Magic Moment 1

This is my collection of vintage matchbox airplanes. Circa 1973. These are all in perfect condition.

Magic Moment #1

After working for seven years as a schoolteacher and ten years in the nutraceutical industry, I moved from New York to Florida. I sold my house on Long Island, purchased a condominium in Florida and decided to relax for a while before returning to the work force. Eventually I did find a job with vitamins and minerals, but after a few weeks made the decision that since I had changed my lifestyle, I also wanted to change my career path. Aviation was calling me back. Airplanes are one of my passions and I wanted to work with pilots and airplanes again.

Soon I found a job as a dispatch manager for a flight training school at a nearby airport. It was a great job while it lasted. I liked wearing a uniform again and it was my first experience with single engine and twin engine propeller aircraft (other than flying on them). I learned a lot on the job. The school offered flight training to students of all ages from around the world, but the bulk of the students came from the United Kingdom. The flight instructors were pilots who already had their commercial license and were logging hours in the hope of eventually finding a job with an airline.

Sometimes after work, trainees who had already earned their commercial pilot license invited me to go flying with them. That was a lot of fun. I used to grab my headset, climb into the back of a Cadet Warrior III or a Cessna 172 and go soaring over Central Florida late into the evening. I never made a sound but just sat back and enjoyed the ride. Most of the time the pilots whom I accompanied, were working on their instrument rating and needed to concentrate.

The best moment came when on one of the night flights, Air Traffic Control (ATC) allowed us to do what is called a “touch and go” at Orlando international airport (MCO).

The two student pilots had filed a flight plan starting in Kissimmee (KISM), touching down at Orlando executive airport (ORL), and then returning to KISM. We took off and it was about 7 pm. Soon it became dark and the student in the left seat started his instrument training. I was on very friendly terms with the advanced student in the right seat who was monitoring the less advanced student in the left seat. We chatted and I listened in on the communications between the two students and ATC. We were on the approach to ORL but something wasn’t right. We could not pick up the localizer.

The localizer is one of the components of an instrument landing system, and it provides runway guidance to pilots. We were doing an instrument landing and it was pitch black except for the runway lights.

The senior student advised that we should abort the landing and try again and so we circled out to try the approach one more time. The localizer failed again and suddenly the small cockpit was filled with the sounds of cursing and swearing. We tried a third time but failed to pick up the signal on the third attempt. The senior student thought that the instruments on board our single engine Cessna 172 had failed, and he was worried. The aircraft was a long way from home and if the instruments had failed we would be flying blind. Possibly we would need to make an emergency landing and make our way home using another form of transportation.

I loved every minute of the drama. I knew this student could get us home because he was a superb pilot.

All of a sudden, he cursed again and yelled into the mike. Air Traffic Control, did you send us to the wrong airport? This doesn’t look like ORL; it looks more like Sanford (SFB) to me. There was dead silence for a few minutes and then ATC confirmed that although we had filed a correct flight plan, ATC had made the mistake. They had indeed directed us to the wrong airport. Our on-the-ball pilot was very quick to request a “touch and go” at MCO. This was something that was rarely permitted at such a busy airport, but because of the error ATC agreed. How could they refuse us now?

It was magic. There we were, lined up with the huge jumbo jets and ready to do our “touch and go” landing. ATC let us skip the line and it was fun knowing that we were being allowed to dart in front of a Boeing 747 just to practice a landing. We swooshed down and went right up again. It was magic. We made our way home safely and had a great story to tell.