Stories tagged “airplane”
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A Vast Improvement Over Yesterday
Holy goddamn fucking shit! This building’s a lot taller than I thought it was! I was thinking, like, jump maybe ten stories, bust my face open all over the pavement, guts and stuff everywhere, but good fucking God that is a long way down! I didn&...
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Hunger at 39,000 feet.
“’What’s the deal with airline food’ That line seems to be one of those that people immediately think of if you mention stand-up comedians, but I can’t say I’ve ever actually heard the joke. What is the deal with it,...
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Buenos Aires, Georgia
Just then, Governor Sanford realized what this meant – Maybe Buenos Aires had moved as well! The Centaurian ship had moved many cities around, why not the home of his mistress? It was worth a shot. Sanford motioned the flight attendant over to hi...
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Flight 1518
“What?” The disheveled old man grimaced while pointing towards the window seat, “I said, ’That’s my seat.’” As I rubbed the tiredness from my eyes, I rose up and stumbled out onto the aisle. The old man stepped...
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Mid-Flight
“Do you have any cookies?” I asked. The steward dug through the plastic bag sitting atop the drink cart. “I’m sorry sir, we’ve run out of cookies and all we have left are peanuts.” Not only am I seated a step away fr...
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Yesterday is Coming Fast
After Chase de-boarded and claimed his luggage—it was, remarkably, all there—he decided to take one of the waiting lounges up on its name. Since Tokyo was his final destination, he had some time to kill. Deciding against a cold, overpriced ...
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Involuntary Crash #1
The plane’s instruments had failed. Seeing as how it was in the midst of one of the worst blizzards ever recorded, this was not entirely surprising. Such was life in the Northwest Territories. The small community of Wekweètì, situated about one...
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Regrouping
The wind protested through the compromised fuselage of the plane. Craig rubbed his head, steadying his Arctic-proofed tundra jacket. “Medicine all right?” he inquired. Timothy rifled through some assorted debris until he found four small ca...
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Your Destination Has Not Yet Arrived
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. I’m happy to report most of the turbulence seems to be behind us, and we’re back at a cruising altitude now. The rest of your flight looks like it should be fairly smooth. “U...
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Space pocket
For one terrifying fraction of a second, just long enough to register in my brain, I found myself surrounded by sky, staring at the outside skin of the aircraft. Then, just as rapidly, everything snapped back to normal. Holding my breath, I glanced ner...
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Not your standard bathroom
“Now sir, if you’ll come with me.” the stewardess said, yanking me out of my seat and towards the flight attendant’s lounge where, I assume, she’ll radio the cockpit for instructions. But she misses the flight attendants lounge and he...
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Stall Speed
Pitch, power, airspeed. Pull back on the yoke and the nose comes up. Reduce throttle to maintain altitude, the airplane slows down. Balancing pitch and power, the horn comes in, low and reedy, then stronger, louder, insistent. You keep raising the nose...
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A scream on an airplane
I hear a scream as my gaze lingers on the spot where my spotter has gone. Then there is only silence. I should go check it out. After all, if something happens, they might think to recheck people for bombs and the like. And that is something I cannot a...
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Free Fall
What a rush. The ancient lumbering C-47 falls away above me as I take to the sky. The roar of her engines morph into a hushed whisper of rushing air. The freedom is intoxicating, invigorating. I am in free fall, diving toward the earth at terminal velo...