Hey, do you know the ultimate flying experience?
I got an idea when I was young that I should become a commercial pilot, so for two years I was doing studying and flying. I was a good pilot but I was taking to much risk. The first year in the air I went up in stronger winds than the plane was built for, people at the aeroclub looked at me as if I was crazy! But I enjoyed seeing the faces of the guys flying for 30 years when they didn’t dare go up and I did. I also did things when flying with my then girlfriend that’s hardly even proper to do in the bedroom. But not only was I taking too much calculated risk, there was also uncalculated risk. I remember one day I was taking my 3 friends up for a tour to see their house, on the way back I realize I was extremely low on gas. I started to sweat. It’s a late summer evening, perfect weather and my friends are having a good time, but I get all sweaty. I figure, well if we are all gonna die, at least they should experience some good last moments, so I say nothing.
Brume brume brume poff!
3 miles left to the field, I see the sailplanes from the distance, good tarmac today since the sun has heated the ground all day. The left wing is almost zero. I switch to feed from the right, it’s not very accurate. Seconds feels like hours and I prepare for landing.
I have the wind from the north so I plan on landing on the westerly strip 270 degree angle.
I come closer, and the strip ends in the ocean, but when I come down I realize it’s not only the strip that ends in west, so does the sun. The lower I go the harder it gets for me to see any of this very short landing strip, the plane is descending, but when I’m at 30 feet. I go AOCU AOCUH AOUCH! I see there’s a sailplane just landing in the middle of the field. I didn’t see it earlier because of the position of the sun.
Seconds from crashing into it I pull the throttle full forward.
Plane is gaining speed and I manage to buy 10 feet and fly over them…
There is no landing strip left in front of me so I have to go up again and do a circulation. In front of me is now just the ocean and the sun.
Brume brume poff poff pofff, I freeze for a second. The right wing is out of fuel! The engine starts coughing. In a millisecond before the engine dies I switch over to the left tank. If I believed in a god this would be the time to pray to him to make sure there’s enough fuel in this tank.
Eeeeeeeeeerun, the sound of the engine getting fuel. I know I have to take the plane back up to 800 feet and do a two minute circulation. But I know the plane, there’s no fuel, its gonna die anytime again. But just like the blonde haired German terrorist in Die Hard who gets up shooting at the end of the movie, so does the plane. It has a final pulse of life.
I didn’t follow the rulebook. I did a steep turn, almost like a red bull airshow pilot goes into the cones, I force the plane in a steep angle down to the parallel strip. No sun, no airplane, I set the plane. With a slightly shocked feeling, I act in front of my friends as if that was normal procedures…they buy it.
Anyhow, I thought I was bad-ass, but compared to these guys, well check it out yourself.
Taking some risks, especially calculated risks, can really get you somewhere and you probably going to have an awesome story to go with it. So, just so you know, I am planning a big teaching special on generation for real estate leads. Stay tuned for more information on this!