When the DC-9 filled up there were still two people in line ahead of me and quite a few behind me. I was not looking forward to the hour long wait in line for the next flight.

The gate agent told us to wait as he picked up the phone and told someone that he already had half a planeload for the next flight. A few minutes later he turned to us and said "I think we have a solution, hang in there"

About 10-15 minutes later a Lockheed Electra taxied up to the gate. This old Turboprop used to be a workhorse of the airline industry before the jets came along.

We boarded and I got a window seat on the left (port) side over the wing. The woman who sat down next to me had never flown in a propeller driven aircraft before and was a bit nervous. I assured her that these planes had flown many many miles quite successfully.

They closed to doors and we started to taxi away. Moments later the Electrica spun around and taxied back to the gate. We stopped and the pilot shut down the port (left) engine. A few minutes later a guy with a ladder trotted out with a can in his hand. He set up hisladder next to the engine, then climbed up and opened the cowling. He then reached in and poured the can of oil in his hand into the engine. When he was done he climbed down and gave a thumbs up signal to the pilot and headed back to the terminal.

The lady next to me was frantic. "Just what are they doing" she asked? I explained that these engines were just like an autombile engine and no doubt he saw that his oil pressure was low so all they did was add a quart of oil just like the guy at the gas station would do for your car.

She remained unconvinced as we rumbled down the runway and lifted off for an uneventful flight.

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