You Know, Being A Test

You Know, Being A Test Pilot Isn't Always The Healthiest Business In The World.

I Woke Up An Hour Before I Was Supposed To, And Started Going Over The Mental Checklist: Where Do I Go From Here, What Do I Do? I Don't Remember Eating Anything At All, Just Going Through The Physical, Getting Into The Suit. We Practiced That So Much, It Was All Rote.

The First Plane Ride Was In A Homemade Glider My Buddy And I Built. Unfortunately We Didn't Get More Than Four Feet Off The Ground, Because It Crashed.

You've Done It In The Simulator So Many Times, You Don't Have A Real Sense Of Being Excited When The Flight Is Going On. You're Excited Before, But As Soon As The Liftoff Occurs, You Are Busy Doing What You Have To Do.

Of Course, In Our Grade School, In Those Days, There Were No Organized Sports At All. We Just Went Out And Ran Around The School Yard For Recess.