back in a minute.
elaine!
i came home early and found your note. i guess you meant for me to read it later. elaine, i've got to talk to you.
i know things haven't been right for a long time, but it'll be different. if you'll just be patient, i can work things out.
don't you feel anything for me at all any more?
what a pisser.
look, you'll be back in town tomorrow night. we'll have dinner -- talk it over.
elaine, not yet. i promise you i really can change.
you know i haven't been able to get near an airplane since the war. and even if i could, they wouldn't hire me because of my war record.
you expect me to believe that?
but if you'll just give me.
can you tell me if elaine dickinson is on this flight?
i'd like one ticket to chicago. no baggage!
smoking, please.
thank you.
yes.
no. i've been nervous lots of times. i used to be a pilot myself. during the war.
oh -- i haven't flown for a long time.
elaine, i've got to talk to you.
yes, i know. things used to be different. i remember when we first met. it was during the war.
we laughed, we talked, we danced, i never wanted it to end and i guess i still don't. but enough about me. i hope this hasn't been boring for you.
it's just that when i start to talk about elaine, i get so carried away -- i lose all track of time -- not unlike oliver in 'jesus: the man.'
my orders came through. my squadron ships out tomorrow. i'll be leading a very important mission.
i love you, elaine.
elaine, just hear me out. i know things haven't been right for a long time. but it will be different. like it was in the beginning. remember?
that's the way i've always wanted it to be, elaine.
headquarters!? what is it?
is it? because of my mistake six men didn't return from that raid.
i wish i could say the same for george zipp.
all right. take five.
that's captain geline. he thinks he's a pilot, still fighting the war.
that's lieutennt hurwitz. severe shell shock. he thinks he's ethel merman.
no. no thank you.
after the war, i just wanted to get as far away from things as possible. so elaine and i joined the peace corps. we were assigned to an isolated tribe, the molombos.
i think they're getting the hang of it! when we re-enlist i'll teach them baseball!
a lot of people made plans before the war. like george zipp.
we did come back to the states. i tried a number of jobs. well, i could go on for hours, but i'd probably start to bore you.
you know, i really couldn't blame elaine. she wanted a career. i was offered a job at boeing but i couldn't bring myself to take it.
you see, the day we left the village it was raining, so we had to take a special jeep to the main road.
in fact, we were lucky to even get a jeep since just the day before the only one we had broke down -- it had a bad axle.
the cockpit? what is it?
well, i flew in the war, but that was a long time ago. i wouldn't know anything about it.
the stewardess said.
both pilots!
surely you can't be serious.
well, i flew single-engine fighters in the air force, but this plane has four engines. it's an entirely different kind of flying. all together!!!
besides, i haven't touched any kind of plane in six years.
let's see, altitude twenty-four thousand feet, level flight, air speed four hundred sixty knots, course zero niner zero, trim, mixture, landing gear, balance.
that's what i've been trying to tell these people.
let's see. those are the flaps, that's the thrust, this must turn on the landing lights.
mayday!
yeah, i was just trying out the landing lights.
yes, captain kramer. read you loud and clear.
let's not kid each other, kramer. you know i've never flown a bucket like this. i'm going to need all the luck there is.
okay, i'm going to unlock the automatic pilot.
yes! the stewardess is here with me!
the radio's all yours now. and keep an eye on that number three engine. it's running a little hot.
and a little ice.
sluggish. like a wet sponge.
it's a damn good thing he doesn't know how much i hate his guts.
chicago, the passengers are beginning to panic. when do we start down?
yes, everything they've got. how are the passengers doing?
surely there must be something you can do.
rats! i've lost number three.
oil pressure. i forgot to check the oil pressure. when kramer hears about this, the shit's gonna hit the fan.
he's right. i can't take the pressure. i was crazy to think i could land this plane.
i don't care. i just don't have what it takes. they'd be better off with someone who'd never flown before.
i know what you're going to say, so save your breath.
george zipp said that?
excuse me, doc, i've got a plane to land.
i'll take it, elaine.
listen to me, kramer. doctor rumack says the sick people are in critical condition and every minute counts. we've got to land now!
no dice, chicago. i'm giving the orders, and we're coming in. i guess the foot's on the other hand now, isn't it, kramer?
i'll take it, elaine. listen, kramer, i'm coming in. do you hear me? i'm coming in right now! we have people up here who will die in less than an hour, never mind two. i may bend your precious airplane, but i'll get it down! now get on with the landing check. i'm putting the gear down now.
thank you, randy. you better leave sweetheart. you might get hurt in here.
yes?
tell them the gear is down and we're ready to land.
see them, elaine?
it's stuck. it won't move!
yeah, we're okay.