Flying Through Midnight

Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:


Column USA Today

Thanks to those of you who responded to the call
last week to test out a new flight tracking system
for my friend, Karen Wira. Apparently she got
just the right number of volunteers. I’ve never
yet made a request of my readers which hasn’t
yielded a great response, so thanks again really
to all of you who read my Update week in and week
out.

I expect many of you will remember when I first
introduced you to my good friend John Halliday.
When I first met John he had just finished writing
his book “Flying Through Midnight” and was about
to retire as a B-767 captain for American
Airlines.

Since then, he has indeed retired and his book is
out to a veritable chorus of spectacular reviews.
Although the formal release date for John’s book
isn’t until Veteran’s Day (November 11th), his
book is available now in bookstores and online at
sites like Amazon.com. When I read his book I was
stunned. It’s probably the most exciting flying
sequence ever published. John’s literary agent is
also my own, and she sent me this review from
“Publisher’s Weekly.”

"When now-retired Lieutenant Colonel Halliday
reported for duty as a 24-year-old Air Force
officer with the 606th Special Operations Squadron
at a USAF base in Thailand in 1970, he thought
he'd be hauling cargo to Thai air bases. But as
the first-time author recounts in this gripping
memoir, he was ordered to fly a C-123 on
top-secret nighttime combat missions instead.
Assigned to an operation nicknamed "Candlesticks"
for the flares the pilots dropped to illuminate
enemy targets, Halliday played his role in this
hush-hush part of the Vietnam war by bombing the
Laotian part of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

"With snappy prose, machine-gun-fast dialogue and
techno-pilot speak, he recreates his forays with
immediacy. The heart of the book is Halliday's
blow-by-blow chronicle of the amazing midnight
crash landing he made on an unlit airstrip in
treacherous mountainous terrain in Long Tien --
no-man's land in northern Laos. There, he and his
crew were greeted by initially suspicious US
forces and commanding general "Bang Pow" of the
Royal Laotian Army. This dramatic, firsthand war
story from a veteran who earned an Air Force
Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions barrels
toward the heroic climax with novelistic
momentum."

You can meet Captain Halliday here at
www.FlyingThroughMidnight.com, a site by none
other than my own Al The Web Guy. My Web Guy is
usually far too busy to build other people’s sites
but made an exception for our fellow airline
captain and veteran (both Al and I are also
veterans).

My entire Viet Nam experience entails flying over
this narrow country to or from Bangkok from
elsewhere in Asia at 35,000 feet or so in a luxury
airliner while eating hot fudge sundaes and
delicious shrimp cocktail. Wait until you read
John’s experience in the same neighborhood,
decades earlier and with far more trauma than
anybody needs in their life. Just trust me on
this: it’s an exciting story, it seems impossible,
it’s true and personally I think this book may
wind up a candidate for and hopefully a winner of
the Pulitzer Prize.

I hope you’ll consider bringing home Halliday for
the holidays. (Did you REALLY think we’d get
through one of these Updates without my usual
awful attempt at literary humor? I didn’t think
so, although this one was particularly bad even
according to my own miserable standards.)

Don’t forget that my new book “Flights of Whimsy –
Quips ‘N’ Quotes” will be out soon. We’re on
schedule and it should be out as expected
mid-November. I expanded this quote book just a
tad from the original planned size and the
eventual retail price will be $11.95 plus
shipping. Until Christmas you can order it for
just $9.95 and I’ll throw in shipping for free.
Click here to order:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gift_Ideas.html

I’ve also put autographed copies of my book “The
World At My Feet” on sale until Christmas in the
form of free shipping. Total price is $17.95.
Click here to order:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gift_Ideas.html

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)

BIRTHDAY WISHES TO AL THE WEB GUY

FROM CAP’N MERYL

Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:

USA Today Column

I’m writing this on Al The Web Guy’s birthday and
want to wish him a very happy birthday. He gets at
least as crabby as I do on my own birthday if I
try to actually say it to him directly, so I
thought I’d mention it here and see if I could
just slip it by.

This week I was contacted by another female pilot
named Lynda Meeks, the creator of the new website:
www.girlswithwings.com: She hopes this new site
will encourage more young girls to consider a
future in aviation. Although the site is still in
its infancy, it is already a popular place to
visit to see other pilot’s biographies and photos
(so that girls will be able to picture “girl
pilots”), a store to buy t-shirts celebrating girl
pilots, and a forum to post pictures of the future
pilots wearing these great tees.

You can find my photo and bio there now, and we
have in turn placed the link for this site under
“Recommended Links” at our own
www.fromthecockpit.com. I hope you’ll pay a visit
and let the young ladies in your life know about
it. I only wish such a site had existed when I
was a little girl. However, since the Internet
itself didn’t yet exist I suppose it’s a moot
point. I’m quite sure my own career would have
taken off (please pardon the pun—it’s getting
late) earlier. I was twenty when I was pretty
much struck unconscious by the flying bug. A
little earlier would have been even better.

I was also contacted by James Green, a pilot for
Delta. Unless you’re very new to this Weekly
Update, you’ll remember I attended a seminar for
public speakers just a few weeks ago. In a room
of about a hundred people, I wound up sitting in
the front row next to James. We found out we were
both airline pilots only after the first day.
Delta and Northwest declared bankruptcy on the
same day during this seminar so we were able to
commiserate. James appears in my Photo Gallery in
the Cap’n Meryl & Friends Album. You can meet him
here:
James

Many of the people who attended this conference
are authors as well as speakers. James and I
promised to exchange books after returning home.
I just received his book called, “If There’s One
Thing I’ve Learned…” which is about people he
interviewed to discover their moments of truth.
He traveled across the country asking people what
they would do differently if they had a chance to
do some major things over again. You can read
more about his critically acclaimed book at his
site www.SoundViewPublishing.com and you can order
it here:
http://www.soundviewpublishing.com/book2.html

Now, let me tell you about my friend Karen Wira.
One night several years ago I was deadheading home
to Denver after one of my trips terminated in
Chicago. Deadheading simply means I was on duty
but flying as a passenger for that leg.

Seated next to me was a delightful woman and we
started talking. We’ve been friends ever since,
although she has since relocated from Denver to
Louisville, Kentucky.

As it happens, she’ll be in Denver this week and
is coming over to dinner with her sister who still
lives in Denver. Since we like Karen and her
sister, Al The Web Guy, who happens to be a
fantastic cook, will be doing the honors in the
kitchen. My own ineptitude with regard to cooking
is almost legendary, except when it comes to
eating. I’m good at that part.

But I digress. In any case, Karen contacted me a
week or so ago and asked if I’d be interested in
helping test a new flight-tracking system from a
“mobile device.” The only mobile devices I know
about are my car, some airplanes and a horse or
two.

I’m reasonably certain Karen was in fact referring
to cellphone users, but I just don’t use one.
Here is what she wrote:

FlyteComm is looking for a few volunteers to use
their new mobile application. They offer
real-time flight tracking from your mobile device.

If you are interested in participating and you
meet the following criteria, we will send the
application to your device:

1) You are a Sprint, Cingular, AT&T or T-Mobile
subscriber with a data/internet plan

2) You have a cell phone that supports java (if
you have a newer device and/or your phone has
games and other applications, it probably supports
java)

Please write directly to Karen at klwira@wira.biz
if you both qualify and you’re interested.

We just need your cell phone number, carrier
(Sprint, T-Mobile etc) and device type (example:
Sanyo 5600 or Motorola Razr) to send FlyteSource
Mobile to your device. You will receive an SMS
message with a link that initiates the download
when it is clicked. Simply follow the prompts on
your device to complete the download and begin
using the application.

Okay, then. Hopefully some of you will be willing
to help Karen out. Just one other reminder and
then I’ll sign off for now. My new book “Flights
of Whimsy – Quips ‘N’ Quotes” will be out soon. I
expanded this quote book just a tad and the
eventual retail price will be $11.95 plus
shipping. Until Christmas you can order it for
just $9.95 and I’ll throw in shipping for free.
Click here to order:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gift_Ideas.html

I’ve also put autographed copies of my book “The
World At My Feet” on sale until Christmas in the
form of free shipping. Total price is $17.95.
Click here to order:
http://www.fromthecockpit.com/Gift_Ideas.html

And with that,

Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm

FROM THE FAR NORTH TO THE DEEP SOUTH TO WAY OUT

FROM CAP’N MERYL

Link to this week’s column at USAToday.com/travel:

USA Today Column

When I was in college at San Diego State, one
summer I took an extraordinary camping trip with
some of my student friends and one of their
parents who went along to chaperone.

The trip started in Germany where we rented a
Volkswagen van. We drove north, then took a ferry
to Sweden. We drove through Finland and spent a
couple of nights at a campground near Helsinki,
which was just gorgeous, before continuing on.
Eventually we drove east through much of the
Soviet Union after making a side-trip to some
beautiful islands in the Gulf of Finland (where we
went skinny-dipping !) before turning southward
through Romania and Bulgaria.

Needless to say, it was quite a trip. I failed to
keep a journal which is really unfortunate, but
was left instead with a virtual kaleidoscope of
memories—-freezing to death while camping for a
night in the open on a mountainside in
Transylvania and watching the bats, just waiting
for Dracula to appear. Swimming through hundreds
of jellyfish in Copenhagen. It took a little
courage for me to jump in, but everyone else was
swimming among them and ignoring them. The locals
insisted they didn’t sting and they didn’t. Still
a little disconcerting, though.

I remember the gypsies in Romania, rumbling about
the countryside in their covered wagons and
providing musical entertainment for whoever would
listen. They were wonderfully talented with their
violins and other instruments; I couldn’t get
enough of it.

There were giant sunflowers in Bulgaria, plum
trees by the side of the road which passersby were
free to take and eat (and believe me—we did) and
delightful Roman-style bathhouses where there were
crabby old and highly unattractive women with
birch switches to bat us with. I never really got
into that, but did enjoy the steamy-hot baths.

However, I’m digressing from the purpose of this
Update which actually has nothing at all to do
either with me or my college camping trip, hundred
of years ago. Okay, not hundreds, but it’s
starting to feel that way. All I really wanted to
do was mention I’d once been to Finland, but I may
have gotten a bit carried away (who, me?).

In the aftermath of Katrina, I received a short
note from a woman who said she worked in Airline
Operations at New Orleans airport and wanted to
speak with me. I returned her call several times
but was never able to reach her. Then, very
unexpectedly she surfaced in Phoenix a few weeks
later and called me when I was at home.

It turns out she’s originally from Finland. I
asked her for a brief bio of herself and it
started like this:

“In the Times-Picayune today (Sunday Oct 2, 2005)
a local columnist stated all those who stayed in
New Orleans during Katrina were either broke or
stupid. I don't think that is a fair assessment
of people like myself, an airport operations
supervisor, or my boyfriend, a sheriff's deputy.
Or thousands of other local police and detention
officers, nurses, doctors, firefighters, etc. who
were required to stay as first responders. I
don't think we are heroes either, for doing what
is expected of us.”

Her name is Kimberley, a pretty woman with eyes
approximately the color of the water in Helsinki
Harbor, and you can meet her in the Cap’n Meryl
and Friends Album at
www.fromthecockpit.com/gallery or just click here:
Kimberley
to go directly to her photo.

She’d lived in Houston for awhile where her car
got flooded after Tropical Storm Allision in 2001.
Well aware of the dangers of flooding, still, she
was excited to take a job with Airport Operations
in New Orleans. After Katrina paid a visit,
Kimberley decided she’d had enough. Having gone
to college and flight school in Phoenix, she
decided to return there.

Here is another excerpt from her letter to me:

“Like thousands of other local residents, I have
decided to leave the area for good and start a new
life in the Phoenix area. The real estate market
there is pretty tight and renting an apartment
proved harder than I expected. Apparently, being a
Katrina survivor has no advantage but we're being
held to the same standards as local applicants as
far as income level, FICO scores and so forth.”
(Kimberly told me that she was denied an apartment
rental in at least one instance because she
couldn’t show the “required” $20,000 in the bank!
To rent an apartment? So much for sympathy for
survivors of the storm.)

“Eventually I hope to continue my aviation
endeavors and renew medical and bi-annual as well
as start studying for a CFI checkride. I look
forward to renewing old friendships at 99's and
Civil Air Patrol as well as meeting new friends in
the valley of the sun. If somebody from the
Phoenix area is reading this and wants to contact
me during this transitional period, I can be
always reached by e-mail at pyysalo@yahoo.com.

After a few ups and downs in my life I can just be
happy I always seem to eventually land on my feet,
like a cat. I have been blessed with a
supportive family and friends, even if they live
far away. I want to help other people who are not
so lucky as I am and start volunteering for
organizations like Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity
and Meals on Wheels once I settle down. As I have
learned, nobody is immune to natural disasters and
might need a helping hand one day. I hope there
is no disaster like this anytime soon, but if
there is one, I will be better prepared to help.”

I found Kimberley’s story interesting and thought
my readers might as well. I also am aware that
several of my readers live in or near Phoenix and
might want to contact Kimberley to offer their
friendship and support.

By the way, don’t ask Kimberley if she’s Finnish.
The answer would undoubtedly be, “Me, Finnish? No
way! I’m just getting started!”

And with that miserable and misguided attempt at
humor…

Until Next Time,
Maintain Airspeed!
Cap’n Meryl
www.fromthecockpit.com
www.flyingfearless.com
www.fromthecockpit.com/profile.htm
(keynote speaker information)

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)