I was one of those Los Angeles Center controllers, late '60s, early '70s, that watched those T-29s wander aimlessly around the airspace.
Did Paul intend to exclude women–or anyone else–from the kingdom of heaven?
Did he suppose that “faith, love and charity” applied only to some of God’s people,
and not others? If so, then he was very childish, indeed–and hardly consistent
with Christ’s teachings, either in letter or spirit. Sister Belladonna would not be
amused, and no one else should be, lest Y-h clip their wings, just before takeoff.
You know how angry fathers can get–even a nice Jewish boy can’t control them.
There are several synonyms for verfranzen, including muddled, perplexed, addled, discombobulated,
and (most appropriately, for anyone interested in aviation) befogged. There are also the “standard”
translations (to lose one’s way, to lose one’s bearings–the latter could refer to someone on land, or
at sea). Whereas, befogged is a state of mind, as well as an atmospheric condition. There is also
another word, which may be superior to all the rest: confounded. You don’t hear it very often, but
it connotes complete bewilderment, coupled with dismay, anxiety, fear, and anger. Shakespeare’s
Sonnet 64 affords a perfect example:
When I have seen by Time’s fell hand defac’d
The rich-proud cost of outworn buried age;
When sometime lofty towers I see down-razed
And brass eternal, slave to mortal rage;
When I have seen the hungry ocean gain
Advantage on the kingdom of the shore,
And the firm soil win of the wat’ry main,
Increasing store with loss, and loss with store;
When I have seen such interchange of state,
Or state itself confounded to decay;
Ruin hath taught me thus to ruminate –
That Time will come and take my love away.
This thought is as a death, which cannot choose
But weep to have that which it fears to lose.
Here the word “confounded” means ‘baffled out of its wits, unable to cope with its problems,
losing its grip on reality and thus unable to control events, on the verge of self-annihilation,
having no idea of where it is, let alone where it is headed, having no idea what to do next,
or how to restore order,’ and so on. I prefer befogged, but confounded is both broader
in semantic scope and deeper in emotional resonance. Besides, it’s Shakespeare. If it’s
good enough for the Bard, it should fly anywhere you want to go, without getting lost or
mixed-up along the way–nicht Wahr?
Heading in a general direction and deciding which airport you want to land at after taking off isn’t so bad. But I do want to know where I am at all times. Just in case something goes amiss and I need to land ASAP. Nice to know where the airports are. And if we’re fat on fuel and can make it to any of the airports in the general area we’re headed, there’s nothing wrong with choosing one when we get close to the area while airborne. That’s one of the nice things about not having to file a flight plan for every flight with a pre-planned destination. Like over in Europe and other countries where everyone has to file a flight plan for every flight. I think in the UK I heard they can stay in the traffic pattern shooting landings, or “circuits” as they call them, with no flight plan. But that’s it.
The latest DOT stats from June 2021 show that SWA cancelled 3.3% of its flights, while NKS cancelled 0.6%. I expect better research from you, even in a humor piece.