Short Final: A Beech By Any Other Name

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • A young girl humorously misunderstood an air traffic control instruction to "hold short for the Beech" aircraft as her much-anticipated "beach" vacation in Fort Myers.
  • Despite her momentary disappointment and confusion over the aircraft being "the beach," the family ultimately enjoyed their actual beach weekend.
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[Submitted by AVweb reader Bill Rackley]

When my girls were young, we planned a trip to visit an old high school friend of my wife’s who lived near the beach in Fort Myers, Florida. We had been promoting the trip all week, telling the girls we were going to spend the weekend at the beach with Bonnie. After a nice flight from Avon Park, Florida, taxiing to the FBO, we heard this on the radio:

“Zero five papa, hold short for the Beech to pass in front of you.”

In a nanosecond, my four-year-old, who had already unbuckled her seat belt, popped up between the front seats with her finger pointing out the window at the Beech and with a scowl in her voice exclaimed – “IS THAT THE BEACH WE CAME DOWN HERE TO SEE?”

Nevertheless, we did have an enjoyable weekend … at the beach.

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