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I remember a flight from Mexico City to Acapulco on a DC-6 in 1961 (our honeymoon as a matter of fact). In those long gone days the the cockpit was open to the cabin, there was no flight engineer on the Aeronaves ships, and from the front row of seats I could actually read some of the instruments and see out the windshield. We had leveled at 14,000 on a beautiful clear morning. Seat belt sign was off when we hit a terrific downdraft and I came out of my seat, holding myself down by the armrests, my new wife doing the same. To top it all off, a horn started blowing loudly in the cockpit right in front of me. I thought it must be the stall warning and we were about to spin in. Later I realized the pilot had slammed the throttles closed and it was the gear warning horn. The pilot was craning his neck back through the door to see if everyone was still with us. No one injured, but it was an unforgettable experience.

Later on the return flight I was impressed to see a 4-stripe captain out on the wing with a dipstick checking the tanks. Made me feel that I was in good hands.