* * * * * Not too long after getting checked out on the line, in February of 1978, I heard a strange piece of scuttlebutt circulating among the pilots. It was the saga of “Grind them in the rug Gambetty” (I’m not using his real name to protect his family). Gambetty was hired as a first officer on the DC-9 the previous year. And - upon getting type-rated and checked out on the line - had applied to National Airlines, which was a successful Miami based air-carrier that had been operating since 1934. Currently they were running a successful ad campaign using the cutest flight attendants in the biz; who’d appear on TV, and state, “Hi...I’m Cheryl. Fly me.” Then she’d wink. This caused the Nationa...