Friday, December 21, 2012

The end.

It's 12/21/12. Is it going to be the end? Yes! At least the end of airline life, for me. It was a short run. Just under two years. I really enjoyed the flying. However what I learned was airline life is NOT a job, it's a lifestyle! You have to give up a lot to do it. I'm sitting in Dfw waiting on my ride home. More details to come.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Just a little weather

We had just finished a cvg turn and back at DFW when I first noticed this little cell just east of the field. On our way to cvg we had not received a single report of bad wx. However, once we got in range of cincinnati we started getting vectored for storms. It went from landing to the north, to landing from the south, to reports of wind shear on final. Lucky for us we did not experience any bad weather during the approach.
We had to dodge a couple cells on the way back to DFW as well. Fortunately the wx in the picture above was the only wx we seen on our way to FWA.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Really?

I wonder when we as a society decided it was ok to revert back to being a bunch of two year olds. I spend a lot of time riding on airplanes in the back with the passengers. Sometimes I really wonder how the flight attendants do it(their job). I probably wouldn't last a week. On a recent flight there was a guy behind me who the FA had to tell 6 times to shut off his phone! REALLY? A grown man who cannot follow a simple request. This is an FAA regulation! It is not up for debate. Say what you will about whether it really is dangerous or not about having electronic devices on, or not during flight, it doesn't matter. It's a rule!
Another trip the guy next to me (again another middle age man) sat with his headphones on and thought he was being sneaky trying to hide his phone. Uhh, yeah we can hear it, and see you bouncing around like a little kid to the beat. Just today the FA's where doing trash pick up, they had come up and down the isles several times. At one point stopped as asked the guy are you done with your paper? No I'm still reading it he say. So the FA says, ok so your gonna take it with you?! After landing a PA is made asking people to please close window shades, open air vents, and turn off reading lights to help keep the airplane cool. So, what does the guy do? Left his paper, left the light on, window shade open and vent closed? REALLY? I wonder if this 50 something man still lives with mommy?
When did we lose all respect for our fellow man, when did we become so self absorbed in our own person that we have to act like spoiled children?
Speaking of children. A recent flight had to go around and not land because sone parents refused to make their child sit in their seat for the landing. This was not a lap child, but a child enough to require their own seat! The plane has to go into a hold and people ended up arriving late, because two people had now an ounce of respect for the rest of the people on board that flight. There have been two profile cases recently of flight attendants going "crazy" on their flight. People pointed fingers and talked about them like it was some issue of their own. I can't say why they did this, but I can say I can see enough reasons , enough issues that these people put up with flight after flight that I can understand their eventual breakdown. Everyone has their own point.
What about just basic common courtesy and manners. I can stop at a gate to check my schedule and within seconds people start walking up with questions. Now I do try to help with I can, but on average most people don't even attempt courtesy. A person will walk up, throw their boarding pass on the counter and say "where is that". Not excuse me can you help me, may I ask you a question. I had one just put his boarding pass on the counter and just look at me. Never said a word.
I guess I'm just a part of an old generation. A time gone by. I still say please, thank you, yes sir, no sir. I still open a door for "lady" which I rarely get a thank you. I know we complain as a culture sometimes about poor customer service.

Blogging at 350

It was a beautiful morning in grand junction co. The hotel had a nice breakfast which is rare. It was a short van ride to the airport. Once there it was nice and cool, and the sun was just starting to pop up over the mountains. it was a very quick preflight as crew scheduling would only give us 25 minutes to get our plane ready. That is another story, which is related two a three hour weather delay the previous day.
Checks complete, ready for push. The mountains are glowing in the morning sun. A short taxi means we'll stat #2 pulling out of the ramp. There were some really cool planes to look at on th way out. A twin otter on tundra tires. That looked like fun! An aero commander, a couple of turbo prop ag planes. I bet those are a blast to fly.
Ok enough day dreaming, we're at the end of the runway, times and temps are all good, tower clears us for takeoff. We pull onto runway 11 and what is right in front of us. A mountain. Hmm that's the reason for the 150* hdg after takeoff.
The winds are calm, we start our roll and everything is moving so smooth. Wheels up, gear up, turn on course. Auto pilot on shortly after. It was to beautiful a morning not to relax sit back and just soak it up. There is a lot of cons to this business, but there are a lot up pros as well. I'm blessed beyond what I deserve! :-)
Below are a couple pictures I found of the grand junction area.

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Planes trains..., and buses?

I know a lot of people look at the airline industry and being an airline pilot with a certain romance. Well, I guess it might still have a little, but really it seems it has lost it's shine.
I won't go into a lot of of details on that right now, but one thing I will talk about right now is commuting. I'll take a short diversion from my 4 day trip.

Commuting is what a pilot (or flight attendant) does when they live in a different state or city than the state/city they work in.
I'm based in dallas DFW. I live in San Antonio tx. I have to fly to work. Normally it is not an issue. Today it was. For July our parent company decided to reduce the number of flights due to "lack of crew". That's another story, for another time. Well today we're 280 seat shorter then normal. Sat on a normal day is usually very full. Take away that number of seats and you really compound the problem. Customer service at it's finest.

I realized early on that there was going to be a possible problem getting on the flight I wanted, so I decided to go in two flights earlier. That allows me 5 flights to get to work. I arrive to the airport, get through security and walk to the gate. Then I see another pilot out of the corner of my eye walking towards me. "are you Tim" he ask. "I'm sorry I seen your name on the list but I had to come in early to get to work", nice since he was not on the list. Great! Now the Jumpseat is taken. That was my only chance.
Each airplane has a Jumpseat. It's an extra seat in the cockpit. Only pilots, or in some cases FAA can sit on it.
I already know that the next flight has two more pilot jumpseaters. The md89 only has 1 Jumpseat. So now I know I won't catch a flight for at least the next 3 flights.
My options are getting limited. Southwest has a plane leaving soon, but unfortunately it's going to Dallas love field. Sounds great, except the city of Dallas has NO transportation between these two major airports! My options are a shuttle between the two at $25 (do you know how much a regional pilot makes? This is a little old, but you'll get the point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RayMaswju1A&feature=youtube_gdata_player). Or public transportation with MULTIPLE transfers and stops.
From love field, you take the #39 bus to the first train stop. Go upstairs take the train downtown (away) from Dfw. Get off at victory station, wait 30 min for the next train back to centerpoint station. Get off and take two more bus' to Dfw. 2 1/2 hours later you arrive.
Yes, I should have paid the $25. I arrived at Dfw at 3pm. My sign in was 310pm. I had just enough time to grab my jeppessen update, throw it in my case and get to the plane to start my day.
I do have to say Thank You to southwest airlines! For giving me a seat(out back even, not the Jumpseat) and treating me so well! That was the best part of the whole day! It's amazing what a little customer service will do for a company. One of the few if not the only airline that has always been profitable. The funny thing they are always called the "low cost" airline. Prior to me getting into the airline industry, I rarely flew southwest. Because they were never cheaper! I guess people will pay a little more for a good product.

The rest of the day went pretty well. No other issues. No visit from the FAA who have been out frequently lately.

Now back to the romance of flying thing. I'm sure it still exist. I never imagined working at a regional would be the same as a major airline pilot flying to some exotic foreign location. It has it's moments. Watching the sun rise or set from 37,000'. a perfectly smooth air early departure where it is so smooth you can barely tell your moving.

I've mentioned my friend Rand before, who writes the blog "a life aloft". His flying and writing is inspirational. He does help keep the aviation romance alive.

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Another test

I'm trying yet again another mobile app for blogging. I have yet to find one that is even remotely worth using. I would lol to find one that would allow me to more easily post, add pictures and videos. I just found the blogger app for iPhone. We'll see how it does.
On a recent flight heading east. We had the privilege of watching the moon rise. It was a beautifully clear night and the moon was clear and bright. There are moments this job has it's rewards.


Another recent trip was down to corpus Christi Texas. They had us descend early, so we had a great view of the new wind farm.

On another trip I went to Roswell. I did not see any aliens, I did however discover the reason why our planes are always so full.


Ok, so there are three test pictures and some text. Now we'll see how it turns out.
Hopefully this one will work.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Day 2

OK, so this is a day two, just not the same day day two when I started this. I figured this was more about information and things that might be of interest. I just had an even happen that I would imagine some might wonder just what goes on up front during problems.
We came out of the hotel in Waco Texas (yes we overnight in Waco, and 18 min flight from dfw) and everything appeared to be just another Texas summer day. The sky was partly cloudy, typical fair weather cumulus clouds, normal for this time of year. Once at the airport we work our way to the gate. Luckily some of the smaller out stations we bypass security. Honestly it still amazes me we (the flight crew) have to go through security, but that is another (hot) topic altogether. We get our paper work and board the plane. Stow our bags, and start making our "nest" in the cockpit. Once the kitbag is in its place, headset hooked up and charts and note paper in place you begin setting the plane up for pre flight. I have to get the atis, and clearance and then usually about that time head back out side to perform the preflight inspection. Since this is an early afternoon flight the plane had just arrived from DFW. Back inside I finish up my preflight duties just in time to hear over the radio there is a ground stop in Dallas. A ground stop? now I'm confused. After a little checking I find out there are storms over DFW. At least and hour before the next update. Then another hour. Now we hear an AA MD80 is on approach to Waco, diverting to refuel and wait out the weather. A short time later a couple Eagles join us. Then another, which had been en route from Mexico, unfortunately for them there is no customs there. They are all stuck on the plane! There is some chatter on the radios. Someof the passengers on the MD80 want off the plane. They actually made a good decision, and rented a car and drove the rest of the way.
Later the Captain I was with started talking about being hungry. He decided he wanted to order a pizza. About the same time another crew chimed in on the radio and was asking for phone number to a local pizza place. So yes, very important stuff being discussed. Just before we ordered we got word that the ground stop was about to be lifted. I quickly suggested we load the passengers up and make sure we are one of the first to take off. I let the ground personnel know and we very quickly loaded and ready to go. It worked out well, we were one of the first planes off the ground. we're now 3 hours late.
Finally off, climbing out we can see there is still a lot of weather around. The flight was a little bumpy but we managed to get around most of the bad stuff. Finally, after 3 hours on the ground and 40 min in the air we are on the ground in DFW. Now the gates are just a short taxi away, we're almost there...then we get the word. RAMP CLOSED! ugh. We cannot pull into the gate when the ramp is closed.
You may have heard this before. most large airports have a rule, if there is ligting within 5 miles of an airport they close the ramp. this is to protect the ground worker. We are given instruction to taxi to and hold at one of the holding locations of the airport. Again, luckily we are up front, so when the ramp opens we should be one of the first cleared in. About 20 minutes later ramp opens, here we go. we make it to our gate, we're 150 away from the bridge, but there are no rampers. Then it happens, a flash of lightning...no, No again. Then we hear it over the radio, ramp closed, again. so now we wait, again. more time goes by finally it opens we quickly get to the gate and let these poor people off. so hour "20 min" flight took two hours, gate to gate. Today we fly two legs, and you can imagine we are obviously late for our next flight to Springfield MO. We rush to the next gate to find that our plane isn't even here yet. As a matter of fact, it shows it hasn't even taken off.
Yes, when it rains it pours, and the day isn't even half over.
The ramp opens and closes a couple more times, finally our plane shows up and we make a dash for the plane, in hopes of getting out before it closes again. No such luck, it closes just as soon as we finish out prefilght duties and just prior to boarding.
the ramp stays closed for a while, but then opens again, we talk about boarding, I suggest we do so quickly, and just about the time we finish boarding, yes ramp closed! I know it might seem a little compassionate trying to get people on and there is a chance we may not go any where, but then you wouldn't be at the airport if you were not trying to get somewhere. This whole time we're looking at our radars on our phone and we are seeing this weather is about to move off, but then we hear ops calling everyone asking if the have people on board. If they say yes they say take'em off. We hear this one after another. They never get to our number, but the Captain say, What do you think, should we deplane? We both pull out our phones, we both look and I say that this last cell will be gone (outside the 5 mile area) in about 5 minutes or less, let keep them on. Not 2 minutes later we hear Ramp open! My finger is waiting next to the push to talk button, as soon as they stop talking I make my request for fuel. Again, being ready at the right time helped us get out quickly. Had we had to re board it would have taken longer. So now we're off, very late to SGF.
We get into the hotel very late and rush to bed, hoping our next day wont be messed with to bad.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Day 1 A day in the life of a Regional jet pilot

I was thinking I should try to journal a trip. I typically work four day sequences. They vary is number of legs per day, and total flight time.
The one I have this week is really not very desirable. The only reason I have it, is because I traded into it because of the days off. My original bid for the month included 4, 4 day sequences. They started on Saturday and would end on Tuesday. We have a system that allows us to trade our trips. It's automated, so we go into the computer and simply trade for a trip in open time. This month (and last) I managed to trade away all my trips for trips that gave me weekends off, or partial weekends.

This trip was not the best. It will only pay me 14 hours, and about 70 hours’ time away from base; we get per Diem for this time.
Second it was a lot of legs and short trips. Like today, 5 legs, mostly very short flights.

I commute to DFW, so my 1st day starts at the San Antonio Airport. I typically spend 3 hours getting to and from DFW. I'm fortunate actually, my commute is pretty easy.
So I catch the 1050am flight and arrive in Dallas by 1150. My first flight is at 220pm.
This allows me time to head to the crew room, check in for the flight, check to see what new publications might be waiting for me, and to make sure all my manuals, and trip book are ready for the week.
After all that it's time to relax a little before it’s time to fly.
I try to get to the gate a little early that gives me a chance to check the computer again, and meet the rest of the crew. The first trip is DFW to LAW. Lawton OK, or Ft Sill. 42 minutes, gate to gate. We get 30 minutes in Lawton to turn the airplane. Unload people and bags, clean the plane, pre flight it again, fuel it, and re load it. 30 minutes really does not give you a lot of extra time.
Next is Law-DFW. It’s my leg. We usually switch at out-stations. this way everyone gets a chance to fly into a hub, and into the smaller out station airports.
This flight is 41 minutes, again gate to gate.
We track two times. The FMS shows it as OOOI. Out, Off, ON, In. Time out is when break is released at the gate, off is wheels off the ground, on, wheels on and In, main cabin door open at the gate. We are only paid for this time, We don’t get paid for doing pre-post flight, for updating charts and anything else.
It's 430 and we're back in DFW. Now we have a 1hr and 20 minute sit.
Next up is a Ft Hood turn. Another quick flight, we're scheduled for 50 minutes gate to gate.
We made it back to DFW by 756 pm. Now we're down to one more leg. I'm ready for this day to be over. Little do I know its far from over. After a 55 min sit we're ready to go once again. This time to Lerado Tx. Still not a long flight, but at least long enough to climb to altitude. 1 hour and 20 minutes later we're on the ground, and ready to get to the hotel. After we post flight the plane, we head outside to wait for the hotel shuttle, which tonight was not there. Long story short our third party hotel service sent message to our hotel we were not coming. I wish they would have told us. Now the hotel is full, and we're on the phone with crew scheduling trying to find out where to go. Now its 130 am, I’m in a room it’s been a very long day. It's time for sleep. Tomorrow it will be a four leg day.

Monday, May 7, 2012

Caution Wake Turbulance

It was just another nice spring afternoon in the Dallas Fort Worth area. The weather was nice, skies clear, winds mild out of the south at about 8-10 kts. We had to Taxi to runway 17c for take off. This is an east side runway, we park on the west side. You have to taxi across one of four bridges to access the east and west sides. After crossing the top of the zulu bridge we could see there was only a couple of planes ahead, so we started the number two engine.
a couple minutes later we reach the end of runway 17c. We don't even stop as the tower controller clears us to "line up and wait Runway 17c". An MD80, or super 80 is on the takeoff roll ahead of us. Again the controller calls with take off instructions and we don't stop.

It's my leg, the caption hands over control of the aircraft to me I advance to takeoff thrust and moments later we're airborne. This whole time I'm very aware of the close proximity to the 80. This whole time I'm considering things like his flight path, where the winds are and how close I am to him. SO whats the big deal? well wake turbulence is turbulence that forms behind an aircraft as it passes through the air.

Wingtip vortices occur when a wing is generating lift. Air from below the wing is drawn around the wingtip into the region above the wing by the lower pressure above the wing, causing a vortex to trail from each wingtip. Wake turbulence exists in the vortex flow behind the wing. The strength of wingtip vortices is determined primarily by the weight and airspeed of the aircraft. Wingtip vortices make up the primary and most dangerous component of wake turbulence.Wake turbulence is especially hazardous in the region behind an aircraft in the takeoff or landing phases of flight. During take-off and landing, aircraft operate at high angle of attack. This flight attitude maximizes the formation of strong vortices. In the vicinity of an airport there can be multiple aircraft, all operating at low speed and low height, and this provides extra risk of wake turbulence with reduced height from which to recover from any upset.
The MD80 is not as notorious as larger aircraft like the 757, and 767 for creating wake turbulence. However it still creates it. I have experienced wake turbulence being created by another regional jet a CRJ 700.
When we think about wake turbulence I think its most commonly thought of during the landing phase. However the strongest wingtip vortices are created when an aircraft is clean, heavy, and slow.
Clean meaning flaps up gear up. The take off climb phase is where this happens. Landing is Dirty (flaps, gear out) slow, and light (compared to take-off weight).

This image shows exactly what it looks like. This can be a very dangerous event. Shortly after 9/11 an airbus A300 crashed in New York. the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) recorded the FO who was the flying pilot say he was in the wake turbulence of a Boeing 747. Unfortunately he over controlled his aircraft to the point he caused structural failure to the aircraft, and they crashed.
A few Years before that a twin engine Baron was on approach to Indianapolis In airport, he flew the plane all the way to the runway, and moments before he would have touched down, his airplane rolled over and impacted in an inverted position, killing the pilot. He was following a B757, and caught the 757's wake.
In 1972 a Delta DC9 crashed after following a heavy DC10 into GSW Greater Southwest Airport killing the three occupants of the DC9. That crash prompted the FAA to create separation standards for aircraft following "Heavy's".
Now you know why my mind is focusing on this MD80. Just about the time I think we should be clear...bam, there it is. It was a light hit which caused the right wing to drop. Next your mind tries to think OK which part of the wake was that. remember it flows in a circular motion. Did we catch an edge that was moving away, or is that the leading edge entering into the whole circle. I believe that was the downward spiral of the wake and in a split second its confirmed.
Now we're inside the wake, we have the left wing drop and the right wing raise, we're starting to roll in the wake. It's time to get busy, It all happens very fast but seams like its an eternity. You want to maintain control, but not over control. Wingtip vortices drop towards the ground, so you don't want to level or go down, you want to continue your climb. Hold the plane level, climb and finally smooth air once again.
The great thing about flying, you always have to be prepared.
As I continued my climb up and away from DFW I couldn't help but think how the phrase Caution wake turbulence is so incredibly appropriate for aviation, and a career in aviation. I just finished my first year as an airline pilot. Honestly it has taken a lot to get used to. I am very fortunate, I have held a set schedule (Line) for several months now. However the schedule is still a little tougher on me then I thought it would be. I have been working 4 days trips, and have learned spending half the month in a hotel is the not most glamorous way to spend your time. Especially at the regional level. We do not have 24 hour overnights in Miami, Or LA or New York.
We have overnights as short as 9-10 hours. Last week I had an overnight in Monroe LA (I can feel your jealousy) we had 9hrs 59min from the time we got out of the airplane, to the time we took off the next morning. In that amount of time we had to catch a taxi to and from the airport to the hotel, check in, eat, shower, iron clothes, and lets not forget TRY to sleep, get up preflight the airplane and get ready to go again.
That is one reason the blog has suffered. Now when I'm home I have found the my Family time is of utmost importance. It does and will come first. I'm so blessed that I have a wonderful wife who supports me 100% and makes life on the road bearable.

Also in my Looooong one year career I have already entered in my first airline bankruptcy. Someone I have never met, yet I would consider him a friend and hope to meet in person someday Rand Peck (A life Aloft, if you do not read his blog you should. it inspired me to do this crazy airline adventure) gave me advice and tips before I ever went to airline training. One was to expect ups and downs (like bankruptcies).

I Don't even know where to start on this subject.In reality there is no where to start. we have NO information. The parent company, our company and our union will not tell us a thing. I believe the reality is it could easily go both ways. Either we come out a strong company and we grow, or they chop us off like we were just an unwanted parasite they never wanted and ALL of us start looking for a job. Either way, it's all good. I am a believer that when one door closes another opens. I'm already thinking about other doors anyway.

So where have I been in a year. Experience wise I have now been through two part 121 checking events. I have 550+ hours in a jet and I have learned a great deal about life as a airline pilot.
I do miss flying the smaller stuff.I do not regret making the move to the airlines, it has been an experience. Another chapter in my book of life. speaking of books, I think maybe its time to read Earnest Gann's "Fate is the hunter" again.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Time

Is there ever enough? I realize now that I had a little more time to myself before I got into this new crazy business.
So much has happened I could probably write for a week and not get it all in print.
My last post I talked about being in recurrent ground. My probationary check ride followed that.
It was a horrible experience! the Oral exam went well, but then the Captain didn't show up. The examiner had to sit in the left seat with basically a big remote control that he could program the Simulator with. It was all thumbs for both of us, and was a very poor performance on my part. I passed, but I was not pleased with it.
I got out of the sim about midnight and got on the highway about 1am. I drove straight back to San Antonio. What A long drive.

I have been very fortunate since I have been here. I held a comp line in November. December I went back to a reserve line, But that was by choice. It allowed me to be home with my family on Christmas. January I held a line, which had most weekends off. I actually held a hard line for the month of January. February I was back on a comp line, and now I have another hard line for March.
Having a line is so much nicer. no calling crew scheduling asking "mother may I" go home. When the plane lands on the last day of your flight sequence, you just pack up your stuff and walk off the plane and go home.

Of course all this could come to a screeching halt and any moment. Since AMR has filed for chap 11 bankruptcy. I'm sure I will have more to say about that soon as I try to catch back up with the blog.

Ive said it before I'll say it again, when I started writing this crazy blog it was just a place to "journal" my little journey into commercial aviation. I never really thought about people reading it. I have found though, that a lot more people are reading it then I ever would have imagined. So on that note I would like to apologize for not being very good at keeping it up to date. Being gone for 4-5 days at a time is tough. When I get home it seems there is just not enough time to catch up. So, as I become acclimated to this life style I will work on being better at posting updates. If nothing else maybe they will be just short updates, more often.
On that note I will close again. I just got home again, and as usual I have a lot to do. Including trying to find out information on a plane crash here in San Antonio. One of the pilots on board was a good friend. Unfortunately they both died. I will talk more about this later.

I would like to thank everyone reading this, and thank you for putting up with my horrible writing skills, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and lack of everything...lol.

Maybe I should rename it, Ramblings from the mind of a pilot.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Training

Just a short update. I tried posting some pictures with an app called mobile me. I do not really like the way it works. I wanted to get a couple pictures posted. Recurrent training doesn't last as long as initial, but it covers a lot of the same things. You just do it in 4 days, as apposed to 6 weeks.

Todays we finished the 3 days of ground, I have one more to go. Tomorrow is checkride tomorrow. The thing I hate about that is we do not get any sim training at all. we just get ion the sim and take a checkride.

There is a lot more to talk about, I have a lot I need to write, Ill have to find some time later. Time to study for the oral, and sim.

Airline Life

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checkride tomorrow. not excited about spending another 4hrs in tbe box

Airline life

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cabin trainers. allows us to open emergwncy exits

Airline Life

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Flight attendants where doing cabin training across the water survival training pool.

Airline Life

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putting out fires! requalified on fire extinguisher. Oh yeaah...exciting

Airline Life

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time for training again. ugh. details later