"Pilot To Bombardier...."

My next flight to Toronto will be on board an Air Canada Jazz Dash-8 sort of like this one:

I've flown on Dash-8s before and it's definitely a different experience from flying on jets. The dull roar of the propellers is omnipresent--it doesn't seem to fade into the "white noise" background like the sound of jet engines does. Also, the cruising altitude is a lot lower. You can see down to the ground most of the time.

Flying on a Dash-8 always summons up my "inner Walter Mitty." I feel like I'm on a bombing run over WW II Germany in a B-24 bomber like this one:

Isn't that an awesome looking plane? If you blow up the photo, you'll see that there's a skull and cross bones painted on the tail. Cool!

I'm totally psyched about my flight to Toronto. The Niagara Escarpment region sort of looks like Eastern Germany. Hamilton will make a fine stand-in for Dresden and as we approach you just know I'll be saying, "Pilot to bombardier. Pilot to bombardier," in my head. And yes, in my mind, the tail of my plane will be adorned with a skull and cross bones....