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{"id":1014,"date":"2018-11-15T16:51:48","date_gmt":"2018-11-15T22:51:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1014"},"modified":"2018-11-15T16:51:48","modified_gmt":"2018-11-15T22:51:48","slug":"new-horizons-part-three","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/?p=1014","title":{"rendered":"New Horizons – Part Three"},"content":{"rendered":"New Horizons \u2013 Part Three<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Kaz Travels North<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n We talked it over for a long time and it was finally decided that the best thing to do was to bring Kaz to Oklahoma City to stay with me until I graduated from the Academy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this, I thought, was almost an exact replay of what Sharon had experienced with my mom those many years ago when, as a result, I had been forced to fly my pregnant wife from Houston to Reno.<\/p>\n Luckily, this time around I had the money, as the FAA was paying my salary plus, I had received a healthy advance on my per diem.\u00a0 So we made plans for Kaz to fly to Oklahoma City and move into my apartment.\u00a0 Because she still couldn\u2019t drive, we knew and accepted that it would be hard for her to spend all day by herself while I was in school, but with her usual \u201ccan-do\u201d attitude she told me not to worry\u2014she would make sure to stay busy by tidying up the apartment and making sure dinner was always on the table when I got home.\u00a0 A few days later she made the short flight from Houston and we settled comfortably into the shared apartment.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t want to make Kaz more uncomfortable than she already seemed regarding her and my mom\u2019s disagreements, but one evening while we were out to dinner, I casually prodded her on what she thought had brought on the initial discord between them.<\/p>\n \u201cWell,\u201d she said, resting her chin in the cup of her hand, \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 But you know, I noticed she stopped being nice to me right after she got the perm.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPerm?\u00a0 What perm?\u00a0 My mom got a perm?\u201d<\/p>\n In all the years I\u2019d lived with my parents I had never seen my mom visit a hair salon, much less pay money to have a hair stylist give her a perm.\u00a0 In her pre-church days I recall her giving herself what in those days was known as a \u201cTony\u201d\u2014a home-administered permanent that came in a box filled with various rollers, papers, and solutions and was usually sold in drug stores.\u00a0 The brand name \u201cTony\u201d, meaning \u201csharp\u201d or \u201cclassy\u201d (in the vernacular of the late 1940\u2019s and 1950\u2019s) was marketed to those women who couldn\u2019t afford, or wouldn\u2019t set foot in a hair salon.<\/p>\n After she became a devout Pentecostal, giving herself a Tony was entirely out of the question as it was considered vain and sinful.\u00a0 Instead, she had settled for wet pin curls and creative brush-ups with lots of bobby pins.<\/p>\n \u201cYes,\u201d Kaz replied.\u00a0 \u201cAnd the perm she got\u2026well, it was very\u2026uh, very\u2026curly.\u201d<\/p>\n When she first mentioned the perm, I had imagined my mom\u2019s still dark brown hair in gently flowing waves, with maybe a little pompadour in the front.\u00a0 But curly?<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you mean, curly?\u00a0 You mean wavy?\u201d\u00a0 Thinking that maybe Kaz had used the wrong word.<\/p>\n \u201cNo!\u00a0 I know wavy.\u00a0 She wasn\u2019t wavy, she was curly.\u00a0 You know, like koko-gin (negro) hair. \u00a0You have English name for new style\u2026I think maybe it\u2019s called an \u201cAfriko\u201d hairstyle.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAfriko?\u00a0 There\u2019s no such thing, unless you mean \u2018Afro\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes! Hai!\u00a0 That\u2019s it!\u00a0 Afro!!\u00a0 She got Afro permanent!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve got to be kidding!\u00a0 You mean it was all kinky and round?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh yes, and very black.\u00a0 She color it too.\u00a0 She show me when she got home and she thought it look pretty good.\u00a0 She very proud.\u00a0 But not me.\u00a0 I think it look awful.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAhh\u2026you didn\u2019t say anything to her about that, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSure!\u201d she said emphatically.\u00a0 \u201cI told her she look silly.\u00a0 That hairstyle not for old ladies\u2026it was for young girls and look better on koko-gin anyway.\u00a0 Young koko-gin!\u00a0 It\u2019s natural for them, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh my God, Kaz!\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to be kidding me!\u00a0 How could you say that to her?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, so what?\u00a0 It very true.\u00a0 She look silly in stupid (pronounced, \u201cstupee\u201d) Afro.\u00a0 Then she got all mad when I told her that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat did you expect her to do!?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know.\u00a0 It was truth.\u00a0 All I did was tell her the truth.\u00a0 I cannot lie about that.\u00a0 Somebody have to tell her she look stupee.\u201d<\/p>\n Now that\u2019s one thing that Kaz had going for–and against her.\u00a0 She did not believe in lying about anything; during our marriage it would prove to be both a blessing and a curse.\u00a0 In her formative years she had apparently never learned the art of diplomacy, subtlety, or tact.\u00a0 Her mind and her mouth had no filter when it came to expressing her opinion; when we were in mixed company I was constantly on guard hoping that she wouldn\u2019t blurt out something insulting or insensitive when she was just trying to be truthful.<\/p>\n \u201cKaz!\u00a0 I can\u2019t believe you said that to her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, I did.\u00a0 Then she run into her room and stayed there for long time.\u00a0 I thought maybe her head hurt with new curly hair, so I thought I\u2019d do something nice for her and I went to kitchen and began to clean refrigerator and freezer.\u00a0 When she finally come out she was all mad and told me she didn\u2019t want me to touch anything in her kitchen anymore.\u00a0 I don\u2019t understand why she act so mean to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you insulted her!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout what?\u00a0 I clean her refrigerator!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not that!\u00a0 You insulted her when you told her she looked stupid with an afro.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat not insult.\u00a0 That was truth!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOkay, now listen.\u00a0 You have to learn that sometimes people don\u2019t want to hear the truth.\u00a0 Sometimes people do silly things that deep inside they may regret and feel sorry for, but the last thing they want to hear is other people saying things to them that may reinforce that feeling of shame and regret.\u00a0 Understand?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u00a0 Why they don\u2019t want to hear the truth?\u00a0 If they hear the truth maybe they don\u2019t do those silly things again.\u00a0 No, I don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 Americans are silly.\u00a0 Wakara-nai, mo\u2026\u201d (I don\u2019t know).<\/p>\n \u201cAll right, how about this?\u00a0 From now on, when you feel the urge to say something to someone who you feel needs to hear the truth, try not saying anything at all.\u00a0 Just keep it to yourself.\u00a0 In fact, how about just holding the thought and telling me about it later when we\u2019re alone.\u00a0 Then we can talk about it and I can help you decide if it\u2019s wise to say something.\u00a0 I know you\u2019re still trying to figure out our American culture and I think that\u2019ll go a long way to achieving that goal.\u00a0 What do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI still think it\u2019s silly, but I will try.\u00a0 American culture is very strange.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know.\u00a0 Now we have to figure out how to fix this thing with mom.\u00a0 Next time I call her\u2014and for sure before we go back down to Houston\u2014I\u2019ll try to explain that you meant no harm.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s going to do it but I\u2019ll do my best.\u00a0 Mom is sensitive about a few things\u2014and as most women\u2014very sensitive about her appearance.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy she so sensitive? She\u2019s old woman!\u00a0 She should accept her age and know she no look so good anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAh\u2026just take my word for this, OK?\u00a0 Please never mention anything about my mom\u2019s appearance to her face anymore.\u00a0 We have an old American saying that goes like this: If you can\u2019t say anything nice, don\u2019t say anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHah\u2026stupee American saying.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n As it turned out, Kaz\u2019s arrival proved to be a bit of a boon to Bill in the beginning.\u00a0 Whereas before I would have to constantly remind him to not leave his crap all over the shared living room, dining room and kitchen, Kaz would spend each morning tidying up and mostly trashing Bill\u2019s leftover pizza boxes and empty soft drink containers.\u00a0 More often than not he\u2019d leave some article of clothing, like a Tshirt or his flip-flops on the floor and she\u2019d push them up against his bedroom door so she could vacuum the floor.<\/p>\n When I found out that she was doing this I had a hard talk with Bill, reminding him that my wife had not been sent for to be his personal maid.\u00a0 Afterwards he took more care and stopped leaving his stuff around but his hygiene continued to be spotty.<\/p>\n A couple of weeks after Kaz arrived, Bill told us that his wife would be flying in from New York to spend the last couple of weeks of our training at our apartment.\u00a0 He was beyond giddy and suggested that for our first weekend together we should plan a Sunday barbecue.\u00a0 We all thought that would be a great idea, and after Bill insisted that he would buy and grill the steaks, we volunteered to supply all the rest of the fixings.<\/p>\n Marilyn was scheduled to arrive on one Friday afternoon and Bill hurried after class to pick her up at the airport.\u00a0 Since our class had planned to celebrate at a restaurant that evening anyway after having completed the next to last set of complex problems (actually they were what would be considered final examinations), Bill said he\u2019d just meet us there after picking her up.<\/p>\n Kaz and I were anxious to meet Marilyn after everything Bill had told us about her.\u00a0 She was a ravishing beauty, her parents were wealthy and lived in upper New York State, and supposedly had been dead set against their eldest daughter marrying Bill.\u00a0 He bragged about how he\u2019d won her over in spite of her parents\u2019 resistance and how he\u2019d gone out of his way to intentionally antagonize them during family visits.\u00a0 I imagined that spending an evening in close proximity of Bill after he\u2019d not showered or changed underwear for a few days would probably antagonize just about anyone.<\/p>\n After we\u2019d finished our drinks and were in the process of ordering dinner, Bill showed up with Marilyn.\u00a0 She was not unattractive, but definitely a letdown after all of Bill\u2019s bragging about her ravishing beauty.\u00a0 Tall, blonde, with cold blue eyes, a sharp nose, and tight thin lips, her deportment reminded me of a stern unsmiling English teacher who was about to ask for that homework assignment she knew I didn\u2019t have completed on time.<\/p>\n We shook hands all around and proceeded to order our meal.\u00a0 To our surprise Bill loudly instructed the waiter that the dinner and drink check should come to him, then beamed gleefully at Marilyn who seemed to ignore him while intently studying her nails.<\/p>\n Kaz looked at me questioningly and I, with a rapidly growing sense of apprehension, prayed that she was not getting ready to make some truthful statement about Marilyn turning out not to be as pretty as Bill had made her out to be.\u00a0 Mercifully, she must\u2019ve seen the growing sense of panic on my face and instead smiled sweetly, squeezed my hand, and took a dainty sip from her drink.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n As promised, Bill and Marilyn left the apartment early Saturday afternoon to do the grocery shopping for our grilled steak dinner later on that afternoon.\u00a0 Kaz and I had volunteered to pick up salad fixings, potatoes and corn on the cob, but Bill had insisted they\u2019d pick up everything since they were going out, then we could prepare our part while he and his wife cooked up the steaks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to buy the very best and biggest steaks we can find!\u201d Bill had promised as they walked out the door.\u00a0 Meanwhile we also left the apartment to do a little shopping for ourselves and the rest of the dinner items.<\/p>\n As it turned out, we stayed out a little longer than what we\u2019d planned, and by the time we got back we could already smell the charcoal grill going in the small patio just outside the kitchen door.\u00a0 We walked in with bags loaded with potatoes for baking, salad for tossing, and pie and ice cream for dessert.\u00a0 Bill and Marilyn were both standing in front of the sink with the water running full blast as Kaz and started emptying out the loaded grocery bags.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry we ran a bit late,\u201d I said as I pulled out four huge baking potatoes, \u201cbut it won\u2019t take us but a few minutes to rinse these babies off and pop them into the oven.\u00a0 Let me know when you\u2019re done with the sink.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll be done in just a few seconds,\u201d Marilyn said over her shoulder.\u00a0 \u201cThese steaks are just about done.\u201d<\/p>\n It took me a couple of beats for that to sink in.<\/p>\n \u201cUh, what\u2019re you doing with the steaks in the sink?\u201d I asked, almost cautiously.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re rinsing them!\u201d Bill said, as if I should\u2019ve known.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRinsing them!\u201d Marilyn repeated, a little annoyed.\u00a0 \u201cAnd they\u2019re just about ready to cool off in the fridge.\u201d<\/p>\n I walked over to the sink and to my sheer amazement saw them rinsing and squeezing four large slabs of meat.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat in the hell are you guys doing to those steaks?\u201d I asked, almost not believing what I was seeing.<\/p>\n Bill held one up and said, \u201cWe\u2019re washing them off and squeezing all the nasty blood out of them.\u00a0 Why?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026\u2018Why\u2019 is what I should be asking you.\u00a0 Are you crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo,\u201d Bill said, arching his eyebrows.\u00a0 \u201cWe always do it this way.\u00a0 You never know who had their hands on the meat, and they\u2019re all still full of blood and stuff.\u00a0 If you cook them with all that blood inside it just leaks out on your plate when you cut into it.\u00a0 It\u2019s gross, isn\u2019t it honey?\u201d\u00a0 Marilyn nodded sagely while looking at Kaz and me as if we were savages.<\/p>\n \u201cUh Okay, I guess.\u201d\u00a0 As I stared at the meat I noticed something even stranger.\u00a0 \u201cBill, what cut of meat is that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCut?\u00a0 It\u2019s steak!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat kind of steak?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, well we just looked for the package that looked the biggest and we picked these out.\u00a0 They were in the steak section of the store.\u00a0 They look great, don\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell Bill, those are beef, but I don\u2019t think they\u2019re steaks for grilling.\u00a0 What did the package say?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t remember exactly, but it said, steak.\u201d<\/p>\n Where\u2019s the package they came in?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know!\u00a0 I think we put them in the trash under the sink.\u201d<\/p>\n I gently pushed him out of the way and dug out the white plastic tray with the cellophane wrapping.\u00a0 I looked at the label and saw that they\u2019d bought four round steaks.<\/p>\n \u201cThis cut of meat is going to be really chewy unless you marinate is for a few hours,\u201d I said, as Bill stood there with a round steak dripping in his hand. \u201cWorse, you\u2019ve squeezed out and washed away all its natural juices by rinsing and wring them out.\u00a0 When they come off the grill they\u2019re bound to be as tough as shoe leather.\u201d<\/p>\n They both stared at me blankly.<\/p>\n \u201cIs this the way you guys grill your steaks at home?\u201d I asked cautiously.<\/p>\n \u201cWell\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Bill stammered.\u00a0 \u201cTo tell the truth, we don\u2019t eat steak that often.\u00a0 And Marilyn doesn\u2019t cook that much.\u00a0 So\u2026..\u201d<\/p>\n I instantly felt bad for the way I\u2019d hammered them, and I just stood there holding the wrinkled piece of cellophane in my hand.\u00a0 Surprisingly, it was Kaz who broke the uncomfortable silence.<\/p>\n \u201cNo problem!\u201d she said, cheerfully.\u00a0 \u201cWe can go out and eat big hamburgers then come home and eat pie and ice cream!\u00a0 Tomorrow I can make something with the potatoes!\u00a0 OK?\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn\u2019s pointy nose began to wrinkle upwards, but Bill quickly spoke up.\u00a0 \u201cGreat!\u00a0 And tell you what.\u00a0 Because it seems we screwed up the steaks we\u2019ll pay for the burgers!\u00a0 Won\u2019t we honey?\u201d<\/p>\n Marilyn looked like she wanted to say no, but seemed to quickly decide otherwise.\u00a0 \u201cSure, why not.\u201d<\/p>\n As we started to head out the door I suddenly remembered the grill.\u00a0 \u201cOh hey!\u00a0 We can\u2019t leave the grill smoking like that.\u00a0 Let\u2019s at least take the cover off and let the charcoal burn itself out.\u201d<\/p>\n Bill and Marilyn looked quizzically at each other.\u00a0 \u201cGrill?\u00a0 What grill?<\/p>\n \u201cBut I thought I smelled burning charcoal when we pulled in the driveway\u201d I said.<\/p>\n \u201cNo, that wasn\u2019t us, it was the couple next door.\u00a0 They\u2019ve had their damn grill going all afternoon and the smoke is coming over the dividing fence.\u201d<\/p>\n I stopped just outside the door and asked, \u201cSo you guys never lit our grill?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, heavens no,\u201d Marilyn said icily, \u201cWe planned to cook the steaks in the oven in the kitchen.\u00a0 Cooking over charcoal is just so nasty.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, well of course.\u201d I said and grabbed Kaz by the arm before she decided to say something truthful.\u00a0 \u201cLet\u2019s just help them clean up and get ready to go back out.\u201d<\/p>\n In a few minutes, with very little said we all went out the door and piled into Bill\u2019s car.<\/p>\n As it turned out, the burgers were great, and the pie and ice cream were fabulous.\u00a0<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n Finals and Fear of Failing<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n The last two weeks at the academy were devoted to reviewing all we\u2019d learned the previous seven weeks of training and taking the final set of complex problems.\u00a0 The bar was set extremely high\u2014all the problems would have to be passed with absolutely no separation or confliction errors.<\/p>\n There were five sets of problems, each consisting of three separation scenarios of increasing complexity.\u00a0 They were taken in a room resembling an actual airspace sector at an air traffic control center.\u00a0 The academy had an assigned cadre of mock \u201cpilots\u201d whose job it was to sit in another room and request clearances, changes of altitude, permission to depart and land, and in short, respond to each student controller\u2019s instructions as real pilots would do.\u00a0 Communication between \u201cpilot\u201d and controller were made via a continuously open telephone line hooked up to each participant\u2019s headset.\u00a0 Although the problem consisted of many different aircraft types, the one mock pilot acted out all the parts.<\/p>\n Each student, while working the problem, was monitored by two instructors: one, watching the student\u2019s strip marking techniques and phraseology (that is, correct usage of all the ATC approved writing shortcuts, and spoken language), while the other instructor carefully judged whether or not the student was employing proper separation minimums between aircraft and applying the correct rule thereof.\u00a0 Each problem was approximately an hour in duration and consisted of between ten to twenty simulated aircraft.<\/p>\n Although each problem was designed to last an hour, many times it would last longer.\u00a0 Time was determined by a clock that was started at the beginning of the problem and stopped at its termination.\u00a0 However, if either of the instructors noted an issue that he\/she wanted to discuss with the student during the problem, the order to \u201cstop the clock\u201d was immediately issued.\u00a0 Time was therefore immediately suspended while the student was interrogated as to why a particular type of separation was being utilized, asked to quote the exact separation rule that was being used, or to explain why no rule of separation was needed between two seemingly conflicting aircraft.<\/p>\n Once his questions were answered correctly the instructor would order \u201cstart the clock\u201d and the problem would resume.\u00a0 If, however, the student was not able to provide a correct answer\u2014or a confliction between two or more aircraft had occurred\u2014the instructor would declare that the problem was over.\u00a0 This always meant that the student had failed this particular problem\u2014and if it was a final problem\u2014was out of the program.\u00a0 The shouted phrase \u201cStop the clock!\u201d would literally make a student almost jump out of his seat.<\/p>\n To say the pressure to complete a problem successfully was extremely intense would be an understatement.<\/p>\n To prepare for this final set of problems it wasn\u2019t enough to just put in the time in the classroom; one was required to put in countless hours after class and on weekends.\u00a0 This was one of the reasons the FAA required there to be two students housed in one apartment unit.\u00a0 We were given sheets of practice problems to take home and administer to one another.\u00a0 The more time one devoted to studying and working these problems at home the better chance one had of passing the finals.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, for some of our classmates it made no difference how much time they put in studying and working practice problems.\u00a0 They just didn\u2019t get it.\u00a0 I have often answered those who\u2019ve asked me what it takes to be an air traffic controller by simply saying this:\u00a0 To be a successful controller, one must not only be able to memorize and instantly recall and apply one of thousands upon thousands of rules and regulations, one must also be able to mentally visualize five, ten, fifteen or twenty aircraft at different locations and altitudes\u2014all going in different directions at the same time.\u00a0 In my opinion, this has little to do with intelligence and more to do with just having the knack, or instinctive ability, to do so.<\/p>\n There is no doubt that my roommate Bill, regardless of his lack of hygiene, was a highly intelligent individual.\u00a0 He had graduated college with a relatively decent GPA, and been a fairly effective Naval Aviation pilot, flying one of the most complex fighter jets in the military.\u00a0 Yet for all his intelligence, most times he was at a loss on how to separate two aircraft converging towards one another at the same altitude.\u00a0 Perhaps if he\u2019d been given a radar scope where he could visually see the potential confliction, he would\u2019ve been more successful, but in our initial training the radar scope had to exist in our imagination.<\/p>\n During the last week of finals Bill and I spent countless hours late into the night going over practice problems in our apartment while our wives slept soundly in their respective bedrooms.\u00a0 Time and time again Bill would commit the fatal error of clearing two or more imaginary aircraft into conflicted airspace without realizing he had done so.<\/p>\n For me, it was maddening that he couldn\u2019t see the situation developing.\u00a0 For example, he would have a flight plan for a flight on the ground requesting to depart and asking to climb to five-thousand feet.\u00a0 At the same time, there would be another aircraft due to overfly that same airport at five thousand feet.\u00a0 The obvious thing to do was to clear the departing aircraft to four thousand feet and wait until the conflicting aircraft was clear to climb the departure to five thousand feet.\u00a0 But to Bill, that made no sense.\u00a0 He would try to explain to me that there was no way the departure would conflict with the overflight because the departure would see the other plane and avoid a collision by staying at four thousand until he was clear.\u00a0 He explained that when he was flying in the Navy, he\u2019d done this many times.<\/p>\n He just wouldn\u2019t listen nor, would he try to reason this out.\u00a0 I just knew he was going to fail the finals.<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n I was scheduled to take my final a few hours before Bill.\u00a0 If I was successful, I would have a couple of days of down time before the course was completely over and I was looking forward to having some time off\u2014regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n My test time was at 1:00 pm, right after lunch.\u00a0 I was so nervous that I spent the lunch hour mentally going over every scenario that had been presented to us over the past few weeks.\u00a0 Although I was confident that I could \u201csee traffic\u201d (the ATC term for being able to detect and project conflictions) I wasn\u2019t so sure that I could quote each rule if made to do so.<\/p>\n At the appointed time I was asked to enter the one of the four mock control rooms and take my seat in front of the slanted boards\u2014called bays\u2014holding twenty or so flight progress strips.\u00a0 The room was just big enough to allow two controllers and four instructors to sit in front of the bays.\u00a0 Above the bays were aviation flight charts depicting the make-believe Oklahoma Center airspace, complete with airways and navaids.\u00a0 Although they were there to provide assistance in case the controller needed confirmation regarding an airway or a navaid, during a final the maps were covered with a cloth shroud.<\/p>\n The two instructors already had their headsets plugged into their receptacles and as I took my seat they handed me my headset.\u00a0 Once plugged in I heard the mock pilot give me a radio check.<\/p>\n \u201cOklahoma Center, this is your pilot, how do you read?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPilot, loud and clear,\u201d was my response.\u00a0 My mouth was dry, and I sorely needed a drink of water.<\/p>\n \u201cOK, Frank,\u201d one of the instructors behind me said.\u00a0 \u201cJust do what you know how to do.\u00a0 We\u2019ve watched you for all these weeks and we know you are good at seeing traffic, so all you need to do now is work the board just like you have in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOK.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre you ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cPilot, are you ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAffirmative!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOK, let\u2019s start the clock.\u201d<\/p>\n I reached up and flipped the switch, activating the clock.<\/p>\n \u201cOklahoma Center, this is N7432R checking in at seven-thousand.\u201d\u00a0 My first radio call.<\/p>\n \u201cN7432R roger, this is Oklahoma Center.\u00a0 Report over Ponca City, altimeter is 2980.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger altimeter, and we\u2019ll report over Ponca City.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem had begun, and for the next fifty-eight minutes I was totally immersed in the world of imaginary airplanes all trying to run into each other.<\/p>\n \u201cOK!\u00a0 Stop the clock!\u201d<\/p>\n Those words shocked me to my core and my stomach tightened in sheer panic.<\/p>\n \u201cGreat job, Frank!\u00a0 You\u2019re going to make a good controller.\u00a0 Congratulations!\u201d<\/p>\n I sat back in my chair and slowly pulled the headset off my head feeling my heart begin to slow down.\u00a0 \u201cIs it over?\u201d I asked tentatively.<\/p>\n \u201cYup, you\u2019re done.\u201d<\/p>\n I turned around and saw my two instructors beaming at me and each other.\u00a0 I felt a trickle of sweat roll down the side of my ribcage and I stood up.<\/p>\n \u201cYou really did well, Frank,\u201d one of the instructors said.\u00a0 \u201cNow clean up your board and go take a well-deserved break.\u201d<\/p>\n ***<\/p>\n There were about a half dozen students in the breakroom and the mood was jovial as all had passed their finals.\u00a0 I looked for Bill but then remembered that his test time was scheduled right after mine.\u00a0 He would be in one of the control rooms now taking his final.\u00a0 I did not feel confident that he would pass\u2014especially if he started arguing with one of the instructors over what he thought was or was not a confliction.<\/p>\n Further, as a problem got more difficult, he would begin getting so nervous that he\u2019d start stammering and mixing up aircraft call signs.\u00a0 Whereas I would hate it when during our practice problems an instructor would stop the clock to explain how perhaps a particular type of separation rule might work better than the one I\u2019d used, Bill frequently asked the instructor to stop the clock if for nothing else but to gain time regather his thoughts.<\/p>\n About an hour later Bill finally walked into thea break room.\u00a0 He had failed his problem.<\/p>\n \u201cOh no!\u201d I exclaimed sympathetically.\u00a0 \u201cWhat\u2019s gonna happen now?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey have to get approval from headquarters, but I\u2019ll probably get to go back to Houston on a probationary basis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBut you\u2019re not fired, are you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, not yet.\u00a0 I was told I probably wouldn\u2019t be fired from the FAA, but that I\u2019d be reclassified and sent to a non-ATC facility like a flight service station.\u201d\u00a0 (This type of facility provides weather, airport, and flight information to VFR flights.) \u00a0\u201cBut all that won\u2019t be done here\u2026it\u2019ll be done in Houston after I get back.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh Bill.\u00a0 I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s okay, I guess.\u00a0 It\u2019s just that I was never comfortable trying to do this job anyway.\u00a0 But I did it for Marilyn.\u00a0 I did it all for her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, she loves you and she\u2019ll understand what happened.\u00a0 Look, it\u2019s not the end of the world.\u00a0 The FAA will get you another assignment and you\u2019ll do just fine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t understand.\u00a0 She told me that if I failed, she was flying back to New York.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, that can\u2019t be true!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, it is.\u00a0 You don\u2019t know her.\u00a0 If I didn\u2019t make it as a controller, she told me she didn\u2019t want to be with me.\u00a0 She\u2019ll never accept being married to a failure.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBill!\u00a0 The FAA will take care of you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what?\u00a0 Get me a job at a flight service station in Cotulla, Texas?\u00a0 Marilyn would never live there.\u00a0 She made it perfectly clear that the only way she\u2019d live in Texas, or the southwest, was if I was working in an air route center making good money as a controller.\u00a0 Now, I\u2019ll never get any higher than a GS-9.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBill, she loves you and she\u2019ll understand.\u00a0 I know she will.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you see I\u2019ve already called her.\u00a0 She said she was flying back to New York tomorrow.\u00a0 Her parents will wire her a ticket.\u00a0 I\u2019ll be coming back to Houston by myself.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh no\u2026\u201d\u00a0 Suddenly I felt so terrible for Bill.\u00a0 And although he and I had had our moments of discomfort, I truly felt bad for him.\u00a0 It dawned on me that not only had he forever lost the opportunity to be an air traffic controller, it seemed that now he\u2019d also surely lost his marriage.<\/p>\n Later that afternoon, while I mingled with all the other successful air traffic control trainees at a nearby bar to celebrate our fortune and bright future, I couldn\u2019t help but wonder what Bill might be doing right then.<\/p>\n To be continued\u2026<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" New Horizons \u2013 Part Three \u00a0 Kaz Travels North We talked it over for a long time and it was finally decided that the best thing to do was to bring Kaz to Oklahoma City to stay with me until I graduated from the Academy.\u00a0 Unfortunately, this, I thought, was almost an exact replay of … Continue reading New Horizons – Part Three<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1014"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1019,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1014\/revisions\/1019"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frankdeleon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}