AN ANNIVERSARY
FROM CAP’N MERYL
Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:
Usa Today Column
It’s hard for me to believe, but I just
celebrated my one-year anniversary as a columnist
for www.usatoday.com/travel. I remember when I
started how worried I was that nobody would ask
anything and they would cancel the column, or
maybe my answers wouldn’t be well-received. None
of that has happened and in fact I’m happy to
report that my column remains extremely popular
with the public and my editors quite pleased with
the widespread and loyal readership. My thanks to
all of you who have contributed to the success of
“Ask the Captain.” There is no shortage of
questions, that’s for sure. My only shortage is
of time in which to answer them.
Over the weekend I was the guest speaker at a 99’s
(a women pilot’s organization) convention held in
Colorado Springs. A few of my readers were
present and I’d like to thank you very much for
attending.
This wasn’t my best performance for a number of
reasons, all of them my own fault. Instead of a
lapel mike, I got stuck behind a podium that was
almost taller than I am (I’m 5’ 4 ½”). I wanted
to move the mike but had a videographer there
who needed me to stay pretty much in one place.
For a more major production there would have been
a second cameraman but I didn’t have one this
time. My mistake was not taking the mike and just
holding it, but I use both hands quite a bit when
I speak and that would have messed me up too, so I
just put up with the podium. I had no idea how
much I was hidden from the audience until I saw a
picture.
Also, last time I knew anything at all about the
99’s it consisted of very young women. My talk
was aimed primarily at college-age listeners and I
wasn’t prepared at for this mostly older age
group. Many
of them asked why I wasn’t a member, but the 99’s
weren’t in evidence when I learned to fly, mostly
because I didn’t know a single other female pilot.
Communications just aren’t what they are today and
later, when I went into the Army, I still didn’t
know any other female pilots. The sad truth is I
didn’t even know about the 99’s until well into my
flying career and by then I was just too busy.
Amelia Earhart was the first president of this
group which dates back to 1929 when 99 of the 117
licensed women in the United States responded.
You’ll find more information about the 99’s here:
http://www.ninety-nines.org.
One of the perks of being a guest speaker is that
I sometimes get invited to other functions or
events. In this case, the 99’s organized a tour
of the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center,
located
inside Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs.
Have a look at the huge blast door at the
following link.
https://www.cheyennemountain.af.mil.
We entered the mountain on a bus and then walked
through this huge door into the facility. None of
us even noticed this WAS a door. It’s so big as
you walk by it, it just looks like a wall. Our
guide pointed it out to us as we stopped at the
open second blast door. In the event of a nuclear
attack, this facility can be sealed up and the
personnel inside protected.
CMOC (Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center) was the
original NORAD (North American Air Defense
Command) COC (Command Operations Center).
We got a briefing first, then the tour. It was
explained to us that prior to 2001, NORAD focused
on targets outside North America which were
detected approaching our country. However, since
9/11 they now cover the interior of North America
as well,
monitoring for threats from both outside and
inside. This is a joint U.S.-Canadian
organization. Tours are much more restrictive
than prior to 9/11, but the 99’s apparently have
some good connections.
One of my readers let me know about a site which
I’m sure will be of interest to many of my
readers. I don’t dare put his link in my column
at usatoday.com because of the immense traffic (we
have our own servers now at both
www.fromthecockpit.com and www.flyingfearless.com)
which might crash his site. However, I can give
it to you here and you’ll also find it if you
click on “Recommended Sites” in the left-hand
column at fromthecockpit.com. Here is the direct
link: www.liveatc.net. We’re also putting it
right
on our Home Page as we expect this will be a very
popular link for visitors to fromthecockpit.com.
One more item worthy of note and that is I
introduced some new products at the 99’s
convention. I’ll mention one of them here, and
that is a little booklet I put together for groups
so after I speak they can take home a little
souvenir of sorts. It’s an illustrated booklet
called, “Flights of Whimsy -- Cap’ Meryl’s
Aviation Quips N’ Quotes.” Some of the contents
have been sent (multiple times, in many cases) by
my readers, and some are things either I or Cap’n
Al have overheard, like this:
A controller issued these landing instructions to
a pilot, "Cleared to land, runway one zero."
"But the wind at the dump is blowing the opposite
direction," protested the pilot.
"Roger that," responded the controller cheerfully.
"You're cleared to land at the dump!"
Just cute stuff. I’m offering a discount to my
readers until Christmas (great gift idea!) in the
form of free shipping. Keep in mind to allow some
extra time (4-5 weeks) as the book is in its final
production stages right now. Total price is
$9.95.
Click Here To Order
I’m also putting autographed copies of my book
“The World At My Feet” on sale until Christmas,
also in the form of free shipping. Total price is
$17.95.
Click Here To Order
And with that…
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm
(keynote speaker information)
Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:
Usa Today Column
It’s hard for me to believe, but I just
celebrated my one-year anniversary as a columnist
for www.usatoday.com/travel. I remember when I
started how worried I was that nobody would ask
anything and they would cancel the column, or
maybe my answers wouldn’t be well-received. None
of that has happened and in fact I’m happy to
report that my column remains extremely popular
with the public and my editors quite pleased with
the widespread and loyal readership. My thanks to
all of you who have contributed to the success of
“Ask the Captain.” There is no shortage of
questions, that’s for sure. My only shortage is
of time in which to answer them.
Over the weekend I was the guest speaker at a 99’s
(a women pilot’s organization) convention held in
Colorado Springs. A few of my readers were
present and I’d like to thank you very much for
attending.
This wasn’t my best performance for a number of
reasons, all of them my own fault. Instead of a
lapel mike, I got stuck behind a podium that was
almost taller than I am (I’m 5’ 4 ½”). I wanted
to move the mike but had a videographer there
who needed me to stay pretty much in one place.
For a more major production there would have been
a second cameraman but I didn’t have one this
time. My mistake was not taking the mike and just
holding it, but I use both hands quite a bit when
I speak and that would have messed me up too, so I
just put up with the podium. I had no idea how
much I was hidden from the audience until I saw a
picture.
Also, last time I knew anything at all about the
99’s it consisted of very young women. My talk
was aimed primarily at college-age listeners and I
wasn’t prepared at for this mostly older age
group. Many
of them asked why I wasn’t a member, but the 99’s
weren’t in evidence when I learned to fly, mostly
because I didn’t know a single other female pilot.
Communications just aren’t what they are today and
later, when I went into the Army, I still didn’t
know any other female pilots. The sad truth is I
didn’t even know about the 99’s until well into my
flying career and by then I was just too busy.
Amelia Earhart was the first president of this
group which dates back to 1929 when 99 of the 117
licensed women in the United States responded.
You’ll find more information about the 99’s here:
http://www.ninety-nines.org.
One of the perks of being a guest speaker is that
I sometimes get invited to other functions or
events. In this case, the 99’s organized a tour
of the Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center,
located
inside Cheyenne Mountain near Colorado Springs.
Have a look at the huge blast door at the
following link.
https://www.cheyennemountain.af.mil.
We entered the mountain on a bus and then walked
through this huge door into the facility. None of
us even noticed this WAS a door. It’s so big as
you walk by it, it just looks like a wall. Our
guide pointed it out to us as we stopped at the
open second blast door. In the event of a nuclear
attack, this facility can be sealed up and the
personnel inside protected.
CMOC (Cheyenne Mountain Operations Center) was the
original NORAD (North American Air Defense
Command) COC (Command Operations Center).
We got a briefing first, then the tour. It was
explained to us that prior to 2001, NORAD focused
on targets outside North America which were
detected approaching our country. However, since
9/11 they now cover the interior of North America
as well,
monitoring for threats from both outside and
inside. This is a joint U.S.-Canadian
organization. Tours are much more restrictive
than prior to 9/11, but the 99’s apparently have
some good connections.
One of my readers let me know about a site which
I’m sure will be of interest to many of my
readers. I don’t dare put his link in my column
at usatoday.com because of the immense traffic (we
have our own servers now at both
www.fromthecockpit.com and www.flyingfearless.com)
which might crash his site. However, I can give
it to you here and you’ll also find it if you
click on “Recommended Sites” in the left-hand
column at fromthecockpit.com. Here is the direct
link: www.liveatc.net. We’re also putting it
right
on our Home Page as we expect this will be a very
popular link for visitors to fromthecockpit.com.
One more item worthy of note and that is I
introduced some new products at the 99’s
convention. I’ll mention one of them here, and
that is a little booklet I put together for groups
so after I speak they can take home a little
souvenir of sorts. It’s an illustrated booklet
called, “Flights of Whimsy -- Cap’ Meryl’s
Aviation Quips N’ Quotes.” Some of the contents
have been sent (multiple times, in many cases) by
my readers, and some are things either I or Cap’n
Al have overheard, like this:
A controller issued these landing instructions to
a pilot, "Cleared to land, runway one zero."
"But the wind at the dump is blowing the opposite
direction," protested the pilot.
"Roger that," responded the controller cheerfully.
"You're cleared to land at the dump!"
Just cute stuff. I’m offering a discount to my
readers until Christmas (great gift idea!) in the
form of free shipping. Keep in mind to allow some
extra time (4-5 weeks) as the book is in its final
production stages right now. Total price is
$9.95.
Click Here To Order
I’m also putting autographed copies of my book
“The World At My Feet” on sale until Christmas,
also in the form of free shipping. Total price is
$17.95.
Click Here To Order
And with that…
Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm
(keynote speaker information)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home