The meaning of flying: time, geography and science, the natural observation of poet pilots exploring the mysteries of heaven and earth

Geography is a way to divide the world, which can draw the boundaries of political entities, the lines of per capita income, or the precipitation that can best brighten the surface of spherical hometown, as well as the characteristics of civilized entities with noisy voices on the ground. Flying will write down its own geography, reflecting the old physics, and so will every aviation worker and traveler.

I have flown to some places, and I have never flown to some places. Before I became a pilot, I never expected that I would look at the earth like this; But the more you travel, the more important it is, not the less you care. On the world map of long-distance pilots, some cities shine with the light of frequent visits recently, some places are not so obvious, and some places are completely dark. As a relatively junior pilot, my map is more sporadic than many colleagues. Once or twice a year, I still fly to an airport that I have never visited. The reason may be that the route is new, the airport is new, or I have changed from other models I used to drive to 747. A few days before this flight, I will check the charts of this airport and other airports nearby, or the flight information prepared for the previous day's flight. When we meet our colleagues before the flight, the captain often asks: Have you been there recently? Or have you been there before? We will share each other's maps.

I draw the boundaries between places by the way I have been and the way I have never been. In addition, the most basic boundaries in the world may not be as clear as those above land or water, in clouds or clear skies, day or night. The simplest division of the sky is the area covered by radar and the area not covered by radar. On the ground of some airports, those aprons and taxiways that tower personnel can't see directly will be clearly drawn in our table. In a similar way, the whole world can distinguish by whether radar covers it or not. Surprisingly, a large part of the world lacks civil aviation radar. Once away from the coast, there is no radar on the sea. There is no radar in Greenland, most of Africa, or large areas of Canada and Australia. When I am within a certain distance of a radar station or radar device-the thing that will rotate to detect our position is a "radar seeker"-the air flow controller can "see" me directly. If there is no radar, they can't see it. We must inform our position through more and more complicated electronic instruments, or read our time and altitude by radio. They must repeat the "Location Bulletin" carefully to make sure that the report they have heard is correct.

The feeling of being seen and not being seen can also be used to distinguish the world. Being out of radar range is different from being in a place where there is no cell phone signal, because we will still communicate with air traffic controllers. That's different from losing GPS positioning after driving into the tunnel because the pilot knows where he is. This is not the same as being observed and feeling uncomfortable. Pilots prefer air traffic controllers to stare at them. If the air traffic controller says that we can be "recognized by radar", it will make us feel relieved that we have crossed a less desolate journey section, or that we are close to the end of the journey.

Mountains over a certain height separate the sky from another world and another realm. When the altitude exceeds 1, feet, if the engine room loses pressure, it is necessary to wear an oxygen mask. Therefore, the rough outline of the mountain peak and the required extra safety margin may be the easiest map for pilots to recite, just like the sudden rise of sea level by two miles. On this picture, there are two obvious ribbons left in the world. One of the long Eurasian belts, starting from Spain, runs through Alps and Balkan Peninsula, extends from Turkey to China and Japan in the east, and passes through Iranian, Afghan, Indian and Mongolian highland countries on the way, forming the core of the map. Another long red line on the chart, representing the lowest flying altitude, runs along the western side of America, from Alaska to the Andes, and from the North Pole to antarctic ocean.

On this map of world height, you can't see the east of the Mississippi River in the United States. Huge parts of Africa, Brazil, Russia and Canada, as well as Australia as a whole, do not exist. The peaks of the Himalayas are covered with similar gaps, but the heights are just the opposite. In 1933, just 3 years after the Wright brothers first sailed in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the plane "flew over" Mount Everest, although a photographer on board fainted because of lack of oxygen. Today, there are not many navigation channels above the Himalayas. The reason is not that passenger planes can't easily fly over Mount Everest, but that the terrain below is not conducive to the plane landing when it encounters mechanical problems. Therefore, many pilots have become the people who have the least chance to watch the highest mountain on the earth.

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People fly for many reasons, and their calendars and reasons for leaving converge on a specific flight. The plane is like a narrow waterway between the lakes of two cities, where the social activities in the daily life of two distant cities are stirring and gathering. Sometimes this phenomenon is quite extreme. For example, if a seminar is held, half of the passengers are computer engineers, physicists or archaeologists. There may be a large group of noisy students on the plane, which may be their first time to fly to a distant place; There may also be a group of old people flying to Venice, Vancouver or Oslo to visit the wonders of the world. There are often members of the royal family on some routes; Some airlines often have celebrities, employees of oil companies, religious pilgrims or rescuers. I didn't expect that my work could clearly see the population movement in this era and see all kinds of strong motives that prompted people to embark on a trip across the earth, whether that motive existed since ancient times or not.

one of the reasons why I like long-haul flights is that many passengers seem to be like me, and realize that such a journey is mostly significant. In these flights, people's reasons for traveling are usually stronger, because long-distance flights consume more life time and are more expensive. Even before the departure of the terminal and the plane, it is easy to feel how much long-distance travel is taken seriously in people's minds, whether it is an excited honeymoon couple, a newly retired couple, or even a seasonal business traveler's behavior-they, like the pilot, seem to make the importance of sitting in the seat proportional to the flight mileage afterwards.

There are thousands of reasons for passengers to travel. I think the most touching one is immigration. Perhaps the reason is that my father immigrated to the United States from Europe, and I reversed this long journey. I imagine that on most flights, there is always a passenger going to live in a new country; Maybe he was the first person in the family to start, or maybe he joined his family who had already gone. After generations of family evolution, there will be a turning point because of the decision of immigration. The strange metal space of the plane also strings up the history of a family in two places.

The frequency of interaction between pilots and passengers may be far less than that of flight attendants, but we know how important people are on this journey. Pilots of large aircraft are the least likely to interact with passengers. Although they carry more passengers, they can see fewer passengers. The first time I drove 747, I walked into an empty plane, stepped up the stairs and went to the cockpit. After a busy forty-five minutes, the flight attendant told us that the boarding had been completed. She took the signed document, shook hands with us, walked out of the cockpit and closed the door. There were 33 passengers on board, but I didn't see any.

However, there are always exceptions, just as I have thousands of colleagues, but I can still form precious friendships with some of them. Before take-off or after landing, passengers will visit the cockpit, and not only children. If you are interested, you might as well ask if you can visit. Sometimes the pilot may be too busy before taking off, but there is always time afterwards. Parents often take pictures of children sitting in the driver's seat; If I let my parents sit in the driver's seat and volunteer to take their pictures, no one has ever refused.

sometimes I show my guests around the simulator, which is the only chance for non-pilots to see the core of my work and experience the scenery, sounds and feelings of the cockpit during flight. The technology of the simulator is wonderful, and it can make memorable personal contact between the pilot and the passengers, which is beyond description. At the same time, flight attendants interact with many people from different cultures on the plane, and visit foreign cities more often, even more frequently than pilots. After all, pilots only visit cities that can be reached by the aircraft they drive. Few jobs, like flight attendants, have the opportunity to explore human society from a broader perspective.

occasionally, passengers feel unwell on the plane. At this time, it is the flight attendants who are responsible for handling, not the pilots. Flight attendants try their best to make the deepest connection to save lives, which is reminiscent of the connection between early nurses and flight attendants (born in Allen, Iowa? Church (﹝Ellen Church﹞) became the first female flight attendant employed by an airline in 193. She was a registered nurse. Later, many nurses followed in her footsteps until the outbreak of World War II and a large number of nurses were recruited to other places). Pilots are only indirectly involved in this medical situation ―― hurry up, ask for advice, or transfer to other places before arriving at the destination. Pilots can call the unified management office for medical consultation via satellite. There are doctors here to evaluate passengers' condition for airplanes or ships at the ends of the earth, which is the most indispensable virtual medical treatment. Sometimes, the crew will look for medical staff from the passengers. Doctors are frequent fliers; If I need to find a doctor on a long-haul airliner, I have never been unable to find one.

I have a friend who served as a pilot of a passenger plane in the United States. He once told me about his early flight. He flew a small plane for whoever paid him at that time. He often carries the body alone in the middle of the night and is responsible for sending people who have died in a foreign land home. At that time, the bank would cash a personal check and return it to the person who signed it, so sometimes he flew alone at night, carrying a body and several bags of cash. I remembered this story when I first saw the listing of the remains on the plane in the document. It is particularly sad to die in a foreign country, and perhaps the sadness is more primitive, even in today's era when fallen leaves can be rooted. We who are in charge of this great event don't know the name or any details of the deceased, which may best symbolize the connection and disconnection with the modern world.

once I was preparing to take off in the cockpit, a business car came straight to the plane, and the warning light kept flashing. The driver sent something that looked like a picnic ice bucket to the cockpit. He said that it contained human corneas for transplantation. This action, like carrying the remains, is anonymous. We don't know any details of the donors and recipients, and our role in this donation process is completely accidental. But after that, whenever I am faced with organ donation, such as applying for a driver's license or my parents' death, I will think of that plane and who the cornea will reach; I will remember where they are and how their eyesight is. I remember that we carefully tied the box in the cockpit and flew to London as soon as possible.

I have carried many passengers and occasionally met people I know. If my relatives and friends are on the plane, I will feel a little strange when I broadcast things, because I know that someone in the cabin will think that I sound different when I speak, and I am not even used to people I know hearing me. After that, they will tell me that my voice sounds different when I broadcast. Friends who live together will look at the face they know and the uniform on me again and again when they see me wearing a uniform to go to work or just coming back from work.

I once found a neighbor who was a passenger on a flight. She didn't know I was one of the pilots. I went downstairs to say hello and told her that it was a pleasant surprise to meet in the 747 seat across the Atlantic instead of in the stairwell of our building. Her expression changed from a puzzled wink to a smile, because I changed from a uniformed pilot to a neighbor who often helped cook dinner.

Once I flew to Berlin, I was busy all day. The captain and I had traveled back and forth between London and Madrid, and now the night is low. We will soon descend to Tegel airport, and then go to the hotel to sleep. I announced to the passengers that the weather at the destination was good, and told them the arrival time and that passengers on the plane side could enjoy the night view of the city on a clear night.

a few minutes later, a flight attendant said on the intercom that a passenger heard my broadcast just now and said he knew me. But they forgot the man's name, so I still don't know who that man is during the descent.

We landed, taxied and stopped the plane, and the doors of the engine room and cockpit were opened. He came towards me from the aisle with a bag on his shoulder. I recognized him immediately. He is my hometown, my high school classmate, at least for ten years. He didn't even know I was a pilot. "I vaguely remember that you like airplanes," he laughed. He went to Berlin to find friends. We exchanged phone calls, which made us smile. We met at such a far place and found ourselves walking with each other at the end of the journey.

sometimes, the pilot will fly an empty plane. Cargo planes are not responsible for carrying passengers, and it is common to have no passengers, but passenger planes without passengers are unusual. This rarely happens, because the weather may cause the plane to stay in an airport that should not stay for too long, or the plane needs to go in and out of the maintenance base. I have flown an empty passenger plane only a few times. Just thinking that there are no passengers with me before we leave, I can't help feeling lonely, and dispatchers will shrug their shoulders when they see us. Without passengers, of course, their work is much easier, but they are obviously not excited.

For flights without passengers, there are usually no flight attendants. The pilot should close the door of the empty and quiet main cabin by himself, and then go upstairs to the cockpit to fly with his colleagues. It's not that simple to open or close the door of an airplane safely. Before flying an empty airplane for the first time, I only practiced closing the door that didn't lead anywhere with the flight attendants during the annual training exercise. The empty plane is different when it takes off, and it feels surprisingly light. The plane without passengers only weighs a few tens of metric tons, which rarely reminds us of the size of the plane and highlights the physical mechanism that allows the plane to fly high.

on an empty flight, the pilot must get up and walk to the cabin to carry out the safety inspection carried out by the flight attendants on weekdays. On July 47, this means that one or two colleagues who are far away from the cockpit will go downstairs and pass hundreds of empty seats that have been arranged and then go upstairs. There are magazines, toothbrushes or earphones on those seats, so as to prepare for passengers who are not here.

I flew from San Francisco to London on an empty plane. Of the three pilots, I was assigned to the first rest. I decided to go downstairs to the cabin instead of entering the cockpit, because I never dozed off in the empty cabin 747. I am humming a song, spreading a luxurious bed (actually more like a nest) on the nose of the plane with an unlimited supply of blankets and pillows. I remember that the huge cargo hold below is almost full of computers and biotechnology instruments tonight, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables, which are fingerprints left by the California Valley and Science Park where we set off tonight. I saw the snow-capped peaks of the Sierra Nevada slide out of the window at dusk. However, the rest time is precious, so I have no time to enjoy the scenery, so I lie down and fall asleep.

the next sound I heard was the sound of waking me up after the break. When flying on weekdays, I was awakened by the * * * from the sleeping cabin, which was started by other pilots by remote control. Although it is pleasant, it will still wear into the head of each long-distance pilot and disturb their dreams, which is the last thing they want to hear.