Short Final

Gemini Sparkle

Key Takeaways:

  • Early flight training in 1967 taught pilots to simulate calling for taxi clearance, even at airfields without a control tower.
  • A humorous incident occurred when a trainee, forgetting to simulate the call, was reminded and then yelled "Clear!" out the aircraft vent instead.
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When I was learning to fly in 1967 in Merced, Calif., we had no control tower. We were taught that after engine start-up, we should pretend to call the tower for taxi clearance.

Another pilot trainee started his engine, then immediately started to taxi. The instructor stopped him and advised that he had forgotten to call for clearance.

The trainee thought for a second, opened the pilot air vent, and, over the roar of the engine, yelled, “Clear!”

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