Airplanes at SAI

I used to work at a place called Seiberling Associates (SAI) and the president was named Dale Seiberling. Dale liked to fly his own company plane and take people with him.

I was riding along in the co-pilot's seat and Dale asked me if he should do an upwards loop or a downwards loop. I was irritated with Dale so I said that I didn't give a damn. Dale put the plane in a steep dive for fun and I watched the ground come up towards me. A person sitting in the back was floating about a foot off his seat. This was Dale's idea of fun.

Dale liked to sleep while he was flying the plane so he told me to watch for planes to avoid hitting them. He had an alarm clock installed on the control panel of the plane to wake him up when he was flying alone and fell asleep.

Dale had unintended adventures while flying that were legendary in the company. I was not there for these adventures but they sounded about right.

Dale had a fight with the person fueling his plane so he didn't get all of his fuel and the cap appeared to be loose. Dale had his wife and some business people in the plane with him when he took off. The left engine quit while they were flying but Dale said "Don't worry this plane has two engines". Then the right engine quit and Dale declared an emergency on the plane. "Mayday Mayday" said Dale on the radio and requested help with guidance to glide to a landing. Dale brought the plane in to a safe landing at an abandoned airport.

Another time Dale overloaded his plane with people and baggage. He clipped a power line with his wheel when he was taking off because he was overloaded. He managed to land the plane somehow. He wanted his passengers to get on the plane again with him for another try but they were reluctant and even his wife requested alternate transportation.

This is not a flying story but it is funny. Dale went on vacation with his wife to Egypt. The tour guide wanted to take everyone into the pyramid but Dale's wife didn't want to go into the pyramid because it didn't look safe. A local huckster came by with a camel at this time and asked if they wanted to have their picture taken on a camel by the pyramid. The huckster had them pay him and then made the camel kneel down so they could get on it. He then made the camel stand and took the picture. Then he informed them that it would cost extra to make the camel kneel again so they could get down. Dale was incensed and never would have paid but his wife insisted he pay to make the camel kneel so she could get on the ground again.