New Virtual Symposium: February 2025 - There's a First Time for Everything

No naughty pictures in this one! I know - right? 😮 That could be a first right there! But don't worry, the linked posts have plenty of them. 🤣

BJ’s instructions for the first round of the relaunched virtual symposium specifically stated “You can interpret this as narrowly or as broadly as you'd likeâ€. But many of you know how much I’m into “first timesâ€, and how my mind works in general, so finding something new to write about was a challenge!

First naughty pictures I ever took. NOPE did that already – Old Naughty Photos.
The first lady I met via AFF. NOPE did that already too– - Fun Friday Flashback 1.
My first public nekkie experience. NOPE did that already as well – post q:4240309.
The examples go on and on, but you get the picture. Plus I wanted to show that (if forced to!) I could write about something non-sexual. 😂

I finally hit on an idea that might be fun for me to write, and just as importantly, fun for you to read. Some of you know that I worked my entire adult life in the aviation industry so I settled on writing about my first trip on an airplane. It’s a story which includes a scary turn.

I was probably about 9 years old. As we did every year, my parents, my younger sister, and I, had traveled from Pennsylvania to Alabama by car to visit family. This particular year we decided to stay longer than the usual two weeks. My father had to get back to work, so traveled by car back to PA without us. My mother, sister, and I were to travel back later by air – the first airplane trip for any of us!

The short leg from Birmingham to Atlanta was uneventful. On the departure from Atlanta I specifically recall thinking “I don’t remember the runway being this rough when we landedâ€. I also noticed two guys in uniform assume the crash brace position. (Aka “put you head between your knees and kiss your ass goodbyeâ€.)

Eventually the plane came to a stop and we were told to remain seated until steps could be brought out to allow us to exit. Upon doing so we could see the plane has stopped roughly 7 feet before the end of the runway! We were later told a tire blew and got sucked into the engine. Several hours later we boarded another plane and continued on to Philly. Many years later my mother remarked that her biggest fear was the either me or my sister would be so traumatized that we’d not want to board the replacement flight, and she’d have to figure out another way to get all of us home from Atlanta. Despite this rough introduction, I went on to become pilot myself, and to pursue a 44 year career in the aviation industry