WEBVTT 00:20.736 --> 00:27.259 Dragon two one taxi to Roman two seven, line up and wait, your clearance is available when you are ready. 00:27.371 --> 00:33.621 Dragon two seven taxi runway two seven, line up and wait at two seven, I’m ready to copy. 00:34.429 --> 00:43.881 We have to make sure that their blood pressure doesn’t go over a certain amount. If it does, we get the flight doc involved. 00:44.317 --> 00:50.878 Mine is very traditionally like 117 over 70, 114 over 70. 00:54.686 --> 01:08.483 When they redesigned the aircraft in the mid-sixties and made it larger, they enlarged the cockpit and that allowed us to use this full pressure suit. It’s much more comfortable. 01:08.510 --> 01:18.957 Some people are uncomfortable in the space suit, but I’m not! 01:26.743 --> 01:33.200 The aircraft itself is a challenge, but I enjoy that. And I’m going to miss flying. 01:33.623 --> 01:35.022 How long have you been flying? 01:36.707 --> 02:19.484 27 years, 20 of it in the U2. The U2 is today an entirely new aircraft and it’s a better tool for the job than it’s ever been. It looks the same on the outside. A fork hasn’t change its shape in forever, but the fork still works so why would you change it. The basic shape of the U2 hasn’t changed, but the engine’s new. The cockpit’s new. The equipment we carry is all state of the art. We are doing more and we are doing newer things. We are getting more information and getting it to the troops quicker than ever before. It’s a better tool for the job than it’s ever been. It’s not a cold war relic as I have heard it described, not at all. 02:20.235 --> 02:31.890 Basically the flight plan is we fly north until it turns into South. Then we fly south until we get there. There may not be a lot of scenery. It might all look like clouds, clouds and glaciers. 02:32.032 --> 02:40.098 I am only going to be allowed to do this for another five months. The Air Force has set a retirement date for me of Halloween. 02:40.468 --> 03:03.031 I think I’ll miss everything about it. In the Air Force you work with some of the finest people you could ever meet. Obviously I’m going to miss that. There’s a great sense of job satisfaction. I think it’s unlikely that I’m going to find something to do after the Air Force that will give me that same satisfaction. 03:05.864 --> 03:09.985 Dragon two one, runway two seven, wind two seven zero at one six, clear for takeoff. 03:10.657 --> 03:12.729 Dragon two one, clear for takeoff. 03:24.520 --> 03:28.490 Thanks for all the great help and hospitality.