Article: 261392 of talk.bizarre
From: stone@uclink2.berkeley.edu (Philip K Stone)
Newsgroups: talk.bizarre
Subject: Re: Belters
Date: 1 Dec 1995 20:43:21 GMT
Organization: Suck Failure Analysis Corp.
Lines: 43
Message-ID: <49npd9$k9c@agate.berkeley.edu>
References: <49nep6$epu@agate.berkeley.edu>
Summary: Fixing a problem here...
Status: O
X-Status: 

Damn damn damn damn damn.  My post got chewed.  I did not fail
to suck.  If you saw the previous version before I cancelled it,
pretend you didn't.  Here's the way it was supposed to go:

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I've just about had it with commuting by belt.  Yesterday, for instance,
I was corridor-sharing between the ninth and tenth decks of the "80",
when some six-pack transport bastard all but F/O'd me.  I was ready for
him, though - IÕd seen his control surfaces flutter as he contemplated
a move that would send me tumbling towards a smoking stain on the ground.
When he finally committed, I popped both sticks and hopped over his
swerving pig-of-a-crate, hot backwash crazing my shoulder fairing for
the briefest moment.  I was sorely tempted to offer a ball bearing to
one of his intakes, but settled for doing a mocking butt-roll in front
of his windscreen.

IÕve had flameouts, and they are no fun at all.  An F/O is no big deal
in a liftbag-equipped family cruiser, but on a belt, itÕs freefall time.
Even though IÕm not one of those no-chute idiots,  I also know better
than to pull the cord over nine layers of rush hour traffic.  I donÕt
know what that guy was thinking.  I guess IÕm just another crazy
ŌbelterĶ to him, and if I auger in, itÕs my fault for being stupid
enough to fly a belt.

Sure, belters have earned some of their reputation; we tend to scorn
the ATC stacking mandates and hate the ridiculous urban-corrdidor TCAÕs
that have been thrown up everywhere by the revenue-hungry control
freaks in the FAA.  Occasionally, a couple of shorts-and-tshirt-clad
"gulls" will have a mid-air over Stinson Beach, raining a mixture of
hot tungsten and gore on the folks below, but that happens much less
than the media would like you to believe. 

Anyway, to hell with the six-packs and family cruisers. Tomorrow,
IÕm going off-corridor, and if the CAPÕs want to chase, IÕll give them
a good one, on a more level playing field than theyÕll expect.  You see,
I have this dull-black shoulder fairing with some very interesting
properties...


              Phil (childhood expectations are *not* being met)