the raft at the point where the wind is coming from, to prevent the raft to tip over when the sea is rough and the wind can get underneath.
There are a lot of other steps to be taken, which will fill a few more pages of this book. So let’s leave it at that!
One more item to mention, a bible is also included, water proof packed, needing no instruction!
Well, one more piece of important equipment, among so many, should be the Gibson Girl, which is a radio signal apparatus; it gives a constant SOS signal and can be homed in on. It has the shape of a female body, which needed a lot of imagination to recognize it as ,girl‘, with a handle to crank some electricity into it, extremely hard to turn. To make it effective, a kite had to be launched, on a wire, to act as an antenna, and another wire to hang into the water to ground this whole paraphernalia. A hand-held two way radio or a cell phone was not invented yet. The handling of all the equipment and the locations, like fire extinguisher, oxygen bottles and first aid kits, was always a very important priority with Pan Am because it was different for each type of aircraft. flight attendants changed from one type to another constantly.
To accomplish a more realistic training for the life raft drill, the US Coast Guard in New York offered to take a whole training class, with the comprehensive equipment, out on the bay, with one of their boats. It was welcomed by all concerned and so it was done, for some time. The coast guard took them out there, a life raft was launched and the trainees entered their inflated island and were left alone. How better and realistic it was, the real McCoy.
The sea anchor was tossed overboard after the equipment bag was retrieved. The canvas was rigged to shield the survivors from the elements, as procedures commanded it. Now the instructor went through the whole arsenal of all items provided, which was a time-consuming affair. When it was time to put the kite up into the blue yonder in order to crank the Gibson Girl to life, it was the first time they took a look outside and realized they were not in the bay anymore, they had drifted out into the open ocean.
“No problem,” The instructor announced, “Now we make good use of our SOS device!”
And so it was proceeding quite well. The coast guard station received the emergency signal loud and clear. After a while, they were getting annoyed because it didn’t stop.
“What the hell do they think they are doing? Are those Pan Am people going crazy? Stop already, please, you are getting on our nerves. You have still a lot of time before the arranged time for your pick up!”
Finally, someone investigated, why the signal continued to be sending. When he found out and told his colleagues, they had a good laugh and were amused by the predicament the members of the raft were in. Being on alert at all times anyhow, a boat was on its way to rescue those unintentional escapees.
Should it be mentioned?
“It was the last time, the more realistic training was done!”
BACK TO THE SWIMMING POOL!
Since injections were administered all the time, one or the other arm was tender to the touch. For example, to utilize a rapid escape from an airplane, on fire or so, (hopefully standing still,) slides are used to reach mother earth as fast as possible. At the end of this glide, two helpers are positioned, on each side, to assist the arriving individual to get out of the way for the next appearing figure, which is supposed to be very fast. To accomplish this feat those twins, down there, will grab something of the fast-arriving soul. At the same moment an ear-piercing scream can be heard, because this freshly recipient of some injections in the arms was grabbed, where else but at the point where the needles found their entrance. Instructions demand to run like hell away from the airplane, for many reasons. Absolutely not necessary to remind those tortured folks. They run out of basic instincts, implanted into all living creatures, for millenniums: “Run away from danger and places where pain was inflicted.”
The instructor, for this section of education, had a contented smirk to show. He was convinced of the gratifying success which he had conveyed on his students. How else could he interpret the fast running and the screams of enthusiastic excitement? And nobody laughed or giggled stupidly or even acted silly. Later on it was learned that this was his first time instructing a class of freshmen. He was used to be the leader for long time crew members on their refresher assignment, who did not have new vaccinations in their arms.
One day commenced, which was not forgotten for a long time. It was the period to introduce the future bartenders of the air to the waiting world. In other words, instructions were on the agenda to learn how to mix and garnish alcoholic beverages. To the surprise of the apprentices, the real stuff was used to demonstrate the skill and finesse of combining different liquids and condiments to produce the perfect drink. It is science, so it seemed to the students. Pamphlets were distributed with explanations how to produce the most common thirst-quenchers. The largest bombshell, however, was the unexpected invitation by Mister Goglia, the instructor and master of booze blending, to pass on those glasses after taking a small sip out of them.
“Just a little taste, please, there are a lot of different cocktails to be sampled!” he warned.
“Don’t be afraid to catch a disease, or any bacteria’s, the alcohol makes it antiseptic,” he added, with the biggest smile.
Nobody was scared anyhow, didn’t they all just received a bill of health?
Besides, AIDS was not known yet!
THE GOOD OLD TIMES!
The whole kit and caboodle used in the classroom was authentic, as it would be found on the airplanes. The bottles with alcohol came in a liquor-kit under lock and key.
Wisely the drink mixing was scheduled on a Friday.
Didn’t Pan Am stress the fact to be the most experienced airline?
This was also the moment to show those students how trustworthy (hopefully) they were.
Mister Goglia handed the key to Herbert, (the man in the class,) with the stipulation to lock the bottles into the liquor-kit and return it to him the following Monday.
“When to call it a day, is up to you. Please experiment with this stuff, have a good time, I don’t want to get any complaints. Don’t get drunk. Good night, have a nice weekend.” And out of the door he went.
For Herbert, it was his first experience of what would transpire in the future at this new career, when he became a purser, to be in charge of a bunch of females. It was an undertaking, where many men have failed miserably. And those ladies were sober!!!
The rest of the evening went smoothly along and everybody enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere to be without an authority watching. UNTIL, they boarded the subway, on their way to the hotel. How many times do people get upset when a bunch of teenagers storm into a street car, bus or subway? That was exactly the case with our animated gang. Everybody was talking at the same time, very loud, of course. Chatter nonsense and/or making stupid remarks. Herbert was standing a little aside from the rest, making believe he didn’t belong to them. Unfortunately it did not last very long, one girl shouted:
“Hey, Herbert, don’t you talk to us anymore?”
Almost every person in this compartment looked at him and he felt how the red-flushed his face.
He recovered very fast and shouted back:
“No, I am standing here and restrain myself not to come over there to hug and kiss all of you!”
A big laughter filled this cabin, especially by passengers not belonging to this group.
Arriving at the hotel, very noisy, naturally, all concerned, disappeared fast into their accommodations, leaving this establishment again peaceful and silent as it was before.
The next day at lunch, one after another showed up very subdued.
No one was seen for breakfast!
Also some sunglasses were observed!
The nearby church had a boost in attendance on the following Sunday!
Chapter