The first time the 'Pipe flew in an airplane was in the 1960s, on a cut-rate, midnight, Pan American Airlines flight from New York to Puerto Rico. The airline made passengers line up at the gate an hour ahead of time, like shoppers on a 1930s breadline. Elderly women maneuvered overstuffed "carry-on" suitcases, family members shouted anxiously at cranky children, and two men pulled knives on each other. The fight was quickly snuffed out by other passengers, though no one thought to stop either of the opponents from getting on the plane. What the hell. Tailpipe was already half-drunk by then, and he continued to sip from a flask of rum, certain that his short life would... More >>>