Posts: 372
From:
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 10-30-2006 06:29 PM            

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Today Robert "Hoot" Gibson turnes 60 years old. This is a happy day for him and his family, but also a very sad one. He is being forced to retire from his 10 year job as a pilot with Southwest Airlines because of his age.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4293785.html

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Mike

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Moderator's note: For discussion of the above linked Chronicle article, see here.

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[Edited by collectSPACE Admin (October 30, 2006).]

Posts: 287
From: Louisiana
Registered: Jan 2006

posted 10-30-2006 06:37 PM               

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I've flown a lot of airlines, but never Southwest.

Has anyone here flown Southwest and had Hoot as their pilot?

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385th Bombardment Group (H)

Posts: 372
From:
Registered: Mar 2006

posted 10-30-2006 06:53 PM            

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quote:

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Originally posted by AstronautBrian:
I've flown a lot of airlines, but never Southwest.

Has anyone here flown Southwest and had Hoot as their pilot?

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Not me, but someone I know of has.
Riding Rockets: Pg.358
"I occasionally run into a TFNG in my travels. I once crossed patchs with Hoot Gibson in his capacity as a Sothwest Airlines pilot and had cause to regret it. In the late 1990s I was a passenger on a flight he was piloting. As the jet reached cruise altitude, he announced over the intercom that "world-famous astronaut Mike Mullane was aboard and would be happy to sign autographs." To ensure my distress, he added my seat number. A line formed and a few old ladies grabbed their cameras for photos. I wanted to leap from the plane to escape the severe embarrassment. Better dead than look bad."

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Mike

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From: Killingly, CT
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