I did, on one occasion, not manage to avoid sharing this particular info (weighing scale figure) with someone. It was in 1991. My dream then was to become a pilot. We had just moved into a new house in a new neighbourhood and our next door 'mama' was a nosy one. We called him 'M-square(d)' -- i.e., Mottai Mama (Bald Uncle). Sometimes, when he stood on his terrace, we would call him M-to-the-power-of-4 (Mottai Mama on a Mottai Maadi).
Sadly, he knew my dad quite well apparently, and came over for a cuppa one morning. My Dad chose that morning to share with him that I had this aim of becoming a pilot. M-Squared was also pretty know-it-all (empty vessels and all that) and, say-it-all. I froze as I was passing that way, that minute, and looked back.
I should n't have. I was beckoned. I went, but not without reluctance. MM looked me up and down brazenly and said: "Pilot? I also used to fly". (YEAH, RIGHT) "Hmmm. How much do you weigh?". At that 'eng' age, it's difficult to avoid answering direct questions from wolder people. I thought wildly about coming out with a wisecrack or two instead, but decided against it. Like a bandaid, best done swiftly. I told him my weight. (Yeah, am not telling you now either!) To that, he exclaimed: "Oh, you really need to lose weight before they let you become a pilot!" How sweet, thank you, MM. Like I did n't know.
Thing was, he himself was pretty big. Hard to imagine him inside a Cessna 152 aircraft unless doubled over and halved.
However, the truth is, to learn flying, you only need a medical certificate that says you're 'OK' (not FIT, just OK) and more importantly, you need much guts. Which of course, was not a problem, big gut and all. So... problem solved.
Gosh do I have more such tales up my sleeve!
2 comments:
GRRRRRRRRRR.....This is not fair...
Again I end up with a bigggg disappointment since we 'bublic' are deprived of such vital statisctics....LOL...
OKay...such 'weighty' ppl can try AIRBUS 380....the biggest passenger flight...double decker...
I trained on a Cessna 152, too. It is such a tiny plane... but even so I had to sit on 2 stacked up cusions AND have the seat all the way forward, all so I could apply pressure on the pedals at the very tip of my tippy toes.
On my final flight, my instructor took me up in a 172, that had automatic seat controls. WOW! I didn't know you were supposed to be able to see ALL that! I could usually only see the nose cone and propellers...
Funnier thing, my instructor was about 6'5", and in spite of all that he could do to push his seat back, he STILL couldn't help putting a bit of pressure on the pedals... It worked out a lot easier for him on the 172, too :)
Nicest thing about the 172 was that I could take Amma up too... You should ask her about it sometime!
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