The Slice: A second helping of first flights

Wound up with way more “first flight” stories than I could squeeze in.

But before we bring this theme in for a landing, here are two more.

Dave Hutton’s first trip in an airplane was in September 1966, when he flew from Atlanta to Seattle via San Francisco.

“The purpose was to meet my fiance’s parents,” he said.

Dave and Sylvia, who live in Pullman, have been married almost 48 years now. “So I believe the trip was a success.”

Here’s another.

“I was a freshman at WSU 50 years ago when a fraternity brother of mine (Joe) had a friend (Pat) visit Pullman,” wrote John Mraz.

“Pat was a pilot, so they decided to rent a small plane for an hour. They invited me to tag along. I had never been in any plane before so I jumped at the chance.

“We got up in the air and were circling Pullman when the motor started coughing and sputtering. Pat was hurriedly troubleshooting the problem. After Joe and Pat felt I couldn’t get any whiter, he pushed the choke in and it ran fine. They laughed sooooooo hard at my panic.

“Pat then banked the plane hard to the right. That’s when my door flew open. Had I not been belted in, I would have dropped right out of the plane and probably would have starved to death before I hit the ground. Now their complexions matched mine.

“We landed a few minutes later. Not much said on the car ride back to the fraternity house. I have never been on a small plane since.”

Wardrobe malfunctions: “When I got home following a four-set gig on stage at Ahab’s Whale in front of a good crowd (as a member of the Urban Coyote Bush Band), I discovered that my shirt was, and had been all night, on inside-out,” wrote Dick Warwick.

The sound of music: Thanks to all who phoned The Slice Hotline and sang a line from the Don McLean song “American Pie.”

Extra credit to those who realized Tuesday was the anniversary of the 1959 plane crash McLean immortalized as “The day the music died.”

I’ll address readers’ spirited vocal performances on Saturday.

Today’s Slice question: How do you react when you realize you overslept?