You ever seen an airplane land? There's nothing to it. Absolutely nothing. You bring the plane in gently, put the wheels down, stomp on the break — boom, you're done, you got your wings.
I know if I was at the helm it'd be a snap. And most of my fellow men correctly agree with me:
You're definitely not alone if you think you have the guts to [land a plane] While casually scrolling through the internet today, I saw a CNN article published Wednesday morning about a YouGov survey asking people if they could land a plane if they had to.
Now, you're probably thinking maybe a quarter of respondents think they could. Perhaps less. Nope. Forty six percent of male respondents believe they could pull it off...
Bro you know you could do it. You can picture the triumph after you bring that bird safely out of the sky. You can just taste it.
However, the ladies don't feel quite so confident:
[J]ust 20% of women [feel the same way].
Ladies, I'm sorry, I hope I don't offend you if I say:
I mean how hard can it be?!
You flip some switches, grab the yoke, adjust as needed, coast to a stop ... am I missing something here??
Beta male CNN, meanwhile, wants you to know that landing a plane is super-duper really-really hard or something:
To land successfully, a pilot must keep an appropriate speed while simultaneously managing gear and flap configuration, adhering to air traffic regulations, communicating with air traffic control and completing a number of paper and digital checklists.
Once the aircraft comes close to the runway, they must accurately judge its height, reduce power and adjust the rate of descent - ensuring they land on the correct area of the runway.
On the ground, they will use the brakes and reverse thrust to bring the aircraft to a complete stop before the runway ends. This all happens within just a few minutes.
You're not going to convince me, CNN, I know it can be done. Just give me the chance!
And if you need a refresher course on how to land a 747, go ahead and watch this pilot's helpful how-to:
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