pre-flight superstitions

I love Bobbie Laurie and read his blog all the time.  He also writes for flightster, and I just had to share this with you.

So, what is my superstition when flying?  I pray the Hail Mary over and over and over during taxi and take off.  I do this all the way until I hear the ding that we cleared 10,000 ft.  No fail.  I started this on my first flight, and do it all the time now.  To add, once we taxi out and the pilot start reeving the engines to begin zooming down the runway, I need to fit in one Hail Mary before we lift off the ground.  Usually, you will find me totally quiet when we are taking off.  And now Steve will probably stare me down on our next flight to see if I am doing this.  I do it mostly because it calms me and distracts my mind.

 If I am anxious during flight, I will close my eyes and visualize a pair of angel wings on the top of the plane...I think those are guardian angel wings from my grandparents and uncle.  Hey, it helps! 

As for Steve, I know he has his own ritual, if you will, before most take offs.  Once they get the clear to take off and both pilots are ready to go, he will say three words "lights, clock, fuel" and then start going.  Lights so that his plane can be seen; clock to keep accurate flight time on the plane; and the fuel thing is obvious.  I bet he does this is more out of routine than anything, but it is still something he does before each take off.

Of course now before any flight, I am going to have to see what all the passengers do as their pre-flight superstition.

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