Rode in some in Africa last week. First time in, I thought the door was locked somehow and I couldn't figure how to open.
Then realized it was just that the door was so heavy I needed to lean into it a bit to get it started swinging open. If I just pulled the handle and didn't put any muscle into it, it was so weighty that it felt like it was still locked.
The things you learn.
Another thing I learned: when approaching a field strip, military aircraft--by routine--do a low flyover to check the field and then pull back up and out to do the real approach. Makes perfect sense, since no ATC to be looking over the whole thing.
But inside the plane, if you don't know that, it feels just like an aborted landing. Last time it happened to me was Atlanta due to birds on the runway. Scared the begeezus outta me.
On the C-130, which you can't see out of, I just figured it was something that made sense to the military so I rode it out casually, like all the officers around me. Since none of them spoke about it in real time, I just waited and asked somebody later.
And if you thought about it like a roller coaster, it's really pretty fun.
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