Are you “on the buffet”?

Scumbags and Superstars. NYC, 2015 (iPhone6)

It’s “buffet”, like Jimmy, not “boo-FAY” as in a place where you stuff your piehole to gag capacity. And it is a common aviation expression.

Example of use: I haven’t been posting on my blog lately because I have been “on the buffet”.

So from whence does the expression come? You should really know this, since you too are often “on the buffet”. We all are, in fact, as we try to live as best we can the frenetic lifestyle we have built for ourselves in this current version of western civilization. Some people are constantly “on the buffet”–at least until a heart attack fixes the situation.

So…

In an airplane, as you slow down and increase the angle of attack, thus demanding more performance from your machine, the wing initially produces an increasing amount of lift–up to a point, that is. If you increase the angle of attack (raise the nose) too much, the airflow over the wing starts to become less smooth and starts to create eddies and turbulence on the rear part of the wing–and you start to lose lift (a cheapo explanation, but good enough). If you keep slowing down, or demanding too much from your machine, the airflow become too turbulent across the wing to produce any lift at all and the aircraft will nose over into a stall. This is not a good thing if you are close to terra muy firma.

What the pilot feels on the stick or the yoke as the airplane approaches a stall is, initially, a slight shake, buzz, or tickle. As she gets closer to a full stall, the slight tickle becomes full-on buffet and even an almost violent shaking. Some old and crusty pilots (like CCCarl) might say “you go from mice bouncing on the wings to elephants bouncing on the wings”. Therefore, a pilot who is “on the buffet” is on the edge of losing control of her craft–the elephants are just too heavy.

Yep, I’m on the buffet these days, although it should only be temporary. Luckily things haven’t completely come apart structurally (as in the above image), but I’m definitely on the edge with too many projects on my platter. Dang, and it isn’t even the holiday season yet! (Although I did see red and green decorations at the local drugstore already–go figure.)

I’m thinking it’s time to ease off on the stick a bit.

How are you doing?