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By Patrick Wiscombe
Many people have asked me if Andy Farnsworth, the KSL NewsRadio eye in the sky, really flies around the city when he delivers his traffic reports. The answer is yes. I went up in the plane with him this past Wednesday morning so he could teach me how to do traffic from 8500 feet in the air. You wouldn't think doing traffic from the air would be that difficult but it does present some interesting challenges. To understand what I'm talking about, just look at the picture on the left so you understand what we're looking at from high in the sky.
If you don't fly for a living, there's a certain anxiety about being off the ground for three hours that's a tad unsettling. You suddenly realize how nice it is to be on the ground because gravity is working with you. When flying, gravity is working against you.
I affectionately call our four seat Cessna the flying gas tank. Once we reached our cruising altitude of 8500 feet, Chad, our pilot, asks if I want to fly the plane. Of course. I took the wheel for 10 minutes and learned how sensitive flying instruments can be. We dropped 200 feet within a few seconds so I pulled back on the wheel and climbed 300 feet. Once I got the hang of it, I did pretty well.
Now, if you listen to this station with any amount of regularity you know that Andy Farnsworth will be in the plane every day and under every weather condition. He's the best in the business. Even "super traffic man" needs a day off once in a while. That's where I come in. I've done traffic for KSL from the traffic center but doing traffic from the air is a whole different beast. Instead of recognizing buildings and landmarks from a ground level perspective, you're now trying to identify those same landmarks from 8500 feet in the air by looking at the roofs of businesses and the shapes of our on and off ramps. I must admit I did very well. I was able to identify all of the major streets and freeways from the air.
Wish me luck this next week when I'm up on the air all by myself delivering the traffic report. I'll be sure to make Andy proud.
