Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Day 2 of the 4 day

Four day trip done. I was worn out. I forgot how it is to fly tired. Sure I had long overnights, but time zones and early van times got to me.

The first overnight was in a Marriott. I love Marriott's. They have the best beds ever.

After arriving at the hotel via a deadhead flight I took a few moments to relax and call my wife. Hungry. Food choices amounted to the gas station across the street, Denny's next door or the hotel restaurant that, while very nice, is beyond my pay grade. Denny's it was.

I've found that by being just a little nicer than normal the the Denny's waitstaff, the service goes up 10X. Little things like when they ask how I'm doing I genuiely turn the question around and ask how they are. It's the little things. After a decent Denny's meal, I retired to my room. Early morning van the next day.

As always I woke up an hour early. Happens every time....no matter how long the overnight is.

This hotel doesn't offer breakfast. Flight crews often have to pick between sleep and food. Either you sleep in and eat later or give up sleep and head to the airport earlier. I've never lost sleep.

After clearing security we made our way to the gate. A later flight to another hub cancelled and many passengers were rebooked on our flight. We went from 1/3 full to overbooked.

The first leg was mine. Only a cup or two of coffee in my stomach we were number 4 for takeoff. Two of the planes ahead of us were going to the same city. One was an RJ one and the other a 737. This is normal when going between two big cities...or heck any cities. Lucky for us both planes ahead were flying fast, otherwise we would have been slowed down. Which happened later in the trip.

Mach .80 at FL390 I sipped the stiff black coffee and tried to not think about the busy day ahead.

Morning rush in full effect, the approach controller was rattling off instructions like an auctioneer. Before long we were in a conga line for runway 8R. On my MFD I could see the spacing at about 2 ½ miles between each plane. We were assigned 170 to the final approach fix as were all planes.

This spacing works for the most part, except when someone slows to early, slows too late, or has a really high approach speed. The spacing between us and the plane ahead was shrinking and there was still 4 miles to the FAF. I had to slow down. Already at flaps 20 I called gear down and flaps 30 then 45. At the same time tower advised we were over taking the aircraft ahead by 20 knots and that S-turns were approved. Ugh. I pulled the power back and stayed just a little high. At 500 feet the plane ahead was still on the runway. Thankfully they cleared just in time and I landed uneventfully.

Somehow we were keeping the same plane all day. I grabbed breakfast and headed back to the plane.

Three more legs to the overnight........(to be continued)

Four day trip done. I was worn out. I forgot how it is to fly tired. Sure I had long overnights, but time zones and early van times got to me.
The first overnight was in a Marriott. I love Marriott's. They have the best beds ever.
After arriving at the hotel via a deadhead flight I took a few moments to relax and call my wife. Hungry. Food choices amounted to the gas station across the street, Denny's next door or the hotel restaurant that, while very nice, is beyond my pay grade. Denny's it was.
I've found that by being just a little nicer than normal the the Denny's waitstaff, the service goes up 10X. Little things like when they ask how I'm doing I genuiely turn the question around and ask how they are. It's the little things. After a decent Denny's meal, I retired to my room. Early morning van the next day.
As always I woke up an hour early. Happens every time....no matter how long the overnight is.
This hotel doesn't offer breakfast. Flight crews often have to pick between sleep and food. Either you sleep in and eat later or give up sleep and head to the airport earlier. I've never lost sleep.
After clearing security we made our way to the gate. A later flight to another hub cancelled and many passengers were rebooked on our flight. We went from 1/3 full to overbooked.
The first leg was mine. Only a cup or two of coffee in my stomach we were number 4 for takeoff. Two of the planes ahead of us were going to the same city. One was an RJ one and the other a 737. This is normal when going between two big cities...or heck any cities. Lucky for us both planes ahead were flying fast, otherwise we would have been slowed down. Which happened later in the trip.
Mach .80 at FL390 I sipped the stiff black coffee and tried to not think about the busy day ahead.
Morning rush in full effect, the approach controller was rattling off instructions like an auctioneer. Before long we were in a conga line for runway 8R. On my MFD I could see the spacing at about 2 ½ miles between each plane. We were assigned 170 to the final approach fix as were all planes.
This spacing works for the most part, except when someone slows to early, slows too late, or has a really high approach speed. The spacing between us and the plane ahead was shrinking and there was still 4 miles to the FAF. I had to slow down. Already at flaps 20 I called gear down and flaps 30 then 45. At the same time tower advised we were over taking the aircraft ahead by 20 knots and that S-turns were approved. Ugh. I pulled the power back and stayed just a little high. At 500 feet the plane ahead was still on the runway. Thankfully they cleared just in time and I landed uneventfully.
Somehow we were keeping the same plane all day. I grabbed breakfast and headed back to the plane.
Three more legs to the overnight........(to be continued)

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