Now speaking of stepping back in time ... I find myself back at Tegel Airport and climbing into a Lufthansa Boeing 707. Now if that doesn't bring up some old memories then, well, either you are too young or you have Alzheimers!
Today I have planned a low-altitude, slow-speed flight up the scenic Baltic Sea to St. Petersburg, Russia. The flight will be just less than 1000 miles and I have scattered clouds at 6-7000 feet. The 707 is another big, old, smoky, loud jet which can be a real handful to fly. Okay, by modern standards it's not so big anymore but still, it is a classic. I depart eastbound out of Berlin, climb initially to 14,000 ft and turn north. As I clear the German coastline I slow to 250 knots and descend back down to 5500 feet for the last, roughly, three hours of flight time.
This is a gorgeous morning over the Baltic and I must say, "Someday I plan on visiting this part of the world." Although right now I have no idea how that will happen. As I continue northeastward the cloud layers thin and warm sunshine streams down and reflects off my wings. This is great! I then prepare for my approach into St. Pete's only to learn that it is windy today, very windy. A strong, gusting bit-of-a cross wind kind of a day. After fighting with this old bird a bit I feel like I am set up, or shall I say crabbed-up on something close to a final approach. I struggle to hold my course but finally, at 2.5 miles I am tired of staring into the terminal buildings so I punch the gas and go around. Whew, I'm sure some hearts at the bagel place are beating faster now! (Do they have bagels in St. Petersburg?)
The second time around I come in steeper, not really faster, just steeper. I get the crab angle set and then fight the wind gusts to try and keep heading toward the runway. Big flare ... KICK the tail ... Upwind aileron ... rudder ... Well, I landed, so to speak but I think that this old bird is well past her prime now. "Sorry 'bout the mess back there. I hope that hole can get filled in soon, someone might fall (or drive) into it!" Okay, I'm off to find a shower and a couple of bandages.
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