Thousands of airline and military pilots will be flying during Christmas this year. They do so every year – it is all based on seniority and greed. If you are greedy or bored enough to go “junior” on an airplane, one of the downsides of that is the fact that you’ll find yourself laying over in some strange city on Christmas morning. Many pilots fly on the holiday because a bad economy has forced them into “juniority”. Those pilots are luckier than the ones beached by a furlough for the same bad economy, but it doesn’t mitigate the guilt of missing their kids on Christmas morning.

I was greedy. I spent fourteen out of the twenty-seven Christmases on an airline trip. That is the only thing I regret about my career because when I was young and ambitious I thought there would be hundreds of chances to get those days back with my family. Unfortunately, that simply isn’t true.

Not all gloom and doom about flying over the holidays. Because it was always a weird time of the year to be in a motel my crews had some very good times spending Christmas together. Bigger dinners were had, more booze was drunk and more fun activities took place just because we all wanted to cut loose a little bit since it was a holiday.

Now that I am back in the general aviation and writing world getting Christmas off is a breeze so my wish list has changed. Instead of Christmas off with my family I think I want something more reasonable. Perhaps a Supermarine Spitfire (Mark VI). Not a fake Spitfire or a model of a Spitfire. I want a for-real, actual, zero-time since reman Spit.

So what do you guys want?

Comment here with your wish list. Anything goes except, please don’t say all you want is world peace or for us all to get along, etc. Not going to happen and it is such a big cliché as to be embarrassing. Leave world peace wishes for Miss America candidates. What kind of plane, flying experience or toy do you want in a few days?

Personally, I am willing to compromise. If I can’t get a Spit, my fall-back position is a Hawker Sea Fury.

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