Thursday, August 20, 2015

Another Career Fair

I've been busy this month.

We finished an amazing vacation in Hawaii on the 9th. My family had real seats on a direct flight home. Being a pilot I was going to jumpseat.

Glad we had real seats as the direct flight was booked full with 20+ non-revs. Thankfully I was the only pilot.

Being a long flight there were 3 pilots, 1 Captain, 1 First Officer and 1 relief pilot.

For takeoff and landing I sat in a First Class seat designated for rest for the pilots. After takeoff the bell rang and they were ready for me to occupy a Flight Deck Jumpseat.

Being a wide-body there was a lot of room, but still a stiff jumpseat. I settled in and closed my eyes. About a minute later all the lights in the flight deck came on. They turned them on to help them stay awake. So much for me sleeping.

They were a nice crew. Every two hours or so they swapped turns in the crew rest seat. I did snag a meal.

Once home we all slept a bit. The next day I headed to DC for the OBAP yearly Convention and Job Fair.

My eyes were set on Virgin America, JetBlue, Delta, and United.

I made good inroads with Virgin America in April. I spoke with them again and reaffirmed my enthusiasm. When I spoke with JetBlue I was a little nervous and botched the answer to the question , "What are our core values?" I brushed it off and came back the following day to the same JetBlue rep and apologized for not remembering them and then recited them verbatim.

My talks with Delta were nice. They have slowed down hiring due to construction on their simulator building. They said I had great qualifications, but it may take time for them to call me.

United was by far the worst experience for me. The Captain interviewing me said I had good experience and "maybe in a few years when you've been Captain for a while," that I'd be ready for United. It was quite a crushing experience.

I left there feeling a bit down but I'm not going to let one persons opinion deter me.

For now I'm keeping my applications up to date and working on my interview skills.


Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Flew a Cirrus!

I'm on vacation with my family in Maui. Hawaii for a week or so. This is my 3rd time to Maui. Each of the first two times I planned on renting a plane for a tour. Each time "something" happened.

This time I wanted a sure thing and contacted Maui Flight Academy for a Molokai tour. It was pricey....but everything in aviation is expensive...add in Hawaii and it's even more expensive.

They use a Cirrus G3 for tours. I told the instructor I was an airline pilot and he took 10% off. I haven't flown a General Aviation aircraft in 8 years. I've never flown a Cirrus period. This was also the first time to have my family onboard with me at the controls. 

The flight went well. After taxiing a few few for a run-up, the instructor gave me the controls. For the first time in 8 year I taxied around an airport....I forgot what that was like! 

Rotating at 70 knots was odd as the first speed I normally call out is 80 knots with rotation occurring around 130 knots. 

The flight went well. The airspace is fairly busy with airliners and helicopter tours milling about. 

Our first stop was Molokai. Very short and scenic airport. After a brief tour we headed over the other side of the island and back to Maui. I put my daughter on my lap to let her fly, but she wasn't into it. I was surprised as she's eager to fly at home on flight simulator. 

We flew right by our beach house so the rest of the family could see. 

Below is my approach into OGG. It was gusty (as is common in Hawaii). I give the landing a 7 out of 10. I flared a bit high. After 5000 hours in jets it's hard to go back to a different sight picture.