Fly With Us II

Ouch!

While taxiing at London's Gatwick Airport, the crew of a US Air flight departing for Ft. Lauderdale made a wrong turn and came nose to nose with a United 727.

An irate female ground controller lashed out at the US Air crew, screaming: "US Air 2771, where the hell are you going?! I told you to turn right onto Charlie taxiway! You turned right on Delta! Stop right there. I know it's difficult for you to tell the difference between C and D, but get it right!" Continuing her rage to the embarrassed crew, she was now shouting hysterically: "God! Now you've screwed everything up! It'll take forever to sort this out! You stay right there and don't move till I tell you to! You can expect progressive taxi instructions in about half an hour, and I want you to go exactly where I tell you, when I tell you, and how I tell you! You got that, US Air 2771?"

"Yes, ma'am," the humbled crew responded.

Naturally, the ground control communications frequency fell terribly silent after the verbal bashing of US Air 2771. Nobody wanted to chance engaging the irate ground controller in her current state of mind. Tension in every cockpit out around Gatwick was definitely running high.
Just then an unknown pilot broke the silence and keyed his microphone, asking: "Wasn't I married to you once?"

Fly With Us I

I came across some funny (to me at least) stuff and thought I would share it. Supposedly these are recordings of actual conversations between pilots and air traffic controllers. And apologies if you have read this before.
Here's one for warm-up:-

Tower: "Delta 351, you have traffic at 10 o'clock, 6 miles!"
Delta 351: "Give us another hint! We have digital watches!"

Life and art

This glassy building is part of the National Gallery. I saw a number of people of all ages spilling out of the building and embarking on a coach waiting for them at the main entrance today. I haven't been inside since the school years. And that was many many years ago. Perhaps it's time I rectified that.

The reflection is quite nice, though, isn't it?

Hey,

don't open that window now!

This bench...

...is standing in an underpass between the city centre and the Tivoli park. It wasn't there the last time I passed by but greeted me yesterday in this rather dismal place. An empty pizza wrapping and a can of one soft drink or another is evidence that people, possibly students, have actually used the bench as a diner of some sort.

Gosh, I couldn't eat in a place like that when there's a whole lot of open air and greenery with a number of benches just a stone's throw ahead.

Remnants

The whole island of Vis was a military base for about 45 years and remnants of the army's presence can still be seen everywhere. The island was closed for visitors until late 1970s although the locals were allowed to travel off and on. Foreign tourists were not allowed to set foot on the island until the late 1980s.

The amazing thing is that when Croatia (along with Slovenia) proclaimed independence and the war in the former Yugoslavia broke out the army left the island without a single shot fired. They did leave behind a few mine fields, though, and although most mines were subsequently removed, one cost a reckless Dutch tourist his foot a few years ago.

Timing...

...has a lot to do in making of a good photo (and on many other occasions).

I wish I had waited one second longer when taking this shot. In which case the express train coming into the frame would have been in just the right position for a good shot. But I didn't react quickly enough and the train was moving too fast to give me another shooting opportunity before it swooshed by.



I thought B/W would work well with this photo