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Friday, May 11, 2007 12:00 AM

Ask the pilot

From "deadheading" to "tarmac," Part 2 of our expert's handy glossary for the savvy passenger.
By Patrick Smith

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  • Friday, May 11, 2007 08:02 AM

    Re: What's a Patroni?

    Wasn't Patroni the recurring flight engineer character in the Airport movies, played by George Kennedy? I'm guessing that "doing a Patroni" would refer to something similar to what "Patroni" did in the first Airport film, i.e. rev'ed up a 707's engines full-blast to get it unstuck from mud at the end of a runway (filmed at Minneapolis-St. Paul, btw, in 1968). Probably just refers nowadays to some kind of hot-doggin' on the runway or tarmac ... although I find that hard to believe.

    —noodleman Read noodleman's other letters

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