Just two weeks left on FMLA. I should go back to active status on January 4th...I think.
Bidding recently closed and I wasn't awarded a line. Not sure why. I emailed my chief pilot, waiting on a response.
Fairly certain one reason could be due to me needing my yearly training which is normally done in November.
I plan on stopping by the crew room and picking up all the lovely updates for my manuals. I am sure it will take 4-5 hours to update all my charts and manuals....I can't wait until Electronic Flight Bag come out....though it is likely several years away.
Having not flown in a while I am going to start going over flows and profiles again. Might fire up Flight Sim 2004 and the Wilco regional jet model to remember what everything looks like.
Very much so looking forward to having a paycheck....two months without is very tough.
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Check out Hangar Flying
I was a guest on the Hangar Flying podcast this week. It's hosted by an Airline Captain and a Flight Attendant who is also a private pilot. It was a lot of fun and I hope to be a guet again in the future.
Here is a link to the podcast http://upgrd.com/hangarflying/hf-4-flying-express.html
Here is a link to the podcast http://upgrd.com/hangarflying/hf-4-flying-express.html
Friday, November 19, 2010
Flying is easier
A few weeks into being a stay at home dad. Flying is much easier than caring for a baby. Planes have checklist and are predictable. I love my daughter, but her ability to go from straight and level flight to full on stall is....well shocking.
Some might have noticed this site was unstable the last few days. My host is a well known host and apparently some of the sites that share my server were blacklisted by AHBL.org. AHBL blacklist entire IP addresses...thus my site was on a blacklist...one used by my home ISP....which meant I was cut off from all of my blogs. Not good. Fixed now, but I will be moving my blogs to a new host sometime before the end of the year. So if a day comes where nothing comes up....relax and come back a day or two later.
November is normally when I take my yearly check ride. Looks like I will be taking it in January. Then a few weeks later I will likely begin training to fly a different plane. That should make for some good content. Not upgrading to Captain (though it's getting closer....maybe sometime in 2012). Just changing planes.
Some might have noticed this site was unstable the last few days. My host is a well known host and apparently some of the sites that share my server were blacklisted by AHBL.org. AHBL blacklist entire IP addresses...thus my site was on a blacklist...one used by my home ISP....which meant I was cut off from all of my blogs. Not good. Fixed now, but I will be moving my blogs to a new host sometime before the end of the year. So if a day comes where nothing comes up....relax and come back a day or two later.
November is normally when I take my yearly check ride. Looks like I will be taking it in January. Then a few weeks later I will likely begin training to fly a different plane. That should make for some good content. Not upgrading to Captain (though it's getting closer....maybe sometime in 2012). Just changing planes.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Feet on the ground
As of November 1st I am not going to be flying (for work anyway) for a good two months.
I flew my last flight October 30th. Overtime trip. Routine flight. Spent a lot of time watching the sunset. Gonna be a while before I see it from up there again.
Taking care of my almost 3 month old daughter is way more difficult than flying a plane. I thought I would have two months off to watch my video podcast and fix up my man cave. Not so much.
I will try to update this blog every now and then if I see a flying related topic that comes up. Beyond that.....it might be quiet here for a while. Feel free to shoot any questions my way via a comment on this (or most any recent post) or via the email listed by clicking the "about" link at the top of the page.
I flew my last flight October 30th. Overtime trip. Routine flight. Spent a lot of time watching the sunset. Gonna be a while before I see it from up there again.
Taking care of my almost 3 month old daughter is way more difficult than flying a plane. I thought I would have two months off to watch my video podcast and fix up my man cave. Not so much.
I will try to update this blog every now and then if I see a flying related topic that comes up. Beyond that.....it might be quiet here for a while. Feel free to shoot any questions my way via a comment on this (or most any recent post) or via the email listed by clicking the "about" link at the top of the page.
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Odd noise
I have roughly 1400 hours at my airline. All in the same plane. I know it fairly well. Over time I know what noises are normal and which ones aren't.
Since I had a line this month, almost every flight was the same. Depart at 6:10AM and a scheduled return at 12:20PM.
Last Tuesday was a little different.
High winds, rain and light snow were over the outstation. Winds were blowing 250@17G28 while the autopilot lined up with runway 30. The winds aloft were much higher showing 60knots + at 3500 feet AGL.
Like normal I began slowing from 250 knots to prepare for landing. After calling for the third flap setting I called for gear down. The plane was at 160 knots. Maximum gear extension speed is over 200 knots.
I heard the gear extend, but then stop, a metallic scraping noise, extend, another odd clunk, and that was it.
I paused and looked over, three green lights, but then there was a proximity sensor status message. Something wasn't right.
Still in the clouds, in icing conditions, the Captain and I discussed the situation while I monitored the autopilot flying the approach. We agreed that we indeed had three green lights and that the proximity status message is a "no action required" item during flight. I decided I would make a soft as possible landing and be very gentle on the nose. The runway was 8500 feet long and our charts showed we needed 3900 feet to stop on a wet runway.
I eased the mains onto the runway. Slowly I let the nose down....normal. I used maximum reverse and minimal braking to keep weight off the nose.
Everything seemed fine until the Captain turned off the runway.....another horrible scraping sound.
My eyes were fixated on the ramp personnel guiding us into the gate. If there was an issue it would show in his face. Sure enough he tilted his head as we came to a stop.
After the passengers were off, I stepped off the plane to inspect the damage. Once on the jetbridge I looked down and saw the problem, a gear door was severely damaged. It had wrapped itself behind the nose gear.
Further inspection showed we were fairly lucky the nose gear came down and locked into place. The hydraulic system on the plane is very strong which likely what helped push the gear into place despite the door being bent/damaged.
[nggallery id=51]
A mechanic came out. Not much he could do right away. The return flight was cancelled and we were all placed on the next flight (3 hours later!) back to our domicile as deadheads. As luck would have it we all got first class seats.
I still get paid for my cancelled flight plus I get paid for deadheading. I had a nice first class meal on the way back. It was a little annoying getting back 3 hours late.
I flew my last trip of the year last night. I have a few more post lined up before this blog begins to get stale for a bit.
Since I had a line this month, almost every flight was the same. Depart at 6:10AM and a scheduled return at 12:20PM.
Last Tuesday was a little different.
High winds, rain and light snow were over the outstation. Winds were blowing 250@17G28 while the autopilot lined up with runway 30. The winds aloft were much higher showing 60knots + at 3500 feet AGL.
Like normal I began slowing from 250 knots to prepare for landing. After calling for the third flap setting I called for gear down. The plane was at 160 knots. Maximum gear extension speed is over 200 knots.
I heard the gear extend, but then stop, a metallic scraping noise, extend, another odd clunk, and that was it.
I paused and looked over, three green lights, but then there was a proximity sensor status message. Something wasn't right.
Still in the clouds, in icing conditions, the Captain and I discussed the situation while I monitored the autopilot flying the approach. We agreed that we indeed had three green lights and that the proximity status message is a "no action required" item during flight. I decided I would make a soft as possible landing and be very gentle on the nose. The runway was 8500 feet long and our charts showed we needed 3900 feet to stop on a wet runway.
I eased the mains onto the runway. Slowly I let the nose down....normal. I used maximum reverse and minimal braking to keep weight off the nose.
Everything seemed fine until the Captain turned off the runway.....another horrible scraping sound.
My eyes were fixated on the ramp personnel guiding us into the gate. If there was an issue it would show in his face. Sure enough he tilted his head as we came to a stop.
After the passengers were off, I stepped off the plane to inspect the damage. Once on the jetbridge I looked down and saw the problem, a gear door was severely damaged. It had wrapped itself behind the nose gear.
Further inspection showed we were fairly lucky the nose gear came down and locked into place. The hydraulic system on the plane is very strong which likely what helped push the gear into place despite the door being bent/damaged.
[nggallery id=51]
A mechanic came out. Not much he could do right away. The return flight was cancelled and we were all placed on the next flight (3 hours later!) back to our domicile as deadheads. As luck would have it we all got first class seats.
I still get paid for my cancelled flight plus I get paid for deadheading. I had a nice first class meal on the way back. It was a little annoying getting back 3 hours late.
I flew my last trip of the year last night. I have a few more post lined up before this blog begins to get stale for a bit.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Eyes wide open
Choosing to fly for a living is a bigger decision than say....choosing to work in a call center for a living. A larger personal and financial investment is required to fly for a living.
Before jumping into becoming an airline pilot, a lot of prep work is needed....in my opinion.
My wife and I knew that the first year or two would be rough. We saved and prepared our budgets to live on mostly just her income. We then started (and continue to) live UNDER our means. Anything extra is just that...extra.
When I started at my airline we had money saved to supplement the first year pay.
It helped that I had been "in the real" world for a few years and thus had money saved away. I truly can't imagine going from high school....or even college straight to an airline.
I came across a website (http://doihaveafuturehere.org/?p=14) that does a pretty good job comparing just about every United States regional airline pay for the first 3 years.
I was surprised where my airline landed.
The graphs show minimum pay excluding per diem. Before jumping to a regional, pay should be examined and a reality check performed. Can you truly make it on first year pay ? Saving up a a few thousand dollars as a "just in case fund" would be a really smart idea in my opinion.
Before jumping into becoming an airline pilot, a lot of prep work is needed....in my opinion.
My wife and I knew that the first year or two would be rough. We saved and prepared our budgets to live on mostly just her income. We then started (and continue to) live UNDER our means. Anything extra is just that...extra.
When I started at my airline we had money saved to supplement the first year pay.
It helped that I had been "in the real" world for a few years and thus had money saved away. I truly can't imagine going from high school....or even college straight to an airline.
I came across a website (http://doihaveafuturehere.org/?p=14) that does a pretty good job comparing just about every United States regional airline pay for the first 3 years.
I was surprised where my airline landed.
The graphs show minimum pay excluding per diem. Before jumping to a regional, pay should be examined and a reality check performed. Can you truly make it on first year pay ? Saving up a a few thousand dollars as a "just in case fund" would be a really smart idea in my opinion.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
A lot of time in jumpseats
Looking forward to November 1st and doing as little as possible.
I have about 20 hours left to fly between now and then. Fifteen from my line and 5 overtime. The good thing is the 5 hours is out of my domicile, not my TDY domicile.
Four of my friends planned a trip to Vegas over the weekend. My wife and I planned to go. It would be our first trip alone since having my daughter.
We wanted to leave Friday morning and return Sunday night. Well the National Rodeo Finals were in town over weekend. Flights out Sunday were overbooked in all directions.
Instead we planned to go out Thursday night and return Saturday night. My mother in law flew in to watch my daughter.
Thursday night flights began to fill out of nowhere. It wasn't looking good. My wife was really looking forward to going to Vegas as we used to go a lot....and were married there.
We gave ourselves two flights to get out. We both packed our clothes in my suitcase...this decision would later come to bite us.
Ten minutes to departure and the first flight was full, but a few passengers were not yet on board. The agent began calling names. They finally called my name. Just one seat open in the cabin....and the flight deck jumpseat. Done.
The flight crew was nice. I wasn't looking forward to the jumpseat...especially on a narrow body.
I squeezed in and sat down. We arrived and were happy to have made it.
The flights back Saturday night were really open...about 60 seats between the last two flights.
Saturday afternoon around 2PM I checked the flights....something bad happened.
Turns out there were several cancellations. Suddenly everything was overbooked. We said goodbye to our friends and headed to the airport.
The standby list were incredibly long. Several revenue passengers in addition to non-revs. List was 50 deep and every flight was full. Time for a back up plan.
My wife and I have discussed this situation in the past. One where I could go (flight deck jumpseat) but she would have to stay behind. In 3 years on non-reving we have never had to execute such a plan.
She began looking at ways out of Vegas on Southwest. I looked at ways out via places Southwest flew. Finally found a way.
She called Southwest to list as a non-rev. I called my airline and arranged a ZED (Zonal Employee Discount) pass. Just about every airline participates in the ZED program. It's a set fee based on certain lengths. Staying in one zone and pay the one zone fare. Going further, you pay the next zone length fare. Her flight for a one zone flight was a reasonable $40.
I heard my name called for the jumpseat. I saw a Southwest pilot trying to jumpseat as well. I knew the next flight 30 minutes later had no jumpseaters and gave the Southwest pilot the seat so I could sqaure away details for my wife.
She was a bit frazzled as this situation developed very quickly. We both knew if she didn't get out of Vegas Saturday night, there was no chance of getting out Sunday.
My name was called again and I had to leave. Problem....all her clothes were in my suitcase. I needed the suitcase so I could wash my clothes and commute to my TDY on Sunday. I quickly transferred clothes to my Ipad bag and gave her the bag sans my Ipad.
Even though it's my mainline carrier operating the flight, I still follow proper jumpseat procedure by asking the Captain for a ride. Done. I took my jumpseat (in a wide body....much more room!) and watched my wife through the window.
She had to quickly pay for her ZED pass and then make it over to the Southwest gates. She thankfully got a seat (Southwest is VERY nice to non-revs from other airlines).
Once I landed I got a text she sent previously asking if I could arrange for a hotel. I quickly made a reservation at a hotel using a discount code from a previous employer (La Quinta has great rates and nice rooms!).
I arrived at home at 10:30PM. My wife arrived at her hotel at 9:30PM. She would be leaving the next day at 6AM. I later told her that's how many of my overnights are. I arrive in the dark and leave in the dark, never seeing much beyond what's between the airport and the hotel.
This morning I woke up and began planning my commute. The morning flights were open, but I was beat, and wanted to spend time with my daughter. I realized I would likely end up in another jumpseat.
I picked my wife up from the airport at 10:15AM. She brought me back to the airport at 12:30PM.
Once again the flight was full. I was given the flight deck jumpseat again....on a narrow body.
Long flight. Great crew who even gave me one of their crew meals.
I work the next three days at my TDY domicile before finally heading home Wednesday evening or Thursday morning....depending on how tired I am....and the flight loads. I don't care to sit on a jumpseat if I can avoid it.
Oh...I was up quite a bit on Thursday night in Vegas.....downhill from there...made a good size donation to the local economy.
The standby list for flights out of Vegas on my mainline carrier is over 100 deep. Majority are non-rev's who will NOT be getting out tonight.
I have about 20 hours left to fly between now and then. Fifteen from my line and 5 overtime. The good thing is the 5 hours is out of my domicile, not my TDY domicile.
Four of my friends planned a trip to Vegas over the weekend. My wife and I planned to go. It would be our first trip alone since having my daughter.
We wanted to leave Friday morning and return Sunday night. Well the National Rodeo Finals were in town over weekend. Flights out Sunday were overbooked in all directions.
Instead we planned to go out Thursday night and return Saturday night. My mother in law flew in to watch my daughter.
Thursday night flights began to fill out of nowhere. It wasn't looking good. My wife was really looking forward to going to Vegas as we used to go a lot....and were married there.
We gave ourselves two flights to get out. We both packed our clothes in my suitcase...this decision would later come to bite us.
Ten minutes to departure and the first flight was full, but a few passengers were not yet on board. The agent began calling names. They finally called my name. Just one seat open in the cabin....and the flight deck jumpseat. Done.
The flight crew was nice. I wasn't looking forward to the jumpseat...especially on a narrow body.
I squeezed in and sat down. We arrived and were happy to have made it.
The flights back Saturday night were really open...about 60 seats between the last two flights.
Saturday afternoon around 2PM I checked the flights....something bad happened.
Turns out there were several cancellations. Suddenly everything was overbooked. We said goodbye to our friends and headed to the airport.
The standby list were incredibly long. Several revenue passengers in addition to non-revs. List was 50 deep and every flight was full. Time for a back up plan.
My wife and I have discussed this situation in the past. One where I could go (flight deck jumpseat) but she would have to stay behind. In 3 years on non-reving we have never had to execute such a plan.
She began looking at ways out of Vegas on Southwest. I looked at ways out via places Southwest flew. Finally found a way.
She called Southwest to list as a non-rev. I called my airline and arranged a ZED (Zonal Employee Discount) pass. Just about every airline participates in the ZED program. It's a set fee based on certain lengths. Staying in one zone and pay the one zone fare. Going further, you pay the next zone length fare. Her flight for a one zone flight was a reasonable $40.
I heard my name called for the jumpseat. I saw a Southwest pilot trying to jumpseat as well. I knew the next flight 30 minutes later had no jumpseaters and gave the Southwest pilot the seat so I could sqaure away details for my wife.
She was a bit frazzled as this situation developed very quickly. We both knew if she didn't get out of Vegas Saturday night, there was no chance of getting out Sunday.
My name was called again and I had to leave. Problem....all her clothes were in my suitcase. I needed the suitcase so I could wash my clothes and commute to my TDY on Sunday. I quickly transferred clothes to my Ipad bag and gave her the bag sans my Ipad.
Even though it's my mainline carrier operating the flight, I still follow proper jumpseat procedure by asking the Captain for a ride. Done. I took my jumpseat (in a wide body....much more room!) and watched my wife through the window.
She had to quickly pay for her ZED pass and then make it over to the Southwest gates. She thankfully got a seat (Southwest is VERY nice to non-revs from other airlines).
Once I landed I got a text she sent previously asking if I could arrange for a hotel. I quickly made a reservation at a hotel using a discount code from a previous employer (La Quinta has great rates and nice rooms!).
I arrived at home at 10:30PM. My wife arrived at her hotel at 9:30PM. She would be leaving the next day at 6AM. I later told her that's how many of my overnights are. I arrive in the dark and leave in the dark, never seeing much beyond what's between the airport and the hotel.
This morning I woke up and began planning my commute. The morning flights were open, but I was beat, and wanted to spend time with my daughter. I realized I would likely end up in another jumpseat.
I picked my wife up from the airport at 10:15AM. She brought me back to the airport at 12:30PM.
Once again the flight was full. I was given the flight deck jumpseat again....on a narrow body.
Long flight. Great crew who even gave me one of their crew meals.
I work the next three days at my TDY domicile before finally heading home Wednesday evening or Thursday morning....depending on how tired I am....and the flight loads. I don't care to sit on a jumpseat if I can avoid it.
Oh...I was up quite a bit on Thursday night in Vegas.....downhill from there...made a good size donation to the local economy.
The standby list for flights out of Vegas on my mainline carrier is over 100 deep. Majority are non-rev's who will NOT be getting out tonight.
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