home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- ALMA
-
- I was in the window seat of a Piedmont 737, taxiing out at
- Washington National that morning. My destination was New Orleans
- with a change of planes in Atlanta. As we passed the transient
- ramp in front of Butler Aviation, I saw my old airplane. It had
- been repainted, but bore the same numbers along each side of the
- fuselage. The sight of it brought back a memory from the 1960's
- that marked the highlight of my brief career in commercial
- aviation.
-
- Officially, the airplane's registration number --- and radio call
- sign -- was N-5558B. But to my two partners and me --- and to
- the tower crew at her home airport in Opa Locka, Florida ---
- Beech Travelair N-5558B was "Triple Nickel 8-Ball." She was a
- outside business venture of three lawyers -- my two partners and
- me -- who shared a criminal-law practice in Miami, and a love of
- flying. Sherlock -- the name my father, an Arthur Conan Doyle
- fan, gave me --- earned the law firm some early publicity, and we
- were doing well enough to afford to buy Triple Nickel 8-Ball. Our
- aviation business involved flying bags of bank checks from Miami
- International Airport to Atlanta Hartsfield Airport where they
- were taken by van to the Federal Reserve Depository for
- processing. The income was predictable; but the flying wasn't --
- particularly in the summer when the Florida thunderstorms topped
- out at about 40,000 feet.
-
- What we admitted, to everyone but the I.R.S., was that our money-
- losing business was just an excuse to fly and hang around the
- airport's Fixed Base Operation trading lies with the other pilots
- and would-be pilots that inhabited the pilots' lounge.
-
- There was a flying school there -- a collection of Cessna 150's,
- young instructors with their eyes set on the airlines, and
- students from the local area. Late afternoon usually found a
- fair sprinkling of women in the pilots' lounge; some of them
- students, but mostly the girl-friends of the students and
- instructors. They all knew about our operation, and with
- suitable hints, could wrangle a ride in Triple-Nickel-8-Ball on
- our Miami-Atlanta-Miami trip when we wanted the company.
-
- A few weeks before, the female "regulars" in the lounge had
- jokingly announced formation of a local chapter of the "mile-
- high" club -- and that subject had replaced discussion of
- instrument-approaches and engine overhaul prices. As I
- understood it, the rules were simple: sex above 5280 feet,
- unaided by co- (or auto) pilot. The novelty of the topic wore off
- after a while; but one day a female student showed up with a
- small pendant hanging from her neck on a gold chain: a set of
- small gold wings with a cloisonne' panel in the center, bearing
- the numbers "5280." A second, and then third, pendant soon
- appeared on other necks. Although none of us had the nerve to
- ask, it appeared that the mile-high club was more than talk.
-
- My turn to fly the Atlanta run came up one Thursday. I usually
- got to the field after work, about two hours before the cargo
- would be ready in Miami, and had "dinner" -- which is stretching
- the term, from the vending machines in the lounge. The coffee
- machine, it was said, served a dual purpose, dispensing battery
- acid for the aircraft as well as slaking the thirsts of the
- pilots. That night, as I approached the machine, with quarter in
- hand, a voice said "I'll trade you some real coffee and the best
- pastrami sandwich in town for a ride to Atlanta." The invitation
- came from a short blond named Alma, a "primary student" in our
- parlance: one who was training for her private pilot license.
- She produced a picnic basket, a large thermos and an inviting
- smile. "OK,"`I said, "but I'll have to call Miami and get a
- weight for the cargo, first." "For reference, Captain," she
- said, "I'm 112, pounds, soaking wet."
-
- Actually, the "cargo weight" issue was only a ploy. If I didn't
- particularly feel like company on a given evening, it was easier
- to decline a request on "weight and balance" grounds. It also
- aided some rather subtle gender discrimination: it was amazing
- how often we had room for a 130 pound woman and not a 180 pound
- guy.
-
- For Alma, however the weight and balance problem was resolved
- when she first asked for the ride: she had mischievous blue
- eyes, a button nose, and pert breasts, not well-contained by a
- Harley-Davidson T-Shirt. I had heard from one of the instructors
- that she was a serious, bright student with the goal -- and
- apparently the talent -- to achieve an airline career.
-
- At the 'phone, I checked the weather. The short hop from Opa
- Locka to Miami was no sweat. It was "VFR" -- the initials for
- "visual flight rules," that permitted flying when the visibility
- was greater than 3 miles and the cloud ceiling greater than 1000
- feet. The rest of the route was another story, however. Atlanta
- was reporting a 500 foot broken ceiling, sky obscured, visibility
- of two miles, forecast to drop to 200 feet and a half-mile in
- rain and fog. The enroute conditions were free of thunderstorms,
- but ceilings along the route were low, typically 300-1000 feet.
- The ride would be smooth, but definitely "IFR" -- Instrument
- Flight Rules --requiring a suitably instrumented airplane and a
- pilot holding the coveted "instrument rating -- which I had
- acquired from eight-months of flying with a hood over my head,
- alongside a sadistic instructor who would simulate every sort of
- system failure known to man. I filed our flight plan for Atlanta,
- with Montgomery, Alabama as a weather alternate, gathered my maps
- -- "charts" in pilot lingo, and returned to the lounge to tell
- Alma she was welcome.
-
- I loaded Alma in the Travelair's right seat, handed her the
- checklist and fired-up the two engines. We, used the challenge
- and response system familiar to both of us: "Fuel on mains."
- "Check." "Boost pumps on." "Check." "Gyro set...." When the
- gauges read "in the green" Opa Locka ground control cleared me to
- the active runway and I departed with my newly-found friend to
- Miami. The turn-around there was short, delayed only by our
- ground-handler's hitting his head against the baggage door as a
- result of looking at Alma, instead of where he was going. We
- reboarded the airplane; as I reached over Alma to latch the
- passenger-side door, my arm brushed the front of the outstanding
- T-shirt she was wearing, Her reaction was to look me directly in
- the eyes, and smile.
-
- "Miami Clearance Delivery, Beech Triple Nickel 8-Ball at Butler
- with the numbers." This was a game. The same controller worked
- the ground position nearly every night; but would not yield to
- the "triple nickel eightball" informality. So, as usual, he
- answered with: "Aircraft calling Clearance Delivery, say again
- your call sign." Resigned to the game, I replied, slowly:
- "November five five five five eight Bravo, standing by for
- clearance." "Roger, November five-eight Bravo is cleared to the
- Atlanta airport, as filed. Fly runway heading after departure,
- maintain 2000, expect 4000 one-five minutes after departure.
- Miami departure control, 131.55. Squawk 0425." The rapid-fire
- readoff defined our route and direction of flight, the altitudes,
- radio frequencies and transponder codes that would allow tracking
- us on radar. I read back the clearance to him for confirmation,
- concluding with "triple nickel eight-ball." The reply was
- "readback correct, five-eight Bravo, have a good flight, ground
- point seven."
-
- After only a short delay, Alma and I were 25 miles from the Miami
- Airport and cleared to our requested altitude with a simultaneous
- "hand off" to the Miami Center: "Five-Eight Bravo, climb and
- maintain 4-thousand, report reaching to Miami Center on 133.45.
- Good day sir." We were "in the soup" -- a combination of fog and
- mist that accompanied the warm front that covered the east coast
- from Miami to New York. Visibility was limited to the wingtips
- where the red and green navigation lights were visible only as
- large, diffuse colored circles." We reached 4000 feet, so
- advised Miami, and sat back for a long night of flying as I
- trimmed the airplane for cruise.
-
- Although we were seated less than a foot from one another, we
- both wore headsets, which, when not being used for radio
- transmissions, worked as an intercom. I pressed the push-to-talk
- button, and, for lack of a better introduction to the night's
- conversation, asked Alma; "I've seen the new wings in the pilot's
- lounge; who's running for the president of the mile-high club?"
- She replied "they can't elect a president yet; all their flights
- have been illegal." "Illegal?" I said. "Yeah, there are only 3
- members so far and they all earned their wings with a student-
- pilot." That was the "illegal" part of it: student-pilots were
- "signed-off" for solo flights, but were absolutely forbidden, by
- FAA rules, to carry passengers, much less engage in sexual
- acrobatics with them. "Funny you should mention the club," she
- said, "would you like to see why I asked to come on this flight?"
- Without waiting for an answer, she produced a small black velvet
- jewelry case, and handed it to me." I retrieved a small penlight
- from my pocket, and illuminated a set of gold wings -- with 5280
- inscribed in the middle -- and hanging below, suspended by thin
- gold chain, three small panels inscribed: "Instrument," "Multi-
- Engine, and "Commercial."
-
- Alma turned to me, unfastened her seatbelt, removed her headset,
- and mine, put her lips to my ears, and said: "I've completed all
- my ground school courses, Sherlock. I can't think of anyone
- nicer to give me the check ride for my advanced ratings." I
- turned, in time to see Alma's T-shirt disappear over her head,
- revealing a taut pair of breasts in the red lighting of the
- cabin. It was only hours of training that forced my eyes back to
- the panel where I found the airplane 20 degrees east of its
- assigned heading at an altitude of 3800 feet, 200 feet below our
- assigned altitude. As I banked left and corrected the altitude
- discrepancy, I felt Alma's hand between my legs. I bent over to
- kiss her and soon received a warm tongue, deep in my mouth,
- producing the clearly intended effect beneath her hand.
-
- While Alma's`plans were perfectly clear, the associated logistics
- posed certain problems; the Travelair was a small aircraft, the
- back seats were full of mail bags, and the fact that we were on
- an instrument flight plan, with our progress monitored on radar,
- meant I would have to devote at least some attention to flying
- the plane. She snuggled up closer and I played with her left
- breast, rolling the nipple between my thumb and forefinger.
-
- The speaker crackled: "58 Bravo, Miami Center, now, on 123.35.
- Good day sir." "58 Bravo, roger, 123.35," I replied, and with
- one hand still on Alma's breast, I reached over and tuned the
- radio to the new frequency: "Miami Center, Beech 5558 Bravo with
- you on 123.35, maintaining 4000, requesting higher." The request
- for a higher altitude was essential to the matter at hand: we
- still were below the magic one-mile figure. The response was
- discouraging: "Unable higher at this time, 58 Bravo," the
- controller said, "you are overtaking traffic at 6 thousand, a B-
- 747 heavy; converging traffic, an Aztec at 5 thousand, 12
- o'clock, fifteen miles. I'll try to work out a higher for you
- after Orlando. Maintain 4000." I uttered the airman's universal
- complaint for circumstances like this: "Shit!" I said. Alma
- laughed, "Relax, Sherlock, it's a long way to Atlanta. Could you
- turn up the heat a bit." That was a reasonable request under the
- circumstances: while I had been talking to the Center, Alma had
- divested herself of all of her clothes and was shivering
- slightly. I flipped on the gasoline-fired cabin heater which
- immediately filled the cabin with warmth. I moved my hand down
- to the soft blond hair between Alma's legs, an act that filled me
- with warmth.
-
- There were equal amounts of passion and humor present now. We
- were still below the official altitude for mile-high
- inauguration, and I --- and, I suspect, Alma --- were wondering
- just how to "assume the position" in the cramped cockpit. I was
- reaching the point where the higher altitude was going to be
- needed soon. We had passed Orlando some time ago, and just as I
- raised the microphone to press the request for a higher altitude,
- the radio came alive "58 Bravo, Jacksonville Center, no joy on
- the higher altitude. Atlanta Center reports all altitudes above
- 5000 are occupied on your route of flight; maintain 4000." This
- was getting desperate. Perhaps the airways to our west would be
- less crowded: "Center, could we have a new routing that would
- permit a higher altitude?" "Standby" was the response, and as I
- set the microphone down, I felt a pull at my zipper. Alma's hand
- reached in and freed my cock from what had become, by that time,
- almost painful confinement. Bending down, she engulfed me with a
- warm, wet mouth and began making slow up and down motions..
-
- "58 Bravo, Jacksonville. Clearance." "Go ahead," I gasped, as
- Alma's ministrations below became more intense. "58 Bravo is
- cleared to the Atlanta airport, present position radar vectors
- Taylor, Victor 3 Alma, Victor 157, Atlanta. Maintain 4000 until
- passing Taylor. After Taylor, climb and maintain 6000. Cross
- Alma at or above 5000. Turn left now, heading 330." I grabbed
- my charts to identify the navigation fixes the controller had
- specified --- thinking I had misheard the "Alma" instruction. A
- warm, bare back served as a convenient chart table. There it
- was, a fix called "Alma;" it consisted of a VHF Navigation
- Station named after a nearby Georgia city. I read back the
- clearance to the Center, set course for Taylor, and sat back
- marvelling at the coincidence of names, and at Alma's talents,
- which were making both of us incredibly hot. As we passed over
- Taylor, I could take it no longer. I rolled the trim wheel up a
- notch, putting the airplane in a gentle climb, raised Alma's
- head, kissed her deeply and said "sit in my lap." I slid my seat
- back, Alma pulled herself up by the edges of the instrument
- panel. She said "like this, Sherlock?" And settled a very warm,
- wet cunt over my cock, easing me into her. "Mmmm, yeah," I
- replied, and she began moving up and down with shallow strokes.
- I reached around her, grasping the airplane's control yoke with
- one hand, squeezing the nipple of her right breast with the
- fingers of the other.
-
- The red beam from the cabin light, directly above her, gave
- Alma's shoulders a hypnotic, fiery aura. To her right, I could
- see the "DME" --- the Distance Measuring Equipment indicator ---
- clicking off the miles remaining until the Alma VOR. The plane
- climbed in synchrony with our excitement. Alma removed my hand
- from her breast, directing it downward between her legs, where my
- finger had no trouble locating her now prominent clit.
- Moistening my finger with the wetness that virtually flowed, now,
- from her vagina, I began rubbing the area around her clit in
- slow, circular motions.
-
- Only five miles remained on the DME. I thrust up into Alma, but
- could not penetrate her as deeply as I wanted, because of the
- awkward position. Suddenly, the navigation indicators swung
- wildly, indicating our passage over the Alma VOR, with the
- altimeter reading 5000 feet. I was now both over, and in, Alma,
- and cleared for the higher altitude. Thrusting up again, I
- pulled back sharply on the control yoke, raising the nose of the
- airplane rapidly, and pushing Alma's body down on my cock with a
- force of 2-G's. The altimeter spun up past 5300 feet. Alma, the
- stall-warning horn and I went off simultaneously. I pushed the
- nose down just as the airplane complained of its mistreatment
- with a pre-stall buffet. Reaching around Alma's right side, I
- fire-walled the throttles. The result was positive G's which
- pushed Alma and me toward the roof of the cabin, with my cock
- still deeply in her. She gasped, screamed and her pussy
- contracted around me as she reached the peak of her orgasm.
-
- The rest of the flight was too routine to merit discussion,
- except to say that Alma flew for a while as I used my mouth to
- play with her breasts and pussy. That little bit of flight
- instruction was revenge: I wanted her to feel what it was like to
- have to concentrate on altitude, attitude and airspeed, while
- waves of pleasure distract you.
-
- After we off-loaded the cargo in Atlanta, I called back to Miami
- to report that the right engine was running roughly. "Nothing
- serious," I said, "probably just a fouled plug; but I think I
- should stay here tonight and have it looked at in the morning."
- Alma and I found the airport motel with the 2-foot concrete
- walls. They were intended to protect guests from the noise of
- the landing and departing jets. That night, they isolated our
- neighbors from some pretty amazing sounds from within the room.
- Alma proved herself a very vocal, athletic lover. It wasn't
- until two days later that Alma appeared in the pilots' lounge
- wearing the set of wings bearing the instrument, multi-engine and
- commercial endorsements. She took a lot of kidding about the
- "commercial" endorsement, but refused to divulge where, when and
- with whom she took the check ride. I didn't see her again. That
- week, Uncle Sam decided my flying skills were needed more in
- Southeast Asia than in Florida. I spent two years flying the
- military big-brother of my airplane -- the Beech Baron --
- ferrying various important Army types, working diligently to lose
- the Vietnam conflict for us. After that, I moved to Washington,
- DC as an associate in a large, anonymous law firm. Partnership
- in the firm came six years later. Although the money was good, it
- came at a price: the medication I was taking for high blood-
- pressure caused the FAA to revoke my medical certificate. My
- flying days were over.
-
- As the Piedmont jet climbed over the Virginia countryside, my
- reverie was broken by a cabin announcement; "Ladies and
- gentlemen, this is Al Carey, your captain speaking. Along with
- our first-officer today, Alma Whitley, I'd like to welcome you to
- the continuation of Piedmont flight 232 to Atlanta. We will be
- cruising at an altitude of ......" Alma Whitley. Damn. The
- woman had a flair for coincidences.
-
- I waited until the other passengers exited the long aluminum
- tube, and followed the crew down the jetway. "Triple Nickel 8-
- Ball," I said, coming up behind a slim, short body topped by a
- shock of blond hair. She turned with an expression that was half
- annoyance, half quizzical. Then, recognition spread across her
- face in the form of a big smile. "Sherlock. My old check
- pilot."
-
- "Cathy," I said to my secretary on the airport pay phone, "call
- Al Mason's secretary in New Orleans and postpone our meeting
- until tomorrow morning. It looks like I'm going to have a long
- layover in Atlanta."
-
-