The runway is short

by John on August 17, 2009

Back before WWII started, the country of Bobedonia had acquired brand new B-17′s. The Chief Military pilot was flying the first B-17 in before the others. On the approach, the Captain said to his co-pilot:

"Runway is short, give me 10 degrees flaps."

The co-pilot reaches down and extends the flaps.

Further into the approach the captain says: "Runway is very short, give me 20 degrees flaps."

Again, the co-pilot drops the flaps down to 20 degrees.

About 2 miles from the threshold, the Captain says in a very urgent voice:

"Runway is very, very short, give me full flaps now,"

The co-pilot does what he his told. A few seconds later they touch down. Props are reversed and brakes are locked. When all the dust finally cleared, the airplane’s main gear was only a few inches away from the edge of the concrete. The flightcrew sigh in relief. The Captain turns toward the co-pilot and says:

"Runway is very, very, very short!" where the co-pilot responds:

"Yes, runway is very short, but is very, very wide."

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  4. Pilot misjudges runway and lands too fast and too far down it
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }

Gabriele Cripezzi August 18, 2009 at 01:07

LOL

CW August 23, 2009 at 05:02

Poor version of old joke… B-17 props don’t reverse.

Matthew Stibbe August 25, 2009 at 11:09

Thanks for the correction. Do you have a more factually-accurate version of this joke? Or perhaps you have some newer aviation jokes to share. We’d love to hear from you. Matthew

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