The Age of Speed

[desperado]

There's a rant on the "good old days" of commercial aviation that's gone around some on the internet. Someone sent it to me again, and it's wonderfully politically-incorrect. I liked this excerpt so much I thought I'd share it with you. It doesn't take too much imagination to see how the same sentiments could apply to the cars of our youth and today.

... Axial flow jet engines crackled with the sound of freedom & left an impressive black smoke-trail behind like a locomotive burning soft coal. Jet fuel was cheap and once the throttles were pushed up they were left there. After all, it was the jet age - and the idea was to go fast (run like a lizard on a hardwood floor). "Economy Cruise" was something in the performance manual - but no one knew why, or where it was. When the over-speed clacker went off, no one got all tight and scared - because Boeing and Douglas built them strong. Nothing was going to fall off and that sound had the same effect on real pilots then as Viagra does for these "new age" guys now.
There was very little plastic and no composites on the airplanes - or on the Stewardesses' ...er...pectoral regions. Airplanes and women had eye pleasing symmetrical curves, not a bunch of ugly vortex generators, ventral fins, winglets, flow diverters - or tattoos, rings in their nose, tongues and eyebrows. ...

[willyjp]

Boy, can I, at my age, identify with that....especially the last paragraph

[NASA R8]

As someone who has been in a DC8 which broke the sound barrier in a dive and appreciate women of my baby boom generation I can only agree.

[FredBMOC]

Love it! Thanks for sharing!