Military travel ruined me for flying commercially for any number of reasons. That said, when your military transport breaks on the ground in East Bumfuckistan, you’ll likely be waiting for it to be repaired, there, before you’ll find any other way to leave the area. Guam, as an example, is not a fun place to be stuck,
But yeah, the people are mostly nicer, the food is absolutely better, and while the creature comforts can be slim at times depending on the airframe (C-130, I’m lookin at you), commercial travel doesn’t hold a candle to traveling with the American military.
One last thing–all the branded stuff the gentleman receives is wonderful and the pinnacle of luxury etc, etc., until one realizes it’s just the same shit you get on a standard flight, but with a different sticker and a little more legroom.
Ugh, C-130, an amazing aircraft for it’s purpose but for passengers…
Sideways seating is just bad for your inner ear or something, that and the way puke flows down the tracks in the floor from those more sensitive to trigger others in a barf cascade effect. Especially when flying low in summer hitting every thermal column, those updrafts which make such cute low altitude muffin clouds for everyone else on the ground.
Reminds me of my third or fourth lesson where I was assigned a very attractive female instructor who also had an engineering degree. I wanted to look cool; cmon, attractive, engineer, and a flight instructor?! But unfortunately I am sensitive to wheat and had been given a cheap raamen noodle bowl for lunch earlier by someone who thought raamen was always rice noodles and said it was fine. Summer day, thermals, some rudder and control surface effect familiarization, then guess what came up. That is not a pretty thing to leave behind in a small cockpit for the service crew or your reputation.
First and last time that ever happened, blech.
Ha! I was crewmember and maintainer, and lemme tell ya, puke in my cockpit isn’t going to clean itself up, if you know what I’m sayin…
Many times I recall passing out the yellow foam earplugs to Marine passengers, only to have them pop 'em in for a chew. Marine Corp, boy howdy. I flew on the old 707 airframes, which were steady, fast, and cool so the puke rate remained quite low. Doing touch and gos for landing practice was the killer for anyone not in the cockpit. Death by nausea or boredom.
And I’ll add that the 130 is a beautiful aircraft despite her rough edges. Fill her full of holes and cargo and the damn thing will fly to the end of the earth and land on a broken jungle strip. They’re low and slow but still pretty in the air.
Yea, I think NOT letting me clean it up was part of the punishment.
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