Two cats....for when I really can't see outside....

Most of the time I land in VFR conditions.

Every now and then...maybe once or twice a month I have to land via an ILS (more often in winter than summer). Most of the time those are flown to a visual.

Even more rarely things are just bad....and I get to fly and approach....but the Captain has to land.....a Category II approach.

Things happen fast during an approach. With a Category II approach things can get messy fast.

At MY company this is how we fly Cat II approaches (Cat short for Category).

The Captain briefs the approach and the First Officer flies the approach. The Captain is looking outside from 500 feet down to (hopefully) the runway. The First Officer is looking inside the entire time.

The decision height for MOST Cat II approaches is 100 feet above the runway.  If the RUNWAY is not visible at 100 feet a missed approach much be executed.

Things happen fast.

In the simulator during training (the only place I've shot a Category II approach to mins), a moments hesitation can really mess things up.

The time is takes the plane to descend from 100 feet to the runway is 5 seconds. When I'm flying the approach and I hear "Approaching Minimums!" my fingers are positioned right over the Go Around buttons.

Once I hear "Minimums! Minimums!" I take a breathe and, if I don't hear "landing" from my Captain, I push the Go Around buttons and execute a missed approach.

The first time my Captain and I shot a Cat II approach he hesitated for a moment at minimums. That hesitation caused me to go missed approach when in reality he had the runway in sight.

After going missed we were vectored back around. This time he was ready and said "landing". Up until that point the autopilot was engaged. I had my hands on the thrust levers and yoke as a backup. The autopilot MUST fly the entire approach. Once I heard "landing" I immediately put my hands in my lap and looked outside.

I can only imagine how difficult it is to take over the controls of an airplane with just 5 seconds until landing.

Another scenario is a balked landing during a Cat II approach. This is where the Captain takes over but right before touchdown tower calls a go around. Things are really busy as now the Captain is flying and I am the pilot monitoring. So he flies the missed while I push the buttons. Once level I take over the controls again.

At "mainline" and newer regional jets a Heads Up Device is used on the Captains side so they can scan the instruments and look  outside the entire time.

Also more common at mainline are aircraft setup for Cat III approaches. A Cat III approach is one where the autopilot flies the approach and lands the aircraft.

One day I will get to experience the pure terror excitement of watching an autopilot land my plane.

Approaching 6 years

Simple two day trip. Five legs on day one and 3 on day two.

I don't care for 5 leg days. The first turn was quick at just 90 NM each way. The second turn was about an hour each way with the final flight being a 2 hour flight.

Interesting crew. My Captain is new to me and is from France. My Flight Attendant is from the country formerly known as Yugoslavia.

Both have accents and know each other well. Both would joke to the other that the passengers have no idea what the other is saying when giving announcements.

My Captain did really up the French accent when giving his announcements. Quite a few passengers stopped by the flight deck and asked who the , and I quote, "sexy french voice" belonged to.

Day one was long. I left a portable battery on the first aircraft I flew. I didn't realize it until I was on the second aircraft. I looked up the aircraft routing and saw it was to arrive 30 minutes before my last flight of the night was to depart.

After the first 4 flights we were supposed to have a 50 minute break. Well we were delayed by an hour and the delayed departure time was 9:45 PM. During that now almost 2 hour sit I got a call from scheduling around 8:10 PM. They needed a First Officer to fly a 8:25 PM departure. They wanted to reassign me with the "dangling carrot" being I would be done an hour earlier and still get paid for my original sequence.

Rarely have reassignments gone my way. I declined as I wanted something to eat....and my original overnight had free breakfast while the reassignment hotel was in the middle of no where and no free breakfast.

The aircraft I left my battery on was running late with an ETA of 8:50PM. I hung out around the arrival gate. The First Officer saw me and asked if I left a battery on board. He didn't find it until they landed and heard it slide forward.

The battery is all black which looks nice, but way to easy to leave behind. I'm going to wrap it in neon green tape when I get home.

The flight to the overnight couldn't go fast enough.

The hotel is a Homewood Suites. They offer free dinner on weekdays (until 8PM) and free breakfast everyday. Our scheduled arrival time was 10:45PM. Our delayed arrival time was 11:25PM.

Being so late the tower was closed. We went back to basic traffic reports. No one was in the area. In and done.

The hotel van had stopped running for the night. We took a taxi...for the whole 1 minute and ten second drive.

The hotel employees were nice enough to box up some of the free dinner for each of us. Nice touch.

Decent nights rest.

We had a 12:30PM van. While waiting near the gate I saw my Captain and Flight Attendant talking to a grey haired lady that looked like a Grandmother. Things got a little odd when she whipped out a pad of paper and started writing down information.

Turns out she was with the FAA....and she'd be riding on our jump seat.

We weren't full, but whatever.

Due to weather we needed extra fuel. We were actually 160 pounds over max takeoff weight when we left the gate.

We were limited due to runway performance meaning the max weight to accelerate to V1, abort and stop on the remaining pavement.

I briefed the departure including a static power takeoff. With both engines running and the APU powering the packs we burned the extra fuel fairly quickly.

Cleared for takeoff. My Captain aligned the plane with runway 17 and said, "your aircraft". I replied "my aircraft".

With my feet firmly on the brake pedals I set takeoff power. Once the engines were stabilized I released the brakes and away we went.

Dodged a few towering clouds and made our way to base.

The FAA rep was on her way to training and just wanted to ride up front. Nice lady.

In and done. Almost a 3 hour sit laid ahead.

During that sit I took the opportunity to leave the airport for dinner. I then parked at the terminal versus in the employee lot. I'd have to pay to park, but I would save time getting home after my flight.

The inbound plane was late. My crew was motivated. We left one minute late. My leg. I flew fast.

We were full but the return flight was booked light. My Captain called ahead and told the station we wanted a quick turn. He planned on using the APU and asked that no power or air be connected to the plane. Additionally the Flight Attendant stated he needed nothing in the way of trash or ice.

Winds at the outstation were 090@13 with the active runway being runway 10. Coming in from the east runway 16R was easier and faster. I briefed it and we were cleared for the approach.

In the 2 years I've flown to this airport, I have never seen it in the day time until on a 5 mile final at best. The area is flat, sandy and featureless. My Captain picked up the airport 12 miles out.

"If you see if you can call it." I stated. He did so....he did.

My Captain hipped me to staying in between two roads to set up for a final. I had the GPS approach set up as a back up. Turning about a 6 mile final I finally saw the airport.

My fourth greaser of the trip.

Just fourteen minutes after opening the passenger door we were taxiing back out.

The FMS estimated we would be 35 minutes early. Not bad for a flight blocked at 55 minutes. Well a little congestion meant we were slowed and turned. We still blocked in 25 minutes early.

We were so early that I was able to hop in my car, drive at posted speed limits, and pull into my garage at 8:42PM.....two minutes after scheduled arrival time. Nice to live in base.

The end of October will mark my 6th year at my airline. I kinda thought I would at least be in Captain training by now.  Here's to hoping the "pilot shortage of 2013-2014" comes to fruition and I can upgrade or move up to mainline.

Me, Flat Stanley....and "that guy"

First four day trip in months. I tried to get out of it.....not luck.

The original Captain was a guy I've only heard great things about. I was looking forward to flying with him as he was new to me.

Well the day before the trip the original Captain was pulled off the trip. He is the new Chairman of our Union and was removed for Union work. In his place I was assigned a guy I've flown with once before. The most non-interesting man in the world.

The trip was absolutely boring. Eighteen hours of flight with only the checklist read out loud. The rest of the time was spent in complete silence.

The quietness of the guy didn't bother me, but his "all about himself" attitude did.

Most crews will leave the airplane or jet-bridge at the same time when swapping planes or headed to the hotel. It's common courtesy in case the cabin crew needs help or the First Officer is still outside doing the post-flight and finds an issue.

This Captain always headed right up the jet bridge and waited either in the terminal or walked to the hotel van each time. I always waited with the cabin crew. Thankfully I didn't find an issue during my post-flights that required him to write it up.

Another annoyance was at the hotel.

We have a sign in sheet made by our company. It's basic stuff like name, employee number, room number, wake up call excetera.

Most crews take turns filling it out. On the first night I simply asked the other crew members to spell their last names and their employee numbers. Takes 2 minutes.

The second night my Flight Attendant did the writing.

On the third night I thought for sure the Captain would do the job. Well he grabbed the sign in sheet and started writing. He had a piece of paper in his hand I thought had our names and employee numbers (some people print them out for each trip. I was wrong.

He just filled in his information and the flight information and walked away. Ah....that guy.

I did have some fun on the trip.

A friend of mine is home schooling her kid and is working on a project with "Flat Stanley". I offered up my services to take some photos of Flat Stanley during my trip. At each stop I took a photo of Flat Stanley at the terminal. I also took a few photos in flight. Happy to help out.

I finished my trip early Saturday morning. I go back Monday afternoon for a two day trip.

After that I have a one day simulator session Thursday and go back to the line next week on Wednesday.

I don't want to ever be referred to as "that guy".

Back in the Saddle

Today was my first day back at work in almost 3 weeks.

One perk of this profession is setting your own schedule and getting extra days off by bidding creatively. For example I used two weeks of vacation but I was able to get 18 days off in a row.  I could have had 19 off in a row, but I was ready to head back.

Today I had a simple day trip. Just a trip down to Cedar Rapid, Iowa and back.

I really didn't want to bring my suitcase as it's somewhat of a hassle. Of course I would risk getting stuck in Cedar Rapids if the plane broke. I risked it. I just brought my headset and required manuals.

Thankfully it was an easy trip. My Captain took the first leg. I wanted a chance to refresh myself on how things operated. I did make a joke that if he could just remind me where I put the keys in to start the engines, I could likely figure out the rest.

Nice trip. As expected my first landing after being gone for almost 2 weeks was a thumper.

Off tomorrow and back for a 4 day trip on Wednesday afternoon.

For September I decided to bid an international schedule meaning every overnight would be out of the country. I wanted something different.

Well I got what I wanted, 3 day trips all international with weekends off. Great.....until I saw my Captain. He's one of two men who I just don't get along with. Thus I traded all of the trips for different trips. Same working days. Due to training conflicting with my schedule I "work" just 8 days next month. I have another 5 days of training. Overall fairly easy.

Glad to be back. More later.

Still on Vacation

Had a great 7 day cruise to Bermuda. Now spending the next week doing as little as possible. Just stopped by to keep the site fresh and drop of a few photos from my trip.

Bermuda was nice, but I don't think I will go back. Too expensive. The cruise was nice, but 7 days is my limit for a cruise. I was ready to get off on day 7!

Interesting end to the trip. My wife and daughter used airline miles (yep my daughter has had enough real tickets to earn a free trip!) to get 1st class seats home. I was going to non-rev home.

We walked off the ship at 7:55AM. We arrived at Newark in time to check in our luggage and all go standby (they were much higher as they were paying customers) on the 9:15AM flight home. We all got first class seats! It was my daughters' (can you believe she's 3!) first time in 1st class. She knew no different other than getting food.

Time to relax for a few more days.

 

Remember those plastic wings?

Three day trip, last before vacation.

Early 6:20AM report time on Monday. I haven't had an early show time in a long time.

Left home at 5:20AM. Even though I live just 10 miles from the airport it takes time to park in the employee lot, wait for the bus, ride the bus and clear the security portal. I have a 15 minute buffer as I am paranoid of being late.

Day one was just 3 legs. Arrived early on the first flight. Dodged a little weather. For the flight back we were given a route around the weather that would put us in 15 minutes late.

The weather wasn't as bad and the FMS estimated an early arrival. About 40 minutes out the ACARS spit out the connecting gates for passengers and the crew.

Scheduling saw we were estimated to be late and pulled us from our flight to the overnight. Instead of a 35 minute turn we had a 5 hour sit and were dead heading to the overnight.

The early wake up and the thought of a 5 hour sit at the airport made me tired...and annoyed.

While taxiing to our gate we saw the electronic sign above the gate showing the flight we were supposed to take. The gate was empty meaning the plane had not yet arrived.

After blocking in I called scheduling and asked to either be put on our original flight as a dead head or fly it as the plane had not made it in...and we were on time!

The scheduler was new, which is typical as it's high turnover, and was confused.

He eventually agreed to put my whole crew as WORKING the flight.

I made a quick dash to the crew room to pick up an update pack for my manuals and headed to the gate. My Captain was there and shaking his head. He said I was on the flight but the rest of the crew as not.

Just then a First Officer came up from the gate stating she had been pulled from the flight (she was on reserve). I made my way to the flight deck and put my stuff away. I sat next to the Captain (who was on reserve) and let him know what was going on.

He had his stuff set up and signed the flight release preparing to leave.

My Captain came down and the reserve Captain left. My Captain was going to use the original flight release and make a "pen and ink" change to the flight crew. A "pen and ink" change is legal and allowed within certain parameters.

We can "pen and ink" a flight crew change and a MEL change...but not an aircraft change.

While reviewing the paperwork we noticed the MELs on the plane didn't match the flight release. Further investigation showed the aircraft number was wrong....the reserve Captain failed to notice it.

My Captain headed back up to the gate.

Departure time came and went. I made a PA stating we were waiting on a paperwork issue and it would be 10 minutes. Printing a new release normally takes 3-4 minutes.

Ten minutes later the Flight Attendant came up and asked for another PA as the passengers were all giving her the "What the heck" look.

"Ladies and gentlemen my 10 minute estimation has come and gone. Hopefully it won't be much longer, thank you for your patience." I said hoping it would be the last one.

My Captain arrived as I put up the hand mike. The long delay was due to the printer running out of paper AND a new MEL which had to be added.

Left late and arrived late.

I am very habitual. I eat at the same places at each overnight....and eat the same thing.

Long overnight.

Day 2 was long at 7.5 hours of flying starting with a 5:15AM van ride.

The plane, which we had all day, had no APU. This meant having to use an external air start each time. Not hard, but tedious.

Tomorrow is just 3 legs. Should be done at 1:10PM.

Every now and then kids come up to the flight deck. I enjoy it and wish I had something to give them.

When I was a kid I strongly recall getting plastic wings when I flew. With the cost cutting we don't have wings to give out to kids.

I have looked on line for generic plastic wings and have come up empty unless I want to order 1000 units. I might see if I can buy a roll of sticker wings that I can write the flight number and such on. The looks of the kids eyes as they scan the cockpit remind me of how I felt when I would walk buy and gaze at the switches, buttons and lights.

Anyone have a tip on plastic wings?

Everybody likes a little time and half

Normally I don't pick up overtime on off days. Every now and then a trip opens up that says "fly me".

I picked up a 5 hour turn this morning. It left at 8AM and was done at 1:30PM.  My family had no plans this morning so I figured "why not"?

My airline is short on First Officers this weekend and offered up 150% pay for any time flown. That was the icing on the cake.

So my pay rate jumped from $42 an hour to $63 an hour. Easy turn. No surprises. Three hundred and Fifteen dollars (before taxes and union dues!) in the bank.

I have a 3 day 18 hour trip on Monday and then I'm off till the 25th.

In the works is a blog about everything an airline ticket covers. Items such as repairs, training, alternate fuel, ticket agents, dispatchers, baggage loaders and more. Most passengers talk about paying to go from point A to point B and that's it. In reality there are at least 100 people from just the airline involved in getting them from point A to point B....and they all deserve to be paid.