not know... but I know who does. :-)
Well, we got the plane ready to go, did all the checklists etc, and I sat there watching everything he was doing and knowing that I could do it. (which is another story--Those who have ADHD and are treating it by taking medication are ineligible for medical clearance to fly. If you were diagnosed with ADHD and no longer take medication, you have to run through hoops to get clearance). But, that wasn't going to stop me from having a good time. The last time I was able to fly with a friend who had a Pilot's License was back in 2000 when I was at the USAF Academy Prep School. So as we're getting to altitude we're notified of traffic in our area. As we're looking around, who spots it? That's right Cara! As we keep flying, we're getting close to restricted airspace. And so, we have to divert our course. I ask Ryan if ATC (Air Traffic Control) is going to tell us when we can return to course. He shrugs and asks ATC if he can turn back. They give him permission and he's like: "They probably weren't going to tell me when to turn back!" A little later, Cara asks if we can turn the heat up in the cabin. We pull out the cabin heat knob, and while this is happening, Incheon Approach (they control the largest amount of the the commercial aircraft flying through Korea) contacts Ryan about something. He answers their question. He then key
s the mike again, and asks: "Are your feet still cold?" I kinda paused when I heard that, and looked at his fingers on the transmit button. He suddenly looks at me, and we both kinda stare for a second, and then bust up laughing. He just asked the whole Incheon approach frequency if their feet were still cold. Awesome! I still have a smile thinking about it. Ryan also mentioned that flying cross-country flights prove challenging, not because of the skill required (Skill? What skill?), but because of the difficulty understanding the air traffic controllers when they speak English with a THICK Korean accent. Sometimes Cara and I'd have no clue what the controller said, but Ryan would figure it out, and answer back. One time though, the controller asked something, and then Ryan asked us: "Did you guys understand a single word that was just said?!" There were times when he'd ask two or three times for the controller to repeat part of the question. Sometimes I don't think he ever figured out what they said, but just gave the information that they would probably want at that point. We landed in Pohang, and got to park in front of some Korean Air colored Helo, an
d a Korean Air Force AC-130 looking plane. We took off from Pohang and ATC notified us of traffic at our 1200 @ 9500'. So we're looking around and... ooooooo, ROKAF F-4s are flying by us. I haven't seen or remember seeing an F-4 airborne...ever. (but there were probably some while I was at the Academy). We then proceded to fly into a sizable head wind. Oh, how we enjoyed that wind so much more on our way to Pohang. We get back to Osan and land without a hitch. Its a great reason for me to see that I do have this desire to fly, and its not going away. But why? I do not know... but I know who does. :-)
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