A Flight to Cherish

I went on a short official trip to Portland last week - flew in our corporate jet. The added perks were - no security checks (which really are a pain in the 'wherever-u-want', esp if u are brown skinned), munchies, foodies, wine, beer, etc but the most interesting part of the journey was that I got to spend close to two hours in the cockpit. The pilots were more than willing to chat with me and explained the gadgets and the autopilot mechanism and demonstrated how they balance the yoke, throttle & pedals all at the same time (I dont think they come across such keen audience like me very often). At one time, they tilted the plane to a cool 45 degrees while I stood there wedged between the seats. I felt like a kid watching in awe the magician's tricks. U may find this silly. In this age of internet, all I need to do is search on google and I will find more information than the pilots could ever give me but seeing it all in real was totally different. If it werent for my project mates I would have happily yelled 'Eureka Eureka!'. It was an amazing experience, more so bcoz I know that that was the closest I would ever come to see what makes a machine fly. The pilots were really nice and allowed me to stand even as we began our descent (thats when we are required to buckle our seat belts) & finally, when we were a minute and a half away from the runway, they asked me to buckle up. And as I returned to my seat, all my co-passengers thanked the Almighty aloud, relieved to know that I wasn't landing the plane.

Anywayz, it was nice to know that the kid in me is still alive and this will definitely remain a cherished trip for me forever.