A Year in the Life [Archive] - Front Office Football Central

PilotMan

01-04-2015, 11:06 PM

God I'm tired. Hey, at least I got to wake up without an alarm. That's always nice. I had to be at the airport by 1030a this morning to work a flight to San Francisco. Strong winds a heavy load meant that we were going to be right at the weight limit. Flight time: 6 hours and 6 minutes.

A flight is like a dance. There are many parts played by many people and they all have to come together in the right moment for it to leave on time. Flight crew, Gate Agents, Ramp Crew, Dispatcher, Load Planner, Operations personnel. When it works right, like it does most of the time flights get to leave on time. Any hiccup serves to derail the process.

Today, things just seemed to be working against us, not only the wind. As the gate finishes boarding, the flight crew finishes all our briefings, checklists and preflight, the flight attendants finish the cabin inspection, the baggage handlers finish loading the plane, all the data runs through the Load Planner who sends us our weights so we can send info back out for takeoff data.

To keep this shorter I'll paraphrase some things. Load planner had trouble with the weights. We couldn't get our normal takeoff data relayed so we had to call the dispatcher and have him run the numbers and send them to the plane. That is very rare. We had to takeoff on a little bit longer stretch of runway because we were so heavy. On taxi out, ATC had a reroute, but our dispatcher explicitly told us no reroutes because of fuel. So we had to wait some more. Eventually the reroute was approved and we left, albeit about 45 minutes after we were supposed to.

And all that is before you've even left the ground. Now add 6+ hours of flying. Today's flying was made less glamorous due to cloud cover over much of the US. Nothing really to look at. Snow in Canada, snow in Minnesota, snow in South Dakota, snow in Wy...wait I can't remember actually seeing the ground in Wyoming. Hehe. Snow in the mountains. Anyway, you get the idea.

My day wasn't done in SFO mind you. We ended up being about 35 minutes late, but we were also scheduled to deadhead (an aviation term meaning to ride as a passenger on duty) to Vancouver. Originally we only had 1 hour to make the flight, now we had roughly 25 minutes to make it. Thankfully I walked on only a few minutes from departure.

That flight ended up being about 20 minutes late because of late connecting bags that operations held the plane for. So now a 2 hours flight to Vancouver and we end up getting in here around 1045p. Clear customs and head for the hotel. I've actually never been to Vancouver before but I've heard it's one of the best layovers in the system. I won't know, it's dark now, it'll be dark when we leave. I won't see a thing. I figure out that I've spend almost 11 full hours on a plane today. Not just working, actually, physically, on a plane.

I'm starving. We are staying at the airport because it's a very short layover and I change and head out to the food court for some fast food Chinese. I call this part dinner at 1130p (eastern; I've found that life is easier if I say on my body time clock as much as practical.)

So I'm back to work in 9.5 hours. A similarly long day ahead tomorrow but I'm looking forward to hopefully grabbing some fish taco's when I get to Orange County (CA) tomorrow night.

bbgunn

01-04-2015, 11:28 PM

I do some travel for leisure. I'm not sure if I fly more or less than the average man, but for someone who flies as much as I do, this is a very interesting log. Keep it up!

BYU 14

01-05-2015, 08:53 AM

This will be good, very interesting to get some behind the scenes stuff. Some Canadian pilots own the house next to us and are down here 4-5 times a year, so I have talked to them about the flying part, or surprisingly lack of tie they actually physically fly the plane. Have never gotten into this part of it though, so looking forward to the travels.

PackerFanatic

01-05-2015, 11:30 AM

This is already awesome, PM. Can't wait to read more!

CraigSca

01-05-2015, 12:21 PM

Neuqua

01-05-2015, 02:11 PM

What prompted you to become a pilot? I'd always wanted to be one growing up but I never really did anything about it. It's interesting that it seems you may have career-changed into it.

PilotMan

01-05-2015, 03:08 PM

Wow guys, thanks for reading! I appreciate all the comments and questions! Don't get too excited though. It's going to get a little bit boring. I have a bunch of days off to take care of the Mrs. who is having surgery later this week. I'll still be posting though. It just won't be exciting.

PilotMan

01-05-2015, 03:44 PM

PM, when there's turbulence, who makes the decision to radio ATC for a different altitude to check for clearer air? Is it the captain, or is it a mutual decision? Is it totally up to the pilot's discretion? I recently flew in China and it felt like the pilots didn't care if there was turbulence, they were given an altitude and were going to stick with it (probably just my perception).

How much leeway is there in flying around thunderstorms?

You mentioned that you fly 737s - are there big differences between the old 737s and the new ones? Are you rated to fly only certain models of them?

When a flight is being planned the dispatcher takes into account pilot reports as well as information put out by the company meteorologists. Turbulence can mean more fuel needs to be carried do to altitude or lateral deviations.

To answer the question it's the captain's responsibility for the flight, but we typically work as a team and make decisions together. We are always listening on the radio for ride reports, asking ATC to ask other planes how things are going, and getting information from Dispatch. Sometimes there is just nothing you can do about it. You have to go there or the rides just suck everywhere and you have to ride it out. Most altitude choices are fuel driven. The higher you go generally the cheaper it is to operate, however you are also closer to the operating envelope of the plane. Turbulence can make things dangerous if you are too high.

As for thunderstorms between the radar in the plane and on the ground and the general nasty nature of them we try really hard to avoid them at all costs. General rule is 20 miles but some can be as much as 100 miles away depending.

With a 737 type rating I am able to fly all variants from the classics to the new Max series that is coming out in a couple of years. That's both good and bad. Thanks to Southwest Airlines being the biggest buyer of 737's they convinced Boeing to keep many similarities between the old planes and the new. The upside is lower training costs and flexibility the downside is a lot of dated operations in the cockpit that most newer planes would have fixed by now. Even the new Max series will still have it. Thanks Southwest.

PilotMan

01-05-2015, 10:48 PM

What prompted you to become a pilot? I'd always wanted to be one growing up but I never really did anything about it. It's interesting that it seems you may have career-changed into it.

Oh man, my back story is a little kid of divorced parents who grew up flying unaccompanied from Minot to Los Angeles starting at age 6. A dad who was a pilot in the Air Force. A grandfather who was a naval aviator instructor in WWII. My mom even soloed before my dad did, but never went any further than that. I was in Civil Air Patrol in high school and even my first job after high school was working at the airport ice cream shop.

I come by it honestly even though I didn't think at the time that you could just become a pilot. I went to college and didn't think about it any more. The opportunity came up to go to a flight school in Florida and really commit to it (because at the time it was that or back to graduate school) and in the end it was something that I was always drawn to. I was fortunate enough to be able to be successful at it and make a career out of it.

I'd say thought that it was the flight crews that looked after me, talked to me, the pilots who put me in the cockpit before the flight. Plus when my friends weren't doing anything over the summer I was going to California and getting there in just a few hours. I was seeing a world far away from where I lived and I loved it.

NoSkillz

01-05-2015, 11:09 PM

Love this PilotMan!

PilotMan

01-05-2015, 11:33 PM

It was still raining in Vancouver when I left this morning. There wasn't anything to look at. Even though the layover wasn't that long the bed was nice and I got a good night's sleep.

Our schedules aren't always nice and smooth going from one plane to another with no breaks. In less productive months like January we can have breaks. Today's break was 4 minutes shy of 4 hours. We call them productivity breaks or airport appreciation time. You could also call it not getting paid.

If there's one thing I'm good at thought, it's killing time. Only child, single working mom, latchkey. Oh yeah. I can kill some time. Today wasn't even that hard. I dropped my bags off in ops and did 2.5 miles around the terminal. In a suit. Lol. You can't really speed walk in a suit. But sitting as much as I do you gotta get up and move when you can. Throw in some lunch and laptop time and it was over that fast.

Denver always has the potential for shitty rides going over the mountains and today was one of the worst I've ever seen. In fact, the turbulence we had on climb out on the way to Orange County was the worst I've seen in years.

I do have one kinda cool photo from today.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/0105151655.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/0105151655.jpg.html)

That's snow in the Grand Canyon. That's just not something you see every day.

I think I can see the end of this trip on the horizon. I'm on day 4 today and I'm really ready to be done, but I've got 2 more flights. After having 3 of 4 layovers on the West coast I've more or less acclimated to Pacific time. This will probably work out in my favor, at least for this trip. You see, tonight's overnight has to set me up for tomorrow.

Let me explain. Tomorrow morning I do one leg to San Francisco. Then go to the hotel for 12 hours and then leave the hotel tomorrow night to fly an all night red-eye back to Newark. So after working mornings and afternoons, tomorrow I have to try and sleep during the day so I can be up all night.

It's taken me some time but I think I've got a system that works reasonably well for me. Basically I need to be able to get a good workout in, a good meal and be tired enough to just go to bed by 3 in the afternoon. If I can get 5 hours of sleep tomorrow afternoon I can be rested enough for my night flight.

It's not the ideal schedule, but it get's me back home the same day (called being able to commute on the back end.) I'll do just about anything to get home on the back end.

MacroGuru

01-06-2015, 09:27 AM

You know I am reading! Definitely awesome!

PilotMan

01-06-2015, 05:31 PM

Beautiful morning flight up to San Francisco from LA this morning. No clouds, great temps. One of the benefits of being based on the east coast is all the west coast flying that I get to do. In my previous flying jobs I was stuck flying east of the Mississippi 90% of the time. I'd be stuck in the northeast on a snowy day where every flight was dealing with weather in one form or another. Occasionally I got out to Salt Lake City or Denver, Dallas, Austin, but most of the time was NY, Buffalo, Atlanta. I love it out here.

I'm trying to convince my body it's time to get some sleep. I have to get up in 4.5 hours and be ready to fly across the country whether it happens or not. So I really hope it does. Most everyone finds their own way to make it happen. It's not really fun to fly on the backside of the clock when your body is screaming ....sleep!

I leave you with this picture from my walk along the bay, not far from the airport and our short stay hotel in SFO. Just your standard beautiful January day in northern California. It's easy to forget that it's going to be in the teens when you get home, or that it might be snowing back in Newark.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/0106151352.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/0106151352.jpg.html)

PilotMan

01-06-2015, 05:32 PM

Love this PilotMan!

You know I am reading! Definitely awesome!

Thanks for the encouragement guys. It means a lot to me. The idea of sticking with this for the year feels daunting, but I'm going to do my best.

tgray649

01-06-2015, 10:49 PM

Great read very interesting.

timmae

01-07-2015, 06:54 AM

Is that a plane in post #23? How often do you see other traffic and how close have you come? Any on ground "incidents"?

PilotMan

01-07-2015, 08:21 AM

Is that a plane in post #23? How often do you see other traffic and how close have you come? Any on ground "incidents"?

Yeah, it's a plane on final approach for runway 28R in San Francisco. It's very common to see plane when you are at cruise. In addition to ATC informing you of traffic that may be close to you, there is the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) in the plane that will go off if certain parameters are met.

Above 25000 ft in the US, is what is called Reduced Vertical Separation Minimums. That goes all the way to 41000 ft, which also happens to be the ceiling of the 737. Traffic is separated by 1000 ft vertically. I'm not certain on lateral separation for traffic going the same direction, but it's typically more than 10 miles. With the accuracy of GPS and the navigation systems its common to pass other planes traveling on the the same airway in opposite directions. East bound traffic travels at odd altitudes, while west bound even. When this occurs the plane will be often times coming right at you, with a closer rate between the two of you at over 1000 MPH! Also it's not uncommon to pass or be overtaken by another plane traveling the same direction but 2000 ft above or below. In order for planes to be able to operate at these altitudes the aircraft must have certain minimum equipment for safety of flight.

At lower altitudes and certainly near airports controllers have less space to work with and lateral separation is less, while vertical separation between planes flying VFR and in uncontrolled airspace can be as little as 500 ft. (visual flight rules; we fly IFR on instrument flight rules) VFR planes follow the same east/west altitude rules but fly on the 500's of feet as opposed to even thousands. There is no VFR traffic above 17500ft.

By ground incidents I assume you mean some sort of incursion or forced rejected takeoff. Yes, I have had one that had the potential to be serious. We were on takeoff in Buffalo and another passenger jet missed a turn and crossed the hold short line for our runway, forcing us to reject the takeoff. It was frustrating because we were just beating a line of bad weather out and ended up waiting for over an hour for the brakes to cool down, while we watched the other plane takeoff instead of us. Other than that, nothing really out of the ordinary. I don't see go-arounds as out of the ordinary. They are something that has to happen from time to time. They either happen from planes lingering on the runway too long in front of you, bad weather, poor approach or lack of sufficient separation on final. They seem like a big deal to the passengers but not generally to us in the cockpit.

PilotMan

01-07-2015, 08:33 AM

Done! Now to just get home. I didn't get the real rest that I had wanted to. Just ended up tossing and turning for a few hours. I felt fine though and it was a mostly smooth 4h and 40 minute flight from coast to coast. It's always much easier to go with the wind than against it, especially in the winter.

Now the trick is to get home. So I've been done with work since 630a and my flight was supposed to leave at 900a, but here it is, 930, and the expectation is that the flight won't go until 1030 now. The flight is going to be a long one too, because of that very same wind. Oh well, I'm like a barn sour horse. Point me home and I can handle it. The flight has plenty of seats and it looks like I'll get a row to myself. I'm not a small guy, that extra space makes a world of difference.

I completely forgot to mention that I had another odd first yesterday. I had gotten up to get in the shower in LA yesterday and it wasn't until just before I went to turn the water on that there was no shower curtain! I was like "wtf?!" Too late to call down and wait for someone to take care of it. I had plenty of towels and tried not to make too terrible a mess. When I went down I asked at the front desk "when did you stop using shower curtains?" She just stammered and looked at me like I had a unicorn horn coming out of my forehead.

If I'm lucky now, I should make it home by 115p this afternoon. Almost 6 hours after I finished work added on to my 6 days of work. Hurry up already!

flere-imsaho

01-07-2015, 12:47 PM

britrock88

01-07-2015, 06:20 PM

Oh man, my back story is a little kid of divorced parents who grew up flying unaccompanied from Minot to Los Angeles starting at age 6.

I feel like we may have covered this before, but do you still get up to ND at all these days? Wouldn't necessarily expect it, given that you were probably here for your dad to fly from the AFB.

britrock88

01-07-2015, 06:21 PM

I don't see go-arounds as out of the ordinary. They are something that has to happen from time to time. They either happen from planes lingering on the runway too long in front of you, bad weather, poor approach or lack of sufficient separation on final. They seem like a big deal to the passengers but not generally to us in the cockpit.

I've only experienced these at LGA, to my memory. But the one that sticks out to me is the one where the plane was making a final approach and had to abort and climb from maybe 500 feet back into a holding pattern for another go-around.

PilotMan

01-08-2015, 08:17 AM

This is a great read!

Looks like you had a great hotel room in PV. How often are you put up in decent hotels? I'd have assumed you would always would have been put up in cheapo hotels near an airport.

Thank you I appreciate it. To answer your question, all the time. I would say that domestically we average between 3 and 4 star hotels and internationally the same with the trend toward more 4 star hotels. There are contractual requirements that must be met with regard to location and amenities. Of course it's somewhat relative to the location. That hotel in PV was very nice in a great location. My hotel in Caracas might have been a good hotel, but it was surrounded by a 12 foot concrete wall with razor wire over the top, plus the rooms had cracked windows, missing light fixtures etc. That hotel in Caracas would still be considered one of the best available to us simply because of how crappy Caracas is.

I feel like we may have covered this before, but do you still get up to ND at all these days? Wouldn't necessarily expect it, given that you were probably here for your dad to fly from the AFB.

Sadly, even though I still feel like my heart is somewhat there I don't. Although not for the reasons you think. It was my mom's family that was there. They had a farm out west of town. All of them are gone now and the farm is no longer in the family. My great-great grandfather emigrated from Norway under the homestead act for that land. I wish it could have stayed in the family, but at least close friends now own it. My dad was the one who was in California.

I've only experienced these at LGA, to my memory. But the one that sticks out to me is the one where the plane was making a final approach and had to abort and climb from maybe 500 feet back into a holding pattern for another go-around.

Exactly. LGA can be a bit of a CF due to airspace limitations and controllers who will bark 3 or 4 instructions in one breath, but this is exactly what I was referring to.

Personally I have gone around due to windshear, a bad approach where I was too fast on final and failed to notice a big tailwind on approach and I just couldn't get the plane slowed down enough. That happened exactly 1 time. No way I'm making that mistake again. I've gone around do to planes not clearing fast enough, tower making a mistake and clearing another plane for takeoff when we were too close and a situation where tower felt we were too close to the plane in front of us and told us to go around even though I was fine and we would have been fine.

PilotMan

01-08-2015, 08:37 AM

If I'm lucky now, I should make it home by 115p this afternoon. Almost 6 hours after I finished work added on to my 6 days of work. Hurry up already!

So I got home at 2p yesterday. That's 7.5 hours after I was done working. That is what they call the cost of commuting. That time where you aren't getting paid and you aren't home where you should be. Add that to the 16 hours early that I had to leave for work on the front and and you get 23.5. My 6 day trip that I just finished cost me 7 days.

This job isn't like your normal 8-5 job. I don't work M-F. I don't get holidays. I get larger chunks of time off than most people, but the cost of a job where you travel a lot does take it's toll. I know that some of you understand that. Any job where you are gone a lot has it's own price. The price on your home life. It takes a special kind of woman to be able to deal with this sort of life. Many of them who can't move on and find other men where they don't have to deal with it. Many women can't handle the idea of their man being out there on his own for so long and so unaccountable. Jealousy and trust play right into all that and can disintegrate a healthy relationship.

Thankfully, I've been married for 14 years to a woman who has been with me for my entire career. We met before my flying days, when I was a fresh faced restaurant manager just out of college and she was a hostess in my store. Yeah, that kind of thing was frowned upon at the time. Yes, it caused problems that we were prepared for. She has been a stay at home mom to our kids. And while that cost us financially it has paid it's rewards in our home life, our kids lives, and our life together. I'm not sure we could have done it with her trying to balance a career on top of it.

Today we are going to the doctor for a pre-surgical appointment and tomorrow she is going in for what will be a 5 to 6 hour surgery to repair some damage and prevent long term complications from the number of pregnancies that she has had. She will be recovering for a couple of weeks and in this time I will have to do my best to do everything else that she does, plus the normal dad and family stuff. Oh and if we are FB friends please refrain from commenting on this there as we aren't discussing it there.

My next trip out isn't for over a week and a half. I have to make sure that she is doing alright before I leave again. So no awesome trip pics for a while. I'll still update the normal stuff here though and I still have to bid my schedule for February so I'll go over that process as well.

PilotMan

01-09-2015, 08:42 PM

What a long ass day. Left home at 520a this morning, walked back in the door at 900p. Everything is alright, just a long day. Have to go back in the morning because I couldn't stay with her. I had to come home and be with the boys.

I wanted to talk about the bidding process for my schedule and I will, just not today. Too tired.

timmae

01-09-2015, 08:47 PM

thoughts are with ya bud...

PilotMan

01-10-2015, 11:45 PM

Again, not a whole lot to post today. I spend the majority of the day at the hospital with the Mrs, but got to bring her home today. She is doing good and on schedule for recovery.

PilotMan

01-12-2015, 10:45 PM

Ok, on to scheduling. One of the most asked questions I get is "where do you fly?" or "do you fly the same route?"

Scheduling like most things I have control over is totally based on seniority. What I want to talk about is how the whole process works, what I have control over and how can I use it to improve my life.

I'm going to talk about seniority a lot. It's a simple concept that pretty much says your spot in the company is solely dictated by the date that you were hired. The biggest impact on day to day is the monthly schedule. Each month the company puts out a master list for each airplane of trips that pilots will bid for. These trips will vary from 1-4 days (some wide body, international stuff is different. I won't be talking about it though) and can run from 1 day of the month to multiple times during the month. For example, a 4-day trip could be run starting every Monday throughout the month.

These trips are designed to maximize the value to the company while still complying with all of the rules of the FAA and the contract. The contract already contains all FAA rules so as long as the company stays within it's all legal. Legality is a big deal. It's really complicated and it's really boring. Safe to say, you are better off not worrying about it here.

The pilots are divided into 2 groups when it comes to schedules, lineholders and reserves. Lineholders are the majority, the top 75-85% of pilots in a given group. They hold a regularly awarded schedule that can be between 70-85 hours of scheduled flying in a month. The remaining pilots are reserves. Reserves are on call and can sometimes fly a lot or end up not flying much. They generally are stuck with last minute changes and fewer guaranteed days off, but potentially more if they aren't used.

Next the company looks at all the flying that they have and they draw a line in the group and say everyone above a certain point on the list will be lineholders and the rest will be reserves. It's somewhat fluid based on schedules and more senior pilots who choose to bid reserve.

That brings me to the monthly pain in the ass that is bidding. We have what's called a preferential bidding system (PBS). There are, and I'm not making this up, a nearly infinite permiatation of choices. I can bid for or against certain layovers, days off, trip length, trips that start or end at certain times of the day, other pilots to fly with or to avoid. It just goes on and on and on.

I am senior enough on my plane, in my base, that I'm considered a lineholder. However, being a commuter puts me at a disadvantage because my entire month is somewhat decided by the options that I have to actually get to work. Unlike someone who can drive I have to know that my best travel days are during the week and that weekends, especially Saturdays suck to try and travel on. It also benefits me to work longer 4-day trips because it means that I won't be commuting as often as commuting = lost days off. For me a bunch of 2-day trips are wasted because I probably can't go home between them. I might as well be working. The flipside of that argument is the longer I am gone the harder it is on my family. Anything longer than 4 days gets to be tough on everyone. Especially my rollerboard (suitcase). It just can't hold that much.

The bidding itself is quite complicated. I have to not only order my preferences by what I want, but I have to assign a priority to each thing. The bidding program starts with the most senior guy and gives him exactly what he wants. Then it goes to the next guy, and so on down the list. The bottom of the list gets the scraps and can have some pretty screwy options left over for the monthly schedule. As the program goes through the process of trying to build my schedule if it can't abide me with a schedule request it can ignore it and keep trying. I have to have multiple bids with enough variation that hopefully I can get something that I actually want and not the random gifts of an unloved computer program.

My bid generally looks like this higher priority at the top:

Gimme some days off that I want
Gimme trips that avoid LaGuardia (we have a co-base EWR and LGA. It's a royal PITA for me to get to LGA from CVG or from EWR. Most of those trips start very early and end very late. Not good for commuters. I pay for a crash pad in EWR. A night in a hotel in LGA is between $100-150 on top of that. Fuck that.)
Gimme trips that end by a certain time to I can catch a flight home the same day.
Gimme trips that start later than a certain time to I can commute in same day.

For my seniority, that's about the best I can hope for. I can't really expect to layover in Cancun every week and avoid all red-eyes and still commute on both ends. I'm willing to do pretty much anything if it can get me home at the end of the trip. I'm willing to do pretty much any layover and fly with anyone. It's primarily about getting home.

The cool thing is at the end, when all the trips are assigned, pilots can still drop, trade or add trips to their lines to further adjust their schedules. If I don't want to fly (like I did for a trip at the end of the month) I can ask to have it dropped (lose pay). As long as there are enough reserves to cover the company will do it.

So looking at February there are only a couple of things that I'm trying to work around. I'd like to have some weekends off to be able to see the kids more. It's nice the the 14th falls on a Saturday. Overlaps help. Third, was to try and get a couple days at the beginning of the month off to combine with the end of January to maximize more time at home. Last, I'd like to have the 28th off at the end of the month for my middle son's 13th birthday. In my bid that was the last thing, the highest priority for my month. Getting the 28th off. It should happen, but it's also on a Saturday and maybe that works against me too.

Our bids closed today. I won't know the results until late on the 17th. That's the standard timeline for our schedules. I won't know what I do for the next month until the 17th of the previous one. Now if you are still with me after all that, go bake yourself a cookie and enjoy it's yummy goodness. Nice job.

thealmighty

01-12-2015, 11:42 PM

PM,

How does the pay work? Is it by hours in the air, miles flown or what?

Great read.

PilotMan

01-13-2015, 08:25 AM

PM,

How does the pay work? Is it by hours in the air, miles flown or what?

Great read.

Thanks for reading and approving. The approval of the almighty has to count for something, right?

So the answer across all of aviation is it varies. Let me explain. Pay is negotiated as part of the contract between the union and the company. Not all airlines have unions, but every one of them has some sort of group representative or company liaison or you get the idea. Corporate and fractional (think part ownership companies like Netjets) pay by the month. A guaranteed amount based on seat. Seat meaning captain of first officer.

In commercial aviation it's almost always flight time. The big exception is SWA which is still based on leg distance. I'm not entirely sure how their pay structure is set up, but I do know those guys are still the highest paid in the US for carrying passengers.

If you want to know who pays the most overall you'd have to look at UPS and FedEx. That is the top of the top, but the flying can be brutal. Lots of overnight flying and working for a company that really sees you as more of a mover of boxes (ala glorified truck driver) than a professional aviator. Still, those guys get paid.

If there is a top, there most certainly is a bottom. The regional pilots who fly contracted routes for the legacies are really sucking hind tit. They have been for a long time. The pendulum is slowly swinging for them, but not fast enough.

So what is flight time? It's that moment from all the doors shut on the plane and the parking break released and we are going flying until we park and the parking break is reset and a door is opened. That's it. In a month, like I said earlier, you are looking at lines somewhere between 70-85 hours. Reserves get a guaranteed 73 hours of pay.

There are a whole bunch of other things that factor in as well. We have a pay protection of 5 hours per day. We have a protection of 1 hr of credit for every 3.5 hours of time away from base. So if you get stuck with a 3 day trip to Grand Cayman and say you have a 36 hour layover there, your trip only has about 9.5 hours of flying. But you have a min of 15 hours (5hr/day x 3) and a protection of about 13 hrs and 10 min based on time away from base (all of this is just an example). The value of your trip would be 15 hours even though it only had 9.5 hours of flying. You don't get penalized for the company not being able to build a "good" trip.

Pilots also get a per diem to offset the costs of traveling. This per diem adds, on average about $1.85/hr for every hours away from base and can also vary based on destination. International gets a boost. Every company pays a different per diem rate. The regional pilots (again) are the lowest. A typical 4 day might be 78 hours away from base. That translates into $144 in per diem. Most pilots use the per diem to boost their salary. I wish I could spend that every trip. I could eat better than I do. Lol.

I've never been shy about talking about pilot pay. For the most part it's a matter of public record. You can go to airlinepilotcentral and look up each companies pay rates, fleet sizes, and even some work rules. Just as a comparison of some companies:

5th year first officer at:

Delta 737; about $128/hr
Spirit Airbus; $90/hr
Southwest 737; $130/hr
Jet Blue Airbus; $109/hr

Skywest RJ; $42/hr
Endeavor (Delta) RJ; $38/hr

Fed Ex 757; $135/hr
UPS all; $155/hr

Not all cargo companies are created equal either.

Southern Air, Cincinnati based, 747; $79/hr

This whole industry is such a crapshoot. The fact that you can't take your experience with you when you change companies really ties you to where you are. Seniority is everything and getting on with a really good company is the top of the mountain. It's the achievement of a life of hard work. It's the goal we are all striving for. Thankfully, I was able to get mine about 19 months ago.

timmae

01-13-2015, 11:00 AM

Very interesting stuff, great read!

PilotMan

01-14-2015, 09:51 PM

Yesterday ended up being just a brutal day. Up at 430a to give meds to the Mrs, up at 630a to take the kids to school, ran to the store to get meds and juice for the Mrs, ran errands across town, took my oldest shopping, then picked up the kids, dropped one off at a competition, took the other home, then took him to piano, ran to another store to get more meds for the Mrs after the first didn't work, took those back to her at home, picked up the son at piano, got some Taco Bell, back home the Mrs is in a great deal of distress, had to run and pick up the other kid from his competition, got home again Mrs is crying with pain, got her bundled up, no dinner, out the door and 20 minutes to the closest ER, raced her inside and spend the last 6 hours of the day there while the Mrs was being tended to. Everything gets made better, back home at 100a, at dinner, in bed by 2, up at 530a for more meds, up at 630 for kids. It's no wonder I needed 2 naps today.

timmae

01-15-2015, 07:15 AM

Ouch... It is always darkest...

PilotMan

01-18-2015, 01:11 PM

Things have been pretty quiet. Just trying to keep the family going while the Mrs is on the mend.

My February schedule came back and it's a mess. I spend a while chatting with someone from the union about it. What appears to have happened is that I screwed up without knowing that I was screwing up. Sort of....

I told you it was a complex pain in the ass. I said that the company decided how many reserves and lineholders that it will have every month. What happens as the bidding program goes down the list is it's actively looking at the remaining trips and trying to balance it's ability to actually build the lines that it has to at the bottom of the list. When this happens schedules that I would otherwise have been awarded are discarded so that it can take that flying and move it to someone lower on the list for the purpose of creating the required lines.

That's what happened this month (and to a lesser extent in January too.) I spent the morning chatting online with someone from the union trying to get a handle on it and what I can do about it. The answer is change the way you are bidding next month, talk to the Chief Pilot about dropping (i.e. not gonna get paid for it) a trip so that it doesn't suck so bad. Too bad, your line is legal.

As is stands right now, none of my trips are commutable. Two of them are starting and ending in LGA and all of them are bunched up in the middle of the month. I'd be gone from home for about 18 days with 4 actual days off in between. But that's not really true either. I'd have to commute on each of those 4 days off so I'd actually be home a total of maybe 60 hours in that same 18 day span.

So right now it appears that next month is going to be a complete crapshoot. I'll try and get rid of this stuff that doesn't work and (cross my fingers) hope that I can pick up some flying that will plug some of the holes. Otherwise bills might not get paid when March rolls around. That's certainly not a road I'd like to go down at this point.

pbot

01-18-2015, 03:43 PM

Sorry to read about the upcoming work schedule but this is a very interesting thread. Thanks for giving us an opportunity to see what goes on.

PilotMan

01-25-2015, 03:42 PM

Ahhhh so it's been a week. I told you things would be boring for a bit. I've taken some extra time off from work. The Mrs is taking longer to get better than we had thought, but all in all she is doing well. So this month really isn't indicative of my typical schedule.

The window for making schedule trades opened this week. After all the scheduled flying has been awarded each month there is a mix of open (flying with no pilot assigned to it; keep in mind that Captains (left seat) and First Officers (right seat) are totally separate and individual. So in this mix of trips is everything from 1 to 4 day trips. Most are not great trips, but what they do allow is some option for manipulating your schedule. The biggest issue I had is the tightness of my schedule and the fact that 2 of my 3 trips originate and terminate in LGA. I submitted a request to have both of my LGA starting 4-day trips dropped on the hopes that it would open up my month and give me a lot of flexibility. The drawback is that if I can't find flying to replace it with then I end up with cash flow issues. The last request that I made was to replace my last 4 day with a trip that started a day later, giving me a little more breathing room in my scheduled.

So once the company starts processing requests is takes the most senior guy and goes down from there. If for some reason someone ahead of me has requested something I wanted I'm SOL. The company then processes requests about every 4 hours. So what did I get?

Nada.

I was told that the company didn't have enough reserve coverage on the days that I wanted to drop trips and even that last trip that I wanted to swap for one a day later? Yeah that one too, no coverage. So they rejected everything that I had hoped I would get.

Off I went to plan B, and that was to look for any EWR trip to replace my LGA trips with over the same days. Luckily there was exactly 1 trip for each day that I could request. Not much to choose from but the chance to dump the LGA for the EWR had to be done. I was also lucky that there wasn't anyone ahead of me making the same request so I was able to get those swaps approved. Not having to worry about having to deal with LGA takes a bit of pressure off if I can't get anything else approved.

I put one last request in to swap my final trip with another trip that was commutable on the front end. That would give me a few more hours at home in between trips. It would cost me on the back end and it would cost me a St. Maarten layover but again, home comes first. This trade was approved as well.

I've gone back in and resubmitted a request to drop my middle 4 day trip. My schedule still doesn't look doable as it is. Again I was rejected. No coverage. I'll leave that request in there. If they do end up with coverage it'll get dropped later. I might even place a call into my Chief Pilot and see if they agree and have them override Scheduling.

That's what's coming up for this week. As it stands right now. I won't be flying for a few more days. More time at home is never a bad thing.

timmae

01-26-2015, 01:27 PM

PilotMan

01-26-2015, 09:57 PM

Side question(s)... When I travelled last week I was watching a person whom I assume to be the Pilot inspecting the plane before boarding. Is that typical? If so, how much do you need to know about the plane materials/build?

Yep, I'll get more in depth with what goes on in a typical flight and what my duties end up being but for now that is correct. It's called a walk around and one of the pilots will walk around the plane prior to every flight. In short it's a general inspection of the exterior of the plane. I'm looking for any damage and checking the general condition of the tires, engines and all the pressurized systems. If something isn't right the leak would be fairly obvious. If the weather is bad I'm also looking at any ice or other contaminants on the wings. Pretty much if all the big parts are there and nothing is leaking we are good to go. That's the line we like to say anyway. :)

As for systems knowledge. It's extensive. That doesn't mean that I am able to just whip out any bit of knowledge about any system and just know exactly what's going on, but you have to know and have a working understanding of not only the operation and limitations of the engines, aerodynamics and basic how a plane flies stuff, but also hydrodynamics (hydraulics and fuel) and electricity. Throw in pneumatics with the pressurization and anti-icing of the plane and you've got a basic idea of what things we have to know. Now put all of it together in a plane (they are all different and yet somehow similar at the same time.)

When I was in initial training I think it was something like 40+ hours of systems computer learning. We have reviews every quarter that we also have to go over as well. In the end it's not that we have to be able to build the plane, but for general knowledge and understanding so we can better deal with things that might go wrong and help address the how and why and what is there that can be done about it.

Izulde

01-26-2015, 10:19 PM

Just dropping in to say I love reading this thread.

CraigSca

01-27-2015, 05:42 AM

PilotMan

01-27-2015, 08:15 AM

Was on a flight last night from Chicago to Orlando (737). It was flurrying in Chicago when we were boarding the plane, and I noticed the weather forecast had changed to a threat of icing on the roads (less than an inch). I guess because of this, they decided to de-ice the plane. It took an interminable amount of time (actually delayed us for about 45 minutes, but I have to admit, I'd rather do that that take chances). Anyway, I noticed that some of the material they were spraying on the plane was orange tinted and then it seemed like the wings chemicals looked green. Any idea why?

Also, by the time we were making our way to the runway, the weather turned and it was a definite steady snow. When we got on the runway, you could tell the pilot hit the brake and absolutely gunned the engines (much more so than a typical takeoff) and only then released the brakes. We took off VERY quickly (I actually time this - it takes about 35 secs for a normal take off, this felt like we were in the air in 20) - I assume they did this to compensate for any ice accumulation that may have occurred. It's been a while since I've flown in inclement weather - is this part of the standard operating procedure for a 737?

I must admit, once we were in the air, it seemed like a long time before we got above the snow and my thoughts were purely on the amount of snow and ice that were perhaps forming on the wings. It seemed like they wasted no time in trying to get above the weather, too - no cutting back on the throttle noticed at all.

Yes! Now is a great time to talk about winter weather operations I suppose! So yeah, FAA regulations state that no person can take off with contamination on the wings. Typically it's a no-brainer if it's snowing hard. But sometimes you may have to deice when the plane has accumulated ice inbound that wouldn't melt off or if the weather is threatening and the chance of getting nailed before you get to takeoff. You will see planes take off with very light flurries if the pilots can be assured that nothing is sticking to the wings or a wing check could be accomplished prior to take off and if it's determined to be clean you would be able to go. The pilot would need to do that himself (you would notice it by him walking to about the exit row and then back up front). As for the delay, yeah absolutely it can cause delays and slow things down but there's nothing you can really do about it. We are going to things by the book. The plane is off the gate and considered "out" on it's departure time and the winter block times (gate to gate) are based on historical data so the company adjusts them and they are more padded in the winter. Some of that time would be factored into the flight time already.

I have to say you were very observant all the way around many people would have missed the color and the cutback, but I can explain all of it!

Deicing procedures are pretty standard all over. There are 2 primary fluids that are used in deicing, they are both Propylene Glycol mixes and feel very much like personal lubricant. The first that you saw, the orange one, is called Type 1. It's sprayed on hot, and it's job is to clean all of the ice/snow/sleet off of the plane and make it smooth again. You may only get this used if there isn't any snow falling because it's not very effective against actively falling snow and you will always get it prior to the application of Type IV. That's why you got Type IV. Type IV is the green fluid that you saw. It goes on cold and is green and very gloopy. It drastically lowers the freezing point on the plane and can protect the plane for a long time. We have charts that we use up front to cross reference the type of fluid (there are many different types of IV), temperature, and what kind of precip is falling. That gives us a number to work with to decide how long we can sit in the snow and be safe. This time is called a holdover time.

The next part of your question is another great one. You noticed some things that were related but necessarily for the reasons you think. Without getting into a whole lot of detail about takeoff data and reject/go speeds, balanced field blah, blah, blah.....anyway the short answer for why he held the brakes was it was all driven by the weather but not because of what may have been on the wings.

I have a guess that you were taking off on 22L at ORD. That runway is a little shorter than some others and with the snow falling braking distances in the event of a rejected takeoff would have been longer than normal. The purpose of running the engines up is threefold. First it clears any contaminants or deice fluid that may have been near the inlet, second it does allow for a shorter takeoff roll and third and most important, it allows us to verify the normal operations of the engines prior to actually rolling down the runway. Once the pilots are satisfied it's go time!

As for the engine cut-back, on a normal takeoff, that typically happens at 800 feet, but if you are in a 737 and going off of runway 22L in ORD, you'll have a modified takeoff where the cutback altitude is at 3000ft instead. This is due to altitude restrictions for noise abatement around the city. Further, Chicago approach control insists that we maintain a speed of 250 knots until they tell us we can go faster. Normally that would happen at 10,000 feet, but they typically hold us slower until above 23,000. That can make is seem like we are climbing faster than normal because the angle will be steep to keep the plane from accelerating, where we'd normally lower it to accelerate. Additionally, the engines will also run faster (than they would on a clear, nice day, because on those days we don't use full rated power) to compensate for the anti-icing system running, because it's drawing warm air off the engine to heat the engine cowl and wings that would otherwise be going backward toward the turbine.

I always like being able to shed light on things for people to help everyone understand the ins and outs of whats going on behind the scenes. You had some great observations that lead to big questions, but this is just a taste of the things that go on everyday. Things have a way of being more complicated than they appear but we are doing the best that we can to make it look as seamless and smooth as possible. Like I have said before, the entire process of aviation is like a delicate dance sequence that plays out with everyone doing their part to make things work at the right time so the operation can stay on schedule and most importantly...safe.

PilotMan

01-27-2015, 08:16 AM

Sorry to read about the upcoming work schedule but this is a very interesting thread. Thanks for giving us an opportunity to see what goes on.

Just dropping in to say I love reading this thread.

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

timmae

01-27-2015, 09:09 AM

This thread should be required reading for anyone who is bitching and moaning "What the heck is the pilot doing anyways... let's take off already!" lol..

CraigSca

01-27-2015, 10:37 AM

Thanks guys. I appreciate it.

Awesome, awesome, awesome response to my winter-related questions - thanks so much. I did notice, too, but forgot to mention that a guy got out of the de-icing truck and sprayed the intake of the engines as well - again, I'm assuming to remove any accumulation from the blades.

This entire process fascinates me. I read the NTSB report on the Air Florida disaster years ago. Terrible that it takes something like that to change protocols in such a way, but wonderful to hear that there are things going on in the background that go a long way to being safer than even I had hoped.

Again, thanks for the response!

PilotMan

02-01-2015, 12:11 AM

Just so you know, I do still have a job. I haven't been this long out of a plane and off of work without being in training for over a decade. It feels weird. I don't want to give the impression that this much time off is something that is normal for me or anyone really. This time next week though, I should be back to the grind. There is one more thing that might come in the way of that though. We'll see.

The last 3 weeks haven't been without effort. It's certainly been been no vacation. I've got a new appreciation for the effort that my wife goes through with my constant comings and goings. She is a phenomenal partner and I am lucky to have had her with me for the last 15+ years. Just keeping up with the normal chores, meals and school is more than enough to keep someone busy. There really is never any break from it. Ever.

While the Mrs. has been on the mend from her surgery life has gone on. I've dealt with her total care and the normal kid/school/family stuff. The hot water heater decided it was time to give up the ghost. I'm so very thankful it let us know with a nice leak at the base rather than exploding all over the basement. The last thing that anyone needs is 50 gallons of water suddenly making it's way across the basement floor. We had some warranty repair work done on the treadmill. I made the aforementioned trip to the ER. I spent one morning running around Cincinnati to get a part for the dishwasher that had quit and then spent some time getting that running again. All in the space of 3 weeks! Thank god I was able to be here and take care of it all.

Yesterday though, the Mrs. got a call that her estranged mother passed away. Arrangements are sometime this coming week, but things aren't really determined yet. This is a woman that I have no sympathy for. She was quite possibly one of the worst people that I've ever met. The distance was necessary to protect my wife and to ultimately protect our kids. I feel awful for her Grandpa, that he has to bury his oldest child. He's already very fragile. Now this week we go into a situation that we've talked about, but never came up with a good plan for how to handle it. We will be heading to the funeral this week. I will stand by my wife and I will hold my tongue. I will protect her if she needs it, but I don't expect that there will be any trouble. It's so fortunate that I have a few more days at home. If it looks like it'll interfere with my schedule next week I'll call and have myself taken off so I can take care of business here.

Just because I'm not traveling right now doesn't mean that work isn't going on. We've got our yearly vacation bidding going on right now and the deadline to get mine in is rapidly approaching. After that, it'll be time to think about how to adjust my monthly bid for March so I don't run into the same issues that I ended up with in February. Namely screwing myself by asking for too much.

I appreciate the feedback from everyone. I'm glad that you feel like you are getting your money's worth out of my writing. Thanks.

PilotMan

02-02-2015, 10:32 PM

PilotMan

02-04-2015, 02:01 PM

I'm having a challenging day mentally today. The funeral is set for Friday and I was asked if it would be possible for me to be a pallbearer. The family is really small and I was able to do it for my wife's Grandmother a couple years ago, but inside my head this is different. I know that they don't have many options and I know that I'm going to do it too. I'll do it for my wife and I'll do it for her Grandfather who I love and who is destroyed right now. It's just not an easy decision or it's a decision that makes me feel conflicted inside anyway. I know what the right choice is, but there are parts of me that needed some extra convincing to make it.

I love working for a company that has the resources to be able to handle an event like this without it causing a big deal. I called my manager today and was able to get my trip that was starting this weekend off. I just don't think I would be mentally ready to go on Saturday morning after what is sure to be an extra emotional, possibly tension filled day on Friday. I'm not sure I can justify leaving the Mrs. so soon after that day and then couple it with the pressures of having to take over the running of the house while she still is still recovering. I'm so thankful for this job.

PilotMan

02-06-2015, 07:26 PM

Today was a long day. I'm glad the hard part is over. It was better than it could have been. But I don't think you can ever say that these things go well.

PilotMan

02-06-2015, 10:04 PM

Like everything else that's been going on I managed to get my vacation bid in at nearly the last possible instant.

We bid now for vacation time that starts from May of 2015 until the end of April 2016. Last year I wasn't senior enough to hold my vacation time until the end of March this year. Between being with 3 companies from 2012 until now I haven't actually had a paid vacation since December of 2011. Granted I've had time off that seemed like vacation time, but it's been that long since anything was official.

Again, like everything in aviation vacations are bid on seniority. Weeks are bid in blocks of 7 days all the way up to the maximum number of days that can be held off. It's kind of a mess and like the monthly schedule bids complicated and long winded. No sense in trying to explain it except that I could have all my vacation awarded or I might possibly have to bid up to 2 more times if none of my choices are available.

My bid requests are pretty straightforward. I want some to try for some time around the holidays and if that doesn't work I want something in the summer. My next week I'd like to try and get my kids spring break off in 2016. After that it's pretty much a crapshoot. I'll have to see if I have any time unawarded after this run of the bid and if I do It'll be back to the drawing board for one of the less desirable weeks that remain.

So the first round of the awards were posted today and while I didn't get any weeks in the summer (again...sigh....bummer) I did get 2 weeks awarded. I'll get my kids fall break (4 day weekend coinciding with teacher education) and then spring break again in 2016. At least it's something to plan for and isn't just a meaningless couple weeks in January or February. The other upside of getting both weeks awarded in the first go around is that I don't need to worry about bidding any more, or trying to decide what to bid for out of what's left over. I can tell you, as far as I'm concerned, there's nothing left at this point that would be worth anything.

With it being the 6th of the month it's also time to consider my bid for March. The bidding window is open for and I need to look at what time I need off. More importantly, how I can improve my bid overall to so I can avoid the mess that happened in February? I'll break it down a little more soon with how many hours I need for a line and where I'm actually bidding at in March.

timmae

02-07-2015, 09:30 AM

Time bidding is almost like an online game of sorts. With real life consequences... ughh.

PilotMan

02-12-2015, 11:20 PM

I gave my wife a sign for Christmas that says "You are my favorite hello and my hardest goodbye." It seemed fitting considering the in and out nature of my life. Most couples would have a melt down after this much time together, but not us. Thirty-five days. Yep, you read that right. Thirty-five days. That's how long I've been out of an airplane and away from work. Now granted, some of it was by design and some of it was due to things outside of my control, but I can't deny that it's been both nice and hard to be away that long. There is something about the my job that scratches an itch that you just can't quite reach otherwise. I know that sounds a little hokey, but it's true for a lot of guys in aviation. When I was learning to fly back in the day you'd see guys come in and try it because they wanted the money or the lifestyle. They weren't prepared for what the job actually entailed and they found out quick that this kind of thing was not just something that you'd pick up on the way.

So like true to form I got my March bid in at nearly the last possible opportunity. I had been procrastinating doing it because I just didn't know what I wanted to do. Ultimately I had to go much more generic with my options. I had to really emphasize that flying in and out of LGA is just too much a pain for me personally and that if possible I'd avoid it at all costs. I had to decide what (if any) were important dates in March. My middle son has a band concert and it's in a position in the month that is going to be difficult to get off based on the days off I have at the end of February. My goal was to avoid the 4 on-2 off-4 on-2 off-4 on that February turned into that had all of my flying crushed in the middle of the month. I'm currently bidding about 76% among lineholders, meaning that only 24% of the group of lineholders bids after me. There isn't a lot to count on, especially when you consider how challenging the last 2 months were to schedule. Ultimately I decided on a very generic bid where I am trying to get a continuous cycle of 4 days on and at least 3 days off in between. No preference for weekends off or even any other specific days. It's a schedule I think my family and I could handle for a long while. It's something that we've handled well in the past and it just makes the month go better with things more spread apart. It makes commuting easier as well. I just don't feel like bidding for specific days is really going to work again until maybe summertime when the schedules get much heavier.

I do have one thing going for my in March/April and that is my vacation. It hardly seems like I should be excited about vacation after just having 35 days at home, but I am. We are taking a trip to Hilton Head for the first time ever and I'll get to take my wife to Savannah, a place I've always wanted to take her. It'll be the first family vacation in 2 years and the first long driving vacation we've had in 5. These last 35 days were NOT a vacation. It was work. Just the kind that my wife usually does. ;) My vacation should help with my schedule as it counts as a certain number of flight hour credits and will mean that I don't need that many trips to have a schedule built. Who knows though? I'm already nervous that I've fucked something up again.

The crash pad is quiet tonight. I'm the only one here which is nice. I've only been here 2 times in the last 2 months. It's not exactly paying for itself right now, but it's still worth it. It really pays when it's quiet and you have the room to yourself. I only have a little bit of trepidation about the time away, like suddenly I've forgotten everything I'm supposed to do. I had this feeling once last year after a particularly quiet time and I found out that I have nothing to worry about. It all comes back and it comes back so easy. Even landing planes. I think I can still nail a good landing even after 35 days away. I guess I'll find out tomorrow or Saturday, depending on when my turn to fly comes up.

I'll leave you with the last line from one of my favorite movies. Fast Eddie Felson steps up, smiles big and says "Hey, I'm back!" So I am.

PilotMan

02-15-2015, 09:46 PM

I had wanted to give some updates before now, but now is better than never so let me take you back to Friday morning.

I started my trip with a deadhead (me in the back getting paid to be a passenger) from Newark to Montego Bay. We were delayed getting out of Newark due to a sold out plane being downsized and now there were about 10 seats that had to be bought off. With it being an international flight the ramp had to make sure that the people who didn't get on didn't have their bags shipped off to Jamaica. We were eventually somewhere close to 45 minutes late. I was only supposed to have about an hour between flights in Jamaica anyway.

Once we got to Montego Bay I had to go from gate 7 to gate 4, but wait, it's not that easy. No, I have to go clear customs like all the other passengers, leave the building (side-note; I'm wearing my suit, hat and trench coat. It's 80 degrees. Jamaican's have no problem asking you why you are wearing a coat or calling out from the road, or bar, or pretty much anywhere), walk outside to the departure building then go back through security and then I can finally get to the gate. What a pain. So this flight was going to be late too. When I got to the plane it had already been boarded and the passengers were just waiting on us pilots to take them to Chicago. It took us a normal amount of time to get the plane ready, but for the passengers I'm sure that it was an eternity. Finally we left for Chicago. I flew this leg and got my first landing since my time off. It wasn't an easy one either as winds were 25-30 mph. I've logged over 1500 landings in my career but that voice in the back of your head can get to you when you've been off so long. I put it right where I wanted it and we were back on the ground again. We cleared customs again and then walked to the hotel for the short layover.

Next morning up at 445a and it's cold as fuck. I'm not looking forward to the preflight. Today is a breeze compared to yesterday though. While yesterday was over 8 hours in a plane (flying) and nearly 12 hours on duty, today is just one leg to Ft Myers. I haven't laid over in Ft Myers in years, and even more, the hotel we are going to is the hotel we used to be at when I worked for Comair. I'm a sentimental kind of guy. I always see these loops in life where things get to come full circle. So this was one of those days. It started snowing while I was doing the walk-around and even though it wasn't supposed to we felt like we needed to get deiced before takeoff. Chicago can sometimes be really busy and have plenty of delays, but today it was easy. We got out quick and made it to Ft Myers early. The only drawback was that it was only about 60 there. Still beats where we had just come from.

Today was another early start as we were off to the airport before 6a. Today was also the longest and the day that had the biggest potential for bad things to happen. Weather in the northeast today had caused the cancellation of about 50% of the flying in and out of Newark. The issue was wind. Winds were from 330 (NNW) at 33 and gusting to 39 kts. That translates to 39 to 45 mph. Unfortunately the main runways in Newark are orientated on 040/220. In other words for the main runways the wind was a direct crosswind and gusts exceeded the limitations of the plane. That leaves 1 useable runway in Newark, runway 29, which is only 6200ft long and due to NY's airspace restrictions makes this runway more complicated to use due to Manhattan and airspace owned by LaGuardia. With only 1 runway for takeoffs and landings the potential for delays, holding and fuel diversions was high. However, all the cancellations tempered a lot of this and we weren't really slowed down at all. We had some very rough turbulence from 5000ft all the way down to the surface. It's not like you are making this easy decent right to the runway, for arrivals into EWR you are flying around at this low altitude for about 15-20 minutes due to airspace constraints above for planes going to JFK and LGA and space reserved for departures so you fly lower, longer. I won't lie. This approach was one of the hardest landings I've ever had to do. I'm pretty confident with my flying but even this one had me working hard. It wasn't pretty, but despite everything I still put the plane where I wanted. It was just a harder landing than usual which you will find is normal in strong gusty winds.

That lead into the next flight. The Captain and I weren't entirely sure that we'd be able to use 29 because we needed a lot of fuel and the 737-900ER is known to be a bit of a runway hog. Much to our surprise though and against the grain of a day where I'm sure plenty of people didn't get where they needed to go we were happy to take a plane, full of passengers from that cold hell-hole known as Newark four hours away to the warm vacation destination known as Aruba. This is my first trip to Aruba, and I've got a little time tomorrow morning before we head back to Newark to finish off this trip to relax and get some sun.

We get back too late tomorrow for me to catch a flight to Cincinnati so my plan was to take a flight out first thing Tuesday morning. Of course, Cincinnati is due to get between 6-10 inches of snow Monday and Tuesday. That could really mess things up. I only have 1 full day off in between these 2 4-day trips and I really need to get home so I can take my youngest boys to a car show that we gave them as a Christmas present. I know there's nothing I can do about it right now and I'm only borrowing trouble but I can't help but worry about it.

PilotMan

02-16-2015, 10:00 PM

Slept in as late as I could today. After back to back days of getting up before 5 I have a hard time sleeping late. Shortly after I woke up I found out that my room was directly above the loading dock for the hotel. So I listened to the sound of truck after truck back up and unload. It didn't impact me really and who am I to complain. I'm in Aruba.

The hotel I'm staying at has it's own private beach and a free boat to take you over there. I headed over, got a workout in and then ate some lunch on the beach. I'm not one to really go all out with my meals but times like this call for taking some time for yourself and enjoying the day.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/0216151249.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/0216151249.jpg.html)

A couple hours later I was back in the plane and on my way back to Newark. Nice flight today, no major issues. After I landed I got some good news and some bad news.

The bad news was that the flight I was planning on taking home the next morning cancelled and that throws a wrench into things. I had the option of trying to hop a ride on a cargo company that has 1 direct flight from Newark to Cincy on weekdays, but after talking with the Mrs. and finding out just how much snow we got and how bad the roads were today the prospect of cleaning my car off at 130a and then trying to get home just didn't sound that great of an idea.

So now I'm going to try for the next flight which is 3 hours later and very full. If I get on that plane there's a good chance I'll be on a jumpseat. That's the plan for now anyway.

The good news was a message from the company that said that my trip was bought off for IOE. So what the hell does that mean? Well IOE is Initial Operating Experience. It's when a new pilot or a new captain is going to get to fly their first few legs with a pilot whose purpose is to give them their first on-line experience with the plane (or seat for the captain.) A pilot has to do about 25 hours in order to get signed off and there is certain training that must also be accomplished. So what does this mean for me? Well you may have figured. The term bought off means that the company is giving my the trip off with pay since I was awarded it and it's my trip and now they need it and are taking it.

This is maybe the second time in 13 years that this has happened to me and it couldn't have come at a better time. With only 2 days off between trips and this bad weather making my commute home more difficult I don't need to worry about that anymore. Even better? It was my last trip for the month. I'm going home and I'll be off until March. Super lucky.

timmae

02-17-2015, 10:01 AM

Party time in cincy!

PilotMan

02-17-2015, 02:22 PM

No doubt. I ended up in the jumpseat for my flight home. Sometime I'm going to have to take a picture just try and show how little room there is in the jumpseat on the E-145 (the plane that I end up commuting on.) For a guy my size uncomfortable is just not quite the right term for it. On top of that it was 150mph head winds all the way back making the trip even longer.

So what was the cost of commuting today? Well let's see, I got done with my trip around 800p last night and got home today around 1130a. That's a loss of 15.5 hours on the back end and on the front I lost another 13 or so. So just over a day lost on this 4-day trip. I am so happy I don't need to head back on Thursday morning.

PilotMan

02-18-2015, 09:59 AM

I'm very excited for March. My schedule came out and it would seem that the changes that I made were successful, however I'm thinking that because I had vacation that that was a big reason for what I ended up getting. I don't know for sure but I have a feeling that when you have vacation the program that builds the schedules gives you a preference for your choices. I don't know well enough to be sure but it would make sense and other bidding systems previously have worked this way. A little bonus for when you have a vacation.

I ended up getting exactly what I bid for. I have the first few days of March off so I can go to my son's band concert and then I work 3 4-day trips with at least 3 days off in between before I go on vacation. I don't have any weekends off but I'm not flying in or out of LGA and all of the trips are commutable on the back end and one of them on the front end.

All in all it's a very manageable schedule and one that will get me home enough in between trips. If my schedules were like this every month I think that it would be a solid balance between work and home.

Today, it's 16 degrees at home. A full 25 degrees below normal. We got another 2 inches of snow on top of the 7 or so that we got a couple days ago. School is cancelled again and the boys and I have already been out to shovel. I just want you to know that this is not Aruba.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/Picture0218151021_1.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/Picture0218151021_1.jpg.html)

Radii

02-18-2015, 10:09 AM

Definitely not Aruba. Just wanted to let you know that I'm thoroughly enjoying reading this Pilotman!

timmae

02-18-2015, 12:22 PM

Go Midwest! (ducks as snowballs start flying towards me)

PilotMan

02-18-2015, 02:32 PM

I may be the only person in this town with a little sunburn on his face though!

PilotMan

02-18-2015, 08:36 PM

Definitely not Aruba. Just wanted to let you know that I'm thoroughly enjoying reading this Pilotman!

Thanks Radii, I'm happy you are finding it interesting!

PilotMan

02-21-2015, 01:46 PM

The biggest of the 7 snowmen that were built today. I am officially tired. I was caught by surprise today. I got up and there were people across the street at our neighbors house. Our neighbors are quite old and can't get out to shovel so we always make sure their house is taken care of. So when I saw someone else doing it I was a little upset. That is until I came outside to do our driveway and the guy comes over to me and tells me they've already paid for our driveway. So the boys and I got off free this morning. It's snowing hard again though and we'll have to go back out later. In the meantime this is the biggest snowman that I've ever made. That bottom piece was heavy!

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/Picture0221151406_1.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/Picture0221151406_1.jpg.html)

timmae

02-21-2015, 05:17 PM

Awesome stuff! Count me in the group that loves dealing with snow!

PilotMan

02-28-2015, 09:56 AM

So things have been pretty quiet around here again. We've been prepping for a big day today, the 13th birthday of my middle son. For those who don't know he is my middle son, but my first biological son, and while that has never mattered to me, my life did change the day he was born. I've been lucky to see him grow into the young man that he is.

One of the very best things about my life is being able to not think about it and leave it behind completely when I'm not working. The only thing that I need to worry about is when I have to be back in the plane for my next trip. That being said, I do need to get started on some computer training that is due by the end of April. I've had plenty of time to get started on it (since the beginning of January) no reason rush, but no reason to procrastinate on it anymore either.

We still have about 6 inches of snow on the ground at home. Our 7 snowmen from last week are still standing although they don't look nearly as great as they did. The forecast for us has rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, more rain and possibly a thunderstorm all in the next few days. We are supposed to dodge both weather systems with one going south and one going north. But it's likely that we'll get a good taste of the weather from both as we bounce back and forth across the freezing point with precip falling regularly. They've already talked about flooding in the area as the snow on the ground rapidly melts and more falls.

My next trip isn't until next weekend, so I'm just going to stay home and take care of the family. My intention is to go into some detail on what I do before the start of a trip and before a flight next week. Thanks.

MIJB#19

03-01-2015, 11:04 AM

Thanks for sharing your personal experiences, I'll try to tune in from time to time.

PilotMan

03-05-2015, 11:22 AM

I'm feeling frustrated today. Not because it's my last full day home and I'm heading back to work tomorrow but because school is cancelled today. I knew it would be with all the snow that we were going to get but that doesn't change how I feel about it.

Remember that I had tried very hard to bid so that I could get my son's band concert off and then was excited because I did get it off and everything was good? Yeah, that whole plan is blow to bits because of school being cancelled. Because of no school today, that means no concert tonight either. Instead the concert is now scheduled for Monday night. And guess what? I'm not going to be home Monday night. Great.

I know it's just the way that things go and it was totally out of my control, but that doesn't really make me feel any better about it.

We got about 6 inches of snow yesterday and last night. I got the kids out with me and we got our driveway and the neighbors driveway done as well. I'm ready to be done with winter. Lol, I shouldn't be complaining. Our winter was pretty plain until the middle end of January. And we don't have near the cold that I grew up with. Still I can't help but think about that warm weather destination that I'm heading to this weekend.

Izulde

03-05-2015, 01:36 PM

Delta flight skids off LaGuardia runway - CNN.com (http://edition.cnn.com/2015/03/05/us/new-york-plane-runway/index.html)

So this popped up on my Facebook sidebar, and I immediately thought of this thread. Is an automatic process to shut down an airport after a plane skids off the runway? And how long are flights usually suspended as a result?

PilotMan

03-05-2015, 02:04 PM

Yeah, it's a safety issue. I mean I can't say for sure every single time, but safe to say that if one plane had an issue then that pretty much tells you that every other plane that lands would be at risk. Not only that, but ATC is immediately busy. Ground it busy directing CFR (Crash-Fire-Rescue) to the site while Tower is helping get planes rerouted to other airports.

Primary importance would be to secure the plane and make sure that it is safe to approach, you know, not leaking fuel or on fire or anything. Talking to the crew to verify how passengers and crew are and then working out a plan to get everyone off and transported to a safe area. Then they have to figure out how to move the plane off the berm and fence and get it to a safer area.

I'm guessing that the airport will be shut down for a few hours. That airport is very challenging in snowy conditions. It's surrounded by water and very tight airport boundaries. The runways are pretty short. I love flying in there but it's also the site of some of my hardest landings. I can tell you that on the other side of that fence and berm is water. So this could have been a much different outcome. It looks like everyone was pretty much able to walk off alright, which is the goal every time.

timmae

03-05-2015, 02:10 PM

Tell us more about these "hardest landings"!! I need reference for what I sometimes think... man this pilot can't judge depth!

PilotMan

03-05-2015, 02:43 PM

By hardest I mean most challenging. Not necessarily roughest. We make jokes that the most challenging days are when it's clear and beautiful and there's no wind. There are no excuses on those days. Like my landings a few weeks ago, strong cross winds, wind shear and bad weather are the culprits of challenging approaches. In bad weather the goal is to put the plane on the ground, so a firm landing is a good thing. Slow speeds close to the ground make the plane more susceptible to gusts or sudden wind shifts. Less forward momentum through the air means less usable rudder (the pedals I control with my feet) to control the direction the nose points.

Speed dictates the overall effectiveness of the controls. For every approach and landing the approach speed, landing speed, and landing distance is calculated prior to the approach. These are the targets we are shooting for while trying to point the plane in the right direction. Wind correction while flying is like crabbing into a strong current with a boat. It takes planning and coordination, but it goes a step further. Landing with a crab in puts undo stress on the landing gear and is considered a poor technique. Sometimes it's unavoidable, but in all cases we try and avoid it. To correct for the crab, the last 10 feet to the ground the pilot takes out the crab by dropping the wing a little (using the ailerons, controlled by the yoke) and "kicking the rudder" to compensate for the crosswind. This is the effect of the plane pointing in the same direction as the runway, with the upwind wing being slightly lower and into the wind. All this time using pitch and power adjustments to maintain the correct rate of decent and proper airspeed. Gusty and unpredictable winds make all those things happen often and simultaneously. I hope that clears up what I'm talking about.

PilotMan

03-07-2015, 05:27 PM

I left home yesterday at around 515p and headed to the airport for work. This will be my second trip since the early part of January. Between scheduling, bereavement leave, trips bought for training, and a little luck I've been very fortunate.

I've finally come into the 21st century. I bought 6 smartphones for the family. With my traveling a smartphone is almost a necessity. I've typically purchased my internet through Boingo and written that off as a need item. Getting stuck in an airport for hours on end is bad enough. Trying to plan travel and find the best option home it's life and death. So with this upgrade I'm looking forward to having some better quality pics to display here.

Quiet trip to the crashpad, I got there around 9 pm and only had to share the room with 1 other guy. I was back at the airport by 715a this morning. I didn't need to be there until closer to 8, but I had some things that I had to get done, like check my mailbox and download and revue the paperwork before the flight. My flight today took me to the place that I was daydreaming about while I shoveling snow this week. I was heading back to the 85 degree temps of Aruba for the longest layover of the trip.

We got all loaded up on time and were pushed out early. Once we started to taxi out to the runway ground control told us that we were going to be held for restrictions over our departure gate. They didn't tell us why, but I suspect that it was simply flow for congestion heading south from the New York area. Our flight plan had a 20 minute taxi time added into it and even with that we were supposed to get in 8 minutes early. However, our delay was somewhere closer to 40 minutes. Once we got off and out and up to altitude we took a look at how much fuel we had, how much time we could make up and then figured how fast we should be able to fly. The plane and planning paperwork gives us good information to be able to make a good decision. I was flying and the company is really pushing to get to the destination on time. I pushed it up as far as we felt comfortable going. There weren't any slowdowns or delays. Our route took us down the east coast to the Norfolk area then out over the Atlantic. From there straight south and over the Dominican Republic and then to Aruba. Just to show how tight and how every minute matters I was able to make up the time that we needed, and the Captain parked the plane at the gate right on the minute of the planned arrival time. So let me pause for a minute to pat myself on the back.

My room today is stunning. I think our normal hotel is full so they put us up across the street at the Ocean Suites here. My room is a suite with a balcony that looks out over the pool and ocean. It could be the Carribean, but I'm just going to call it ocean today.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/Aruba%202015.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/Aruba%202015.jpg.html)

The Captain and I took the ferry over to the island and enjoyed some food and beverage. They were getting ready to have a wedding over there. I really wish that I'd been able to do something like that. The Mrs. and I got married on the beach in Florida. It was very small, we did everything ourselves and rented a house for the wedding party and family to stay in for the week. I just with looking back that we could have really done something cool like this.

I'm here until just after noon tomorrow when I'll head back to reality with a flight and layover in Chicago. It will be a short layover there, so I won't even leave the airport, with an early get up the following day. Today was really the only day to sit back and enjoy life. Everything else is set up to get ready for the last leg, a red-eye from Los Angeles back to Newark, that will be coming off of a 12 hr, dayover rest period. I'll have to figure out how to get my sleep in the daytime for that leg.

PilotMan

03-08-2015, 09:07 PM

I had the morning off in Aruba and did absolutely nothing with it. I didn't sleep all that well and just couldn't find any motivation to do anything. Left for the airport just after noon and went through the maze that is local customs, security and then US pre-clearance. The plane was just deplaning when we got to the gate, but we had to wait for everyone to get off, then wait for customs to clear the aircraft before being allowed to go down.

One thing about the islands is that things generally don't happen very fast. The delay in getting down to the plane and the slow boarding process had us closed up late. Then ramp ATC had some difficulty managing space and caused us to be delayed further. Once we got going all was well again. The route today took us north toward Hispaniola and over Haiti. Haiti is like a 3rd world black hole of ATC in the Caribbean. Santo Domingo to the East has radar and good positive control. Haiti has no radar and just relies on position reports as you travel across the country. I was looking down at Port Au Prince as we passed today thinking that I was seriously lucky to be from the USA. That country has nothing but mountains and rock and dry land. The Dominican at least has some farmland and flat areas, Haiti is just one, dry, rock.

From there we just tracked north of Cuba and south of Bimini until we crossed into the US at Fort Lauderdale. Then north to Jacksonville, Knoxville, passed within 20 miles of my house, west of Fort Wayne then joined the arrival into Chicago. We were on track to only be about 5 minutes late when the ramp told us that there was no room in the inn. We ended up waiting an extra 15 minutes for a gate to open up before we could get in. Stuff like this is really frustrating for us. We try really hard to get where we are supposed to go on time, especially short layover nights and this stuff cuts into that time and just irritates passengers. Nothing I can do about it at all.

Staying at our short hotel at the airport. I'll be off to LAX in the morning. In case you haven't heard LAX has just started a 3 year runway rehab construction project and there are already delays. I'm hoping that we get out early enough in the morning that it won't affect us. Any delays will cut into my afternoon rest before the red eye back to Newark.

PilotMan

03-09-2015, 02:04 PM

Today has almost been perfect. Almost. Got up around 530a this morning in Chicago to get ready for my 730a flight to LA. Everything went just the way it was supposed to. On my end anyway. I grabbed a Dt. Mt Dew before I went to the plane. It's for the red-eye tonight going back to Newark. I can't find Dt Dew anywhere near our gates in LAX. After 3 days of Diet Coke ( I don't drink coffee) I'm ready for the change. It's also become just one more thing in my routine for red-eyes.

The boarding process went smooth, except that we had a passenger who needed to be wheeled on with an aisle chair and somebody neglected to get them boarded first. Getting them on after the plane is boarded is a bit more challenging. That cost us missing our out time by 5 minutes, but we were planned into LAX twenty minutes early so it's not a big deal.

The flight was very nice today. Flying west in the morning is always a plus. No staring into the sun for half the day. The weather was good and the front range was very scenic today. I snapped this picture of Zion National Park; east of Las Vegas, on our way into LA.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150309_1043581.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150309_1043581.jpg.html)

We landed a good 13 minutes early and our gate was open. That is until someone decided to take it away at the last minute and give it to another plane. The only reason that I'm guessing was some sort of VIP on board to get them into the gate faster. So we got kicked to the curb. Our gate was occupied by a 767 that had been loaded with a dog and dry ice in the same cargo bin. Obviously that can't work, but they must not have been getting good information on how to fix it because it was taking forever!

Pretty soon our early arrival turned to a late arrival. Ground control kept taxiing us all over the airport because it seemed that no matter where we were we were in the way. So to keep all this straight I've got to talk to ATC Ground control on one frequency, our Company tower operation on the other frequency, talk to the flight attendants as needed and make the PA's to the passengers in between. The Captain just drives and we both double check each other to be sure we are where we are supposed to be.

They finally give us another gate and we get parked almost 40 minutes after we had landed. Like I say to the passengers, this sort of thing is out of my control. If I could change it I would, but I'm doing my best to make sure that our Tower ops knows that I'm irritated with the whole mess. Especially when we were early/on-time.

I short my sleep somewhat the night before a red-eye, in addition to getting some good food and good exercise. That lets my body let down enough to where I can usually sleep for 4-5 hours during the day; before the all night flight back to Newark. We have to be on time tonight. My flight home depends on it!

britrock88

03-09-2015, 02:46 PM

Hoping to have the chance to visit Zion NP this summer. Thanks for the preview!

PilotMan

03-13-2015, 02:21 PM

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything since my last flight. I guess you may or may not be wondering if I made it back. So I guess this should be proof enough that I've made it back just fine. Lol. I slept about 4.5 hours before my red-eye, getting up around 1230a East Coast time. I've become more adjusted to the all night thing, but it's still never easy for me. This night wasn't bad, except for about 45 minutes before sunrise. It's just a body thing for me. Once the sun starts to come up my evolutionary instincts kick in and I snap right awake. Prior to that can be some yawning and looking at the clock like you are sitting in 5th period English class or watching the odometer click along on your 500 mi road trip.

We were right on time to the gate and I had a couple hours to kill before my flight back home. Good thing for me it was on time and I got home just after noon. I was even able to get a 45 minute nap on the flight home. That brought the cost of my commute on this trip to about 18.5 hours lost and unpaid and not home. One days when I get home off of a red-eye I try and stay awake the rest of the day. It generally ends up with me being awake for close to 24 hours, followed by getting up at 630a to get the kids to school on time.

I nearly forgot while I was on this last trip that the April bid window was open. I've got my vacation spilling into April which should help my schedule too. I made some adjustments to my March schedule to import to my April bid. My vacation means that I've got my oldest's 20th birthday off as well as Easter Sunday so no need to worry about those dates.

So I'm ok as long as I can get my trips spread out far enough to allow for enough time at home in between and no fucking LGA trips. If my schedule looks anything like that I'll be happy and fine with how it comes out.

Came down with a cold yesterday. Not loving it. I usually don't call in sick for colds as I sinuses are manageable, but I'm not feeling great and am planning on plowing ahead.

I've had a 3 day break on this time home. I'm sitting here though coming to grips with the decision that I need to make regarding tomorrow and my trip to work. My trip doesn't need me in Newark tomorrow until 345p. I had planned on taking the 1 direct flight from here to there tomorrow leaving later in the morning, but not giving me a fall-back plan if I ran into problems getting to work. I went to check in for the flight and find that the flight is sold out and I'm #3 on the standby list for 1 or possibly 2 jumpseats. The short of that is that while there is a good chance that 2 people won't show up and I could possibly get the jumpseat that it's about an equal chance that I don't get on the flight at all. Sigh. That's not really a chance that I can afford to take which means that instead of leaving home tomorrow at 10a I'm going need to leave at 540a to catch a flight to Charlotte and then another flight to Newark from there. This is probably the second time in the last 2 years where I haven't been able to make a single leg commute work. Plus by the time I get to Newark I'll have about 4 hours to wait until I need to actually do work. Like I've said in the past though, I'm a master of killing time. Maybe I can even get a nap in operations before my flight.

PilotMan

03-13-2015, 09:15 PM

...and I feel like shit and I've called in sick for the trip. I think my ears were popping just going down the stairs. Today was miserable. Upside is now I don't need to go to Charlotte to get to work! Silver linings I guess. I think that my 12 year old did this. He seemed to get over it after a few days, so I'll be optimistic.

PilotMan

03-15-2015, 07:27 PM

A couple quick thoughts on how sick time works. It's sort of like any other job and sort of not. Except that you are encouraged to give the company as much heads up as possible, and in fact, one way to get a meeting scheduled is to give less than 4 hours notice. It's sometimes crazy that this is probably the only job where that much heads up is welcome or necessary. In this case I gave the company roughly 17 hours notice to cover my trip. I have a sick bank of time that is used to cover trips. It gets filled at a rate of 5 hours per month (almost twice what it filled any my other companies) and my trip was worth about 20 hours. So it'll take me 4 months of work to get back that time in my bank.

Also, whether I miss 1 day or all 4 days doesn't matter to the company. It counts as 1 sick event. The issue becomes if I have too many sick events in a rolling 12 months. That'll get a meeting scheduled too. So in this case while I feel better it's in my best interest to stay home and get over this yuck before trying to get back in the cockpit again, which would be next Sunday.

PilotMan

03-16-2015, 04:33 PM

This came across my feed today, it's funny and has a lot of truths within.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rNxz2hhSXuY" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

timmae

03-16-2015, 08:57 PM

So what is your Mount Rushmore of f'd up airports? LGA and ??, ??, ??

PilotMan

03-16-2015, 11:20 PM

I'm just going to lump all the NY airports together in 1. LGA, JFK and EWR all have their own major issues. It wouldn't be fair give one a leg up on the other.

After that I'd have to say PHL. It's small and crowded and frequently is the first to experience slowdowns of the NY area/vicinity airports.

Chicago O Hare has the multiple issues of being one of the busiest airports, coupled with bad weather and having been in a state of remodeling for the last few years. It's getting closer to being better, but the weather will always suck.

After all of those is probably LAX, although IAD or BWI could be in there. LAX is just exceptionally busy. The airport is laid out well, approaches aren't terribly difficult, weather isn't generally an issue, but it's busy. There are lots of international flights.

Take these for what they are. I haven't been around the world I haven't been in many places where ATC isn't very helpful. In fact, this list only includes US airports.

If I'd given thought outside I surely would have started with Mexico City. In fact, Mexico City has to be #1. Mountains, challenging ATC, mountains, altitude of the field, condition of the runaway, challenging approaches, language barrier, it's busy on top of that.

There is no US comparison to Mexico City.

PilotMan

03-17-2015, 08:35 PM

The April schedules came out today and again, I am pleasantly surprised. I do believe that vacation months get preference for bidding because again, I got my first choice.

Now I work over 3 weekends and I know that makes a big difference in getting a better schedule too (due to more senior guys wanting to get weekends off), but all my flying is generously spaced out and commutable on the back end (home leg). I also got a couple of days tied on to my vacation to make it a little longer.

I'm still not feeling well. It seems like it comes and goes. I'm glad I called in. Flying even with a nasty sinus infection and cold can be very painful, annoying for the other guy you are with, and can have potential long term injury depending on what happens. Also with as much coughing as I've been doing finding enough sleep can have a compounding impact over the course of the trip.

PilotMan

03-22-2015, 08:11 PM

So I said I was going to write this and I've been procrastinating it. I just need to sit down and punch it out. What goes into the beginning of the flight?

About an hour before the flight I make sure that I have all the paperwork downloaded to my Ipad. This paperwork is called the release. It has all the information about the flight that pertains to us. From the flight plan that was filed, which plane we are flying, the expected flight time and our entire planned fuel load and weight plan. The release also has data for every fix that we are crossing with lat longs, flight time between fixes, fuel burn and so on. The release shows us if there is any broken and deferred equipment (stuff that can be broken and is signed off ok from maintenance per the minimum equipment list.) It also has our entire weather packet that has planned weather along our route and wind speeds aloft. Additionally it can also show areas where there is turbulence, thunderstorms, icing. The release is reviewed and the Captain can make changes or talk to the dispatcher if he has any questions. These changes might be routing, altitude or fuel load changes.

Once I get the release I glance over it make sure that I like what it has to say, the same at the Captain. I can question anything and make suggestions as well. I then download the weather from our weather program. It's pretty detailed and gives me the opportunity to pull up weather charts once we are airborne and I don't have internet access. The third thing that I do is update the planning program in the Ipad. We use that to replace all of our paper charts, maps and so on. It's allowed me to get rid of 35 pounds of paper and an entire bag. It took a little getting used to but I consider it a great step up for the operation. So once I've got my airport and route loaded to that I'm off to the plane.

About 45 minutes before push I show up. Sometimes, like today the passengers are already getting on board. People often wonder why when stuff is broken we don't know about it and stop boarding and the simple answer is that we don't know about it yet. I'm referring to things that just don't work when you are going through the setup process for the flight. You want everything to work, but sometimes it seems like it's all going against you.

I park my bags get part of my stuff that I need out and start the first part of the preflight of the plane. There are things I need to check in the cockpit and a specific setup that is required before I can go outside. Once that is done I head outside for the walk around.

So when the pilot is just walking around what is he really looking for?

Starting at the nose I'm checking everything. Looking at the probes, windows, wheels, hydraulic lines. I'm looking for damage. I'm looking for things that might be forgotten by maintenance. I'm looking for pools of fluid on the ground. I'm looking for specific things that I need to see, like enough wear left on the brakes or making sure that the wings are dry and free from ice, snow or frost. A good walk around takes at least 5-7 minutes on my plane. It's not hard and after a few thousand it's easy to get complacent but you never know when you'll need to find that thing that will make all the difference in the world. It's critical to stay focused every time.

I head back into the plane and sit back down. I may have chatted for a bit with a passenger or probably a flight attendant. The Captain and I have to introduce ourselves and we need to get on the same page for the preflight. We both have different responsibilities but we also have to back one another up too.

Once I get situated I need to start my long preflight flow on the panels and do the required checks of the systems at the same time I'm helping set up the Flight Management System with the routing and aircraft performance. I get the weather and clearance from ATC then whoever is flying the plane begins their briefing on where we are, what we are going to do, and what to expect for the taxi out and takeoff. We accomplish our first checklist after all that is done.

Now that I've got that done I get my headset set up, my IPad mounted to the plane and take care of my necessities prior to door closure. Ask the flight attendants if they have everything they need and then wait for the final weights to be delivered via the computer in the plane. Once we have the weights we input those into the computer and send it off for our takeoff speeds. Those come back and if everything is alright we run another checklist, the doors get shut and we are ready for the pushback.

Like I've said before this is just my part of the dance of the preflight. The gate, flight attendants, ground, dispatch, and load planner all have their own parts to play prior to every single flight. If it all goes the way it's supposed to we get out on time and are off to great destinations.

PilotMan

03-22-2015, 08:50 PM

Morning flight out of Newark today. Sunday morning. That meant that I had to fly here on Saturday. Saturday's just aren't great for commuting. There are fewer flights and as a bonus, Newark had lots of cancellations from the previous day due to weather. I left home just before 230p. The plane was full, but thankfully, once again, I was able to get the jumpseat in the cockpit so I could get to work.

My backup plan wasn't pretty. It involved another flight to Charlotte and the hope that I would get into Newark before 11p. I'm really glad I didnt' need to do that.

This morning came too early. The alarm went off at 530 anyway. When I got to work one of the first things that we were told was the the company was probably going to hold us on the ground before we could taxi out. The flight plan was very fast due to the lack of headwinds and our destination had a restriction that anything earlier than 15 minutes would cause the company to get fined.

From a passenger point of view this seems like a hard thing to swallow. Like why would you delay a flight when you could get there early? But in this case you can see why. We had a little issue with the plane not wanting to load our takeoff performance weights and data and that caused me to make a phonecall to our dispatcher to get them know what we were dealing with and why we were going to be late coming off the gate. The company is really pushing hard to get our push times right on the minute but in this case we were at the mercy of technology.

Once we got that sorted out we went to hold on the ramp for about 5 minutes before getting handed off to ground for our taxi out. They then told us that our departure gate was running delays and to expect them. Now, I'm sitting here wondering why our operations couldn't have expected this because now it seems like our early arrival is evaporating.

It wasn't too bad though and we did eventually get kicked into the air without too much of a delay.

We did our thing and despite our best efforts ATC kept speeding us up and getting us shortcuts. Then they told us we were first in a line of about 8 planes and that we couldn't slow down. Ultimately, we touched down 15 minutes early. I don't know how any earlier would have been our fault when it's ATC that is calling the shots up there, but it didn't matter in the end we got to our destination just fine.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150322_1735441.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150322_1735441.jpg.html)

I never complain about coming to Cancun. We don't stay near the party area of the beach, it's still on the strip but a lot more subdued. I honestly thought it would be busier than this. This isn't the best view from my balcony I've ever had but it is the first time that I've been able to see both the Gulf and the waterway back to the mainland.

I snapped this while I was eating dinner. It's busy but not crazy busy. This is as good as it gets on this trip. Tomorrow surely won't be a chance for sunburns, bikinis or cerveza.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150322_1650491.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150322_1650491.jpg.html)

PilotMan

03-22-2015, 08:59 PM

So I came across a movie today on Netflix that I'd never heard of. I guess it's based off of play that ran sometime ago. It's called Charlie, Victor, Romeo. What they've done is turned the final transcripts of the cockpit voice recorder into a live action play. The set is very simple, but the actors do a pretty good job of conveying the emotion and complexities of the cockpit. They dramatize 5 or 6 of the final moments of these crashes. It's not enjoyable, it's tense. I don't really know how it plays for someone who isn't familiar with the typical cockpit. I'm sure that I see it a little bit differently than the typical person, but if you are interested in it you can catch it on Netflix right now:

Watch Charlie Victor Romeo Online | Netflix (http://www.netflix.com/WiMovie/70268859?trkid=13641790)

I'm sure that parts of it seem like a foreign language is being spoken or the perception is there that these people don't know what they are doing, but that's not really the case. You get to hear what it's like when 4 people are talking in your ear at once, the helplessness of imminent death, struggle to understand what you are seeing, the failure to spot danger signs and the incredible success of teamwork and effort.

PilotMan

03-23-2015, 08:41 PM

Sadly, Cancun had to end and always sooner than later. We had a very smooth departure out this morning. Even though it was early there weren't any issues getting out on time.

Our destination this morning was Houston. It's funny, for years a flight that was 2.5 hours long was a looong flight. Now it's a short flight. It's all relative to what you know. For the guys that go to Asia, 8 hours is short, but for us very long. So today was a short flight.

Once we got to Houston I had about 2 hours to kill before my next flight. I decided to get a shoe shine, the winter has been rough. After that I walked around just to get the blood moving then headed to our Operations area and crew lounge. I had to put some power back in the IPad for the next flight.

After my break it was off to the plane. I knew that I'd be getting lunch on the plane so I didn't need to worry about finding food. Again we had no issues getting the plane loaded up and ready to go. Next up on the grand tour? Calgary! A new destination for me. I've never been here before.

I saw some pretty mountains. It's cold and overcast and was snowing before we got here. Quite the change from Cancun where I started this morning. Tomorrow will come to early, but at least it's Mountain time.

Which brings me to another challenge of this job. The constant time zone changes. My body is on East coast time and I got an hour given in Cancun, and now in Calgary I get another hour. My body should be telling me it's 930p, but it's still daylight. Somethings not entirely right with this. Lol. My wakeup call comes in about 8 hours to start my day tomorrow. C'mon tired, get busy! Today was almost 11 hours of duty time. I should be tired.

Tomorrow I'm off to Denver followed by a fairly short turn to Miami where I'll have another short layover and an ridiculously early wakeup call. Making it worse is that it WILL be east coast time, before 4a. It's going to be challenging. My wakeup tomorrow is also before 4a, but those extra couple of timezone hours really make a difference. It'll really hit hard in Miami.

Snapped this pic in Houston today before we pushed for Calgary.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150323_125049.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150323_125049.jpg.html)

PilotMan

03-24-2015, 04:44 PM

Fairly uneventful morning flight into Denver. The plane must have picked up a bunch of ice when it flew in last night because it was covered this morning. I know it was cold and there was frost too, but there was quite a bit of ice too. We got deiced after pushback and taxied out for our departure. There still wasn't anything to look as as it was still dark and overcast.

There were many reports of rough air going into Denver. If you've ever been in and out of there that's pretty standard. Denver always has very rough rides from the wind coming over the front range there. After we parked I had about 30 minutes to walk around in the concourse just to help get the blood moving again.

Next up was the flight to Miami. We saw numerous pilot reports of bad turbulence to the southwest of the airport, which just happened to be the direction that we were heading. The dispatcher purposely planned the first part of the flight down at 29000 feet to try and get a good ride before jumping up to 37,000 once we were clear.

We actually ended up dropping down to 25,000ft though as the rides at 29,000 were still pretty bad. This lasted for about an hour, until we were past Tulsa when things started to improve. We eventually got up to 35,000 where we had a nice remainder of the flight.

All of this takes a fair bit of coordination. I was talking on the radio for this leg so I was constantly listening to the other planes, trying to hear their complaints and guess where they were. Then query the controller about his rides as well. When you are down that low you end up talking to a lot of different controllers as the sectors are smaller than they are up higher. Meanwhile the Captain spend his time messaging back and forth with dispatch through the messaging system on the plane. The dispatcher can get other reports from company aircraft out in front as was the case today.

Getting bumped around is no fun for anyone. It's a sure sign that summer is on the way. The flight attendants had to be seated, as well as the passengers. So they didn't even get to start their service until over an hour after the flight took off. The constant jostling can really wear you down over the day and makes a day that isn't so tiring be very tiring by the time you get where you are going.

Good thing summer hasn't totally hit Miami yet. A typical afternoon arrival would have big storm cells and lots more turbulence but today there were only a few lower clouds and no rain. Not too bad. A short night tonight, but tomorrow is go home day. My flight looks good so far and as long as we are on time out of here I should be alright. Even though it's go home day I still am having a hard time dealing with my 325a alarm. Less than 10 hours now. Yeehaw. And I still have to go grab some dinner.

MacroGuru

03-24-2015, 05:03 PM

Which brings me to another challenge of this job. The constant time zone changes. My body is on East coast time and I got an hour given in Cancun, and now in Calgary I get another hour. My body should be telling me it's 930p, but it's still daylight. Somethings not entirely right with this. Lol. My wakeup call comes in about 8 hours to start my day tomorrow. C'mon tired, get busy! Today was almost 11 hours of duty time. I should be tired.

I feel ya man! Although yours is a little worse than mine but I do feel you. In order for me to survive the dr has me on Ambien if I want to take it. Are you allowed to take that type of medicine to catch the zzz's?

I stopped taking them when I started buying things online after I was "asleep"

CraigSca

03-24-2015, 06:30 PM

PilotMan

03-24-2015, 06:43 PM

I feel ya man! Although yours is a little worse than mine but I do feel you. In order for me to survive the dr has me on Ambien if I want to take it. Are you allowed to take that type of medicine to catch the zzz's?

I stopped taking them when I started buying things online after I was "asleep"

There are medications that we are restricted from taking, but as far as Ambien is concerned I don't know. I do know it's been talked about between crew. I'd have to say that there are a lot of people who take some type of sleep aid. I don't. Lucky me has learned how to relax, use breathing and muscle relaxation techniques and fall asleep pretty quick.

I hear about some who use Melatonin, but the majority use straight up Tylenol PM. I think that sleep aid use is probably more prevalent among flight crews than the general public.

PilotMan

03-24-2015, 07:35 PM

Speaking of spring, how much of "landing in thunderstorms" is up to the pilot? I've had a few experiences where the turbulence has been "okay" but I've been told over the PA that flights just ahead of us are experiencing extreme turbulence so we're going to do a go around and wait it out a little bit. I've also had landings where it seemed like we perhaps should have had a few go arounds and tried a little bit later but did not (ugh).

How much of the process of landing in tstorms is up to the individual crew? Heck, how much of flying through them is up to you guys? Is it up to the crew, or ground control?

Thunderstorms are a very big deal for pilots. We get extensive training about them and know just how dangerous they are. If you look at the Air Asia flight (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-30632735)you can see plainly that they are not to be messed with. A heavy rain shower isn't a thunderstorm.

As a pilot the sole responsibility of where the plane is at in time and space is mine. I have the authority to take emergency action regardless of what ATC says. I have used it as well. In one situation ATC was denying us a turn because of a slower turbo prop near us, but we would have flown right through a big cell. I'm pretty sure that ATC lost minimum separation but we told them we'd maintain visual separation. They weren't thrilled but there wasn't anything we (or they) could do. Another time was departing from Atlanta in the summer and ATC thought they could sneak us through a hole that they had been using. What they didn't realize is that the hole had closed and we just told them what we were doing and let them figure out what to do next. It get's really busy when planes start moving on their own. ATC has to scramble for a backup plan very quickly. Its' not like we are just standing still up there. Flying is very dynamic in 3 dimensions and it moves very fast.

Many times pilots will rely on other pilots to help decide whether or not they should do it. If the last 15 planes were just fine you might be too, but as soon as 1 plane starts to bail out you might see others as well (you'll see this especially on takeoff) it's much easier to wait on the ground than in the air.

Thunderstorms can produce massive downdrafts that can take planes on approach right out of the air (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delta_Air_Lines_Flight_191). We know much more now than we did back then. We have better training on how to recognize these situations and airports have systems that can sense them as well. Like pretty much everything else there are company policies for how to deal with thunderstorms.

Enroute it's a good idea to stay 20 miles away from them. I've seen some guys not come within 100 miles. You take what you can get though, and sometimes you're just flying through holes that you can see on the radar. Generally though with today's technology there is really no good reason to fly through the middle of a thunderstorm. We can typically mitigate having to make these calls just in the planning stages, and if we can't ATC can be very helpful, because they have a different view of the storm on their radar, or they might see something (a hole, or an ever extending line of weather) that our radar doesn't pick up yet.

Every crew makes their own decisions on when to shoot an approach in weather or not. Generally, as long as it's safe, I'm game to go take a look, as in start the approach and give it my best effort to get in, but the caveat is that you have to have a plan and be prepared for what you are going to do if it doesn't work out right. Many times the decision on whether or not to wait has to do with how much fuel is left on the plane. Many times you don't have the fuel to wait. If that's the case then a diversion is in the cards.

We try to have as much information as possible to make the best decisions that we can. Taking into account what company policy dictates in the situation. We use other pilots, ATC, dispatch, plus our own observations and radar to determine the best course of action. In the end though, unless the airport is closed, the decision rests solely with the crew.

Radii

03-24-2015, 11:12 PM

Huh, the stuff on storms is fascinating to read about, thanks.

PilotMan

03-25-2015, 08:54 PM

At the risk of sounding like a know it all, and I don't want to turn this whole thread into speculation on this incident, but this whole French Alps plane crash seems to be turning out just as I'd feared. I could still be wrong and maybe I will be, but at this point, as I did initially, I feel pretty confident about it.

Similar to Malaysian 370 this seems like a pilot instigated event. Here's why. The plane climbed uneventfully to 38000 ft. Then 2 minutes later, it's starts a steady, somewhat, but not crazy fast decent. It makes no changes, turns, adjustments and steadily descends until it crashes going pretty fast.

Climbs and descents are treated as high workload environments and pilots generally try and keep movement to a minimum during this time. If one pilot had to go to the lav he more than likely waited until he hit cruise to do so. Now here in the US, we have a 2 person rule that keeps 1 pilot from being alone in the cockpit. It's not (entirely) because they don't trust us, it's so that if something does happen there is someone else there to get the door open or just be of assistance. It's a post 9/11 adjustment.

So here on this flight, they reach cruise, 1 guy steps out, the other locks the door behind him. He decides to simply crash the plane. Who knows why? I don't know. But the nature of the timing and the type of decent, and that there were no radio messages to ATC and that we know that 1 pilot was locked out point to a pretty strong indication of crashed on purpose.

If there had been some kind of emergency that needed a decent, the pilot would have tried to level off at 10,000 feet. He didn't even pause. Just went down between 3,000 and 3,500 feet per minute (not a super fast rate). Yes it's fast, but not like if you just pointed the plane straight down. Not like Egypt Air (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EgyptAir_Flight_990). But with no pause and the steady rate causes me to speculate that it was input on purpose and just left untouched until the end.

PilotMan

03-25-2015, 09:17 PM

Yep, you knew this morning was going to be early, but you know what? I got a solid (enough) amount of sleep and woke up feeling pretty good. It was really foggy this morning in Miami.

We were ready to go and off the gate on time and told the flight attendants to prepare for a short taxi out. The end of the runway was just a few hundred feet away from the end of the alley we were parked in. We got out there pretty quick too. Then we waited....

We must have caught a bad spot because we ended up waiting about 15 minutes until we got to go. The fog had the runway down to approach minimums and that means that ATC has to increase the spacing between arrivals. So plane after plane had to come in and we just had to wait. If you always wondered how bad fog has to be to effect your flight remember this: Our minimums for takeoff are much lower than they are for landing.

We can takeoff with visibility as low as 500 feet at certain airports while we need about 1800 (sometimes 1200 and on large widebodies that fly around the world 0 visibility). Today it was about 2400 feet. When you are going 150 MPH it's a whole lot different than if you are going 35 mph down the highway.

Early morning flights are much better west bound than east bound. The sun is a killer on the horizon. We were north today so I had a nice view of the sunrise. The buildup of clouds are the remnants of some thunderstorms from the day before.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150325_0658051.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150325_0658051.jpg.html)

I made an easy connection for my flight back home and got done today around 1230p. So the cost of commuting on this trip was an extra 20 hours away from home.

I'm done now until after Easter and ready for the first family vacation in 2 years. It'll be the first major road trip we've taken in like 6. We are all looking forward to going to Hilton Head for the first time. Woot!

timmae

03-26-2015, 07:05 AM

Enjoy your vacation bud!!

PilotMan

04-09-2015, 07:12 PM

Alright, so if anyone is still reading this I'm back again. I'm trying to get to Newark tonight so I can start my trip in the morning but the midwest storms are causing delays here. I was supposed to be on a flight that left at 630p but the plane isn't even supposed to leave Chicago until 2 hours from now and then it's not supposed to get into Newark until after 1a. Luckily for now, my backup flight is closer to on time, but even it's delayed an hour. It's no leaving here for an hour and a half. Hopefully it stays open enough for me to get a seat on it. I'm sure I'll get there somehow, but I'd much rather get there earlier than later. I have to be at the airport around 645a tomorrow and the more sleep I can get the better tomorrow will go. If for some reason I don't get to Newark until after 1, I'll probably just sleep in the airport. That extra hour of sleep I'd get versus going to the crash pad would make a difference then.

I had a great vacation. If you've seen my fb, you'll have seen all the stuff that we did. We didn't really have any issues and had a great time. It was very nice to get away and our 11 year old minivan did it's part and ran like a champ.

There have been a lot of things that I've been dealing with for work that I haven't gotten around to writing about here. So I'll try and get caught up.

First off there was a seniority bid for something called guaranteed days off. They aren't additional days of, nor are they vacation days. They do allow you to block out a couple of days in a bid period though with a few stipulations. You can't use them over holidays, you only get 2 blocks of 2 days per year, and you can't use them both in the same month. We bid for the entire year now, but we can also bid for what's available on a month to month basis. I only chose to bid for 1 of my 2 blocks of days right now. I'll hold onto the other one to use later. The awards came out and I got my first choice. I'm thinking this was just because a lot of guys just don't even bother to bid for them. Either way, I now know that I'll have the 22nd and 23rd of December off work. I'm sure I'll still be working over Christmas, but it's nice knowing that I'll be guaranteed those days off at least.

Next I've finished my computer training that was due by the end of this month. Here were the modules that I had to complete for this training cycle:

- Annual Crewmember Security
- Basic First Aid and Emergency Equipment
- ATC Systems, Procedures, Phraseology, and Special Airports and Areas
- Crew Resource Management Threat/Error Management Stabilized Approaches and Standard Operating Procedures
- An exam on Latin American Operations
- An exam on South American Operations
- 737 Autoflight Procedures
- The integrated Stand By Flight Display
- 737 Common System Displays
- 737 Electronic Logbook
- Fatigue Risk Management and the New FAA Part 117 Regulations on Crew Duty and Rest.

There's some pretty exciting stuff in there. In fact, you may have fallen asleep just reading that!

I've got my annual flight physical next week. No EKG for me this year, I've got 1 more year before I have to start getting that regularly. Otherwise, I should be alright. I haven't had any changes or issues so I'm not expecting any surprises or issues with that, but you really never know for sure when you're dealing with someone who literally has your career in their hands, even if I have been seeing the same guy for 13 years.

Next I had to finish my bid for May. May is a bitch. I know it always seems like I say that, but this month truly is. Besides I'm spoiled from my last two with my vacation bump.

May already causes problems with Mother's Day. I'm supposed to try and get that off period. But it's on a Sunday and of course, I know that with my seniority Sunday's are challenging. Especially that one. So that's the 10th. Then I'm taking my youngest to WWE Raw for the first time ever on the 11th. I HAVE to have that day off. There is no other option if I don't. Then that Saturday the 16th the same boy has his spring piano recital. Follow that up with Monday the 18th and that's the night that the boys are recognized by the school for their awards and accomplishments for the year. I HAVE to be there for that too, as there will be plenty of accolades to go around. You have to add the 12th and 19th off because if I don't then I may have to commute the night before and then I'd still miss what I'm trying to go to! Then throw Memorial Day in there just for fun. Fun, eh?

So I've had to prioritize what I really need to be off for, which in this case means that I'll probably miss both the recital and Mother's Day. I've put my preferences in and even a bid for reserve which I really hope to God I don't get, but I'll take it I guess if it's the only way I'm going to get those days off. So we'll see here in a little over a week how this all turns out.

I'm supposed to be heading back to Cancun tomorrow morning. I think my sunburn from Hilton Head faded into tan nicely so I guess it'll be time to chill in the sun some more, provided there aren't any more issues tonight or tomorrow.

Well, look at that. While I've been typing this my main flight to Newark has decided to cancel. So that leaves me with my backup, a Delta flight, that's leaving here in about 45 minutes. It's about time to head down there and see how that turns out. If for some reason I can't get on that, then I have to call the company and let them know. I'd be taken off and get a missed trip and have to talk to the chief pilot, and lose the pay, but it is what it is. I've done my due diligence if it does come to that. Cross your fingers it doesn't.

britrock88

04-09-2015, 09:19 PM

Most certainly still reading.

timmae

04-09-2015, 09:48 PM

Tornado's in chicago... it's a mess. I'm still reading along.

PilotMan

04-10-2015, 08:54 PM

So went up to the gate agent last night and she tells me that I was right when I had previously talked to her about getting some other people from the previously cancelled flight. She tells me that she still has a seat for me and even though the flight is weight restricted the Captain thinks he can get me on.

Alright, now someone ask "What the hell is weight restricted?" It's an airplane right? How can there limits that keep it from being able to take a full load of passengers? It seems to me that this might be one of the more misunderstood things in aviation for passengers.

The simple answer is that the max weight is derived from many different possibilities. When I say max landing weight you think the maximum that the plane can weight at landing. And you'd be right. But when I say max takeoff weight you'd be wrong to think only in terms of what the structural limits of the aircraft are. This sort of limitation is more often found in the smaller regional jets rather than the larger 737's that I fly now.

You'll most often find restrictions on takeoff based on what the maximum landing weight of the aircraft will be. Especially on short flights, the plane has to burn off the right amount of fuel so it can be below landing weight when it get's where it needs to go. Now add bad weather at the destination that causes you to carry an extra 1500 lbs of fuel and instead of being able to carry a full load now you are looking at about 8 fewer passengers that you can carry. Because the weight that you would have carried in passengers is now in your fuel tank and because it's already a short flight you can't take off too heavy or you'll be heavy when you get to your destination. The FAA does not allow you to take off, knowing you are going to be heavy and burn extra in the air. But there have been plenty of times where I've gotten somewhere heavy and had to extend my downwind leg of landing by 4 or 5 minutes just get the extra weight off because ATC gave us a short taxi, or short cuts along the way.

I hope that wasn't too confusing, but the short of it is this problem is generally found in smaller planes, on shorter routes, where there is bad weather at the destination. Last night, the flight from CVG to EWR isn't that short, but if the required alternate was a long way away from Newark, like say Boston (because of course, there are rules as to what the weather can be at your alternate,) and if the entire east coast is socked in now you are adding 3000 lbs of fuel instead of the 1500 just to be legal to go.

I got on the plane and introduced myself. When I'm flying on a company that is not my own I'm essentially asking permission to ride as a possible extra crew member should the Captain need me. He can tell me to pound sand for any reason he wants. Maintaining the appropriate etiquette is very important if you want to get where you are going. He told me he'd try, but no promises. So I just sat and waited until I got the thumbs up that all was good.

I didn't get to the pad until about midnight. Luckily there was 1 bottom bunk left for me. Check out the get up and bathroom times for us:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150410_0601001.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150410_0601001.jpg.html)

We were out on time today, but again we had to deal with flow restrictions going south out of Newark. We also had some crap rides. We started off at 36000 ft and eventually ended up at 26000 ft to find a decent ride. Losing 10000 ft and the corresponding loss in cruise airspeed costs a bit of fuel and made us a little later. I did my best to stay on schedule, but we have to balance the fuel trade off for speed. The flight was about 3.5 hours, which is what I'd call a mid distance flight. We knew weather was good in Cancun and we were comfortable with the fuel on board so we could push it a little more. In the end we were 1 minute late, which kinda sucks. As crazy as it seems, that minute means a missed benchmark. Boohoo.

Cancun for spring break again? You won't hear me complain. The scenery was every bit as good as the scenery. I got sunburned. Early morning wakeup with a flight to San Francisco. I wish it ended there, but we have a 3.5 hour sit then fly to Vegas for a short overnight.

This is sunset on the eastern horizon from my balcony tonight.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150410_1903331.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150410_1903331.jpg.html)

PilotMan

04-11-2015, 11:42 PM

I'm tired and I don't have the patience to do this tonight. Today was a long day. Started early enough with maintenance telling me while I was doing the walkaround that they were clearing a couple of write ups on the plane. One of them involved part of the braking system of the plane. Not a big deal, not much that can be done about it and not something that they were likely to be able to replicate and wasn't currently showing any errors. In this situation they jump through the required steps and if there isn't anything it's good to go. No problem, it was alright with us.

The first couple of hours of the flight was a steady turbulence that had us start at 32000, go up to 36000 and then back down to 28000 just to find a good ride. Eventually, we got to get back up to 36000, but not until we were into New Mexico. Also almost as soon as we took off, the issue with the brakes came back. Nothing we could do about it except follow our procedures and be thankful that SFO has a long runway so it really wasn't an issue for us.

We got to San Francisco and I had 3.5 hours to kill before the next flight. SFO has this walk through museum where they were displaying a bunch of 1930 Art Deco pieces. It was a real trip into the way back machine. As it got closer to our departure I see that our original plane has been swapped for the broken plane that we brought in. I have to think that they took our original plane to use in place of the one that we brought in. About the time I was heading over to the plane I see that they've swapped it again. The broken plane must not be available and now our new plane is inbound from IAD. It won't be on the ground until 30 min after our departure and our new departure is now an hour late.

When things get behind the dance get's hurried and hectic. The plane is a mess from the 6 hour transcon coming in so the cleaning crew is working while the flight attendants try and get their work done so we can start boarding. I run outside for the walkaround then get back in to start my preflight setup. I get stopped in my routines 3 times to help the flight attendant sort out some issues with passengers having the same seats. That's something that happens when planes are switched. Things just get jumbled up in the effort to try and get back some of that time. We have another pilot who is going to ride up front. He is going to work. Then finally, we have it all caught up, full plane, 2 jump seaters and we can finally go. We push back and taxi out with 1 hour to spare before we duty time out for the day. Meaning we've already been on the clock for so long that it's time to be done, because as much fun as 4.5 hour sits are after 5.5 hour flights are, we are both ready to be done.

Our layover tonight was only scheduled to be 12 hours anyway, which is on the shorter side. Now it's closer to 11 hours after about 10 actually in the room when you take out travel and check in time. FAA regs say that 8 hours is the absolute min you can have. I grab some dinner and decide to type this up so I dont' forget it tomorrow.

My pickup time for the airport is 430a.

I got a cool picture of the new tower and the old tower in SFO. The new tower isn't operational yet, but it's much more stylish (if that's an important thing in ATC towers) than the old one.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150411_1501441.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150411_1501441.jpg.html)

My next pic is the view from the hotel looking up toward the strip. The Flamingo and Caesars are right in front.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150411_1908111.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150411_1908111.jpg.html)

PilotMan

04-17-2015, 09:18 AM

I just realized that I never updated the end of my trip. The flight back from Vegas felt long. Perhaps it was just the last leg syndrome or the turbulence but it felt long. We didn't have any issues and made it on time.

I was supposed to have a 2 hour wait for my next flight. It had seats available the last time I looked, but when I looked again the plane was down to 2 seats and I was down to #7 on the stand by list. That normally doesn't happen, but there was a family of 5 that was traveling on a vacation priority ahead.

My only remedy was to head for the gate and wait for the agent to show up and try and be the first one on the jumpseat list. This was cutting into my lunch time! She eventually showed up (after 30 minutes of me standing at the podium) and lucky for me I got on the list first. Only a pilot from that company or the FAA could bump me off now so I felt better, but you're still never really safe. I grabbed some lunch and then squeezed into the cockpit jumpseat once again for the flight home.

Tuesday was my all important FAA physical. Generally these things go alright and arent' too much hassle. There's a urine test for sugar (not drugs; I get drug tested through the company), a vision test, weight, bp, pulse and a general physical exam before it's done. Usually I get told every year that I need to lose weight. It's true. I do. But it's not like it's changed much in 4 years anyway. The FAA has been on this crusade to screen every pilot for possible sleep apnea. This has been due to a specific instance where both pilots fell asleep in the cockpit and overflew the destination a few years ago. Well, now they feel like it's a huge problem, but I think it's really bullshit. Sure some super obese guys, who probably already know they have issues are going to finally get help, but I know for a fact that I don't have this issue. Basically the short of the long is that I'm now on a watch list unless I drop some weight, but at least I'm not on the "must get (and pay for) a sleep study" list. The funny thing is that one of my friends had this issues and he wouldn't have been screened at all the way they are going about it. He is as fit as a fiddle. I don't really see this as being a significant issue that warrants all this, but whatever. I did get my certificate so I get to keep working for another year at least!

My week also consisted of shopping trips to Jungle Jims (look it up). I love shopping there, but it's a little out of the way. We have to go there from time to time to get things that my wife needs for her diet that we can't get other places. It's an amazing place for food. The day after we went to Ikea. Sometimes you have to go to work so you can get some good rest! With me being home during the week I didn't have any days to sleep in. I was getting up in the morning to take the boys to school. There will be no sleeping in on this trip either. Looking at my schedule the next day that I will get to sleep in will be the 26th.

Today I've got a transcon to the west coast. I had to get up at 330a at home to get ready and make my 600a flight into EWR. I had the luxurious exit row seat and slept for a good portion of that flight and I just spent about an hour in a recliner in ops dozing off in between construction noises. I should be good to go. This trip is commutable on both the front and back end and in the middle I'm hoping that I can meet up with a couple of friends that I haven't seen in almost 2 years back when we were all working at airline #2. Now we have moved on to better places, so hopefully it'll all work out.

PilotMan

04-17-2015, 09:16 PM

Today's flight was a very big sign that winter has given way to spring. Our flight time was set for only 5:26 heading to Los Angeles. We were planned to get in about 25 minutes early. The loss of the winter jet stream had that kind of impact on us. That just means that we will have to hustle tomorrow going back east to stay on time.

We had a full load this morning, but sat on the gate for a few minutes as the ramp had cleared a plane (that called after we did) to push in front of us. Other than that it was a short taxi out and we were off. Turbulence was the name of the game today. We hit it over Columbus and it continued until we were just east of Denver. Once we cleared the Rockies it was a nice ride the rest of the way into LAX.

Getting in early of course, our gate was occupied. We waited about 15 minutes before the gate was available then parked on time. A good 45 minutes down to Long Beach for the layover. This weekend happens to be the Long Beach Grand Prix. I shot this video coming back from dinner. This is just a couple of blocks from the hotel.

Tomorrow morning isn't terribly early as I'm on east coast time, but it will probably be dark when we leave the hotel.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kgKAYco5Eh8" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

PilotMan

04-19-2015, 08:17 PM

No update yesterday. Just a long freaking day. Started in LA and due to the weather in the central part of the country we were planned to fly south over El Paso and Dallas before heading up toward Washington DC. We flew just about as fast as that little plane would take us. Not a whole lot of tailwind to help and the extra miles didn't help either.

The company is really putting an emphasis on getting there as close to on time as possible right now. They don't want early, they don't want late. They want on the minute as much as possible and when there is so much between here and there it can be challenging. We got out of LA in pretty good time and we were ahead of the game so I was able to back off a save some fuel and still make it into DC on time.

We then had about an hour to switch planes and get set up for the next leg to Orlando. After a short break in our operations I headed to the plane to get is all set up to go. There were a couple of small maintenance issues that had to get resolved. Primarily one was a new seat cushion that someone had gotten sick on, on the previous flight and the other had to do with the lav smoke detector which looked to be falling down.

One of these proved much easier than the other and while we were ready to, and primed to push the mechanic wasn't done with the plane so we waited. Full load of passengers, pilots and crew primed for our flight to the layover. Keeping in mind that we'd already worked a transcon. The entirety of the delay was close to 45 minutes as they had to completely replace the detector and the very, very small screws that hold it in.

The flight down to Orlando went as it should. We made up about 15 minutes on the flight plan, but the flight that left after us still beat us down there. That's always frustrating. The layover was out near the airport and was less than 12 hours, so there wasn't really anything to do with it.

Today we got up early and had a much more manageable day. The first leg saw us head up to Newak. We were routed out over the ocean and up to North Carolina to avoid some nasty weather over the central part of the state. North of there was good and weather up north was beautiful today.

My landing sucked though.

I didn't realize it until afterward that the wind had shifted around to a tailwind and it caused me to float a bit, and when I had to put it on the ground it skipped a little bit. I didn't know what happened in that moment, but at least when they turned the airport around I felt a little vindicated.

We got to keep the airplane for the next leg. Which let me tell you, is really nice. I don't have to pack all my crap up and move it around, unpack it again. It's great. The other good thing was that it was another short flight down to Florida and we'd just come from there so we had a good idea of what to expect.

This flight was once again planned out over the Atlantic and then over Kennedy Space Center, Orlando and into Tampa. The routing was a little longer than normal, and we were kept at a lower altitude because of bad rides at the higher altitudes. Once we got over the ocean we could step all the way up to 38000 feet before they started dropping us back down for the arrival.

Today was shorter than yesterday and I needed it. I didn't sleep that great last night. Our layover in TPA has us staying in St. Petersburgh with the popular downtown within walking distance. Makes for good dinners and plenty of options.

Tomorrow is go home day! Yay! One leg back to Newark and then a race to try and catch a flight home. I only have about 30 minutes to try and change terminals for this flight and if I don't get it, it's a three hour wait for a full plane. Cross your fingers.

My yearly sim training in Houston is approaching. The month that I'm due for the checkride is June, but I can go the month before or after depending on what the company schedules. I bid in May for it, but didn't get it awarded. That means that June is likely or if not then for sure in July. I typically don't get all worked up for checkrides. You do your job the right way. They way it's supposed to be done and it shouldn't be an issue, but you never know when you'll have a bad day, or if the examiner will have a bad day. Still you'd think that after 14 years of check rides I'd have it worked out mentally a little better.

My May schedule was awarded. I told you that I put 9 bids in, but that I really only wanted a bid from 1-5. Well, I got awarded bid #3! So that's pretty awesome. Of the days that I needed off I got all of them with the exception of the piano recital for my youngest son. That means that Mother's Day, School Awards Night, and the WWE Raw show are all a GO! WooT! On top of that, all the trips are spaced out nicely and all of them are commutable on both ends except for 2. So that means that 2 times in the month I'll have to go the day before and head to the crashpad. All of them get me home on the last day. That's such a relief.

It's almost enough to make me think about dropping the crash pad and just buying a hotel room. Two nights is the bare min where it makes sense to keep it from a strict financial standpoint. I could spend that much on a room to myself. It is nice to know that it's there though, even if things just fall apart. I can still go there anytime, take a nap, take a shower. Whatever I need.

My flying next month is a little different than I've been doing. It's much more like the old flying that I used to do. Shorter flights, more legs. I don't really care. Every trip is an adventure. Yeah I might not be hitting the top destinations every week, but you can find great things anywhere.

PilotMan

04-21-2015, 10:26 AM

Yesterday was stressful!

I was sitting in the hotel in the morning going over the paperwork and weather for the flight. The weather was going to be bad with a strong frontal system moving through the area that was going to bring a lot of rain and wind for our scheduled arrival. Everything was in place now we just needed to be on time.

Like I had said, I had 30 minutes from our scheduled time in to pack up, change concourses and get to the new plane and get listed for the jumpseat as there is no way for me to make that listing before I actually get to the gate. I was sitting there I got a text notification that my other flight, the one I'm more likely to take was cancelled due to ATC. Great. More on this later.

The good news was the we were planned to get into Newark a full 20 minutes early if we could get off the ground on time. We managed to get off the gate a minute early and quickly worked our way across the airport to the departure runway. We got there and found a line for takeoff 4 deep and approach wasn't giving tower any help by spacing their arrivals out enough so that planes could take off in between. So we waited and waited. What would have had us off the ground 6 minutes early turned into a 7 minute delay and ate into that 20 minute slush time.

We had a pretty bad ride north bound as there was still lingering instability in the atmosphere from the day before. Our route was standard north out of Florida, no going east over the ocean, but the turbulence found us climbing up as high as we could go to try to find some smooth air. It got better the further north we went and it didn't sound like they were delaying anyone into Newark yet so we flew on.

We got some updates from our dispatcher about inbound aircraft and how delayed they were. It showed that most planes weren't any more than 10 minutes delayed and that some were even early. That boded well for us. The weather in Newark was already crapping out. Winds were gusting to the low 30s (kts, about 35 mph), the visibility was between 1/2 mile and a mile with rain showers.

So my 115p flight was cancelled to try and get home. Why? Newark like a lot of airports has set number of arrivals per hour when the weather is good. All airline schedules are predicated on this number and all flights that are sold and booked are based on a good weather scenario. When the weather goes bad the number of arrivals is cut drastically because of greater spacing that is required between aircraft. It can create a massive accordion effect if changes aren't made, that leads to big delays across the US. That leads the airport into what is known as Severe Weather Avoidance Plan or SWAP. SWAP forces cancellations by delaying aircraft on the ground by controlling how many planes are actually in the air and inbound for the airport. This way ATC avoids big holding patterns and possible diversions. Passengers see this as cancellations where before they might have been stuck on a plane, holding or at an undesirable airport that is not their destination. My company also utilizes smaller regional jets to connect to airports like Newark. When ATC puts slot arrival restrictions on the company they choose to cancel these slots to keep the slots open for the larger, mainline planes and international arrivals. That is why my flight was cancelled. Other companies that don't use Newark for a hub are less impacted because they don't have as many slots that are impacted and can generally keep their schedules more intact. You'll see these programs all over, especially in airports like JFK, LGA, ORD, ATL where weather can cause major delays. This puts even more pressure on me to try and make that flight home.

I think I'd be kidding you if I said I wasn't nervous at all to shoot this approach. The funny thing is that between the Captain and me, I had the most flying time in the 737, even though I have less than 2 years on it. He was a newer captain who had flown widebodies and some Airbus, but not the 737. I am confident in my skills, but I also knew we were in for a wild ride.

We need to be sure before we start the approach that the weather is good enough and stays within the limitations of the plane. The clouds were down near 600 feet (200 is the lowest you'll see on most approaches). By the time I break out at 600 feet I'll be about 30-40 seconds from touchdown. Not a whole lot of time to assess the situation and make adjustments. The visibility needs to be at least 1/2 mile, and for us it was about 2/3. Again not great. The winds were brutal. We were coming down the glideslope and I was wondering how many people were in the back puking, because it was that kind of approach. Very strong moderate turbulence that bordered on Severe at times. The plane, even despite being 70 tons was getting tossed. The winds were almost a direct crosswind steady at 20 knots, gusting to 39 (45 mph). When I broke out of the clouds I picked up the runway. I was almost looking in the Captains windshield as we were crabbed so far to the right to compensate for the wind. The maximum crosswind for the plane is 40 kts. We were right up to the maximum, in low visibility, in low clouds with nasty, gusty winds. I got the plane down the centerline of the runway and put it down right where it needed to be then I let out a huge sigh. We had over 170 people on that plane. They should have given me a standing ovation after that one. Probably the most challenging landing ever. There was only one other landing that I did in a Cessna that was even close. The landing earlier this year was also very hard, but it was in VFR. I could see the runway the whole way down. This was work.

And we were on time. It was pouring. The ramp guys weren't in a big hurry to get us parked. I started packing up my stuff and almost literally ran for the next plane. I don't like not being able to greet people off the plane but getting home comes first. Not only was the 115p flight cancelled, but the 900a flight had been cancelled and the 730p flight was cancelled. That meant that if I miss this flight the next chance is at 4p and then 530p and then nothing. It's only 1030a. I really don't want to spend the whole day here.

When I got to the gate the plane was already done boarding. Flights typically close 10 minutes prior to departure to allow for all the gate and flight paperwork to get done and ramp to finish up so it can push on time. I was about 15 minutes. The gate agents were AWESOME! They got me listed, checked in and gave me my pass to get on so fast and I hustled down to ask my permission from the Captain. Yes, when I'm not flying on my own company I have to ask permission. It's a very important thing. He obliged and I took my seat, so happy to be there and still a little wound up from the run and approach.

I knew that there were long delays for takeoff. Newark was getting reports of severe turbulence and they were down to the short runway for takeoffs. We ended up sitting close to an hour and a half on the ramp waiting for our turn to go. When it finally came we had to bypass and head back to the gate to let 2 passengers off who requested to get off. They did NOT have to do that. It's nice that they did, but frankly, those 2 passengers getting off delayed the other 70 passengers another 30 minutes from getting where they had paid to go too. When you get on the plane has to be airborne within 3 hours of pushback. We had been on for a while, it was a Captain decision. We were still close to the gate, and getting back to the gate gives everyone the chance if they want. It resets that 3 hour clock as well. I was still just happy that I was on the plane and that I didn't need to worry about how I was going to get home.

Eventually we got in line and finally got out of there. By the time we left most of the weather had passed and things were starting to let up. When I got home at 530p I was just beat. Another successful trip and now a few days to reload and get ready to go again at the end of the week.

britrock88

04-21-2015, 10:43 AM

So my 115p flight was cancelled to try and get home. Why? Newark like a lot of airports has set number of arrivals per hour when the weather is good. All airline schedules are predicated on this number and all flights that are sold and booked are based on a good weather scenario. When the weather goes bad the number of arrivals is cut drastically because of greater spacing that is required between aircraft. It can create a massive accordion effect if changes aren't made, that leads to big delays across the US. That leads the airport into what is known as Severe Weather Avoidance Plan or SWAP. SWAP forces cancellations by delaying aircraft on the ground by controlling how many planes are actually in the air and inbound for the airport. This way ATC avoids big holding patterns and possible diversions. Passengers see this as cancellations where before they might have been stuck on a plane, holding or at an undesirable airport that is not their destination. My company also utilizes smaller regional jets to connect to airports like Newark. When ATC puts slot arrival restrictions on the company they choose to cancel these slots to keep the slots open for the larger, mainline planes and international arrivals. That is why my flight was cancelled. Other companies that don't use Newark for a hub are less impacted because they don't have as many slots that are impacted and can generally keep their schedules more intact. You'll see these programs all over, especially in airports like JFK, LGA, ORD, ATL where weather can cause major delays. This puts even more pressure on me to try and make that flight home.

More valuable insight from an industry insider. Great stuff! Welcome home!

PilotMan

04-24-2015, 10:07 PM

So I the Mrs and I went to pick up some personal effects from the death of her estranged mother. I think there have been times in the last 13 years where she wondered if she was making the right choice to shut her mother out of her family and even after she died last month despite being sure it was the right thing there were moments that she wondered if it could have been different. After this trip and seeing the things that were kept and the things that were left behind I have no doubt, nor do I have any sadness for the woman. My wife was shaken by some of the things: Items from her youth that she asked for and were told had been destroyed, unopened birthday cards, all kept, from other family members that her mom told her didn't love her anymore, letters to our own kids telling them that their parents were bad people, diaries detailing every movement for months in what looked to be an effort to blackmail or fight for custody before we moved to FL (she had nothing), diaries written that said unspeakable things. Not just things that would be awful to say, but to say them to your daughter, a child or the things that she said before she was born. It's just plain disturbing. I hated the woman. She deserves to burn in hell; she should've spent part of her useless life in jail. I'm glad that this means that we don't ever have to think about her ever again. Her decision to cut ties was completely vindicated. God forbid, if she would've had any influence on my kids lives.

Caught a flight to Newark tonight to start another trip tomorrow. Can't say I'm looking forward to the layover all that much, but I will get to sleep in Sunday morning and I should get some good pool time. I should be able to get a photo or two uploaded as it's a pretty area.

timmae

04-25-2015, 10:12 AM

Great reads! I like your mention of the standing ovation... Many times when things go right, even in such abysmal conditions, people will think that you are just doing your job. That had to be stressful!! Job well done!

PilotMan

04-26-2015, 08:08 AM

I showed up at the airport about an hour and 20 minutes prior to our departure time. I headed for one of our briefing rooms where I ran into a couple of pilot from my first airline job, a company that is now out of business. It's good to see familiar faces making their way up from the ashes. I did all my regular stuff, updated all the databases in my tablet.

Let me digress for a minute. Until about a year and a half ago, and for my entire aviation career we had to carry what's called a flight kit. You'll still see many pilots carry them. You might recognize it at a pilot case. Inside this case we were required to carry all the Airport Charts for every airport that we might have to fly into. So one airport might have arrivals, airport information, a regional diagram, airspace layouts, and every approach for each airport. I had 3 full binders worth of airports. Literally thousands of pages of airport information. Every two weeks we'd get an envelope with revisions where you had to go through one by one and take out an old page and replace it with a new one. Some of them would be small and take 10-15 minutes and others were a couple hours worth of unpaid work. We also had to carry a binder with airplane specific information on standard procedures, limitations and generally how we were to fly the aircraft. There was another binder as well with more company specific information on how all fleets and the company would operate covering everything from Hazardous Material, to security protocol, to corporate structure. Both of these binders were a few hundred pages as well. My flight case weighed close to 40 pounds and took a beating. Because of the company upgrade to the Ipad I no longer have to carry any of that. It's all been digitized and it's all the difference in the world. Updates are automatic and it only takes a couple of minutes to have everything completely up to date.

So...I updated everything. Then downloaded all my flight paperwork (which used to have to be printed out) and weather and got started toward the plane. Today's flight was a trip down to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. We had a full flight and the plane was planned very close to our maximum weight. The company had planned for a long taxi out to the runway and actually a late arrival into SDQ.

ATC had changed our clearance and after the new route was loaded we were ready to go. The new route was a little shorter than the other. Our dispatcher had filed us to avoid some turbulence. ATC pretty much changed all that, so we were going to have some bumps until Norfolk at least. After a fairly short delay we were cleared to go. Once we got up to our cruising altitude and went through our checks we found that we weren't going to be late and we were going to be heavy. About 2,500 pounds heavy. We started looking at options for how to get that weight off and settled on heading for a lower altitude.

Once you get out in Oceanic airspace you lose radar coverage and you lose standard radio communication. You are then left communicating using 1940's technology, the HF radio. Very good at long distance, but it can also be very challenging to hear. We have required position reports that have to be made until we get closer to Puerto Rico and back in radar coverage from Miami. Getting altitude and speed changes can be difficult as you are expected to be at a certain altitude and a given speed for tracking purposes. So prior to getting in this area we took a decent down to 27000 feet and let our dispatcher know. He reran our fuel numbers and that was enough of a change that we should be good for our arrival. That's 385 gallons of jet fuel that unfortunately had to be used that we otherwise would've kept. Figure somewhere in the range of $2.50 per gallon and you're close to $1,000 of waste on just that 1 flight.

The arrival was uneventful. One thing flying into the Dominican. You've got a lot of very poor areas. People living in metal shacks here and there. There's a fair bit of agriculture, but the island is poor by our standards. Then you've got these fantastically beautiful, manicured baseball diamonds dotted here and there. It's quite a dichotomy.

Our hotel is actually considered one of the nicest in the city. It's right in the heart of the Colonial District. There is a lot of history here. Santo Domingo was the first European settlement in the New World and was founded in 1502. Aside from all that there isn't a whole lot to offer, even though this area is the main tourist area in the city. And the beds are insanely hard.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150425_141530.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150425_141530.jpg.html)

This is the Parque Colon in Santo Domingo. A statue of Christopher Columbus in front of the oldest Catholic Cathedral in the Americas.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150425_145839.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150425_145839.jpg.html)

This is part of Las Damas, the first street in the new world. The hotel starts ahead where the white building is. The left is part of the city wall with a couple of old cannons placements.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150425_155240.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150425_155240.jpg.html)

This is in the hotel, which was part of the mansion of the original Spanish governor of Santo Domingo, Nicholas de Ovando, who is credited for the success of the city.

I head out this afternoon and finish around midnight in Ft Myers. It'll be an 11 hour day, if it goes on schedule.

PilotMan

04-27-2015, 09:55 AM

Short update today.

We ended up being delayed off the gate in Santo Domingo because of the plane being late coming in from Newark. We pedaled as hard as we could and low and behold we were able to make up all the time. Except that when we got to the gate there was nobody to be found. All our hard work to land and get to the gate and park and be completely on time went out the window because the ramp too almost 6 minutes to come out and park us.:banghead:

Then the company switched planes for our outbound to Ft Myers. The result was that the next plane was a later arrival putting us almost 40 minutes behind by the time we got going. Again, we tried as we could to get some time back. Late at night you can sometimes get some help from ATC and since it was close to 11p I asked if we could take a shortcut off the arrival and go straight to our destination. Lucky for us they let us, and put us in front of two other carriers going to the same place. That took 10 full minutes off our arrival. They never would have done that any other time.

I really only had time on this layover to sleep, get caught up on the internet, talk to the family and get my butt to the treadmill. Today will see me end up in Orange County, CA, via Chicago, for another short layover.

PilotMan

04-27-2015, 10:11 PM

Lots of turbulence from Florida to the upper Midwest. We never got above 28000 on our flight up to Chicago. One of the controllers said it best that we were paying for yesterday's smooth rides. We got out of Ft Myers on time and into the gate in Chicago on time as well.

I had about 45 minutes to change planes and do whatever I wanted before I had to begin my preflight for the Orange County flight. Again, things went smoothly and we got out 10 minutes early. The taxi out was painless and by the time we were airborn we were projected to get into Orange County over 30 minutes early. How often can you say that? Lucky for us there was a gate available and we didn't have to wait.

Today must be media day here in the thread. I've got a couple pics and vids for your viewing pleasure.

The first is from the other night going into Ft Myers. The video isn't great but you can still get the feeling of what I see when we are cutting through clouds. The lights are on so you can really see the speed. It was much cooler in person. We are probably going close to 400 mph at this point.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MBQ2482bNwI" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Next is a shot of Chicago. Very nice day for flying, much nicer than some days I saw this winter. Photos really don't do the view justice.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150427_1453461.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150427_1453461.jpg.html)

Next is a view of Vegas from 38000 feet today before we started down for Orange County. You can clearly see the airport. The cluster of buildings north of there is the strip.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150427_1919531.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150427_1919531.jpg.html)

The last is a video of of what closure rates and separation look like from the front. This plane starts off at about 10 miles away and is 1000 feet higher, traveling on the same airway in the opposite direction. You see that you really can't see the plane, and if not for the contrail you wouldn't really see it at all. In 30-40 seconds the plane is past us. This is what a 1000 mph closure rate looks like.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/fqAUz94SUvk" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

britrock88

04-28-2015, 10:12 AM

Great stuff!

timmae

04-28-2015, 11:19 AM

Insane videos... just unreal. I'd post a video of what happens in front of me while I work but my coffee cup is fairly nondescript so no point in that! Thanks for the vids. Wow!

cmp

04-28-2015, 09:14 PM

Love reading this and seeing the pictures and videos.

PilotMan

05-01-2015, 09:21 PM

I'm happy you guys are enjoying it. It's always a boost to get some positive feedback.

My flight back from Orange County was about as smooth and on plan as you could have gotten. I really needed it to be on time too. I was trying to catch a flight home that gave me only 25 minutes from the time I parked until it left. And that's not taking into consideration the 10 minutes before the flight leaves that they close the flight to get it off the gate on time.

Today nothing went against us. ATC didn't slow us down, they didn't turn us off course. The ride at 39000 feet was great. Nothing. We got into Newark a little early and the gate was even available. The ramp was a little slow getting out to us but I had time to make a dash for my plane. In the end it all worked out. The plane was boarding and I didn't even have to sweat getting a set.

I made it home early and surprised my family as I hadn't told them that I'd made the earlier flight.

I've got a week off until my next flight. If you'll remember that I had to bid for my yearly training for May. I wasn't awarded anything then so I had to do it all over again for June. I've put my preferences for which days and sim windows I'd like. I should find out next week before I start my monthly bid for June if I get awarded anything.

June is my training month. The FAA allows me to train one month prior (May) or one month later (July.) These months are termed grace months. May is early grace and July is late grace. Last year I didn't go to training until July. I was in late grace. If I hadn't completed training I would go NQ or Not Qualified. Frankly there are a lot of reasons that I might go NQ. It could be failing to turn in my medical when it was due or not getting my continuing training online completed on time, or It might be that I didn't get my 3 landings within the last 90 days.

PilotMan

05-07-2015, 11:18 PM

Ahhhh, I've been busy. Too busy to keep this updated the last couple of days. I left home yesterday at 430a to catch a flight to Newark to start my trip. Getting me there plenty of time before the start of my trip. I had some time to grab some food, check my mailbox and just to generally get prepped for the day ahead. As I was coming back from our operations area the police had part of an area blocked off. All they would tell me was it was some sort of emergency. I grabbed my bags, went down to the cafeteria to grab a couple of bottles of Diet Mt Dew. Something that will help me get through the next couple of days. I don't drink a ton of it and I can make 1 bottle last for the better part of 4 hours. My dentist says I shouldn't do that either.

So as I start to head to the plane I see that there are people everywhere. I mean not like normal just waiting around I mean holiday, bad weather. Not a Wednesday in May. I then get a text from the guy I'm flying with and he tells me that he is stuck in operations. Security has locked that part of the airport down. That would explain the people. It's clear that this is going to cause problems for us. We are only 20 minutes from departure by now, and still short 2 flight attendants and a pilot. We can't even start boarding yet.

I guess it made the local news, but they had found an unclaimed bag in the airport and it escalated from there as it was being checked out. In the end the bomb squad was called and eventually order was restored, but not until we were nearly an hour late. Ordinarily it wouldn't be that big of a deal but we had a long day ahead.

The first flight took us down to Orlando. Weather wasn't an issue, except for the turbulence that followed us almost the entire way. We managed to make up some of the time enroute but not too much. In order to get back on schedule we have to try and make up that time on the turn. That leads to very little down time throughout the day. We make every effort to get back as close to schedule as possible. You end up going right from the big, deep breath of getting there right into the preflight for the next one.

Our second flight had us heading to Chicago. The ride was easier this time. The turn allowed us to make up even more time and we managed to pull in at the gate in Chicago just a few minutes late. I'd consider that a success. I wasn't done yet though. A plane change and I had about 30 minutes before I had to be there. A quick walk around the terminal, maybe a phone call home, but most importantly is the walking. Just getting up to move again after having been sitting for most of the last 6 hours feels so good.

The last flight was a quick trip to Minneapolis. I haven't been here in a couple of years. I may have said this before but when I was a little kid I spent a lot of time at MSP. The airport feels like my second home. I love the city too. It's as close as I can currently get to North Dakota working and just enough that it feels like home. All told from the time I left home to the time I got to the hotel it had been 18 hours. No wonder I was tired.

I wanted to show you this picture so you didn't think that every layover is all sun and awesome hotels rooms. Check out the great view from my room last night:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150507_074534.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150507_074534.jpg.html)

Nothing like a wall and a rooftop.

A very short layover and I was back on the road at 8a this morning. Our first flight today took us to Denver. Aside from today being another long work day the weather and schedule worked according to plan.

Once we got to Denver it was another 30 minutes of me time, and again I chose to simply walk around to get the blood moving. We had to change planes. I tried to get a full lap around the terminal while I talked to the Mrs, but didn't quite get it before I had to go back to the plane.

The next flight took us to Phoenix where they had scheduled us less than an hour to empty and refill a plane with 180 people on it. It was just like Orlando where as soon as we parked it was right into the preflight to get out of there.

We headed back to Denver for the layover. Today had some really nice flying. The weather cooperated and the rides back and forth over the mountains were smooth which is never a sure thing. Six legs in the last 2 days with a couple of short overnights. The next 2 aren't quite so demanding. I start early again tomorrow for 1 leg back to Phoenix.

britrock88

05-08-2015, 10:46 AM

The last flight was a quick trip to Minneapolis. I haven't been here in a couple of years. I may have said this before but when I was a little kid I spent a lot of time at MSP. The airport feels like my second home. I love the city too. It's as close as I can currently get to North Dakota working and just enough that it feels like home. All told from the time I left home to the time I got to the hotel it had been 18 hours. No wonder I was tired.

I've learned a lot about the airline industry in the 2-3 years I've been in ND. But to your point, yes, 90% of the flights in/out of ND are going to be on 50-seat regional jets, so MSP will be about as close you can get... and it'll be a stop of mine more often than not when I fly east. (BIS has Delta to MSP, United to DEN, American to ORD/DFW.)

PilotMan

05-08-2015, 12:35 PM

And you know that's a lot more than it used to be. Even before deregulation in the 80's, and while I was in college in the 90's it was only Denver or Minneapolis. I think there's a chance that in the next few years you might see some larger aircraft come back in as the number of pilots flying 50 seat jets goes down, but even to NoDak that still might not be enough to expand to larger aircraft.

I now have my yearly recurrent training scheduled for June in Houston. Recurrent training is something that is required for pilots to continue to keep their jobs. Covered over two days we cover general maneuvers, emergency situations, and a number of different approaches. I'll go into more detail next month. Day 2 is a simulated line flight that is evaluated for safety and standard procedures. Each day is two hours of classroom briefing and then we spend 4 hours in the simulator.

Today was (is) either very short or very long depending on how you look at it. Compared to what we did the last couple of days I think it's fairly easy. The plane that we were taking to Phoenix was a little late getting to the gate and we ended up getting out about 15 minutes late. With the flight to Phoenix being as short as it is, there just wasn't a whole lot of room where we could try and make up time. Even then we still managed to cut 5 minutes off and get into the gate about 10 minutes late.

I'm off the rest of the day for the most part. But tonight take the red-eye back to Newark. So I'll be heading to the airport about a quarter to 100a by my body clock for the overnight flight back. Then it's go home day again!

It's time to bid for my June schedule. I really haven't given a whole lot of thought as to what I want to bid for. Summer will be here and the constraints on my personal schedule will be fewer.

britrock88

05-08-2015, 02:40 PM

Yeah. After kvetching about not being able to get anywhere from BIS for less than $500, I was amazed to hear that that number was closer to $1000 until just a handful of years ago. I can't imagine.

PilotMan

05-11-2015, 09:33 AM

I don't think there's a single person who ever looked at a red-eye and thought, "YEAH! I get to work overnight!" The majority of pilots that I work with bid against them. They don't want to see them and suddenly needing to change your sleep schedule to accommodate one overnight flight sucks. The only upside is getting finish your day in the morning. Not without the punishment though. I'm usually tired and crabby until I can get caught back up.

So I went to bed at 630p body time and I was able to sleep until 1130p when I had to get up to head out. I'm still not sure how I'm able to do that. Sleep for 5 hours in the afternoon, but I'm convinced that 90% of it is just mental. The flight left at 200a body time. We were routed north of the Kansas, OK, TX storm systems that have been raging this spring and took a route over Chicago. The flight was quite nice until western Missouri when we started to encounter some pretty good turbulence that lasted for about 45 minutes. We got into Newark on time at 630a after our 4+hr flight.

I had 3 hours before my flight going home and decided I needed to head right for one of the couches in operations. I found one open and planted myself there and slept for somewhere between an hour and an hour and a half. When I got up I found that I had already been given a seat for my flight home and made my way to the gate where they had just started boarding and got on.

Two and a half hours later I was home and off again to do some Mother's Day shopping with my kids and then to take my Mom out for some food to celebrate her. We had different plans for Sunday and she was busy so we just weren't going to have that chance. I really owe my Mom for the opportunity that she provided me to have the life I do and the career that I have. She was the one that sacrificed by having a second mortgage and taking a second job to pay the second mortgage so that I could have money to get my license. Not to mention raising me alone. She always looked for ways we could have fun and never made excuses for things we couldn't do. I'm grateful for those memories and the example she sets.

Tonight I'm taking my youngest son to a WWE event here in Cincy. I'm really excited about it and I hope it's a good experience. He's really been into it lately and it's something that we have in common growing up. He has no idea and I'm not going to even tell him until we are driving up to the show tonight. He'll just go to school late tomorrow. It'll be the first time he's missed any school this year with the exception of 2 hours he missed coming home sick one day.

We celebrated yesterday with my wife by going on a family hike nearby. We saw a snapping turtle that was about the size of a small drink coaster among other things. Then we came home and I grilled and we made a ton of food to celebrate her being a totally awesome mom. I genuinely couldn't have asked for a better Mother to my children. She really is fantastic.

Next, I've got to get this bid in for June. Father's day in that month, but besides that and training I really don't have anything else to bid around. The kids are out of school so it really frees us up. Back to work again early Thursday morning for another crazy long day.

PilotMan

05-15-2015, 09:51 AM

Super short update. Like I said last time, yesterday was very, very long. Left home at 430a and got to the hotel at midnight. I did nap on the plane to Newark and then went to the crash pad for hotel breakfast and then another nap before work.

I just missed Bono at our gate. The flight attendants all got pics with him, but I didn't see him.

Flights to Dallas, Denver, then a 2 hour break and then finished with Omaha. Chicago on the books for today.

I finished my June bid in the nick of time (again.) Really wanting to try and keep this 4 on 4 off thing working as long as possible, but with my training (in Houston) in June and Father's Day, I'm not sure how that's all going to work out.

I've got another set of online training to do that will be due at the end of August.

My big accomplishment while I was home this week was tearing out some old deck lighting that we've had and installing some new. We've always liked the lighting, but what was there was really crappy looking. The new lights look very spiffy and add a really nice atmosphere. I've never done deck lighting before so the whole process was a learning experience.

The youngest and I had a great time at WWE Raw this week. I totally surprised him with what he thought was a errand and turned into a trip to the show.

My middle son is now officially into hobby rc cars. He told me he has watched every single hobby rc car video on you tube. No joke. Every single one. He just dropped nearly $400 on his own 1/8 scale vehicle. He is super excited. He had been saving for over a year.

timmae

05-15-2015, 02:55 PM

Man I loved rc!! There was a track about 20 minutes from where I lived. I was there every week for quite a stretch.

PilotMan

05-16-2015, 04:57 PM

Yesterday was supposed to be the easy day, one leg from Omaha to Chicago. It was all good early on. We were all boarded up, we had all of our work done up front and closed up the plane almost 10 minutes early. Things were looking good. Then we were told that load planning was having some difficulty with the cargo load and it would be a few minutes.

Then it was a few minutes longer. We noticed fairly early on that there were a lot of guys in business shirts, and a lot of what seemed like managers walking around. There was even some arguing and some yelling. Then the station manager got on the radio and said that he apologized. He said that the company had just outsourced the company employees that had been working at the station with this new company.

So we wait some more and then a lot more yelling and finger pointing. After a few more minutes the manager says that when the crew scanned all the bags in on the bags on the plane that they scanned them al into 1 cargo hold, but didnt' load them that way. So load planning had no idea how to balance the plane. In order to fix this all the bags would need to be unloaded, rescanned and reloaded back on to the plane. Give them another 15 minutes.

So frustrating when you know almost everyone has connections and here you sit at the mercy of circumstance and have to explain to your passengers what is going on. Finally, 45 minutes late in all, we were under way to Chicago.

It's a fairly short flight, but we tried as we could and did get a small shortcut, and ATC kept our speed up on the arrival into the city.

Chicago has 2 north side runways that they generally use for arrivals from our direction. One of them is far away and one isn't. The farther one, is at least a 7 min taxi longer to the gate and that's the one that we were assigned. I put in the request for the other runway, becuase you can always ask and lo and behold got it! We touched down konwing that we had cut some time off the arrival only to find that our original gate had been given away. Our new gate wasn't due to push for another 10 minutes.

There's just not much you can say. I was pissed and let someone konw that our efforts had been ruined. So frustrating again.

I'm going to digress for a minute and talk about why this stuff happens. The company looked at our scheduled time in which they had as 27 after the hour. They moved us to a gate that was due to push at 25 minutes after, thinking that we would just flow right in. Of course we were much faster and in the end it didnt' help us and it made us look like we didn't know what we were doing.

So why can't we just go to another gate that's open? That's a tricky question. The immediate thought is that you are here and it's open so we should go there, but it's much more complicated than that. The gates can be assinged early in the day and each of them is predicated on a arrival and departure times. Obviously they don't just give us whatever gate when we get there. There has to be time for us to get out before the next flight get's in, or if we change there needs to be a plan to deal with what happens downline to the other planes. Like a game of Rubiks Cube, one move may seem obvious and get you closer to your goal, but in the end you end up creating a mess, where sometimes the best solution is simply waiting. Flows for gates are very tight and planned accordingly. Like arrivals into airports you can create an accordian effect by screwing with it too much. Then you throw in the dynamics of changing arrivals, maintenance, cancellations, weather and the entire situation becomes very dynamic.

PilotMan

05-16-2015, 11:30 PM

A much earlier start in Chicago this morning, but a much shorter drive to the airport at 430a than it was getting to the hotel the day before. Not long after I jumped in the cockpit and while I was getting the plane ready to go another pilot showed up and introduced himself to me. He was a Check Airman. Technically his job is to check and grade the Captain, because they are required to have checks every so long, and we in the right seat aren't required, but he is most certainly there checking both of us.

His job is to ride along on the flight and basically observe everything, point out issues that he has with how we do things, help answer questions about company standard, check our ability to work together as a team and oh yeah, if you really screw it up he can take you off line and send you for training. Now you'd really have to fuck up to get there, but the having him there is essentially a checking event with some manner of seriousness to it. You just try and relax, focus on doing what you normally do and look out for the other guy, because someone is going to need it and you both are being graded together.

Lucky for us this was a short flight to Columbus and we were out, up and down without any issues. Our next flight was off to Denver. My whole day was very tight. We had less than an hour to deplane close to 180 people, get cleaned up, and reboard the plane and get out. There isn't much room for error on a day like today. Any issues and you'll find yourself behind the ball and playing catch up all day long.

Another good flight to Denver with no issues along the way and one leg to go after.

Today was just long, but at least we didn't have to change planes all day. That's a big plus with things being so tight. Not having to pack up and get going saves a lot of time, but by the time I got to Denver I'd probably been sitting for close to 7 hours with another flight to.

For some reason the cleaners didn't show up in Denver. We called and waited, and called again and they just didn't show up. We couldn't board the plane on time until the plane got cleaned and set up. The rest of us were just waiting. So that put us almost 20 minutes behind when we finally got going. The flight to Seattle was padded nicely and we picked up the pace for the flight. I almost got all the time made up and we parked at the gate 2 minutes late. Not good enough to meet the company goal, but it does meet the DOT definition of on time.

The approach controller very nearly screwed us before the approach, he had us slowed way back and kept us high before clearing us for the approach. It took quite a bit of planning and effort to get the plane back on our normal decent profile. Controllers usually do an excellent job of timing our turns and putting us in a position to shoot the approach. If we fail to hit certain approach windows for speed, altitude and configuration we have to abort the landing and start over. And while that's a really safe and smart procedure it's a great big pain in the ass so getting back on profile prior to those approach gates is really important and sets my up for a good landing. Unstable approaches lead to unstable and uncomfortable landings. That is NOT the goal.

Tomorrow will be an early morning, but it's Pacific time so it won't be so bad. I loved getting out today in the city, despite being so tired. Not sure when I'll get back again, these layovers are in usually taken by other guys because it's a good layover.

Tomorrow is also go home day. I'm listed on a flight that is just unrealistic but who knows, maybe I can get on it. Much more likely I'll get the next flight an hour and a half later. I love go home day.

I leave you with this view I had today. Classic Seattle tourist shot, but good nonetheless.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150516_151232.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150516_151232.jpg.html)

PilotMan

05-23-2015, 08:03 AM

The flight back from Seattle wasn't exciting, but that's not a bad thing. I was right, there was no way I was going to get on that early flight home so I sat around and killed some time and snagged a seat on the second one. That got me home by 7p.

It's house project time around my home. My wife is an avid upgrader/tinkerer, gardner whatever. Right now home improvement is in the air. The boys were off school on Tuesday and they thought that perhaps they would get some free time. Well they were wrong. We had a load of mulch delivered that morning that had to be put out, but before that could happen the beds had to be cleaned, plants had to be moved and various other projects had to get done. It turned into an all day event, but it did get done. It was only a third of what we actually have planned though. I hurt for a couple days after.

Thursday I left home again and headed back to Newark. Flights for me continue to be there. Everyone asks how the commute is from Cincy, and while I'd like to have a few more flights the truth is that there are enough to get where I need to go and generally I can get on without needing to sit in the jump seat more than a few times a year. Some commutes it's a battle every day and jumpseats all over. I know that it's probably going to change over time. The company is going away from the type of plane that they use on this route. That means bigger planes with more seats, but the exchange is going to be a drop in flights and opportunities to go back and forth.

So one night in the crash pad where I had the place to myself. I haven't had that for a few months. It was very nice and I slept half way decent. It was a 445a wakeup for my show time. I got to the airport and sat down and started going through my updates and downloading my paperwork for the flight. It took about 30 minutes to get everything and look at it. From there I went straight to the plane to start getting it ready for the trip out to Las Vegas.

We had a very full plane plane today (we almost always have a full plane.) But the flight just seemed long. Well, it was. Like 5 hrs 15 minutes long. We started picking up turbulence just west of Chicago and changed altitudes to search for a better ride. Somewhere over Denver we were able to climb back up and get above the clouds and the rides higher had smoothed out. I got an uneventful approach into Vegas, although it was a new approach that I hadn't shot before it worked out alright and we were there and done for the day.

I spent part of the day doing what I like to do in Vegas, just walking around with a drink and watching people. There is never a shortage of interesting things to see and do here. Today is back across the country to DC for the layover there.

My schedule for June isn't really what I was hoping for. It's going to be quite a change from what I've been getting. Training is only 3 days worth of credit and I have another trip that carries in from the end of May that's only 3 days worth. Where a good month has me with 4, 4 day trips. So they had to sandwich a lot of flying on my schedule to get me up to enough hours. I did get Father's Day off but the price to pay is 4, four day trips broken up by 2 days each and then my yearly training after all of that. But, as always, it could have been much worse. I've got a couple of red-eyes and every trip is commutable. I think I may only go to the crash pad once the entire month. It might be the first month that my investment in the crash pad won't pay for itself.

PilotMan

05-24-2015, 05:25 PM

Yesterday we were routed north of the normal route that we would have taken coming from Vegas. Instead of going south we ended up north over the Great Lakes to avoid the bad weather in the heart of the US.

We were out early and in early so that's always great.

I got my new molded earpieces for my headset. It's the first real investment in my headset that I've made in my entire career. Tired of the weight and pinch on my big ass head this is something that I've always wanted to try. As for right now, it's great to have sound back in my left ear. The single side ear attachment that I've been using was driving me crazy. I think I still may need to have one ear redone, it's just not comfortable yet, but they promised me that they could do that if the fit wasn't right. They don't quite block out as much cockpit noise as I had hoped, but I'm not done yet. It does take some getting used to. An earpiece really fits differently than what I've used before. I have to get used to the weight in my ears. I know that sounds funny to say but it's the truth.

Today was the long day of the trip, but when I pulled up the paperwork this morning I was pleased to see that there wasn't any weather that we'd need to navigate around, nor were there any reports of turbulence or bad rides anywhere. Too bad it didn't stay like that. No, it really wasn't that bad. We just had a bit of turbulence for the first half of the flight, but once we got out over the ocean a ways it settled down and we had a nice flight to San Juan.

We had an hour on the ground. The great thing about Puerto Rico is that even though it's out of the country cell service works great without roaming and you can still get Duty Free there without worrying about customs and immigration.

The flight back was back along the same route. A couple storms here and there and a good ride until we got back close to the coast. We got in about 20 minutes early and called it a day after over 8 hours in the plane and 10 hours of work. Tomorrow is the easy(ier) day and it's go home day again!

I snapped this shot as we were flying over the Washington Mall passing 18000 feet.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150524_082230.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150524_082230.jpg.html)

britrock88

05-26-2015, 12:17 AM

I'm going to have to check your schedule against the handful of times I'm flying your airline (via Denver/Chicago) in the next couple months... :D

PilotMan

05-26-2015, 09:35 AM

Saved the short day for the last day. One leg in the morning down to Orlando and then one leg back to Newark. We didn't have any issues on either flight. We had do dodge around 2 thunderstorms just off the coast of Florida and then in typical Orlando fashion had to dodge a number of towering cumulonimbus on the way out. Other than that we were on time off the gate and on time or early at our destinations.

As a matter of fact, we were a solid 20 minutes early getting back into Newark. I knew that my flight wasn't until 400p, but I pulled up Flightaware to check the status of the other flights thinking that maybe there might be something else. To my surprise I found a flight that I must have thought I had no way of making, but with us being early I hustled over to try and get on it. I have to walk to the other side of the terminal, take a bus to another concourse and then find my gate. They were boarding when I got there, but had seats and even got me an exit row seat for the flight back. Home an hour and a half early is never a bad deal.

My next trip back to Newark is on Friday for my next trip. It's the last 4 days of school this week and I'll be leaving again just as summer starts.

I've been trying to think about what things might be more interesting to know about that might not be general knowledge. I talked about what my preflight is like, but I stopped there. What do I do next?

Well, before we close up the plane one of the most important things that gets done is the briefing period for the pilots. By this time the computer is loaded, both pilots checks are completed and we are waiting for the final weights to be sent after all the passengers and bags are loaded on the plane. Both pilots have verified the routing and we both have an idea about what is going to happen next. To be sure that both guys are on the same page we brief procedures.

The Captain will start the brief by verifying that both pilots are fit for duty, that our cell phones and Ipad are set for airplane mode and what person is going to be flying and who is going to be working the radios. He continues by verifying that our required manuals are all up to date and that we are using the most up to date dispatch release and flight plan, how much fuel we have and are planning to land with, any maintenance variances with the airplane, any airport specific items relating to changes in published charts or runway or taxiway closures. He will then go over the planned taxi route that we are expecting out to the runway (wrong about 50% of the time), and then talk about the procedures involved in the event we have a rejected takeoff. What happens what he will do, what I should do and what needs to happen if we think we need to evacuate the aircraft. The last part of his brief deals with what happens if we have to return to land immediately, or if the weather is too bad at the departure airport, what airport we are planning on going to land at as an alternate.

Once that brief is out of the way, the person who is flying the leg starts their brief.

So I'd start off by going over the ATC clearance and verifying our flight plan. On that clearance will be the departure that we are going to fly leaving the airport. It usually involves flying a set route and may be dependent on the runway that we takeoff from. Making sure that the computer is programmed for the right departure and runway is imperative if you like your job. On the departure will be the radio frequency for the ATC controller we'll need to talk to as well as the altitude restriction on our climb out.

I'll cover any terrain or obstacles in the area and the altitude that we transition to "flight levels". In the US it's always 18000 feet, but outside the country is can vary greatly. I'll talk about the current weather and whether wind shear might be an issue. We'll talk about the expected weight of the aircraft and how that might impact the takeoff roll, and handling of the plane, or if we will be overweight should we need to return to the field for an immediate landing. I'll cover the air speeds we will be using for climb out and the cleanup profile (flaps and gear up). I'll then talk about the procedure should we lose an engine at the most inopportune time. I'll talk through the required procedure for it, and what my immediate plan will be. Sometimes there are complicated company mandated routes and procedures that we have to fly in the event that should happen at specific airports. They almost always deal with terrain. Denver is a good example. I'll talk about the flight "guide" or "director" modes that I'll be using and I'll finish with any other threats to the flight or issues that we need to be aware of that might be a hindrance to a safe flight.

Once all that is done we run a checklist and wait for the final data.

All that happens before every flight, even before the door closes. Next time I'll go over the process of what happens after the door closes and we are heading out to the runway.

I'm going to have to check your schedule against the handful of times I'm flying your airline (via Denver/Chicago) in the next couple months... :D

You're not the only one! Shoot me a PM, I probably won't be anywhere in the area but you never know. Hell, I was within 40 of DT in Newark one day and we didn't find out about it until the next day! Funny thing, we had both been in a different city together the night before too, within walking distance!

CraigSca

05-27-2015, 06:00 AM

timmae

05-27-2015, 06:54 AM

PilotMan

05-30-2015, 08:36 PM

Wow - had no idea each pre-flight check includes an alternate airport for landing - thought all of that was figured out on the fly.

I do have a quick question for you - you mentioned maintenance variances - how often do you fly with something wrong with the airplane (obviously, non life-threatening)? Do you ever fly with a lack of redundancy? Are you allowed to? I would assume there's something wrong with the plane the majority of the time (even if it's something that has nothing to do with its ability to fly), but I've often wondered to what degree are things broken on a plane and yet still pass "ok to fly".

You won't have an alternate for every airport all the time. And the alternate that you have for takeoff obviously wouldn't be the airport that you use at your destination. Third, the alternate that you file for your destination is mostly so you have a plan and are even legal to depart. If the weather is bad enough they are required. If you do need to divert, it often times is a mix of where the company wants you and where you can go. I've had my alternate change 3 or 4 times on 1 flight just so we could hold longer for the the destination airport. With weather, it's a very dynamic situation.

So here's the story with maintenance and broken stuff. It's extremely regulated. FAA regulations state that everything must work on an airplane for it to be able to fly. Everything that is, unless it's on one of 3 lists. Lists are created so that planes aren't grounded for coffee pots being broken. They are put together with the help of the manufacturer and approved by the FAA. If it's one one of these lists we might be able to go with it broken.

That's the short of it.

There are a lot of redundancies built into the plane. A lot. We have a list called an MEL for checking to see if a we can fly with a broken item, like an air conditioning pack (one of the most common) or auxiliary power unit (APU). This list has explicit instructions about what can be broken, what action needs to be taken and how it needs to be flown with said broken item.

Another list is the CDL. It has items that can be missing and still let us fly like gear doors. Same rules apply as above. The last is a non-essential furnishings list like a coffee pot, or floor trim that can be missing.

If any item isn't in the books its considered a no-go item. A gas cap would certainly be a no-go item. I don't want to see my fuel siphoning out of the wing as we go along.

So to answer your question, a lot. Some planes are better than others. Planes with more automation that tell you everything that is wrong with it have a tendency to tell you a lot. That can lead to a lot of nuisance write ups for things that there just doesn't seem to be an answer for. The auto pilot, or flight management system can be written up and deferred. And there can be certain items that are allowed 1 flight to take it somewhere for the purposes of getting fixed.

One of the more interesting/frustrating things happened many years ago. We were in MSP with a full plane and a jump seater in the cockpit. I was finishing up the final weight and balance for the plane and then we heard this hiss, like air rushing out of a balloon. It took a minute for us to figure out that the valve on the crew oxygen tank had failed and we sat there helplessly while all of our oxygen drained out. The tank was inaccessible, once it was gone, it was gone. The flight cancelled and we had to fly back to Cincinnati, at a pressure safe altitude of 10,000 feet.

Another was when I volunteered to take a plane from Denver to St Louis to help another crew out so they didn't get screwed. I was going there anyway. Come to find out that the issue was with the landing gear and the plane had to be flown with the gear locked and pinned in the down position. No passengers again, but we had to make a planned fuel stop because of bad weather in St Louis.

Most times you'll have 1 or 2 things deferred, they will be minor things generally. Even broken tray tables end up in the book. But sometimes you'll hear of someone who determined that they simply didn't feel safe flying the plane with whatever mechanical issue was involved, like a shattered wind shield as an example. One pane can be shattered, but the plane can be ferried to a base, but some guys still will refuse the plane. It can lead to big discussions with the company and the union. For the record, I've never had anything that I haven't been able to work out, one way or the other.

PilotMan

05-30-2015, 08:47 PM

I left home last night to head to work again. It was another Friday night leaving, and another weekend, the first weekend at of the summer, away from the kids. Our Friday night is pizza and family movie night. I haven't been home for that in weeks. The routine is probably the most important thing to keeping our house running smooth, but I will tell you, that not just working, but being gone for those nights wears on you. It takes a toll on me.

Family is so very important to me. We have sacraficed so much in our family to make this career work. Aviation is a high divorce rate industry. Aside from the trust issues between adults, the worrying about infidelity or what the other person is doing when you are away, it's the fact that a lot of pilots are type a, perfectionist assholes. They need to control everything. It's part of what makes us ideal for our jobs and part of what tears familes apart. The thing with traveling is that what causes strain, the distance, also brings reprieve. There was a point where I was leaving on trips so I could get some good rest when the boys were younger. That time away is so easy to resent when you are the wife, stuck at home with the kids and never able to get out. I thank God that my wife and I have the relationship that we do. You can see that all it takes is these little pits in the relationship to turn into bigger chasoms and rip the family apart.

So anyway, I digress. My report time on Saturday wasn't especially early, but the Saturday schedules aren't very forgiving on commuters. The upside was I had plenty of time to myself and I knew that a decent nights sleep and a get up time around 8a should make for a quality day today. Plus who doesn't love a free hotel breakfast, no matter the quality or healthiness.

Today I was off on a trip that sees me layover in DC for 3 consecutive nights, and 3 different hotels. Tonight will be our short hotel, tomorrow our mid, and then last will be our long stay hotel, downtown. By the time I got my paperwork duties done and headed to the gate it was 45 prior to departure, but there was no plane to be found. The plane came in the night before and maintenence had had it. We were just waiting for it to be towed over to the gate. They really weren't giving us a lot of time to get our stuff done as it showed up just about 30 minutes before we were to leave.

On our side was that we had one of the 737-700's and by being much smaller are quicker to board and deplane. Preflight checks complete and we somehow got off the gate on time. Our taxi out was easy until ground sent me back to another controller to get some different routing. The flight today had us going to St Maarten, so the routing had to be spot on. Weather wasn't going to be a concern, but ATC has reasons. Whatever it was it was adding 10 minutes of flight time. We had to make a call to our dispatcher to give him the new route and then we all agreed that we had the fuel and things were still good to go. While it seemed like a long time we managed to get off the ground close to our expected time.

Today was a beautiful flight down. There was barely any turbulence and although there wasn't much to look at keeping it easy is the name of the game.

This was my first time into St Maarten. I've seen the pics and videos. If you don't know it's the place where crazy people on the beach stand behind the airplanes as they take off, or the pics where it looks like the plane is landing on the beach, because the runway is that close to it. I didn't get the landing and frankly my attention is elsewhere when we are landing but I did notice a bunch of people hanging out by the fence, taking pics and generally having fun.

http://travel.spotcoolstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/maho-st-maarten-airport-beach-s2.jpg

No layover here though, but I was not working the flight back. I couldnt. My day is capped at 8 hours of flight time schedueled and this had me at almost 8.5. So we carried a couple pilots down and then we got to ride back, in coach. No first class going back. Bummer. Anyway, I only had enough time to get off the plane and snag some Big Black Dick. It's a fun novelty of the airline business that you can buy liquor from duty free while you are working, getting some Big Black Dick in the islands is a rite of passage. Now I have to haul my Big Black Dick all over for the next 4 days.

http://intoxicology101.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/398413810_58e3a8071d.jpg

Tonight is a very short layover, hence the short stay. Tomorrow is what we call a turn. It's when you start and end somewhere, out and back. Tomorrow, I turn to Cancun and back. Another great place that I don't get to stick around to see.

claphamsa

05-31-2015, 11:06 AM

but you get to spend time in DC!

PilotMan

06-01-2015, 05:10 PM

Yesterday was a long day. Maybe it wasn't getting a good night's sleep that made it feel worse or some issues I have with other people I share the cockpit with on this trip, but whatever reason yesterday was long.

It's nice to get lucky and avoid the nasty weather as it crosses the US. This trip hasn't had any transcons nor have we had to really deal with any weather. Flying south to Cancun was a solution to avoid all of it. We ran on schedule heading down there. I was there long enough to download my new paperwork, get outside and do the walk around and and be ready to leave again.

Leaving wasn't an issue either. We flew back almost exactly the same way that we flew down there and had a nice ride and got into the gate a little early.

So like I said I'm having some issues with the guy I'm flying with. I'm not going to go into great detail about it, but it's very frustrating. He is a very nice 60+ year old who has been flying a long time. He was even an accident investigator with the NTSB in the middle of all of it, but we don't click in the cockpit. In fact, he is driving me crazy. First officers are known as the chameleons of the cockpit. The Captain is the guy responsible, the guy in charge, and he will run his cockpit how he runs it. We may all do our jobs in a "standard" way but each of us certainly has a different feel for how everything goes. The first officer has to be constantly adjusting to new captains. The captain never has to get adjusted. It's his show, he does what he pleases. The first officer just gets shit done and tries to stay sane. Most times things go pretty well and you hit it off, you get into a rhythm and the whole things just flows. Other times you end up not talking unless you have to and bite your tongue because it's easier to do that than to try and explain why you don't like the way that your cockpit boss operates in the plane. This guy, despite his experience is just jumpy. I don't really know how to explain it. Jumpy and a tight micro manager. Like taking driving lessons from your mom as she chews her nails and tries to pump the imaginary brake. It's his way and no other, even if what I'm doing isn't wrong. It's still his way. It's just irritating. Like a rock in your shoe once you've started down that road you everything else just seems to be that much worse.

Having said that I started today with a pretty piss poor attitude. A short flight to Hartford and back to DC on the turn was all we had, and I was done with work not long after noon. And thank god because the less I'm sitting up there with this guy the better. Take this morning for example. We were to have a crew breakfast on the first flight to Hartford. It's a very short flight and he asked when I wanted to eat. I said I'll probably eat on the turn once we get up there, knowing that I might not have much time during the flight. He finds out that they've loaded breakfasts for both legs and decides to have both breakfasts brought up to eat before the flight pushes back. The captain has loads less work to do than the FO before we leave so he has time to eat. Mine just get's cold. I finally got to eat it before we started down..cold. Then on the ground they bring the extra food up and I tell the FA I don't want mine now because I just ate, but she doesn't realize that and gets her feelings all hurt saying the captain told her to bring them up, and I tell her that I he didn't listen to me about the first meal in the first place and that it wasn't her fault I was irritated. Just blindly powering ahead with your own agenda and expecting everyone else to just fall in line and generally being clueless about things. ARRRGH! I'm done!

So anyway, one more day of this and tomorrow is go home day again. My flight has plenty of seats. We have got to be on time coming back from Boston.

Our layover in DC was the first downtown layover that I've had in the last 5 nights I've been here. I walked around for about 2 hours and found my down to the White House and back before the big rain hit here. It's really the only time I've been able to get out and even get a good walk in this entire trip.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/8cc6d13b-92a0-484a-977c-6476b7339664.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/8cc6d13b-92a0-484a-977c-6476b7339664.jpg.html)

finkenst

06-01-2015, 07:15 PM

Many times pilots will rely on other pilots to help decide whether or not they should do it. If the last 15 planes were just fine you might be too, but as soon as 1 plane starts to bail out you might see others as well (you'll see this especially on takeoff) it's much easier to wait on the ground than in the air.

And that is how a Singapore-Hong Kong flight takes 13.5 hours. Trapped on the upper deck of a 747.

Normal flight time is 4.5

PilotMan

06-04-2015, 08:53 AM

I really expected everything to be fine on the last day. I really did. Why not be optimistic. Let me correct that. Everything was fine. I expected it to go smoothly and easy and painless. That was not true.

Before we even left the gate in IAD there was an issue. Somehow we had gotten a message from our dispatcher about a new flight release just before we pushed back but there were no changes on it. Smartly, the Captain decided to call the dispatcher and query him about it. To which we found, he had no idea what was going on and said that he had just sat down but he did see anything about a new release for our flight. He looked into it, and we agreed that our flight was good to go as it was and off we went to Boston. The crap weather up and down the east coast finally had caught up with my flying and we were in the soup for the entire day.

Coming into Boston they were advertising one approach to the airport and then decided at the last minute to change their minds. Apparently they can't shoot the lower approach if there are tall ships in the way to the runway. So quickly got set up and briefed the next approach only to have them switch it back just before they cleared us for it. I've had Boston change my approach 4 times before and another time when I told them I wasn't going to accept another change they just let us keep flying out over the Atlantic until we relented. Fuckers there, those guys are.

Anyway, nice landing and early into the gate. We then find out that our phone call was the tip of the iceberg that would ultimately lead to the company grounding the entire fleet for about 30 minutes while they got the mess sorted out. This even made a small, insignificant blip on the national news. This caused a backlog of automated stuff to back up and started causing a domino effect down line.

About the time we parked planes were getting released again but the dispatchers were having to manually modify and send out releases and they couldn't keep up. We were still told to board on time despite not getting our paperwork or fuel load for the flight back to Newark. We finally got it about 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave. When I called ATC to get our flight clearance they informed us that Newark was on a ground delay program due to low ceilings and visibility and that we had a 30 minute ground hold time. No worries about that, by the time we'd finish our paperwork and get going it might only be 10-15 minutes to hold tops.

We finally get all buttoned up, briefed and set up. Told the passengers what was going, they were already asking about connections as this was a very connection heavy flight. As I'm calling for the pushback ATC tells us that our delay has been extended by another 30 minutes. FUCK! Just great. Now it looks like we totally lied about everything.

All we could do was taxi out and wait. At least I got this lovely view of the city to look at.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150602_112256.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150602_112256.jpg.html)

I originally had an hour from when we were supposed to be in and when my flight home was going to leave and there were like 13 open seats on it too. Now I'm running late and the plane is oversold because of misconnects and other cancelled flights and I'm way down on the list. Good for me that the next flight home is only 90 minutes later, but still. Who loves missing the bus and has to wait 90 minutes for the next one. It was still going to be very close....if I ran.

We got into the gate as quick as we could and I jumped off and took off. I had about 20 minutes until the flight was supposed to leave and I had to take a bus to another terminal again. At one point I checked my heart rate on my new fitbit and it said 136. I thought that was funny because I really didn't feel like I was breathing hard although I knew I was sweating.

I got to the gate only to realize that my flight home was also delayed. I should have known better. It's the thing that passengers have to understand. When the airport slows down and flights get delayed all bets are off on which ones will run on time and which ones will be delayed. And with all the misconnects when the flight shows full, sometimes those people who are scheduled on the plane miss as well. Which is good news for standby passengers like me. I had a seat assigned as well. Looks like i made it.

Had. I had a seat. As they were boarding and I was waiting I noticed that I was back on the standby list. I had lost my seat to a paying passenger. I figured that with the plane being full and the extra long standby list that I was SOL on the jump seat, but I wasn't. It was available for me so that's where I ended up at going home.

I said I was going show you just how uncomfortable it is in the jump seat of the emb-145. Imagine the worst seat you've ever had. This is worse.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150602_140301.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150602_140301.jpg.html)

The backrest is completely vertical. In fact, it's padded which means that it pushes you forward in the seat. I can't put my feet flat on the floor, they have to be kind of tucked in under my seat as I lean or I can wiggle to one side or the other of the center pedestal. Speaking of that pedestal, it hits me right at mid shin. There is no other way to sit, no other way to go or lean or anything. Certainly no standing. I have to bend at the waist just to get in the cockpit on this plane. Now endure this for about 2 hours. The flight isn't that long but when you figure taxi out and in it is.

Hey, who am I to complain at this point? Home is home no matter what it takes. As soon as I walk in my middle son bombards me with more issues with his new, expensive hobby rc that he saved for over a year for. He ordered his car almost a month ago and still hasn't gotten to run it. I'm wondering if we've bitten off more than we can chew. I'm working on it before I'm even out of my uniform and I've got an HOA board meeting to run to an hour after I'm in the door. I am successful at getting the kinks worked out that he couldn't and we get it running. It's the fastest RC car I've ever seen.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SdA5etQXiws" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Young Drachma

06-04-2015, 09:22 AM

Young Drachma

06-04-2015, 09:31 AM

Dola:

I got on the plane and introduced myself. When I'm flying on a company that is not my own I'm essentially asking permission to ride as a possible extra crew member should the Captain need me. He can tell me to pound sand for any reason he wants. Maintaining the appropriate etiquette is very important if you want to get where you are going. He told me he'd try, but no promises. So I just sat and waited until I got the thumbs up that all was good.

So like...you always fly jump or get a seat or? And how often do they actually ever use you? It is just mostly a courtesy thing? Do you fly with your uniform on so they know this?

I was active duty USAF a long time ago in a flying aerovac unit so I spent a lot of time around pilots (their office was next to ours) but...all of this stuff is fascinating.

PilotMan

06-04-2015, 09:52 AM

I just started rifiling through this, too awesome. Keep sharing your stories. Looking forward to the book.

Do you tell your copilot "yeah I'm writing this story for these nerds on this forum I belong to...?" Or "I just like shooting videos randomly and taking pics in the cockpit? lol

Lol, no I've only told a few friends I thought who might be interested to read it. Maybe my kids will be interested to read it at some point. Pilots do like to take pics and vids from the cockpit, we get some interesting views that most people don't get to see. One of my good friends is a good photog.

Dola:

So like...you always fly jump or get a seat or? And how often do they actually ever use you? It is just mostly a courtesy thing? Do you fly with your uniform on so they know this?

I was active duty USAF a long time ago in a flying aerovac unit so I spent a lot of time around pilots (their office was next to ours) but...all of this stuff is fascinating.

Yeah, to get back and forth it's either a seat in the back or it's up in the cockpit, in the jump seat. You'll never get used, only in an extreme emergency. But if I'm in the flight deck or on a carrier that isn't my own technically I'm on duty acting as an extra crewmember if needed. That means that I still have to abide by the drug and alcohol rules and be available if needed. The jump seat is always a courtesy for other crew members. It's very controlled and regulated by the FAA about who can ride there and each company has a priority list about who can sit there, but in reality the captain has full, final authority about who rides. It's their seat to give. There is a dress code for the cockpit of business casual, but I always travel in my uniform as it just makes most everything that much easier, despite it being more uncomfortable.

Thanks for reading! I'm glad that people are enjoying it. It gives me something to think about each day!

finkenst

06-04-2015, 04:15 PM

PilotMan

06-04-2015, 05:08 PM

PilotMan,

still fascinating look...

There is a captain and first officer in the cockpit.
Are one of you assigned as the pilot for the flight?
Do the captain and first officer have the same schedule for an individual 4 day assignment? The entire month?
When you get promoted to Captain, do you essentially go back to the bottom of the bidding list and work back up via seniority?
Do you prefer many short hauls or one long haul flight?

We take turns on who is the pilot flying. There isn't anything formal about it, but there are instances where the Captain is required to be the guy flying, such as a special approach or really any time he wants to.

There are trips of varying length from 1-4 day trips on my aircraft. The other planes that go international generally range from 3-9 day trips. In the beginning yes, a trip will have the same pilots up front for the duration of the trip. Of course, things can change, reassignments can get made, people can get sick and so on, so sometimes you end up with 3-4 different guys to fly with depending on what the company has available to them.

You are correct on promotions. Since everything boils down to seniority once you upgrade you are back to the bottom of the barrel for schedules. Most likely on reserve for a number of years. Some pilots at other companies had to wait up to 20 years to get the chance to move to the left seat. That's just an example of how stagnant and hard the industry got in the last decade.

As for the trips, one long flight is both less work, and more productive. A typical day might be 5.5 hours, but if I can do one, 6 or 6.5 hour flight I'm already ahead on the day, and I only had to do everything one time. Also if the weather is bad somewhere chances are that I only have to deal with it once. A day of shorter flying (like I had in the regional airlines) can be challenging because you spend the entire day dealing with the same weather and associated delays. The worst part of long flights is just the sitting, inactivity, keeping yourself alert and not bored over that long of a flight. Shorter flights ensure that you are busy and always have something to do, but the workload can wear you out. Hell sitting for 7 hours can wear you out the same. I could do longer flights every day. 1 flight a day for 4 days is a cake schedule. But sometimes I like just being active and not having to deal with the long lulls in between takeoff and landing.

CraigSca

06-05-2015, 08:42 PM

Reading about the tragic PSA flight from 1978, how often do you have to deal with non-commercial aircraft either upon takeoff or on approach?

PilotMan

06-05-2015, 11:32 PM

Another day back to work. It was a short 2 days at home this time. I was out the door at 430a this morning for an early 6a flight to Newark. In Newark I had a guy, who was on my flight, ask me about how to get to his next plane. I'm pretty sure this guy was stoned and out of it anyway. He looked rough. He said he had never been out of Ohio before and that this was his first time flying.

So I asked where he was going and he said he was going to Fort Lauderdale to get a new start. Then he proceeded to tell me that both his parents were killed in a car accident 7 months ago and that being an only child he had come into some money. He then said he had gotten into some trouble and had done some time in prison and had just gotten off of probation and that he was trying to get a fresh start. I'm not really going anywhere, just saying that you always run into interesting people in this job.

I went straight to our operations crew lounge and grabbed a couch and slept for about an hour and a half before I had to get up and head to the airplane. Preflight was painless. Today sees me go cross country to San Francisco. We were all closed up when one of the flight attendants comes up and says that a woman just got out of the lavatory and now the toilet wouldn't flush. We tried a couple quick efforts to get it to work, but no dice. So the jet bridge had to come back to the plane and we had to call maintenance. By now, all the lavs weren't flushing.

The issue was identified and the solution meant that the lavs wouldn't work below 16000 feet, but would be normal above. That was good enough to get us underway, albeit 42 minutes late. We made up a good 10 minutes, we could've maybe made up some more, but we didn't have a great deal of extra fuel so we played it more conservatively.

Now normally, I'd be done, but not today! Today, I have a 2.5 hour break and then get to do one more leg to LA. At this point it doesn't even seem like I started the day at home. It's been that long of a day. By the time I get to the hotel in LA, it's 1030p back home. And here I am at nearly 1230a, up for 21 hours and now typing. Lol.

My layover here is on the shorter side. I'm back out in about 12 hours. The upside to that is I should be able to sleep in until I wake up. So I shouldn't need to worry about the alarm, but it's set just in case.

Craig, to answer you, not that much. Of course you always need to be aware of where you are and possible threats that might be near you, but with the development of Traffic Collision Avoidance Systems (TCAS) and more ATC control into the busier airports that I find myself flying in and out of it's much less of a threat than in the past. It's still possible that I might find my way to a smaller airport or to an uncontrolled airport, or that a random aircraft might be in the wrong place at he wrong time, but generally speaking. It's not something that I have to deal with.

CraigSca

06-06-2015, 06:52 AM

Thanks for that - tragic that it takes an accident like that for changes to be made, but I guess that's M.O. for a lot of things. Good to hear that's no longer really an issue.

One last thing - how much of your pre-flight check is automated? Meaning, when it comes to engine settings or flaps, is there an automation aspect to it, or must all of this be done manually before each flight? If it's done manually, do you ever have a hard time paying attention to all the minutiae? Meaning, "Man, I've done this about 50,000 times, I'll just do #4 and #10 at the same time because it's easier." Do you ever stop yourself while going through the list because it's just so ingrained as something you've done thousands of times?

PilotMan

06-06-2015, 08:47 PM

Getting to sleep without an alarm to wake you up is not overrated. I needed it. There was a little issue of the dispatcher not getting the paperwork done for us early enough. We were within an hour of our departure and the paperwork needed to be in our hands by then or it starts to impact other things. We are busy and can't simply wait all day for them to get that done or we are late.

I'll get more into the preflight here in a bit, but part of that preflight is looking at things that are already "deferred." Deferred is when something is broken but it's on one of the aforementioned lists. Those lists lay out certain checks that the pilots might have to do to verify that the correct maintenance has been done and so we can expect certain errors or operating parameters in the flight. In this case we had part of the air conditioning temperature control for the cockpit that wasn't working correctly. During out checks we found something that needed a mechanic to look at it and get it rectified. This caused us to miss our departure time by a good 25 minutes today before it got fixed. Ignoring it isn't an option. The FAA is more than willing to take your license and violate you, putting your livelihood in jeopardy, if you allow something like that to happen.

We had a bunch of extra fuel on board so burning a little extra to try and make up some time wasn't a problem today. I think we ended up in the gate around 15 minutes late.

I didn't even realize it until the Captain brought it up that we had a 3 hour break in Denver today. I killed the time by walking the terminal two times and getting some food before I headed to the gate. I was only deadheading on my next flight. Riding as a regular passenger to Phoenix. That's it for today. Tomorrow is painfully early. Pacific time or not, when my alarm says 245a it's too damn early.

So how much of the preflight is automated? Hmm, there really isn't anything thats automated except the initializing of the flight computer. The list of things that I do for the preflight is substantial. This morning was a first flight for the plane so there were a couple of extra steps to get it ready to go.

I have to get on and introduce myself to the flight attendants, chat for a moment then put my bags away and unpack some of the things like my headset, logbook, sunglasses, ipad and so on. I have to check all the circuit breakers, make sure that the fire extinguisher is charged, that all the pins for the landing gear are on the plane. Then I can sit down turn the power on the plane on. I'll get the battery, position lights and external power turned on so the plane can start to boot up.

As the plane is booting up I'll start the alignment process for part of the navigation system and initialize the flight computer. The navigation system takes a full 10 minutes to be ready to it's one of the first things that get's taken care of. As the computer gets started it starts to spit out weather information for both airports and then throughout the next twenty minutes is spits out various regular messages on everything from our ATC clearance to what things have been serviced and whether or not we have live animals or dangerous goods on the plane.

I'll keep loading the flight computer with our position, yes I have to tell it where it is so it can cross check it with the navigation system. Then I'll start to load the performance information into the computer. I'll upload the winds and set some performance parameters depending on how I want the aircraft to be set up for speeds throughout the flight. After the winds are loaded I'll do a fire test on the engines and the cargo compartment.

In order for me to have a good walk around I have to pressurize all the fuel and hydraulic lines so the fuel pumps come on, the hydraulic pumps come on and I turn on some lights so I can see in the wheel wells easier. I'll finish by setting the parking brake. I'll head outside and do the walk around checking for major damage, leaks or anything that might need checked before we go.

Most of the time, before I even head outside we've started boarding. I might say hi to the flight attendants again, hit the lav, then jump back in my seat to finish my work. By now the ATC clearance has come up and I'll finish loading the flight plan and we both have to verify the routing.

Once I'm satisfied with the flight computer set up I start my panel checks. Starting up high I run a number of switch placements checks, flight recorder, stall checks, heated probes, air conditioning. I have to make sure that the pressurization is set right for the flight then continue with switch checks, set the auto brakes and run tests on the ground proximity warning systems, traffic collision avoidance system, and weather radar. I'll finish with my oxygen mask and then finish my ipad set up for the airport.

Once I've got all that done the Captain and I run through our briefings and checklists. Often times there are numerous interruptions from issues that the flight attendants have to jump seaters coming up to the cockpit to maintenance or even if you have kids come up. By the way, I love having kids come up. It was one of my strongest influences of commercial aviation and I try very hard to make it as fun of an experience as I can. It can be very easy to miss something if you don't stay diligent. All of that has to be done in 25-30 minutes or we won't be ready on time.

The most important thing is to get a very good, strong, efficient routine. There's no hard or fast rules about exactly how everything has to be done, just that it has to be done before you can go. There's two of you up there so it's as much on the other guy as it is on you to know that everything is done and ready to go.

As repetitive as my job is and as detail focused as it it, it's extremely important that I take it that way every time. There's just too much riding on it. Like I've told some of the guys I've flown with, If I don't get to go home at the end of this trip my wife is going to be really pissed at you.

finkenst

06-06-2015, 09:04 PM

claphamsa

06-06-2015, 09:29 PM

as a passenger with a GF who is terrified of flying...chat with people, and make lots of announcements.

PilotMan

06-06-2015, 09:51 PM

PM,

Great job still!

2 questions:
1. "Pressurization for the flight" -- Could you describe this a little more? I believe you said earlier that if you have turbulence that you can go up or down by some number of 1000 feet...

2. More importantly: Kids... As a passenger with a small child, what ages are appropriately to see the cockpit? What's the best way as a passenger to approach the flight crew about getting a look-see for him?

So the pressure controller for the flight is automatic but we have to tell the plane what altitude to plan to pressurize it and what the altitude of the landing airport is. That way the plane makes the adjustments for the rate and pressure altitude of the cabin.

There are two main factors when it comes to the pressurization. The first being the cabin altitude or the altitude that you feel inside the cabin at altitude and the second is the pressure differential or the difference between the pressure inside and outside the plane.

At cruise almost always, the pressure inside the airplane is between 5000 and 8000 feet. Most passenger jets, at anything above 32000 feet will get you a cabin pressure of between 700-8000 feet. Of course it's going to vary here and there as the plane makes the adjustments, but these are what you will feel. There are a lot of medical issues that even being at this altitude can cause people that they are completely unaware of. A hangover for instance at altitude could actually lead you to feeling drunk again as the alcohol density in your blood goes up as oxygen density decreases. Blood pressure medication side effects can be exacerbated in the lower pressure environment and any kind of discomfort, say from dehydration (which is probably the most common issue) can lead to hyperventilation (that you may not even notice) and the associated hypoxia and light headed feelings of being sick.

The plane plans these altitudes out by calculating the differential pressure and the adjusting the desired cabin altitude as the pressure differential increases. It also controls the pressure in the decent. Most of the newer planes now have great pressure controllers and rarely will you experience a change in pressure of greater than 500/ft per minute. This is comparable to driving down a steep hill, when you might feel your ears pop. The only difference is that in a plane you are coming from say 8000 to sea level, where in a car you may only be coming down the 500 feet. That's why any sort of sinus blockage can cause significant pain. Older planes were not able to make such slow changes and hence sinus pain was generally more often and more painful.

As for getting your kids into the cockpit, I can't think of anyone who won't give some time. Your best chance is to try and board the plane as soon after boarding has started, try and pre-board if possible. Then politely ask the flight attendant if it might be possible for your son to go and see the cockpit. They will generally ask the pilots for permission and then let you go. Be prepared and have your camera ready. Most times one of the pilots will get up and let the child into their seat, talk to them, let them move the controls, that sort of thing. Nothing is guaranteed, but pilots generally are very welcoming to guests. There aren't any regulations or restrictions as long as we aren't actually flying or close to it. The only issue generally is time and how busy they are. That's why getting on early is your best bet. You may also have some success in trying this after the flight if you talk to the pilot, but many times the crew has taken off to their next plane by the time you may get to the front.

As for the appropriate age I'd say old enough that he could talk and get in and out of the seat on his own. That's about it. There is no upper age restriction on it. We really know it's all for you. :)

PilotMan

06-06-2015, 10:00 PM

as a passenger with a GF who is terrified of flying...chat with people, and make lots of announcements.

And I've had terrified adults come up to the cockpit just to meet and chat with the pilots and ask questions just so they can feel more comfortable. That's not a problem either.

Then there was that whole Liza Minnelli encounter (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=2728031&postcount=128) I had a few years ago. She just wanted us to see if we could descent gently because she was having problems with her sinuses and was afraid of the pain.

finkenst

06-06-2015, 11:22 PM

And I've had terrified adults come up to the cockpit just to meet and chat with the pilots and ask questions just so they can feel more comfortable. That's not a problem either.

Then there was that whole Liza Minnelli encounter (http://www.operationsports.com/fofc/showpost.php?p=2728031&postcount=128) I had a few years ago. She just wanted us to see if we could descent gently because she was having problems with her sinuses and was afraid of the pain.

OMG. That was the worst flight of my life... MSP - HNL (yeah, destination awesome). I had a raging head cold on that flight. I thought my head was going to explode during that landing, and to top it off, I had back spasms the next day that wiped out a snorkeling event as my sister wisely pointed out: "Better to spend one day in bed resting, than the next 12"...

PilotMan

06-07-2015, 08:47 PM

So yeah, it was early, not super duper ridiculous early for this east coast boy, but early enough. It was a gorgeous morning in Phoenix I snapped this pic of the sunrise with Camel Back in the background.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150607_043336.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150607_043336.jpg.html)

Early Sunday morning flights are almost always quiet. There is a lot less traffic this time of the day and since the sun is still down the rides are almost always good. If the visibility would have been better it would have been perfect. As it was, it was still a pretty good flight. We blocked into Houston early with an hour til our next flight to Ft Lauderdale.

Our flight was already showing a 30 minute delay and it was inbound from Punta Cana, so it had to clear customs before we could get on board. We got off the gate as quick as we could (25 minutes late) and with a painless taxi out to the runway we were off. Again, no issues going into Lauderdale. And with a very short taxi to the gate we ended up being only 7 minutes late.

Looking forward to my "long" 14 hour layover. It's not too often that a layover as short as this one is, is the long layover. It's been a busy trip, tomorrow morning is going to be another very early get up, but it's go home day, so there's reason to be excited.

PilotMan

06-10-2015, 08:40 AM

We all know the drill on go home day. We know the flight has to get out on time because we want to get home, and those of us with say 30 minutes to get out our connecting flight and change terminals get there start to get antsy if things aren't going our way. That didn't happen though as we got off the gate 10 minutes early and off the ground just 14 minutes early. That head start gave me enough time to get where I needed to be and with a seat I was on my way home.

The wakeup was the earliest of the trip and I felt it. Each day had gotten progressively earlier as we went from the west coast back to the east and like a Friday for those who work 9-5 my body knew it and I was done as I slept half the flight home.

This crazy month continues. I've finished 2 of the 4, four day trips for the month and then there's the matter of training after all that. The next trip is coming later this week and my days off are are short and flying by.

Bidding for July is also done. I've got another couple days left to modify my bid but July is a tricky month to bid. My birthday and the 4th are the two main "events" for the month, but I'm trying to bid the end of the month (first few and last few in a block of days) off instead. Since I likely can't hold a big block of days in the middle combining two smaller blocks at the end of one and the beginning of the next can give me the same effect. The Mrs. are trying to make plans to get away as a couple but in order to get the days off I need I'm going to have to give up the 4th as an option. I don't usually mind if I work the 4th. If I'm working at night and the sky is mostly clear the view is incredibly unique and ever changing. Imagine a stadium of flash bulbs popping across the earth.

So now the waiting for that begins. Another week until I know if I can plan a get away trip at the end of June. It's kind of ridiculous.

britrock88

06-10-2015, 08:57 AM

Good luck, and I hope we get a chance to see a little of the July 4 view!

finkenst

06-10-2015, 08:32 PM

I don't usually mind if I work the 4th. If I'm working at night and the sky is mostly clear the view is incredibly unique and ever changing. Imagine a stadium of flash bulbs popping across the earth.

I demand pictures of this. I think I had the oppurtunity to fly once on one of the fireworks holidays and it was pretty cool watching fireworks from 32000 feet.

PilotMan

06-11-2015, 08:02 PM

Flew into Newark this afternoon for tonight's all night flight to San Francisco. I call these flights "reverse red eyes" because we don't leave quite as late, but the flights are a full hour longer than coming from the west to the east. I tried out our new sleeping room in our operations area and I was pretty impressed. The sleeping beds weren't very comfortable for someone my size but the spaces available were pretty good. I took a pic, but it'll have to wait til later.

Tonight's flight is 6 hours and 6 minutes, and thanks to the weather across the midwest we'll be flying over my home state of North Dakota on our way out west. And to jump start our late night the plane is late inbound so we probably won't be on time getting out of here.

I was trying to get myself ready while I was at home by staying up pretty late, but it wasn't enough. These flights wear me out. When was the last time you ate dinner at midnight? This trip is also interesting in that tonight and tomorrow are both late nights and then we start the last day at 630 in the morning. So I'll be jumping all over the clock. But it's essentially part of what I bid for, trips I can get to and from work on the same day. So the means have to justify the ends.

PilotMan

06-11-2015, 09:06 PM

I forgot to add that today marked my 2 yr anniversary with the company. I got a nice pay raise to celebrate it. Only 25 years to go till I retire.

Barkeep49

06-12-2015, 08:39 AM

Just caught up on this. It's really good stuff, I appreciate your taking the time and effort to do it.

PilotMan

06-13-2015, 10:18 PM

We left Newark almost 45 minutes late, but with some rerouting enroute we cut that to 30 in the gate. I won't lie. This was a hard flight. It had just been a long day. I got to the hotel around 430a and that was the beginning of my screwed up sleep schedule.

The next day I thought "hey, you should get out and walk around, or eat, do something," but all I could manage was to sit in my room hooked up to Football Manager. I really should have done something else, but motivation had been sapped. Our layover was only 12 hours before we had to be back out the door to the airport.

The next flight was another transcon flight. This time to Boston. ATC had rerouted us pretty far north again. On paper it looks very out of the way when you fly up over North Dakota and Canada, but part of that was weather avoidance and part of that was great circle route stuff.

Just before we shut the door the gate agent comes up to the cockpit and tells us that a lady has hit another lady in the back and that she's being very disruptive and that he is taking her off the plane. That's really all I know about it. I didn't look back and didn't get any further information. When we are hooked up to the jet bridge that's above my pay grade. The gate agent is the person in charge of all of that.

This was a fun flight. I took a bunch of pictures and for the first time that I can remember we flew over places that are special to me and the weather was good enough for some good pics.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_160232.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_160232.jpg.html)

Climbing out over San Francisco. You can see across Downtown, the Bay Bridge, and Oakland across the bay. You can also see the fog layer drifting into the bay. That area it's covering is where the Golden Gate Bridge is. If you look close you can just see a spec of the top of it poking through.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_180754.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_180754.jpg.html)

The Great Salt Lake and Great Basin. One area that I've not spent much time. I just learned that all the water that drains into the lake can only escape through evaporation. It does not drain to an ocean.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_182548.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_182548.jpg.html)

This is just a sweet picture of the Grand Tetons. One of my favorite places in the world. I have many fond memories of camping here and in Yellowstone. I guarantee you this is an angle of the mountains that you don't normally see.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/c0963f33-e150-4adc-afb7-075151251e32.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/c0963f33-e150-4adc-afb7-075151251e32.jpg.html)

This is kind of a crappy picture of Bismarck. My hometown. It was on the wrong side of the plane for me and this was as close as I could get. The arrow is pointing to the airport in Bismarck, the site of my first job ever. Working in the Ice Cream Shop for the summer during an Airstreamer Convention.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/f20ec57b-255b-4732-aabf-3fbfa5ff944b.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/f20ec57b-255b-4732-aabf-3fbfa5ff944b.jpg.html)

Here's Fargo. That yellow arrow points to the Fargodome, home of the Back to Back to Back to Back FCS National Football Champion NDSU Bison. We are north of the city here looking south. As you go south from there you have the campus of NDSU, where I graduated from, and across the street from the Fargodome and along the arrow is University Village, where I lived while I was there. This town looks like it's grown a lot since I was there.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_201231.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150612_201231.jpg.html)

Sunset. I'm still trying to get that really awesome sunset pic. It's a little harder when you are flying east and the sun is behind you, but here you can still see a wide array of colors of the spectrum. I like the little faint line of green on the left of the picture.

So that was that. We landed in Boston around 1230a with all day Saturday to get recovered. At this point I've been flying for over 11 hours, in the plane for over 13 hours of the previous 28. So what do you do with a day off in Boston? There are plenty of options here, but I've never been to Fenway and the Red Sox happen to be in town. Plus it's only 2.5 miles from the hotel, a great day for a walk, and the Gay Pride Parade is happening as well. People everywhere, a good atmosphere and baseball. It made for a great day today.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150613_131848.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150613_131848.jpg.html)

I will say that the seats I had were not designed for anyone of my size to sit in them comfortably. I've heard about the seats in Fenway, but wow, 6'4", 290 pound guys need to buy the seat and the seat in front just to put their legs. Still the people were nice. It was a great afternoon.

Tomorrow is a pretty long day. I start off heading for Chicago and hope to end up at home by the end of it.

britrock88

06-14-2015, 02:16 PM

For those that don't know Bismarck: as crappy as PM's picture may be, a better-quality shot wouldn't have shown you much more than you can see already. :p

Glad you got to fly an enjoyable route, PM! :)

CraigSca

06-14-2015, 06:59 PM

Great pics!

PilotMan

06-14-2015, 10:44 PM

I still can't get over how early the sun comes up in Boston. Cincinnati is in the Eastern time zone, but we are on the far western edge. Under no circumstance should the sun be full up at 5 am. None.

The first flight today was off to Chicago where the weather looked like it had the potential to cause some issues for us. We loaded up and pushed back. After we got the engines started and ran the checklists we ran into a problem. Here's a heads up for travelers. After the plane pushes back and it seems like you've been sitting there for a while not moving one of a couple things is happening. First, you might just be stuck in a traffic jam and need to wait for your turn, or it's also likely that you've got a mechanical. They require some extra checklists and a phone call. So that was us this morning. It ended up being something that we were ok to continue with. Once we got going ATC had a slight delay to Chicago and that was just enough to put us a bit behind schedule.

Airborn we tried to make some adjustments to get a couple minutes back, but it wouldn't be enough. Shortly we got to cruise ATC had a weather reroute that would take us north of Toronto into Canada, adding almost 7 minutes to our flight time and guaranteeing a late arrival. We kept truckin' along until ATC slowed us down to keep the 20 mile spacing behind another flight also heading to Chicago. Chicago had heavy rain and while arrivals were slowed a bit it didn't impact us other than having to shoot an instrument approach and land with the wipers on. It was my leg and it wasn't easy to see through the rain, even with the wipers on.

After we landed we were supposed to have an hour to get to the next plane, heading to New Orleans. That plane was delayed inbound by 20 minutes so an on time outbound wasn't going to happen. I needed our flight to be kind of on time as I was a scheduled passenger on a flight to Washington DC about an hour after we were scheduled in in New Orleans. That plane came in and everything was done and ready as quick as we could. We pushed off somewhere around 30 minutes after our scheduled time and headed out. The rain had passed for the most part so we had nothing to delay us out. That was good news for me. It made sure that I'd have no problem getting on my flight to DC. We ran into a little line of developing thunderstorms that was just north of Pontchartrain that had to be navigated around. Here's what I was looking at from the cockpit:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150614_113020.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150614_113020.jpg.html)

We were already on decent for the airport and here you can see a pretty well developed and developing cell on the right and another lesser developed on the left. The hole that we are pointing toward is going to fill in eventually, it's only a matter of time, but we would be find. Thunderstorms are their most severe when they have that popped popcorn look. It signifies very strong updrafts as the storm continues to build. It will build until it can no longer support the moisture and then it will start to rain. After it's begun to rain, that's when you'll see the anvil top of a fully developed and dissipating storm. Thunderstorms build, blow up and blow out over and over again. These are still developing and we did our best to avoid them. They don't look like that much in the picture, but the clouds here are over 20,000 feet tall. Major thunderstorms regularly top 40 and sometimes 45,000 feet, while in the tropics they can reach upwards of 60,000 feet.

I was originally supposed to dead head (remember scheduled passenger, paid) to Newark, but our company has a policy that you are allowed to change your destination if it's the last leg of your trip and essentially get a ticket to go home. So that's what I did. It's crazy but today the easiest way for me to get home from New Orleans was to go through DC and then catch a flight home. I even got upgraded to first class for the flight to DC.

There were no issues with my flight to Cincy today either. I landed around 730 and headed home. I had been working for over 14.5 hours and flown from Boston to Chicago to New Orleans to Washington DC and finally to Cincinnati. I was gassed from the flying and gassed from the early morning. Frankly I'm surprised I'm even typing this right now.

I mentioned at the beginning of the trip that I tried out the new sleeping room in our operations in Newark. This is the ultra insiders look at it. The room is dark with some downlights on the floor, but you can see the general layout. This picture shows about 33% of the total space so you can see it's got plenty of room. I'll definitely use it again.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150611_201517.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150611_201517.jpg.html)

While I was home this week my kids started a week long Aeronautics camp at the local university. My middle son impressed one of the teachers so much that he asked if he could mentor him when he gets to high school. My son wants to pursue a path that somewhat mirrored this teachers and he wants to help him get as far down that path as possible. That's very rewarding to hear as a father. I was bumming on this trip because I missed parent day, where we could see what they worked on in the class and I missed the airport tour, complete with a flightline tour of a Cessna 172 and a tower tour at the original Cincinnati Airport, Lunken Field. Mark it down as more missed things courtesy of the career. Nothing is perfect, money has to be made and try as I might to be home for every single important thing there is just no way to make it all work every time. I still get to be a proud dad though. I'm just not sure if I want either of my children to think about a career flying an airplane. I'd be happiest if the middle one stuck to his plan of engineering no matter what field within that he chooses.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/1459788_10153383369659648_3089037297722895656_n.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/1459788_10153383369659648_3089037297722895656_n.jpg.html)

finkenst

06-15-2015, 05:53 PM

I still can't get over how early the sun comes up in Boston. Cincinnati is in the Eastern time zone, but we are on the far western edge. Under no circumstance should the sun be full up at 5 am. None.

Hear hear!

Growing up in Dayton (1 hour due north of Cincinnati), the sun during summer should always be up until after 9 pm...

On a dynasty related note: PM, I flew through Chicago yesterday morning 6-9.30 am layover.. So close, yet so far...

I got to do my first go around... What causes things like that? We were on final and just about to land when you feel the full power and steep ascent happen. I had 3.5 hours, so i didn't care...

and in a strange twist of airline scheduling:

LAX-ord: one flight scheduled for 11.00 pm delayed for 90 minutes.
the other (mine) scheduled at 11:59 pm. So we arrived 30 minutes before a flight that was supposed to leave an hour earlier..

Finally, is it common knowledge who the company is?

britrock88

06-15-2015, 06:55 PM

Finally, is it common knowledge who the company is?

I don't think it's mentioned explicitly. But PM's based out of Newark/EWR--that's a sufficient breadcrumb.

PilotMan

06-16-2015, 10:28 AM

Finally, is it common knowledge who the company is?

I'd say it's common knowledge, but like britrock said, it's never been named and it won't be.

On a dynasty related note: PM, I flew through Chicago yesterday morning 6-9.30 am layover.. So close, yet so far...

Really? I was there! We got in from Boston at 8a and I was gone to MSY by 930! How about so close, yet so close!

I got to do my first go around... What causes things like that? We were on final and just about to land when you feel the full power and steep ascent happen. I had 3.5 hours, so i didn't care...
It can happen for any number of reasons. The absolute, most common reason though is loss of separation with the plane in front of you. Either from the plane you are following to the runway, or if the controller cleared a plane for takeoff and they didn't get off the runway before you needed it. So those instances are generally started because of ATC.

If it's not that then it was a decision by the pilots to execute a go around. Pretty much anything that might put the plane into an unsafe position to land could force a go around. Some examples might be too high/low on approach, poor speed control, loss of lateral guidance. It could be weather related. A windshear warning at the airport for your runway might do it, or a drop in visibility that would make the approach illegal. Of course, if the landing gear didn't come down, you'd end up going around as well. ;)

and in a strange twist of airline scheduling:

LAX-ord: one flight scheduled for 11.00 pm delayed for 90 minutes.
the other (mine) scheduled at 11:59 pm. So we arrived 30 minutes before a flight that was supposed to leave an hour earlier..
It happens all the time. It just always seems like you're on the losing end.

PilotMan

06-16-2015, 08:09 PM

I'm really struggling tonight. I have to leave again early tomorrow morning and I just don't want to go. I just haven't been home enough and the grind is really getting to me. Another 4 days on the road doesn't sound fun right now. I know that once I get going it'll be ok, but damn, that doesn't make me feel any better right now. Just kind of down tonight.

PilotMan

06-17-2015, 11:17 PM

I know this is getting to sound like a broken record, but today was another long day. Up before 4 for the commute to Newark.

A National Weather Service weather computer crashed causing delays this morning. Basically, flights have to have the most current weather in order to be legal to depart. That weather can be electronic or something as simple as a brief from a flight service station over the phone. Some companies, such as mine, have their own meteorology department, others get their information from the National Weather Service or other places. When this computer went down it basically put flights on hold that needed that information in order to depart. So we were delayed. It got to the point that I called the company because if this went on for a while longer I was going to be in real danger of not making my flight.

Thankfully, it was resolved after an hour and we were under way. By the time I got to work I had just enough time to grab some food, download my paperwork and get to the plane without really needing to rush.

I started off the day with a flight to Minneapolis. Weather into MSP was not great, there were scattered storms here and there that we navigated around and the last 20 minutes of the flight were pretty turbulent. I won't lie, I had a good landing. We kept the airplane and turned back around and headed for Chicago next.

We got out of MSP at the right time as another thunderstorm was bearing down on the airport as we were heading out. No major issues going into Chicago and we weren't done yet.

One of the great things about today was not having to change planes one time. Having your stuff out and just leaving it out and not having to mess wtih all that is a massive time saver. Our last fight sent us back to Minneapolis to finish the day. The weather in MSP had gone downhill, heavy rain, thunderstorm over the field, etc. It was predicted to improve before we got there though. The only issue would be if there were going to be delays or any kind of ground stop heading there.

We lucked out and were on our way. We dodged around some smaller storms inbound and my landing was sub-par, but a landing you can walk away from is a good landing so I won't dwell on it too much. lol

I spent a good part of the evening wandering around the Mall of America. I've done many laps around this place over the years. Staring with college and taking day trips down here from Fargo to the many times I've laid over here and killed time. It's a place of comfort. eh, that probably sounds crazy.

I think that in this job you have to have a bit of introvert in you, but you have to be able to fake being an extrovert a lot. As the only child of a single mom, I spend a lot of time by myself. I dont' mind being alone, but I can tell you that this job will bring out the crushing loneliness of being alone. Just being on the road as much as I have lately and not getting enough family time is kicking my ass right now.

You'd think that being around so many people all day that wouldn't happen, but it's not as if I'm hanging around with friends. Just some random collection of other people who I've never met before and may never see again. Aside from the cockpit, it's pretty impersonal. Even in the cockpit though, unless you really click with each other, it's just not there either.

The July schedule came out today! Remember I said I bid the maximum of 20 different bids in an effort to maximize just what I wanted? Well I ended up with #11, which isn't terrible! Basically I got the majority of what I asked off for. I've got some time between trips and the best part of all of it is that I don't have to take either proposed trip off the table! Everything can just keep moving in the right direction.

Sadly though, you wont' get any July 4th nighttime flight videos. I get to San Francisco before noon and have a full 24 hours off. So what's to do in SF on July 4th?

finkenst

06-18-2015, 12:19 AM

We kept the airplane and turned back around and headed for Chicago next.

We got out of MSP at the right time as another thunderstorm was bearing down on the airport as we were heading out. No major issues going into Chicago and we weren't done yet.

i had a colleague on a flight from msp to ord today. he landed in ord between 7 and 8 pm//

PilotMan

06-18-2015, 11:14 PM

Today I was planning to jet back to Chicago from Minneapolis first thing this morning. We were over half done with boarding when we got a message from operations that there was a ground stop to Chicago due to heavy fog and low visibility. It wasn't super low, just 1/2 mile vis and about 300 overcast, which is right down to the minimums for a standard instrument approach. So nothing to get too excited about, but it was enough that Chicago went into this delay program.

Like I've mentioned before, stopping inbound traffic when the airport can no longer handle the arrival rates keeps planes from holding and diverting en route. They had an "update" time of an hour later. An update time means that no further information will be given within the time frame and they will reevaluate in one hour and from there they can either extend the ground stop of end it.

But mostly, thats bull, they extend stops and end them within that time frame if the conditions improve of fail to. This is usually the time that I hear "this is crazy! I'm never flying "bumfuck" airlines again because this happens ALL THE TIME!" You can rest assured that all of this happens well above my pay grade and that I'm only passing along the information that I have. I may give opinions on what I think may happen next based on my experience, but that's all it is, pure opinion. This is also the time I hear that we aren't communicating well enough or that nobody knows whats going on, but in reality, that's all the information that there is and people just can't accept that that's all there is to it.

So the ground stop extended beyond that hour for another 45 minutes. Then they call us and tell us that we have a wheels up time in 10 minutes. Of course they don't know that we are at the gate, not boarded up, and it's going to take time to fix that. Sometimes you'll have a crew that will board up early and go sit at the runway and try and wait it out. With the limitations on how long passengers can be on the plane on the ground it's a gamble. Sometimes it works and you can get going faster or sometimes it backfires and you have to go back to the gate, deplane and reboard.

We boarded up and had no further delays. The weather had cleared out by the time we got to Chicago, but by now we were 1h45m late. We were scheduled to switch planes and take another plane to Dallas for the layover. That flight was supposed to leave 45 minutes before we even got to Chicago.

After we parked, I packed up and the Captain and I decided that we'd better stop and grab some food because there were no meals on this flight to Dallas. I told him that I was sure that we'd get to the gate and the plane would be boarded up and they'd all be sitting there waiting for us to show up. Well we did get there, just as they were finishing the boarding.

I was supposed to have lunch with my Dad in Dallas before he went to work, but with the delay that plan had to be nixed. It took us about 30 minutes to get everything caught up and ready to go. We actually did pretty good at getting everything up and running. The biggest challenge in this situation is trying to avoid rushing. Staying steady, deliberate and maintaining the normal routine to get everything set up. Giving in to the pressure to rush simply invites trouble. It can set you up for failure or a mistakes that while small might lead to bigger mistakes. Patience and discipline will keep it all together.

If you've seen the weather map lately you are aware of the tropical depression, or now the low pressure system that has been making it's way up from the south. That low is driving a lot of moisture as it spins. All that added up to some really crappy rides from Chicago, south. We were supposed to be at 34000, but went to 32000, then to 30000 then to 28000, then to 26000 and back up to 28000. It wasn't until we passed south of Oklahoma City that we found any smooth air.

So this was the long layover, that was shortened by almost 2 hours already. Then the ride to the hotel was made extra long with Dallas traffic. I guess there had been an accident and our trip was doubled. The nice thing was that my Dad was able to make it down and we had dinner. It's the first time that I'd seen him in 9 months.

PilotMan

06-19-2015, 03:58 PM

Another silly early report time this morning (430a in Dallas) to work a flight to Denver to start the day. I've completely lost track of what day of the week it is. Each week has progressively gotten more mixed up and more mixed up, until yesterday I really had no idea. And I have a watch that tells me!

This morning's flight was very nice. We climbed out to a beautiful sunrise and I was somewhat thankful that we weren't heading east and directly into it.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150619_061509.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150619_061509.jpg.html)

We landed in Denver and parked, unloaded and packed up to switch planes for our next flight. I had about 30 minutes to kill so I walked around and went to ops. Nothing terribly exciting at all. The next destination and my second to last real flight of the month took me out to Seattle. This was the nicest flight that I've had in over a week. Glass smooth, good views absolutely no issues whatsoever.

I took this great shot of Mt Rainier. It's a very intimidating mountain in looks and just how it towers over everything else. We were on time into the gate and I headed for the hotel. I've got to get some sleep this afternoon. Another red-eye awaits me tonight as I head back to Newark and then home tomorrow. I'm excited to be home for Father's Day and a weekend. My only weekend of the month.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150619_103020.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150619_103020.jpg.html)

claphamsa

06-19-2015, 05:04 PM

even if this wasn't awesome...its worth it just for the pics!

PilotMan

06-20-2015, 09:27 AM

Thanks for the encouragement! I need it after last night. The inbound flight was delayed out of Newark and we didn't see it until we were already heading to the airport. That flight got in over 90 minutes late so I just had to sit and wait it out. After they got in we tried to go quickly and get moving, it being the last leg of the trip but we ended up waiting on fuel. I swear that was the slowest fueling of my life. We needed 30,000 lbs and it was going in about 100 pounds every 5 seconds. So we just sat there....waiting.

Once we got moving things went quick and we got out of there. We knew that there was some pretty severe weather over the Dakotas and we were supposed to fly north over Minot past it. The reports from the previous crew said it was bumpy and over central Montana our dispatcher sent us a number of pilot reports from other aircraft that had gone over the same area. They ranged from severe to occasional moderate turbulence. With a plane full of sleeping passengers the goal was to keep the ride as easy as possible. We were already flying as fast as we could and asked dispatch to come up with an alternate route.

Instead of our routing going over Minot we were now heading for Nebraska and over Rapid City. Even that routing saw us deviate even further south until we finally past that nasty weather. For the most part the ride was good. There were areas that weren't great but nothing on the order that we might have faced had we stayed on our northerly routing. We heard Minneapolis having a hard time with things. The weather had shut off a number of their arrivals and they were reporting holding times of an hour or more. I heard a few planes simply head to their alternates because they couldn't hold that long.

This flight seemed to take forever. Getting up and midnight and then not even getting to leave until after 3a (body clock time) is never easy.

Now I'm stuck in part two of this adventure...trying to get home. There are only 3 direct flights out of here today, 130p, 430p and 530p. The first one was my original plan, even though we were scheduled to get in at 730a. Then I saw the flight fill up and my name slide down the stand by list. So I decided that I'd try and go through Charlotte, but our delay caused me to miss that flight. Flights to Chicago look terrible and at this point any 2 leg flight doesn't really get me home any earlier than the first direct does. My hope now is that I get that first direct flight home. I will probably need to sit up front again. If I can't get that one I'll have to wait around for the next couple. I think that the second flight has at least a couple seats available. For now though I'm going to try and catch a nap and cross my fingers that this 3 hours to wait for the next flight will be worth it and I can just go home. I'm tired.

PilotMan

06-20-2015, 06:11 PM

A total of 16 hours after my day started. I'm home. The first flight worked out to be the right choice and I was able to crash in a recliner for an hour in ops too. The next trip out is Tuesday morning for my yearly requalification (2-day event) in Houston. Father's Day is tomorrow and I'm excited to actually be home. We were planning on going to the local minor league baseball game tomorrow, but the weather doesn't look like it's going to help out there so I don't know what the next plan will be. I'm just happy to be home again.

It always feels like this when I get home again:

Thirty Seconds To Mars - City Of Angels (Lyric Video) - YouTube (https://youtu.be/xtk8ro_eJZE?t=3m23s)

finkenst

06-21-2015, 06:49 PM

so, my friday:
Go to Airport at 1.45ish.
Desk Agent: Are you interested in volunteering to be bumped.. Get you to LA 1-2 hours later..
me: Well....

didn't need anyone to get bumped on the first flight...

SEcond flight home to La from ORD... Catastrophe.. Cancelled mechanical..

REscheduled: ORD-SFO landing at 10.40pm. SFO-LAX departing at 10.30pm... Umm.. Hello?

Anyway.. Made it to hat flight to LAX as they were delayed via mechanical, as well...

Got home.. Almost died as i was too tired to really drive and had to stop in a parking lot for a n hour...

britrock88

06-22-2015, 10:44 AM

Yeah, that stuff over the Dakotas was no joke. It was a derecho with 80mph winds, flash flooding, a lot of downed trees, some torn roofs. Then there was another front yesterday that forced me to pull over on I-94 for a little while. Glad you made it back!

PilotMan

06-24-2015, 02:56 PM

Finally, I've reached the finish line of this scheduled that I've been on the last few weeks. I've been on the road for 19 of the last 27 days and it's worn me thin. It's the nature of summer flying in the airline business. Schedules get more hectic and the pressure to work is doubled up on by having the kids home on summer break. It's been a slog to get this far, but I'll admit it's going to pay off. Literally.

I flew down to Houston yesterday for my yearly requalification training, generally called "recurrent." The idea is to get crews in the simulator doing things that they have to be able to do, but probably haven't done in a while or ever in the last year. It's a 2-day event and it used to be coupled with classroom ground school, but that has been replaced with the computer distance learning. So what the hell do you do for training?

Crews are paired up so I'm working with another Captain also based in Newark. Day one starts off with a 2 hour brief where the instructor goes over specific items that have been decided ahead of time, usually via analytical analysis of data and safety reports. Together, with the Union, the company creates a training schedule with hot topics and things that are going to be checked and refreshed. The FAA also mandates that certain things be accomplished every year so those are added in as well. The instructor gives us an idea of where we will be flying and what approaches will need to be accomplished, what maneuvers have to be done and the rough outline of the timeline for executing the ride.

Once the briefing is done we have a few minutes to go to the sim and get our stuff set up, generally the same way that we would in the real plane. In fact, one of the things I try and do is approach everything the exact same way each time. The routine of it helps the mindset for the flight. The sim is the sim however, and while it's certified to be an exact replica of the plane it has enough differences in how it handles and feel that you notice it. After everything is set up we go through the normal set up and preflight that we would in the plane. All the checks and checklists, weights, calls etc. Then we'll get fast forwarded to the end of the runway where the real work starts.

The Captain takes the first half of the ride. So when I say this I mean he is flying, he is being primarily evaluated and trained, but the cockpit is still a two person job, and I still have all the non flying pilot duties to attend to. Sometimes those are much busier than simply flying. So even though he starts we are both heavily involved. His takeoff is at min visibility, he get's a distraction that has us continue the climb out. We climb up to do some air work, namely stalls and steep turns. We take turns so we both can get our evaluations. From there we continue on and step through a security scenario where the result has us divert back to our departure airport where we have to set up for an approach that we don't shoot that often. All of our landings and missed approaches are with direct crosswinds at or near approach minimums. Some approaches are designed to have us land others to have us go around. We do another takeoff that results in an abort. Another low vis take off that results in an engine failure at the most critical point of the takeoff. All the checklists and emergency procedures that have to be followed are done, some of these take quite a while. Then that's followed by a couple of single engine approaches to a landing and one to a go around. The company also has some other specific events that they like to train, that were briefed in prior. This year happened to be some windshear escape maneuvers, a landing with flaps less than 30% extended, and an emergency decent. It's all pretty exhausting. Two hours for his flight, a short break and then it's my turn for a similar, but not identical ride. It's not merely good enough to struggle through all of these, there is a lot of communication and tolerances that cannot be exceeded. If they are, or if something isn't done good enough then it's got to be redone until it is.

When we are done it's a short debrief session to talk about everything and go over the things that we missed, did right/wrong. And a chance to ask more questions and generally discuss anything pertaining to the ride.

Day 2 is a little different. It's what we call a Line Oriented Evaluation. The instructor who is with us this day isn't teaching. He is evaluating. His job is to determine if we are doing things the right way, the safe way, the standard way, and making good decisions in the meantime. He is the guy with the power to take you off line, disqualify you from flying and so on. However, this ride is geared around a normal timed leg and flight to a destination planned ahead of time. Just like it would be on a normal schedule. So while it's important it's not as hectic and action packed as the day before. It's about doing your job the way you do it every day. It's not a big deal if that's how you operate every day. Generally there are a couple of "incidents" that happen on the flight that require some work and communication. We start with another 2 hour brief that isn't just about the flight but a chance for the evaluator to check your knowledge of the plane and the limitations and memory items associated with it. The flight is then scheduled for 4 hours and it'll take most of that. Hopefully, it's a happy ending and I can call myself qualified for another year.

PilotMan

06-25-2015, 12:03 PM

So yesterday went as well as I had hoped. The Captain and I worked well together and he had some very flattering things to say about yours truly. Basically that I flew the plane very well and that I was very easy to work with in the cockpit. He said that I communicated clearly and efficiently and was a pleasure to work with. So my big head just keeps getting bigger.

The checking instructor had kudos for us as well, saying that we exceeded expectations and passed us with no issues. So this whole event is done for another year. I hopefully won't have to worry about the things that we did in the sim happening for real, but if they do I will be ready!

So yeah, the sim is a love/hate relationship. It's a great opportunity for learning when you are learning a new plane or just receiving general instruction. It can be insanely exhausting as one thing upon another happens and you struggle to keep it all together. It can be stressful when you are expected to perform to a certain level of proficiency and you just can't seem to pull it together. The stress can build as you fight with yourself to do better, to keep it together mentally while performing physically. You can fly a single engine approach over and over and over again until you get it right, so many more times than you could for real in the plane. The sim condenses everything and forces you to stay focused on what you are doing and where you are. In the end though you always get to walk away. It can be fun at times as well, but it's certainly where a lot of the money is made.

I'm now home for some well deserved time off. This was one of the breaks that the Mrs and I were going to try and get away with some friends of ours but that plan fell through. We still have the plans at the end of July/first of August time in the works, pending my days off in August. My bed is happy to have me back again.

So my big shock of the day was finding out that Shipley Do-nuts (and another favorite of mine Panchitos Mexican) in the B terminal is closing next week. I'm assuming because some larger entity is forcing them out for more expensive food options. No matter what it's crushing. These doughnuts are possibly some of the best I've ever had and I'm sad that they won't be there anymore. So I bought 2 dozen of them and brought them home for everyone to enjoy. Sorry, but you can't have one. ;)

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/10154454_10153415087419648_2562174741280298067_n.jpg?oh=a89ed1c7f9eb07f258b028880d801a2d&oe=562D29BB
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153415087419648&set=a.10152862481374648.1073741829.758959647&type=1

Izulde

06-25-2015, 01:38 PM

Now I'm hungry for doughnuts :(

Barkeep49

06-26-2015, 09:54 AM

Congrats on your work in Houston. Glad it went well and you received such positive feedback.

Barkeep49

06-28-2015, 12:32 PM

Listened yesterday to a podcast whose topics of the week was Air France 447. Essentially it talked about the dangers of automation and how the crash happened because the pilots didn't realize the autopilot had changed from fly by wire, didn't realize they were in a stall and so they didn't correct. Don't know if you know that about that or have thoughts about pilots being in control vs autopilot but thought I would throw it out there. The podcast (which I think is really good) can be found at: Children of the Magenta (Automation Paradox, pt. 1) | 99% Invisible (http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/children-of-the-magenta-automation-paradox-pt-1/)

PilotMan

07-03-2015, 03:18 PM

There was a whole lot going on in that cockpit that is beyond the understanding of most of the non-aviation world. I don't fly the Airbus, but I'm somewhat familiar with the limitations and rules that they put in place. To start with this writer's use of the term "fly-by-wire" is wholly incorrect. The writer is trying to say that the laws and automation make it fly-by-wire, when in reality the term means "by electronic control." Let me explain.

Most planes going back as far as the first are controlled by a pulley and cable system used to control the different surfaces of the airplane. This set up works great on smaller planes. Larger and heavier planes are incredibly hard to control with this setup. The inputs necessary to fly the plane solely by cables are damn near impossible to manage. Now it can be done, and it's great as a backup, but let me tell you, it's really, really challenging.

So all modern jets have some other form of hydraulic control mechanism that can adjust the amount of force depending on airspeed and so on to allow for more accurate control. In the event of hydraulic failure the plane can still fly on the cables. Well as time goes on and multiple redundant hydraulic systems are put on planes the safety margin gets much bigger. Now you can save weight by getting rid of the cable and pulley system and use a straight electrical system to simulate the feel for the pilot and then the pilots inputs are sent to the control surfaces electronically. It's lighter, there are still redundant controls so it's not any more dangerous. This is fly-by-wire. Not what ever this guy is trying to say.

One of the biggest issues that these guys had in the cockpit was a failure to define who was doing what. Both of these guys were first officers. The Captain was taking his break. When their pitot tubes froze they failed to follow standard procedures to keep the plane in a stable state. It's been repeated many times in the sim that if they had just stuck to the procedures none of it would have happened.

Once they were in the shit, the lesser experienced of the two pilots sort of froze up. He was unable to get control of the plane back and told the other guy to take over. This Airbus has side sticks. They move independently of one another as opposed to the yolks you find on most other planes that are linked so when one guy moves the controls, both sets of controls move. The guy in the other seat always knows what you are doing. That wasn't the case here. The problem though was that the lesser experienced guy, the guy who had just told the other pilot to fly, was in the left seat. He didn't completely relinquish control and kept pulling back and pulling back on the stick, even after he had told the other guy to take over. His controls are designed to be able to override the inputs of the right seat. So the plane kicked itself out of some of it's protections when it noticed the significant control input differences between the two sticks.

The guy in the left seat, who was scared, froze up, didn't tell the other guy what he was doing. The guy in the right seat is trying to size up the situation but none of his inputs are working either because he doesn't know that the guy in the left seat has overridden his controls. They aren't working together because they are both still trying to fly the plane. By the time the Captain gets up there it's way too late. He is still trying to assess the situation but he realizes that they have no airspeed and have no altitude left to recover the plane.

I don't lay this crash at the feet of automation. I lay it at training. You don't see this type of thing in the US (much, not saying it can't happen, but it's a much different environment otherwise), but you do see it in foreign countries where pilots are trained more rote repetition rather than the more complete thinking assessing, communication and teamwork. You'll find guys who can fly the airplane day in and day out under most circumstances, but struggle in an emergency. Also these long haul flights are very different than say what you find in domestic operations in the US. On a domestic trip I might do 1 or 2 landings a day, or 4 for a 4 day trip. There are up to 4 pilots scheduled on these long haul flights and only 1 of them will takeoff and land. So over a trip the captain and first officer might get 1 landing each, while the relief pilots get none. In order for the relief pilots to even stay current they have to go back to simulator training every 3 months just to get the required 3 take offs and landings. It's very easy for your skills to decline when you aren't using them.

This is a perfect example of a training failure:

Flight captain: 'Wow, pulled back the wrong throttle' - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/02/asia/taiwan-transasia-crash-report/)

PilotMan

07-03-2015, 03:43 PM

Back at it again.

I know that I was home for over a week, and we had tried to plan a trip with some friends to Florida to get away for a couple of days but that plan fell through.

We did get to attend the wedding of an old friend of ours. They had planned their wedding in advance, but the Supreme Court decision just happened to come down the day before so it made it that much better. Got to catch up with an old co-worker that we hadn't seen in 15 years so that was good. But the main part of the time off was finishing a shed project that we had had in the works since early this spring. It involved hauling and spreading close to a ton of rock and paver stones, and then actually putting the stupid thing together.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the handiest guy. Hell, my wife is handier than I am but some projects are only possible when the big guy takes charge and this was one of them. We got it built in between rain storms. Good god, when is this rain pattern going to end? The ground is so soggy it feels like you are stepping on a sponge. I haven't even been able to season my new grill yet! It just sucks to be outside right now.

Today I got to experience one of the joys of holiday travel as the number of direct flights to Newark was cut from 7 to 2 with the last leaving home at noon. My showtime is very early tomorrow morning, but still, I'm pretty much blowing my day off today to fly to Newark so I can work tomorrow.

I should also be hopping the train to Manhattan just to hang out and go look around, but my motivation level for it just isn't there. Besides, I've got this dynasty to keep updated!

Either way, I've found myself back into FM14 again, picking up an old save that I've run for 12 years now. It's so freaking addicting. I feel like I'm answering that question, "so PilotMan, you've had a quite a break since you last stepped into the plane. How do you think you'll respond?" So it's either going to be "We have enjoyed the break and feel invigorated because of it," or "We may have some rust that we'll have to shake off so we'll just have to deal with it." Lol.

Tomorrow though holds a lot of potential if everything goes according to plan. One leg, across the country to a long layover in downtown San Francisco for the 4th of July. No night flying to show you, sorry guys. You really ought to do it sometime though. The fireworks from 30,000 feet are quite the sight to see.

PilotMan

07-05-2015, 08:40 AM

Nothing like getting up at 0330 coming off of a bunch of days of to get you right back into the swing of things. I had a 500a show time yesterday morning for a 600a departure. I was the only one leaving the hotel to head to the airport at that awful hour of the day. I downloaded all my paperwork for the flight on the way to the hotel and looked it over. The flight was scheduled for 5:33 across the country and had us planned to get in 10 minutes early. Everything went smooth on the gate and we got off on time.

A short taxi out and we were off earlier than planned. That's always nice on a 1 leg day. There was a little leftover rain in the area that caused some turbulence for us as we climbed out over New York. Once we cleared that at the western edge of the state it was smooth sailing. A very pleasant ride. The only problem was that it was just so early in the morning and it was a long flight. So staying alert and focused on the task at hand for that time was probably the biggest challenge.

Somewhere, whether it was a person of a computer that allocated flight numbers, a bad idea was hatched. We were numbered flight 1415 from EWR to SFO, and coming behind us, same company, flying from JFK to SFO was flight 415. Virtually the same route as well. So for the next 5 hours both of us were on the same frequencies. They were a 757, and cruising faster than we were so they ended up passing us enroute, but all the same, we were pretty much together. It only caused a bit of confusion. So as pilots go, I needed to pay very close attention to the call sign and enunciate my readbacks very clearly. At one point a controller, who was not paying attention, told me we were already at FL360, after we asked to climb. He was pretty adamant about it too after we reassured him we weren't. That was when he noticed the other flight. See on his screen all he sees is XX1451 or XX451. And he's looking at a big area with probably 20 or more airplanes on it with their altitudes, speeds and id blinking along. So you can see what a pain this whole thing was.

No delays for us in the airport and we parked a full 20 minutes early. Next we headed downtown for the layover. I was beat. I immediately went back to bed for a nap. My room had a tremendous view of Coit Tower and Telegraph hill. I thought that maybe I'd be able to see the fireworks last night from my room, and I could, sort of. But between the low cloud layer and the hill all I saw were the flashes of light. I decided not to hike down there because of the time and my body clock. It would have been 2a by my time, when I got back, so I just stayed. I did get out to enjoy some of the culture and had some good food, and wandered around China Town for a little bit. The musicians were out in full force yesterday and playing very festive, patriotic songs for the passersby.

This morning, I snapped this pic from my hotel room, just before sunrise.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/b5e5c5f0-287b-4bee-9a8b-b9e0691e6a09.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/b5e5c5f0-287b-4bee-9a8b-b9e0691e6a09.jpg.html)

PilotMan

07-05-2015, 10:55 PM

We didn't even leave the hotel until after 9 Pacific time. That's after noon by my body clock. It was great to get to sleep in, even if there were some incredibly loud fireworks around the hotel. If you ever want to know what the fireworks sound like when they explode just go up to the 18th floor. The Captain and I were both laughing this morning that it felt like we were being shelled with mortars last night.

It took the ramp crew, what seemed like, an extra long time to get everything loaded onto the plane before we left. We even ended up going out about 7 minutes late as a result. Nothing much we could do about it, we just sat there until everything got done. Taxi out was uneventful until we got a message from the company that there was a chance that the plane might be in a tail tip situation when we got to Chicago. So the remedy for that situation was to unload all the cargo out of the aft bin before we could unload any passengers. I don't think anyone wants to see this happening:

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c246/con-pilot/Sterling.jpg

This is actually the first time that I've run across this situation, and while I'm sure it's frustrating for passengers who just want off and now have to wait. In the end, it's well worth the hassle. To me anyway.

So we had to brief everyone who was listening. So that meant that most everyone had no idea what was going on so they had to be told a second time.

Chicago was the destination this morning and we had been remarking that it was really nice to have a smooth flight with really no weather to worry about when the ride suddenly got choppy and lasted for the next hour and a half. We couldn't fly as fast as we were supposed to so the idea of making up the time we had lost was out the window as well. We got into Chicago a few minutes late, landed on the far north runway and taxied a long way back to our gate. Ops was aware and said they were ready to get the bags and cargo off as fast as possible, which they did. It took about 6 or 7 minutes to get all that done. So not a stellar day as far as time was concerned, but another safe trip with over 185 people in a tube, 7 miles over the earth, going over 500mph.

Oh and as a note, don't make negative comments about landings unless it was a real fuckup. My landing today wasn't awesome, but it was better than most in a gusty cross wind. Someone made a sarcastic comment that they loved the bouncy landing and thanks for that (which it wasn't, it touched down and the shocks extended as it lifted up some, but it never left the ground after it touched.) The Captain jumped right up and defended it saying it was about as normal a landing as you'd get. Hey, you just flew 1500 miles in my plane and got here safe and sound. Why would you insult me now? Whatever, maybe he thought he was being funny or something. Its not anything I especially care about. Just trying to pass on my day.

That's all I had today. I've got a short layover here tonight and an early get up to finish up tomorrow. This was only a 3-day trip, one shorter than my standard 4 that I've been doing. But it only means that tomorrow is go home day! Woot!

A couple of new pics for you today. The first is inside the wheel well of the 737 on my walk around. It's taken across the bay, you can see the opposite landing gear and the spot it takes in the gear bay when it's retracted. Plus you can see the massive network of guts just in this section of the plane.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150705_100813.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150705_100813.jpg.html)

The next is a snapshot of my view in the right seat just before we pushed back today. You can see most of the good stuff that I have to look at. The engine instruments towards the left (which is right in the middle of the cockpit), the flight management computer next to that, my map and primary flight instruments on the screens right in front of me. I've got my scratch pad with my standard set up of information for the start of the flight with reminders like callsign, flight time, min fuel, departure and arrival weather in addition to various other odds and ends in the cockpit.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150705_103853.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150705_103853.jpg.html)

Barkeep49

07-06-2015, 08:58 AM

Thanks for your perspective on that crash. Really helpful to understand.

PilotMan

07-07-2015, 08:21 AM

Yesterday ended up being the longest of the three day trip. I started the day early, getting up and walking over to the airport. On short Chicago layovers we stay at the airport hotel. It's not great for the layover, but it maximizes your available rest time better than say, going downtown does. Being able to walk to the plane is nice too.

I got to the plane with plenty of time to get it ready. Chicago is the place where things can unravel pretty quick. Any seasoned traveler can tell you that, but this day was different. Today, it all fell into place and went the way it's supposed to. The plane was closed up, no delay for pushback. No delay from ground to get to the runway. Then number 1 for takeoff and cleared off with almost no delays.

The first flight was down to Dallas. No issues, no problems. Got into Dallas almost 20 minutes early thanks to our smooth departure out of Chicago. A whole lot of delays and the determination on how early you will be is decided on the ground after you push back and before you take off. And while that part may have nothing to do with me the pilot, I'll be happy to take full credit for getting you to your destination that early. :)

That flight down from Chicago had a brand new flight attendant on it. She was working her first flight so when we got to Dallas I took her outside and took some pics of her with the plane and in the engine like has been the tradition for flight attendants for decades. That made her day, I was glad for it.

The next leg was our final leg to Newark. Nothing special about it. A very standard flight, and again we got in a solid 10 minutes early. Always great to finish a trip early.

I had a couple hours until my flight home, so I went down to the employee cafeteria and ate some dinner. My flight home was full so my only hope was for the jump seat. Someone once asked me how I liked sitting in the jumpseat. My response is that it's always more comfortable going home, than going to work, and it's much more comfortable than every seat in the Newark airport. Meaning that I'd sit on the toilet if it meant I could go home.

Got home around 7 after starting the day at 6. Ended the day at 2. So a 5 hour commute home and if you add that to the 18.5 hours I had before my trip I lost an entire day off. So while my trip was only 3 days, it really played almost like a full 4 day trip.

It's nice to be home for my birthday. I'm having issues accepting that I've turned the corner on a new decade of life. I don't feel that old, but the guy I look at in the mirror is starting to. The weather at home is messing with me. I still haven't gotten to season the new grill or even try it out. We were supposed to go to the drive in for a double feature of Inside Out and Lost World, but it's going to storm again here on my days home so even grilling out is probably out of the question.

So this morning I got woke up by some lovely person mowing their grass at 730a. Except that the person mowing was my 13 yr old, and he was doing it because he got in trouble for not doing it the day before even when he had been told it needed to be done and that I was very disappointed that it hadn't been done because it hadn't rained in a couple of days. So in his 13 yr old mind this is what I had in mind. Sigh. Trying to just stay relaxed and not put to much thought into this. I'm sure it'll get better from here. At least I'm home to enjoy it.

finkenst

07-08-2015, 11:00 AM

PM,

Still following and keeping up.. Thanks for pointing me to this from steam...

How would this morning's issues have affected you? Particularly if this were your commuting day?

--t

PilotMan

07-08-2015, 04:43 PM

Happy I wasn't working today for sure.

As a commuter I would have been in the same boat as any passenger. As a commuter I have to have 2 flights that I can take that will get me to Newark in time for my scheduled trip. Let's say for instance I was to take the 0600 on my companies flight and had a backup of a 0730 flight on another company plane. If the first flight is delayed or cancelled then I have the second as a backup.

In this case the backup can either work or not. If it works, great, but say I don't get on that either, then I can call the company and let them know, I can be taken off my trip and stay home, but I lose my pay for the trip.

Most likely I miss my trip and lose my pay, but then I either make it Newark and get reassigned to something else and get that pay, or I am essentially reserve available for the days I've missed and get paid accordingly, which is almost always less.

I don't fret about getting to work as long as I've got my bases covered. If something happens, it happens. I've been commuting for 3 years now and haven't missed a trip yet. That's a pretty good record. Now if I was missing a trip every other month I might have to talk to the boss and find out why exactly this was happening.

PilotMan

07-09-2015, 10:26 AM

God, bidding can just be a big giant pain the ass!

Especially when it seems like every month it's crucial to get specific days off. My bidding seniority has gone up over the last couple of months. Right now I'm bidding at 57% of all the pilots in my plane and base, and 71% out of the lineholders. That means that I'm still safely in the bottom half for bidding purposes. I can't just throw a bid out there and expect to get anything out of it. It's got to be crafted the right way. Bid too aggressive and you'll get nothing out of it, bid to general and you'll leave stuff on the table that you could have gotten.

So it's a matter of looking at past bids, seeing what you have been awarded in the past, mixing it with what you need for the next month and then throwing a detailed, specific net wide and detailed enough to capture what you want without going overboard.

Now add the pressure of not getting the right days off so you and your wife can go on your first (big) vacation ever, with the first day of school and a local neighborhood party that you are trying to spearhead and plan because you decided that the community needed more togetherness and you've been throwing your opinion around the board trying (and succeeding) to win support for a variety of projects. But this one is the biggest yet and if you aren't there will it go the way you want?

So yeah. I've been procrastinating taking the time to sit down and do this for 4 days. I've got a couple days until it closes, but I have to go back to work and I needed to get this done while I could discuss it at home.

Now in the past, I know I've gone on tirades about what to bid, and pretty much I've been successful about how I've bid, but until I see that award in 9 days I just sit around on pins and needles and wait and hope that it's good enough. Plus every month that goes by and my seniority gets better improves my chances of getting what I want.

I've got another trip starting tomorrow that will involved heading out today to the crash pad. Looking forward to tomorrow as I'm going to one of the better international layovers that I've never been to before. Stay tuned.

pbot

07-12-2015, 05:38 PM

Just posting to say that I still follow this and look forward to each update.

Maybe a dumb question, do you ever use any of the pc flight sims? Microsoft FSX, X-plane, P3D?

PilotMan

07-12-2015, 08:15 PM

Just posting to say that I still follow this and look forward to each update.

Maybe a dumb question, do you ever use any of the pc flight sims? Microsoft FSX, X-plane, P3D?

Thanks pbot, I really appreciate the feedback. I'm glad that you guys are enjoying it. I'm enjoying doing it and we've made it over the halfway point! Just a few more months to go!

Sorry I've been slacking here this week. My trip started off with no internet and I just haven't gotten caught up yet. Planning to try and remedy that tonight.

To answer your question I used to play Microsoft regularly. I used a program called Pro Pilot '99 with the whole yolk/rudder pedal set up and would practice on that, especially when I was working on my instrument rating. However, I will tell you that once I got my instrument rating, and I could do all of that for real. I stopped cold turkey. It simply held no more enjoyment for me.

My dad was a pilot in the Air Force and I couldn't understand until that moment why he would never play any flying games. I figured that he should, because he flew and all that, but I found all the understanding I would ever need after this experience. I've got Microsoft on Steam right now, but I still haven't fired it up yet.

pbot

07-12-2015, 09:29 PM

To answer your question I used to play Microsoft regularly. I used a program called Pro Pilot '99 with the whole yolk/rudder pedal set up and would practice on that, especially when I was working on my instrument rating. However, I will tell you that once I got my instrument rating, and I could do all of that for real. I stopped cold turkey. It simply held no more enjoyment for me.

Makes sense, thanks. When I get home from work, the last thing I want to do is open up Excel so I can see why since you do this for real, the pc sims would hold no interest.

I've spent a good bit of time flight-simming, and some of the add-on planes I have purchased through the years claim to be quite realistic, at least procedurally. I have no way of knowing if that's true as I have never been anything but a passenger back in coach, but reading this thread has given some sense that they are "reasonably" close. Not that I could land a plane if the pilots became ill due to eating a bad meal in flight or anything like that of course.

:)

PilotMan

07-12-2015, 10:39 PM

So, let's see if I can remember back to 3 days ago. The only reason that I'm hesitating is that I killed a fair number of brain cells and I flew with a guy that I'd rather forget about. It's not that we were at each others throats or anything, but we simply disliked each other.

So commuting to work proved to be a bit of a thing this week. The plane was late coming from Chicago due to an ATC delay to we didn't get boarded up until late. I had an early morning and was anxious to get to the bed. We taxied out to the runway only for Newark to go into a ground stop with a 45 minute update time. So we just chilled on the taxiway until they told us it was being extended by an hour. At that point the crew threw in the towel and went back to the gate to wait it out. It was only another 30 minutes before we were back on the plane and this time it was for real, but not without being seriously behind the ball. I finally rolled into the crash pad at 1230a and hoped to be in bed by 1a. I was number 3 in the pad that night so at least I got a lower bunk. I didn't sleep that great and was up at 530a to get ready for the trip.

Saturday was only 1 leg to a new destination for me, Punta Cana in the D.R. Just a couple of storms to dodge here and there, but it was an otherwise easy flight down. Our hotel is an all inclusive and I've never been to one of those either, but I do like to eat and drink and check out hot summer beaches I didn't complain. It was a really nice layover and I look forward to getting to head down there a second time. Here are a couple of shots I took from the resort. I wasn't too impressed with D.R. on the whole though. It's not a very scenic area, and it's all inclusive because there is simply no reason to leave. Nothing else to, but eat and drink and lay in the sun, which certainly has it's time and place.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150710_144836.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150710_144836.jpg.html)

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150710_145800.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150710_145800.jpg.html)

Day two was another 0 dark 30 start as we got to the airport seemingly before anyone else. It sure felt like it at 5a. We got stopped going through security because they said that they didn't have us listed as crewmembers. They didn't speak English, we didn't speak Spanish, but after about 10 minutes of just standing there looking at one another they managed to find a way to get us through.

The plane hadn't even gotten here yet. It was on it's way from Houston on a red-eye. I'm not a morning person. By the time it got there they didn't leave us much time to get it turned around and make an on time departure, especially in the islands. It worked out alright though, the flight to Houston was blocked heavy so we had some time to play with. There were some big storms south of the Bahamas that we had to deviate around which makes things more interesting when you are heading right toward Cuban airspace.

I like to take pics of things that I think people just don't think about or get to see. So here is a picture of the Mississippi River delta, where the Mississippi flows into the Gulf of Mexico. There is a very distinct line here where the fresh, muddy, river water mixes with the salt of the Gulf.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150711_092957.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150711_092957.jpg.html)

No rest for the weary traveler however. We weren't done in Houston, there was one more leg to complete the cross country trip, San Diego. The flight there was easy. No weather, no issues. I'm going to try and get a pic of the border sometime. It's so very interesting to see the stark difference between the two borders even when they are just a few feet apart. I took another pic on this leg too. If you've ever driven across west Texas you'll recognize this. Thousands upon thousands of Oil and Gas rigs as far as you can see.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150711_124858.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150711_124858.jpg.html)

Normally my biggest excitement in San Diego is Fish Tacos in the Gas Lamp District, but our normal hotel downtown had made arrangements to sell our rooms for a lot more money ('cause of Comic-Con) so we were moved to a nice hotel in La Jolla. Another really nice area. I did succeed in finding some fish tacos, btw.

This morning was West coast time, so the 0330 wake up was the latest of the entire trip. I nearly ran into Seth Myers at the airport. By the time I realized it we were already past one another and I wasn't about to go chasing him down. The morning was spectacular. Aren't they always in San Diego? Here's a shot of the sunrise coming over the hills while I was doing my walk around, preflight check. Completely unedited or enhanced.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150712_053845.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150712_053845.jpg.html)

On climb out I snapped this pic of the Sierra's. All cloud covered and looking smokey. The cloud formation creates a really nice perspective on the entire shot.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/cbd56643-2c2d-43cf-a4db-81e4b7b2e887.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/cbd56643-2c2d-43cf-a4db-81e4b7b2e887.jpg.html)

The flight today was smoooooooth and painless (except for that not liking the guy you are stuck in a broom closet for hours on end part.) When I got to Newark I found out that a flight home was delayed but getting ready to leave soon. All the flights home were sold out with a bunch of stand by passengers, I'm guessing due to the All Star game. I hustled to the gate only to find that it had just left a few minutes before. I talked to the agent and I guess I wouldn't have gotten on anyway, even the jump seat was taken.

So I had about 90 minutes til my flight. Like I said the flight was full, and I was now down to number 6 on the stand by list. I needed to get on that plane! My only option is to go to the gate and wait for the agent to show up. The jump seat can be all about first come, first serve so being early always pays off, even if it means standing there for 30 minutes. Just like being in line at Disney...without the ride part that is.

So this long story ends with me getting the last seat on the plane. I didn't even need to sit in the cockpit. The door was closed and we were on our way. Then the armrest on my seat broke. Not a little. It broke off and just hung there. Nothing embarrassing about that! Last guy on the plane, breaks it and now they have to pull the jet bridge back up, they have to call maintenance and the work has to get done and the log book signed off. Nothing like 49 people looking at you, blaming you for their late flight to Cincy. I can see it now, "Big pilot breaks seat, now we are delayed. I hate this airline!"

My day was pushing 12 hours by the time we landed back home. Even though it was only a 3 day, I'm done, tired and in need of some family time.

claphamsa

07-13-2015, 08:37 PM

how often do you see similar pilots? can you schedule around the ones you dont like?

PilotMan

07-13-2015, 10:01 PM

how often do you see similar pilots? can you schedule around the ones you dont like?

It's somewhat random. I say somewhat because a lot has to deal with seniority and bidding preferences. For example, with the kind of trips that I'll hold I'll line up with captains that have similar seniority or bid similarly to me, like commuters for example.

If you look at the math of it all and assume that it's a perfectly equal chance of flying with the same captain twice then it looks like this:

Say I fly an average of 4 trips per month and on each trip I fly with 1.2 Captains (totally unscientific, but there are trips on occasion where scheduling is covering the trip with reserves and I'll fly with 3 guys for that trip. So 1.2 is an extra captain every 5 trips.

4 x 12 x 1.2 = 57.6 ~ 58 Captains in a year.

There are roughly 400 737 Captains in Newark and 1944 company wide. Figure that 5% of those guys aren't flying, either because of illness or management so that makes our numbers: 380 and 1845.

So 15.3% that I'll fly with the same Captain who is based in Newark in the same year. Or you could say that I could go 6.5 years without flying with the same guy twice.

Company wide (just for comparison, I mean, I think I've only flown with guys from other bases a few times in 2 years), those same numbers are 3.1% or 32.3 years (which is longer than my career will be there without a rule change.) And all of this is just on the 737. Each fleet type is a little different due to size and crew requirements.

To answer your second question, yes I can bid against certain guys. It's a part of the preferences I can set in our bidding program. Some companies have policies that allow first officers to bid against Captains, but not the other way around. The reason being that good Captains have to be able to manage any situation and work with anyone, the cockpit IS truly a reflection of the personality of the Captain. They set the tone for every one else in the crew. If a Captain finds himself on too many 'do not fly' lists then he might get called into the office for an informal chat. And yes, there are guys like that.

PilotMan

07-14-2015, 08:48 AM

It has become apparent from the last 48 hours that I am suffering some form of food poisoning. I can only assume it's from Punta Cana. I didn't drink the water there so it must be food related.

I don't have any plans, at this point, to miss my next trip, but if this keeps up it's something that I'll have to consider.

finkenst

07-14-2015, 10:54 AM

To answer your second question, yes I can bid against certain guys. It's a part of the preferences I can set in our bidding program. Some companies have policies that allow first officers to bid against Captains, but not the other way around. The reason being that good Captains have to be able to manage any situation and work with anyone, the cockpit IS truly a reflection of the personality of the Captain. They set the tone for every one else in the crew. If a Captain finds himself on too many 'do not fly' lists then he might get called into the office for an informal chat. And yes, there are guys like that.

are there first officers that could get called in if they have too many captains on their "do not fly" lists?

PilotMan

07-14-2015, 12:08 PM

Not as far as I know. All the responsibility is on the Captain to manage.

claphamsa

07-14-2015, 05:25 PM

PilotMan

07-16-2015, 10:45 PM

I ended up not being able to go on my trip this week. I still didn't feel like I could manage things well enough yesterday, but by today I did feel better. Calling in sick is pretty painless if you give the company enough notice. I can do it with two clicks after I login online. The min amount of time you can really give is about 4 hours, otherwise like yesterday, it was about 20 hours in advance. The only job where you call in sick a full day before.

Basically, what it boils down to is that the company would rather be able to plan for the absence then have you wait until the last second and start delaying flights while they scramble to cover for you.

I've got some sick time to cover, but I may end up picking up something over the weekend.

PilotMan

07-18-2015, 07:52 AM

Fuck this.

That's pretty much how I'm feeling right now. The last 24 hours haven't been easy or kind between me and my job. I had fully intended to fly over the weekend. This trip that I'm missing is costing me 5 months worth of sick time and by flying I could off set that. The issue is that I can only pick up stuff that's available the day before. So yesterday, when I could pick flying up, there were 2 trips that I could work that would get me home again on Sunday. Neither was especially difficult, and both left early on Saturday morning. Both meant that I'd have to leave on Friday night to get to work. So being the commuter that I am I started looking at what flights might be available to get to Newark. Typically there is a 630p and an 8p on weeknights. Nope not today. There was no 800p at all and the 630p had been cancelled making the other flights to Newark full. That left a 4 and 430 flight for me to have 2 legal flights to take. However, the 4 meant that I was going to miss 'show and tell' day for my middle son at his summer Advanced Astronomy camp. I had planned to miss it, but when I got sick and was home and then went with him to an evening observation, this former Physics major with sights on a career in Astrophysics and Astronomy didn't want to miss it.

The idea of having to leave another 16 hours early just didn't sit well, but that was my only choice. It was easier to stay home and spend the extra days with my family. It was a tradeoff. Not what I had planned, and I really don't want to spend all that sick time, but I guess in this case it's what I'm doing.

Fast forward to last night when my August schedule comes out.

I've said that bidding is a big, giant, pain in the ass. You can put in a bid that you choose, literally, thousands upon thousands of permutations on the hopes that possibly you set it up in a way, that with your given seniority, you are awarded something off that bid. Then you repeat that up to twenty times making small or large changes, hoping that something will stick.

So as far as lineholders go, I'm pretty far down the list of people bidding. Only 29% of the pilots in the group (of lineholders, ignoring reserves who are below that) bid lower than I do, but I've found a nice niche of bidding where I've been able to hold and expect certain things for my month's schedule. I had 3 things that I was bidding around in August. The most important was a set of days off at the beginning of the month to tie into days off that I have at the end of July. I was also trying to get the first day of school off and a weekend off for a community picnic/party that I'm trying plan and trying to convince the rest of the board that it's a good idea to spend the extra money that I want, to show the neighborhood that we are serious about staying connected and getting neighbors better connected. Nobody else is really taking up the reigns on that project and nobody else is really planning on being there because of one thing or another.

So my bid was carefully planned. It took a couple of hours to get it where I wanted it, and it resembled previous bids in a way. I left, excuse me, thought I had left enough wiggle room in it that it would find a way to help me out. I was wrong.

This fucking award.

It went through all 20 of my bids and decided it couldn't build me a line and then after it goes through everything it starts breaking down your bid until it can award you something. In this case it not only voided the group of days that I needed at the beginning of the month it voided my preferences to avoid LGA flying. So now I've got this big, fucking LGA four day trip, that's not commutable on either end, which is like an additional 200 dollars out the door (in addition to the 185 I spend for a month in my crash pad in EWR), sitting right over the days that I needed off so that my wife and I could get away on our first real traveling vacation, where it was just the two of us, in like, ever.

Not only did I not get those days, I didn't get any weekends off again. None. So much for the community party and my efforts there.

I did get the first day of school off, but I also have to leave that day because of another trip. So this whole thing has pretty much ruined everything else. I think I'll throw myself at the feet of the company and beg for mercy. That's about a 25%/75% proposition, but there really isn't any other way. I can't even try to drop it until the 24th. and that would leave me about 72 hours to try and plan a trip.

I'm totally distraught over this entire thing. It's been stressing me out waiting, and now that it's here I can't get it off my mind. It's a massive failure. And it underscores the basics of this job, that seniority is everything and without it you're screwed, screwed, screwed. It's always the expectation. I had expectations based off of previous awards of what kind of bidding would get me an award, and this award was unlike any I've seen. How many times have I missed one thing or another? How many times am I not able to plan even the simplest activities?

I can't play in sports leagues. I couldn't coach little league. I can't socialize with normal people. I don't have any close friends because my schedule doesn't follow anything a normal person would have. I can't see my aviation friends because they either live somewhere else, or their schedules are just as messed up, like mine. My Fridays are Mondays and my weekend is the middle of the week. My Mondays are other people's Fridays. I work with strangers all day, week after week. I spend copious amounts of time alone on the road where the loneliness can be crushing. I work early mornings, late nights, over nights, never the same. I'm constantly adjusting my life to fit this job over and over again. This is why I don't tell my kids to do aviation. This is why marriages fail. This is why pilots won't encourage other people to do this, because even though the pay is good and travel can be fun, it simply wrecks other areas of your life that you never expected or thought you'd be able to overcome. Wrecks it.

As I look down at guys below me, it looks like most of them got overworked in the first half of the month and that the company pulled back on a lot of it's flying at the end (normal, August is the end of summer flying), because that's where most of us have our bulk of days off, at the end of the month.

Fuck me. Off to work on plan C. I know my wife is equally as disappointed, she's just not showing it. She's very good at hiding that sort of thing, especially when I'm emoting all over the place. She knows it's out of her hands, but between my disappointment and knowing hers, I'm a mess right now.

Barkeep49

07-20-2015, 10:04 AM

I'm so sorry to hear this.

PilotMan

07-20-2015, 06:34 PM

Ok, catch 22 time.

I called my direct boss, we will call him flight manager in Newark, and I gave him my sob story about how I really needed this stupid LGA, 4-day trip to go away and he was like "sure, no problem, hopefully you'll enjoy 15 more years of marriage because of it." And aside from the $2500 dollars it's costing me to drop this trip (because I'm not flying it, and I'm not using vacation I'm just letting it go, but I can still pick up other flying) I'm like "Wooofuckinhooo!"

That clears the way for me to focus and enjoy this before I go on my next 4 day trip:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtf1/v/t1.0-9/11694772_10153475629619648_2850868424943501678_n.jpg?oh=0a256eee1bdcb4397544ae2604a9f75d&oe=56127669

That is 15 pounds of pork shoulder that I'm turning into pulled pork on Wednesday. I'm charcoal, hickory and apple wood smoking it for somewhere in the range of 10 hours on the new grill. That 0330 wakeup call the next day though still sucks.

PilotMan

07-22-2015, 01:22 PM

Booked our trip this morning while I'm smoking these pork shoulders. We are both looking forward to the vacation. We decided that Cancun would be our first destination. I've been there on a few layovers and it's a great "starter" location for any tourist. It looks like there won't be any weather issues as traveling in the Caribbean or Mexico is always dicey during hurricane season.

The pork shoulders are almost 6.5 hours in now and slowing working their way up to temp. I was up at 0600 to get everything going. The new grill has proven to use a lot more charcoal and wood than I had been able to get away with for this project. I do love that I can hold it at lower temps than the other one and it responds to air better, but that also means that it fluctuates a lot more than the older one too, meaning I have to check it about every 30-45 min. Should be ready to come off in a couple hours.

Here's the look of the shoulders after being rubbed and injected, just prior to going on.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xtp1/v/t1.0-9/1970780_10153479082514648_5116745053155581966_n.jpg?oh=814f6126ad36ff5292fd42243ca0182d&oe=561035E3

claphamsa

07-22-2015, 05:37 PM

curious about the 10 hour idea...when i do pulled pork its usually in for 17-20 hours..... have you done this before?

PilotMan

07-22-2015, 07:53 PM

It's all about the temp. The closer that you keep the smoker to 200 degrees the longer it'll take to get to temp. So that's where you get the 17-20 hour timeline. I've never cooked one that long before. I cook solely on charcoal and it's challenging enough to keep the temp in right as it is. I think I could keep it that low, but no way am I able to check the temp every 45 minutes for 17-20 hours.

The rule of thumb for pork is get it to 190 degrees, or very close then wrap it in foil and let it sit for anywhere from 30 min to a couple hours. Try and keep the temp between 200 and 250. At 250, you'll cook about one hour per pound of shoulder. Today I cooked 7 and a 7.5 pounder for just over 9 hours with a 30 min rest.

claphamsa

07-22-2015, 09:44 PM

hmm, i keep a solid 225 most of the time.... trying to talk myself into a big green egg...but those are 1200

PilotMan

07-24-2015, 09:04 AM

Yesterday started at 0330 with the alarm going off so I could get ready for my commuting flight to Newark. The flight was at 600a and had plenty of seats on it. I rested as well as I could going to Newark then had about 3 and a half hours until I needed to be at the plane. I ate some breakfast in the employee cafeteria then tried to get some planning done for the HOA party in August that I've taken on the sole role of planning. Yay me.

I should've gotten out and walked some because I knew I had a long flight in front of me. This trip is a bit easier than some others I've had recently. It's still a 4 day trip, but it's one leg each day, back and forth across the US.

The first leg was the west leg out to LAX. I really hope that this whole trip goes just like this first one. We were operating a flight that that the company has flagged as being very important for getting out on time. We did our part, and everything seemed to be on track until our push time passed and the back cargo bin was still open.

The load planner changed the loading on the ramp guys, then changed it again, and they had to deal with that. Load planning is so important to an airplane. A longer plane like a 737 is especially vulnerable. So we missed our push time by 10 minutes and we were off the ground just 8 minutes late.

Fuel planning has been much tighter in recent months. Part of a money saving project to avoid having to carry extra weight. Extra weight is extra costs. Extra costs means less profit. It's all statistically backed and meticulously tracked. We had enough and the weather was good enough to try and make up some of that, but we were already planned fast so it's wasn't as effective as it could have been. It was an awesome day to fly. I really hope the rest of the week goes as well.

We landed a couple minutes early in LA, but we had to wait for our gate. It was open but the plane was in the alley and the time it took them to finish their push and taxi out put us behind. We finished up 3 minutes late.

I was tired after the start to the day. Normally I'd be out enjoying Socal and especially our Redondo Beach layover, but all I did was walk to Smashburger for dinner and go to bed. No pics from yesterday, but here's a pic that I took previously from here last year at sunset.

https://scontent-lhr3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xat1/v/t1.0-9/1486778_10152692605354648_8007811401180106756_n.jpg?oh=6c8196c7984a8dd6866d1be162d5e3e8&oe=56477360

PilotMan

07-24-2015, 08:10 PM

I saw this the other night. It's been cracking me up all week.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kH6QJzmLYtw?rel=0&showinfo=0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

PilotMan

07-24-2015, 09:18 PM

Ahhhh, west coast time. I slept in and still woke up at 430a.

My show time today was at 755a in Redondo. I can guarantee you that the west coast based guys don't love going to NY and getting 755a reports. I had some difficulty getting my paperwork downloaded, but it worked eventually. We had to have a second release due to a change in the weight of the aircraft. The subtle difference was that we weren't able to reach our planned cruise altitude until we had burned off a little big more fuel.

The weather showed a pretty substantial storm system hovering in the Iowa area. But nothing that should really cause any difficulties. We got off the gate 3 minutes early and off the ground in a reasonable time. We were planned to be about 12 minutes early getting into Baltimore-Washington so there was no need to rush today.

We had to deviate around some weather near Denver and then sure enough, ATC reports that we will probably need to change course up ahead. That weather over Iowa was causing a lot of course deviations for other planes. This was a monster of a storm. We ended up as far north as Rockford and nearly over Chicago. Kind of funny in my head at least. You don't think being that far north as being an efficient route to Baltimore, and it's not perfect, because of the deviation, it's not far off. Thinking of the roundness of the earth is hard when you really only see 2D maps.

The guy that I'm flying with is newer to the airplane. He's told me he only has 100 hours or so in it at the beginning of the trip. That's about 4 trips worth. And yes, it's takes a lot longer than that to get comfortable with it. I chuckled a little bit quietly to myself today after I landed. My landing caused him to pucker his ass cheeks a little as he thought I was going to slam the plane on the runway, but it ended with a very smooth touchdown. Just the way I had planned it. He just isn't used to the sight picture, nor is he comfortable with all the sight lines of a good approach or what my specific technique is. He would get all that with more experience, but it was funny that it got him today. We parked about 12 minutes early, even after our deviation around the weather.

Now tomorrow is too damn early. Bed is going to be calling my name shortly.

So I know I said that I would go into the taxi out with a little bit more detail. So once the doors are closed what's going on up front?

Let me start from the moment that the main cabin door is closed. At that point I'm just waiting for the ramp crew to finish loading bags. When they are done they submit the loads to the load planner who then completes and sends the final weights to the plane.

Once the final weights are in hand I load the computer and send out the request for our takeoff data. Takeoff speeds are based on the weight of the plane, runway length and flap setting. Weather conditions also play into it too. Headwinds, wet runways, all that stuff. I have to have takeoff data for our desired runway. If we get a runway change I need to rerun data for that runway.

Once I've got that data, and we verify that the computers are loaded correctly and the speeds are set right we are ready to go. Pretty soon we are going to be able to push prior to getting all that data and fall into line with the majority of other aircraft.

On the ground the Captain drives, the First Officer runs the radios. Each airport is different and the procedures for the pushback have to be identified prior to now. Some are uncontrolled, meaning it's a free for all, generally at small airports, while the ramp isn't controlled a call to the ground controller letting him know what you are doing helps manage any potentially conflicting traffic.

The majority of airports either have the ground controller in charge or a separate ramp frequency if it's a large airport. Today in LA was ramp. They clear you for the push and that is then communicated to the pushback crew. As we push we start at least one engine. This is the time you notice that the air shuts off for a bit. We need that air to get the engine spinning. With at least one engine up, the tug disconnects and we run a couple check lists.

I then ask either ground or ramp for taxi clearance. If it's ramp, I taxi to a different location and then call ground from there. A ground clearance sounds something like this. "Flight 1234 taxi to runway 22 right, at whiskey, via kilo and bravo." And that is a very short, simple one. Some of them can be 4 or 5 different instructions in one call.

Ground is giving instructions like this non stop to all the planes that they are controlling. It's important to time the call not to step on them and also to pay attention when they are calling you. Radio communication is a very regulated endeavor. It has a certain flow and cadence. At the professional level you are expected to be able to get the entire instruction on the first try and be ready to go. The ground controller at La Guardia is probably the worst job there is. It's a small airport that moves a ton of planes and has multiple planes crossing active runways while handling planes taxiing in and planes taxiing out. It's a pain. Chicago controllers are ridiculous. They do some things up there I'm not fond of at all, and are also the most short tempered of the controllers.

Taxi out is considered a 'sterile' environment. Meaning both guys have all their attention on where we are, and what we are doing next. No other talking is allowed, we are simply focusing on the flight ahead. My job is to make sure that the Captain also knows where he is going. Taxiing the plane on the ground can be very distracting and it can be hard to listen to the radio, while checking your position on the taxi chart, while remembering what the instructions where and where you are supposed to be going. So my job is to clarify directions, make sure we don't make any wrong turns, and keep our asses from having to do extra paperwork.

I may have to change to a different ground controller and eventually to tower. We have one to two more checklists that have to be run that ensure that the plane is fully configured for takeoff.

Once all that is completed, the runway, speeds, airplane configuration, frequencies are set for the tower and departure controllers and the runway is clear, we are good to go. The tower controller clears us for takeoff, and we are on our way.

claphamsa

07-24-2015, 09:27 PM

PilotMan

07-24-2015, 09:39 PM

is the captain always the most senior? or is it randomly assigned? when you have a new pilot like you did today, do you let them do less? i bet it sucks to be in the other seat on their first ever landing....

also welcome to DC!

Remember that all of our jobs are based on seniority. So I would have to be senior enough to be able to hold a captain position. So when I say he was new to the plane, he isn't new to the company. In fact he has been with the company for almost 20 years, just not on the 737. When my seniority gets high enough I can bid for other positions within the company. I have already discussed moving to the 757/767 or 777 fleet sometime in the future, just to get the exposure to that flying before I might be senior enough to move over to the left seat of the 737 (which is probably the first plane I will Captain here.)

Speaking as a former Captain who flew with new pilots, it's not that you let them do less, but they have to be watched as they don't always get everything that a more seasoned pilot might get on the first time. But the other side of that coin is that one of the primary roles of the Captain is to mentor and teach. They should see that role as one who passes information and techniques on to the lesser experienced first officer, so he will be more prepared as he moves on. Not unlike a master/apprentice relationship.

First landings are what they are. The guys who sit next to guys on their first landings are special instructor pilots whose literal job is to teach that stuff. And yes, they happen with passengers on the plane.

finkenst

07-26-2015, 05:34 PM

Pilotman,

What gets a flight tagged as very important?

PilotMan

07-26-2015, 09:12 PM

The last couple of days kind of ran together. I've been up for 22 hours now and things are starting to get a little blurry.

Yesterday started early in the morning for a flight back to LAX. The weather behaved again, and we were well south of the storms that were brewing in the breadbasket of the country.

I do remember the flight attendant calling up to the cockpit to mention that a passenger was very concerned because it seemed like we flew very close to another plane and wanted to ask us if we knew about it. These kinds of things are pretty touchy. On the one hand I want to chuckle a little because this is actually a more common incident that you'd imagine. And yes, we are well aware of planes that are in close proximity to us, and no there is nothing unusual about the distance that particular plane was. On the other hand, you need to reassure the flight attendant by giving a resonse that doesn't feel like you aren't taking them seriously. Who knows what kind of day this person had? Or maybe they really are just that terrified to fly and they really need to know. This passenger even made a point of asking the Captain about it when we got off! He was really worked up!

Above 29,000 ft (FL290) separation is reduced to 1,000 for planes that are traveling in opposite directions. East bound planes are at odd altitudes and west are at even. Distance is very misleading at altitude. Because there is no close frame of reference to judge your own distance (because the ground is 7 miles away), the eye has trouble deciding how close something truly is. So to us, that 1000 feet of separation is all we need, we don't need additional lateral separation unless the altitudes are the same. If a plane buzzes past you in while you are cruising it looks close, because it is, but that 1000 ft vertical separation is keeping you safe.

Because everything was going just snappy we were able to land back in LA a few minutes early and got into the gate on time.

From there, we got in our car to the short layover hotel, just off the airport property. It was still morning in LA, but all I could think was that I had to go to bed in a few hours. The red-eye awaited.

I spent my time walking down to a shopping area on Sepulveda and eating at a Mexican joint that I've found great for this layover. They were busy today, but the food was still great. I did a little shopping and then it was back to the room to go to bed.

I slipped away around 7p eastern time (4p local) and before I knew it the alarm was going off at 1130 (830p local). I actually felt pretty rested after this one. The last one I did I got even more sleep and was still groggy. That makes the 5.5 hours in the dark even worse.

We got off the gate in LA right on time and hustled off to the runway. It was my leg last night and our dispatcher did an awesome job at giving us the heads up on the weather that was coming up a few hundred miles ahead.

As we got closer to Lincoln, Nebraska we came upon a massive thunderstorm system that was very active. It was causing a lot of deviations and looked scary out the window. Lightning everywhere, the radar gave us a good view of what was out the window and there was enough lightning that it lit the night up and we could get a little better gauge of what we were dealing with.

I took a video of it, but because it was so dark it just didn't turn out well. But I did go ahead and post it anyway. This cell system was at least 50 miles long and we saw non stop lightning in the night. The video doesn't really do it justice, but you can still see some of the great show. This video is just out the right side of the plane. There was almost as much activity on the left side as well. The overall line was well over 100 miles long. All those little flashes you see, that look really small, they are over 80 miles away. This was a big cell. I just wish it could've looked as cool here as it did last night.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/3AGkpVOi8z0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Once we got past that area it was smooth sailing. The sun came up after we cleared Chicago, and it was a really nice flight. I took another video of our decent as we headed into Newark. We are going close to 450mph and descending around 1500ft/min.

<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ADwKyAGjJO0" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

We got in around 645 and I had a little over 2.5 hours of time until my flight home. I went down to our operations area and grabbed some quality time in a recliner for an hour, but I just couldn't sleep. My flight was wide open going home today. The peace of mind that comes from knowing that you've got a seat that takes you home.

Up next for me is a little time off. The Mrs and I are finally getting to take that honeymoon that we didn't get 15 years ago. We are both really looking forward to it.

Pilotman,

What gets a flight tagged as very important?
So the company has flights that are worth more than others. Either because of competitive reasons, or because the plane is needed to keep on schedule because of what it operates throughout the day. Say it goes to airports that are known for causing delays, it's very important that the plane be on time, because if it starts off behind it probably can't catch back up again. A full day of late flights just can't help the company metrics. So because of that they have a special emphasis on flights that they really need to get out on time.

PilotMan

08-08-2015, 11:18 AM

I'm pissed because yesterday I decided to sit down a get back to my posts here. So I typed out this nice long report then proceeded somehow to lose it when it was nearly finished. Of course I know, that every day I let go by that there will be more and more to type. So I guess I just need to suck it up and press on for those of you following along.

So no more procrastinating. I'm back to work and back to life as normal. The Mrs. and I had a fantastic trip to Cancun. We so needed the vacation and the time away. The Mrs, needed it more than I did I think. We spent most of our time between the pool, eating and getting ready for the parties. We took a day trip to Chichen Itza as our only trip off the resort. Otherwise we simply did what we wanted. No kids around us, no kids at the resort. A real grown up getaway.

Going down there was not too much trouble. We didn't get first class, but we were able to sit together so that was nice. Coming home was where things got a little more interesting. I had originally planned for us to come back through Houston again, but the Chicago flight that left a few minutes later had many more open seats. That only left us with about 90 minutes between flights in Chicago. Needless to say we weren't on time getting in, thanks to the slotting of departures out of Cancun. We hustled through customs, but I nearly lost my cool with the TSA when they pulled me aside for extra screening. We got to the plane at departure time but it was too late. The plane was still there, but it was closed out and there wasn't anything that could be done. So I fumed over the fucking TSA and the now 5 hour sit that we were going to have. Then I noticed that last flight was already delayed by 90 minutes and getting worse.

Ugh. After I cooled down and ate some food I put together that our plane still hadn't left St Louis, and it had to travel to DC, then to Grand Rapids, then to Chicago before it would go to Cincy. At this point I thought that there was a good chance that it wouldn't go at all and that we might be stuck in Chicago. I found another flight on a different company and bit the bullet and purchased a couple of discount stand by tickets on them, but that flight was delayed too.

Customer service did a great job of making sure our checked bag got over to the other flight and we made it home a solid 3 hours before we would have eventually gotten home had we stuck it out. Maybe it wasn't worth the 90 bucks the tickets cost us, but the peace of mind, knowing we were going home was.

At home I had to finish some training for a procedure change that we are implementing later this month. Basically it's going to allow us to push off the gate without our final weights. We'll be able to get those without too much delay and it should result in faster departures. But because the entire procedure is changing there are a lot of differences between what we do now, and what we will do. This is the only training we will get on it, so I had better get it down.

Thursday at 430a I was on the road again to the airport. I must have been tired, not only from the early wake up, but just in general. I slept most of the flight to Newark and then after I got there, I went straight to ops and grabed a couch and slept for another hour and a half.

My first and only flight of the day was a trip down to Ft Lauderdale. We were planning to be on time, when the company decided to steal our plane and give us another one that didn't get in until we were supposed to be leaving. That put us behind by a good 45 minutes, by no fault of our own.

Yesterday we had one flight from there to San Francisco. Again, I totally took a nap when we got in. There was a little bit of weather in Florida, but it was early enough in the morning that the big stuff didn't have a chance to really get going yet. It was a long ass flight though. I felt like it was never going to end, and it was only 6 hours. Not even close to the longest that I've had.

I have more training that is due this month that I havent' started yet, so I spent some time getting a couple of modules knocked out. So I finished training for Airport Ground Operational Safety, Automated Gate Parking system, and Deice/Anti-ice program. And another for general and specific flight safety and flight planning issues. I've got quite a few to go. I'll try and get a couple of these taken care of over the next few days.

This morning, we left SFO and headed to LAX, where I'm typing this up. I'm about to head to my next flight to Cleveland where I'll be tonight. I was really thinking about going to the Indians game tonight, but the tickets are still pretty expensive (compared to Cincy right now) and I'd probably have to leave early anyway for my last day tomorrow. Besides I've got to get this training done.

I'll leave you with this:

https://scontent-lax1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11822416_10204733647725092_392244625059964208_n.jpg?oh=c19e64cae29172fdf520d63ca1c60ce9&oe=564431DC

PilotMan

08-08-2015, 10:21 PM

This whole week and weekend has been good for flying. We haven't had too much in the way of weather to deal with and the rides have been smooth. Today we were pretty early getting into LAX from SFO, and despite that we ended up late on the gate.

To give you an idea of how tightly some of these gates are scheduled we were due to park at :39 after the hour, and the plane on our gate was supposed to be off by :35. On paper that might seem like it'll work, but it doesn't take into consideration the one way nature of the alley (as in one plane in, one plane out), nor does it give much leeway for any delays that ground control might give us due to congestion.

We did our best, and technically getting in when we did is considered on time, but after being on the ground for 25 minutes it sure doesn't feel like it.

Everything was on schedule to be out on time from LAX, except for the ramp. They told us that the company was having some issues with something in the bag transfer area and that we were going to wait for 16 bags to show up. It was alright today, the flight plan had us planned to get into Cleveland almost 20 minutes early so we had some time to give.

It almost took up that whole 20 minutes too. The flight was very quiet. Weekends are just quiet in general. Less flying, means less chatter on the radio. It's just a more laid back atmosphere. Just like we had planned, we got to Cleveland right on time without any other adjustments to be made.

I decided not to go to the game. I had some things I needed to get accomplished. Training being one of them. So today I worked through a module that focused on managing emergencies, crew coordination during emergencies, briefing the flight attendants and considerations that need to be made when determining whether or not an evacuation needs to be ordered.

There are 7 more modules that I have to complete before the end of the month. As long as I take it a little at a time there won't be any need to stress.

Tomorrow starts earlier than today did and hopefully ends with me at home. That's right, it's go home day! Woot.

PilotMan

08-09-2015, 09:35 PM

Started this morning leaving the hotel in Cleveland at 635a for the airport. Our flight was supposed to leave for Chicago at 750a. We got on board and started to initialize the flight computer but it wasn't initializing with the correct flight number and destination. After a few minutes of messing with it we ended up calling dispatch. We had already double checked the airplane with our paperwork and it matched, so we ended up calling dispatch to see if they had any idea what was going on.

At this point we had already started the boarding process when dispatch said that we were supposed to be in a different plane. It would have been nice if they had told us this before, because nobody had any idea this was going on. The ramp had almost finished loading the bags and cargo. The passengers were over half boarded. We had most of the set up done for the flight and now they wanted us on a different plane.

So the plane they wanted us to take was still in the maintenance hanger, but would be over soon. This other plane had 1 of the 2 pressurization and air conditioning systems out of order. If the company had left that plane on the route to Denver they would have to bump some 30 passengers off the plane to be able to get enough fuel due to the altitude restrictions with that type of deferral.

They didn't give us any option. Get off, and switch planes. We had time and went and got some breakfast first. The plane wasn't expected from the hanger for almost an hour. Talk about feeling frustrated here. We have no control over any of this and it looks like we are the JV team running between planes like nobody knows where to be. The poor gate agents spent the time we were eating rebooking customers on other flights so they wouldn't be totally screwed.

We ended up an hour and a half late, and did then flew as fast as the ride would allow. Luckily it didn't screw up the last leg. We had originally had a 3 hour break, now it was cut down to an hour and a half.

I spent most of the time walking around the terminal, just to get the blood moving a little bit. Then grabbed a quick sandwich and headed over to the plane. This time there was none of the silliness that we had in the first flight.

The funny thing from this flight though? We were pushing back and noticed that there were a couple of tugs that were driving outside the road lines so they could keep going and maneuver around the plane, instead of waiting like they should have. It just so happened that on the other side of the plane was a police officer with his lights on that was waving at them to come see him. One of the guys tried to do a fast 180 and go in the opposite direction. That only drew the cop to come running after him, yelling and pointing him back in his direction. We had a good laugh. Yes, even guys on the airport, driving tugs, do stupid stuff and get pulled over by the cops.

A nice fast flight into Newark got us home 10 minutes early. ATC had wanted us to land on the shorter runway and we told him no, just put us on the runway that we had planned for. I know we got some extra vectors because they were a little saturated, but I think he gave us even more just because.

After we parked I had 2 hours until my flight, that supposedly had a couple of seats left as of this morning, but when I looked again, it was full. That meant that I'm heading to the gate early so I can get listed on the jumpseat. I needed it today too. It was as uncomfortable as always, and two hours of that is about all I can take. A seat home is still a seat home though, and it indeed took me home today.

I've got to put my September bid together this week. I've only got 2 days left actually. I need to get my butt in gear. Then there's the training that I need to do too. Seven modules left to complete by the end of the month.

It's not like I won't be busy at home either. This week is schedule pick up for school. The HOA party that I've been organizing and not able to attend is on Saturday. I've got shopping to do and have to try and get more volunteers to work it or the Mrs. is going to kill me. Since she volunteered to work in my place, and she's not the one on the board. There might even be a trip to Kings Island with the boys before summer is over.

Busy, busy, busy.

Barkeep49

08-10-2015, 07:45 AM

Good luck with your September bid.

PilotMan

08-10-2015, 01:29 PM

Good luck with your September bid.

Thanks Barkeep, after the fiasco with August I'm feeling gun shy for this one. September is another one of those months with too much going on in it. Between the holiday that the boys are off of school and a birthday for the Mrs, and another for the youngest, that's enough.

Then there's also that school is back in session. I can try and get some amount of weekends off to be with everyone more, or I can be home more during the week to help with the day to day stuff. We've found it more useful to be home midweek in the past. Having said that right now, I'm set up to have the last weekend in August off, which is technically in September and then I'm trying to get another weekend off so that I can take the Mrs to Columbus for the Country Living Fair, which is sort of like a massive 3 day antique market. We went last year as her birthday present after years of wanting but never getting to go, and she wants to go again if we can, this year.

I just finished my bid.

I should have mentioned that I was able to pick up a 3 day trip from another pilot who wanted to get rid of it, at the end of August. That makes up for most of the trip that I dropped to go to Cancun, and puts me back in the normal category for monthly income. That's critical with our one income family.

After talking it over with the Mrs, I settled on selling out for that weekend in Columbus, and of course avoiding La Guardia. The rest is designed to be spaced out throughout the month so that my time home won't be so rushed. I put 12 different bids in to try and capture at least part of that weekend. After those bids, I've decided to forget the weekend and try and capture at least the 2 birthday days until noon the day after. That way, I wouldn't need to leave until the next day. As a last resort, I've left the birthdays as soft requests that could be jettisoned, provided it leaves my request to avoid LGA in place and keep my trip length maxed at 4.

What do you guys think so far? We are coming down to the last third of the year and the last third of this version of the dynasty. Anything that you want to know about? Or thoughts on the job? Parts of it are not as hard as previous companies I've worked for, but parts of it are more complex and challenging. I'm still very happy to finally have reached the pinnacle of the industry.

It's been just over 2 years here now, and with all the hiring I've got just over 1000 new hires below me. As of today, I'm at 92.4% seniority within the entire company. A whopping 7.6% of the company is junior to me. That's nothing. Lol. But it's only going up every month! Just in Newark, on the 737, for September I'm at 56% of all first officers, and 77% of all line holding first officers. Some guys in the last 15 years spent a majority of that time in the bottom 90% of both of those categories. For years. So you can see how much times are changing in the industry.

As always, thanks for your interest, and for sticking with my writing and storytelling. I'm pleased you are following along.

britrock88

08-10-2015, 08:53 PM

:) Happy to keep reading! I feel like a more educated traveler thanks to this dynasty.

Barkeep49

08-11-2015, 07:12 AM

I would love to know more about stewardesses and stewards. I think that's been covered here and there but not in depth anywhere (unless I'm forgetting a post in which case just point me back to it).

CraigSca

08-11-2015, 11:44 AM

I'd love to hear more about the flight that flew through the hail storm last week. How does something like that happen? Isn't that a huge no-no on both the pilots and ATC's part?

lighthousekeeper

08-12-2015, 01:29 PM

Loving this dynasty. I'm only up to page 2 though - don't tell me how it ends!

finkenst

08-13-2015, 02:51 PM

What do you guys think so far? We are coming down to the last third of the year and the last third of this version of the dynasty. Anything that you want to know about? Or thoughts on the job? Parts of it are not as hard as previous companies I've worked for, but parts of it are more complex and challenging. I'm still very happy to finally have reached the pinnacle of the industry.

It's been just over 2 years here now, and with all the hiring I've got just over 1000 new hires below me. As of today, I'm at 92.4% seniority within the entire company. A whopping 7.6% of the company is junior to me. That's nothing. Lol. But it's only going up every month! Just in Newark, on the 737, for September I'm at 56% of all first officers, and 77% of all line holding first officers. Some guys in the last 15 years spent a majority of that time in the bottom 90% of both of those categories. For years. So you can see how much times are changing in the industry.

As always, thanks for your interest, and for sticking with my writing and storytelling. I'm pleased you are following along.

I vote for year two! :popcorn:

How do all of the upcoming forced retirements of pilots (age 65) affect your seniority status?

Can you be type certified (nomenclature?) on more than one aircraft? For example, 737 and some long haul plane? Do you have a "Dream plane/route" you'd like to be able to have/run?

hoosierdude

08-14-2015, 05:04 AM

I was hoping you would continue your pilot career and how you are handling both home and work. It is a look at a career that many do not get to see, and I have to say inspiring as well! Please continue if you can!

PilotMan

08-14-2015, 09:40 AM

So I'm just coming off of 4 days at home where it was non-stop, end of summer action and I'm ready for my quiet hotel room now. Lol. Seriously, it was one of those times at home where I was busy and we were trying to cram the last of the summer with Dad home before school starts next week.

This morning was another 330a wakeup for my flight to Newark to start my trip. I'll be heading over to my plane here in the next couple of minutes.

While I was at home I got a few more training modules done. I covered a module on Evacuation and Ditching that was focused on water landings and the correct operation and procedures for the life raft. You have to figure that if you're a surviving pilot on a plane that has ditched in the water and you're lucky enough to get the life raft off and passengers on it that you're now going to be the boat captain and you'll need to know how to run that show.

The next module was on the Flight Management System and Navigation. And the last was one on the different warning systems in the plane. Everything from just positional lights all the way up to the, red lights, with audible warnings and bells.

I hate doing training at home. It just feels like my time at home is my time, but when you wait until the last couple weeks before it's due you don't get to complain, well not that much anyway. Still, I'll take training at home, on my couch, rather than stuck in a classroom far from home. That's one more improvement over what we used to have. We used to have yearly, 3 day, classroom sessions. Granted, for some things, I'll say the quality of learning was better then, but to be able to cover the same material at your own pace is way better. I don't get in trouble if I fall asleep while I'm doing this training!

I've got 4 modules left to finish before the end of the month. My plan is to get at the very least a couple more done on this trip.

Like I said earlier, we were trying to get this last push of summer under our belts for 2015 and send everyone off to the school year with a good feeling and happy memories. My family puts a lot of things off while I'm working. I mean a lot of family activities. Not housework. They know that things will happen and that I travel and such, but we really try and schedule bigger things for when I'm going to be home. This week was more of a culmination of smaller things, each and every day.

On Monday, my wife and I had to shop for things that I needed to get for the the HOA party that I've taken over. My goal with the HOA this year was to increase neighborhood participation. It's been pretty sad since we've lived there and I decided last fall that I wasn't going to keep talking about it and that instead I would try and be part of the solution. I started a Facebook group and have taken charge there. I've pushed our property manager, who spins her tires a lot and doesn't go anywhere, but a lot of that has to do with the current board, being indecisive. I've successfully suggested some improvements that are on track to be made and convinced them to have this party, that I've planned. It's this weekend. I'll be working. Sigh. The wife and kids are having (not loving) to cover for me, and of course, while we have a few homeowners that have said they will help out, I'm still very much in need of more volunteers. It's all a process. This needs to be successful or the next phase is going to suffer.

Tuesday, the family went to the Drive In (yes! We still have one in Cincy!) and saw Fantasic 4 and Ant Man. We were out until about 2a that night. Next day, I took the 3 boys to Kings Island and played there for half the day. Yesterday, we went to Ikea, (kids asked, wanted to eat and shop there), Micro Center (otherwise known as the Daddy Toy Store) and then to a home show that we go to every year. Yesterday was the only day that I could go for the 2 weeks that it's running because it on weekends. These weren't the big, big homes that you get in the Cincy home show (1.2-2.0 M), but these were bigger than mine (550k - 750k)! The boys do Minecraft, so they are very into the design and function of homes, let alone the silly dreaming of living like that.

So now I'm off to my plane, to start my 12 hour day, where I won't get to the hotel until about 1000p tonight (east coast time). Doesn't matter that I've already been up and in uniform for 6 hours. Thanks for the feedback so far. I'll get to those responses soon!

A couple pix to start the day! First one is of the menu board in the EWR cafeteria. This employee cafeteria is legendary. Small set up, all this food is available 24/7. These guys work and slave non-stop and the food is good and affordable. One of the very best parts of working in EWR (there aren't many.)

Second pic is a picture that I snapped today as well. I knew that the view needed to be just right for the phone to get the detail, but with the haze and this morning it worked out great. So enjoy Manhatten from Newark.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150814_081758.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150814_081758.jpg.html)

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150814_082842.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150814_082842.jpg.html)

PilotMan

08-16-2015, 01:35 AM

I wanted to add that I appreciate the feedback and questions above. I'll get to those soon. I've been pretty busy on this trip so far. It's definitely thrown some curves into the mix.

The plane was a little bit late getting in for us to leave on time. We did our best to get all of our stuff done, and then we sat there. See, sometimes you sit on a plane and you wonder why you aren't going anywhere. Sometimes we wonder the same thing. We sit there waiting for the next step of the process so we can get paid and get on with the day. In this case we were waiting for 30 bags to get on the plane. See? Just one part of the dance and things get behind the ball. That cost us over 20 minutes off the gate. We had been planned to get into San Francisco 15 min early, but now we were looking at a late arrival. Once we got headed in the right direction we made some adjustments to try and make up some of this time we had lost. Too bad on this day that despite our efforts we just couldn't make up much of the time. ATC gave us a reroute that they said was for traffic, but I wonder sometimes. Not that I'd like to find out the hard way that I was wrong or anything.

Our arrival into SFO is almost always over Yosemite Park and Half Dome. Today I finally remembered to get a shot of it, and when it wasn't covered in clouds either!

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150814_172750.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150814_172750.jpg.html)

Normally a trans-con would be all I would do for the day, but not on this wonderful day. We had about an hour to kill before we needed to be back at the plane for 1 more leg. This one down to LAX. This plane was late coming in as well, and that put us behind once again. The good thing about SFO-LAX is it's usually planned for more block time than actual flight time and you can get in really early. Today was not one of those days. We made things happen to get going and headed out. Due to gusty winds the airport was only able to make use of 2 runways instead of the customary 4. That usually means that departures will be delayed somewhat, but we were flying later in the day, in between pushes (scheduled banks of flights that go out right around the same time.) That didn't stop ATC from holding us on the ground though. We sat, waiting for our wheels up time for LA, due to arrival rates, and flow into LA. Like I've expressed before, it's always better now to have a plane depart a little later, holding them on the ground than it is to have them hold in the air while they burn fuel. We ended up in LA almost an hour late.

By this point I had been in uniform for about 18 hours from when I put it on in the morning at home. I really like being able to commute in on the day I start, but damn, if it doesn't create these unbelievably long days. Needless to say I slept like a champ. I was productive this morning too. I finished the 4 training modules that I had to finish and am now trained until the end of the year.

Today I covered ETOPS, which stands for Extended Overwater Operations. Basically, we have a different set of rules for flights that cannot remain within a set distance from the nearest suitable alternate at any point along the route. Anything overseas is ETOPS. There are only a few routes on the 737 that are, Bermuda being one of them. It's a complicated set up that focuses on fuel, emergencies and worst case scenarios and what is required before you can even push back. The next module was an exam for Pacific Operations. I have to have this because of our routes to Hawaii, even though EWR doesn't operate any of those flights. From there it was onto compliance training where everyone learns how to love one another and what to do if you don't like others loving you quite so much. The last module was an incident review of the Asiana crash in SFO. The technical details of the event were reviewed and discussed.

I walked out to the pier and had a great breakfast at this little joint. Have I mentioned that I love SoCal? Love it. It's still in my blood from being born in this area. Not sure I could do it full time, but I wouldn't mind trying if I could afford it.

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/11885130_10153537322504648_8268671414166974189_n.jpg?oh=2b635d00146a91ba26ceb48f44ad1c98&oe=567ACD77

We left for the airport, as our flight was just before noon, heading out to Chicago. I had seen on the news about Washington Center going down and all the planes getting routed around the airspace. Our plane was already in LA, so we didn't need to worry about that. Once we got on the plane though we had some other things to deal with. The plane had come in with an open write-up. Meaning that the last crew had a problem and it had to be dealt with before we could do anything.

This issue, I knew from the beginning, had some potential to be a long delay. It's just one of those things that could be any of a number of different problems and it involved a long process to try and ferret out the issue.

We were immediately delayed 3 hours.

Someone might ask, "what do you do when you are delayed like that?"

Well, pretty much the same as a passenger, except that I don't care as much what time I get somewhere unless it's the last day of the trip. Don't screw with go home day. lol.

Honestly though, we sit in first class, talk, eat, read, sleep and wait for some kind of news. Today I got off and wandered around the terminal just to move some. I think some people think that we possess much more knowledge than we actually do. We just don't know how long it'll be. We don't know if it's going to cancel. We don't know if it's going to fixed quickly. We just try and pass information along to the gate agent, the same way that she passes it on to you. Remember, their primary goal is to empty the gate and move on to the next flight. They want to board the plane and get you out of their hair. Even if it means you sitting on a plane for hours waiting. We don't want that. For starters, the flight attendants aren't getting paid for that time either. They don't start until that door closes. So that whole time at the gate waiting? Yeah, just doing their job, but not getting paid for it. It's one sure fire way to have a crabby, tired cabin crew.

Three hours turned into four.

My day had me with a short layover and a plane change in Chicago and then a flight down to Phoenix. It would have been a very long day like the day before. Eventually, they found a different plane that was just coming out of maintenance and they towed it over and switched our gate to the new plane.

Every time things like that happen the dispatcher has to create a new release for the flight with up to date weather, route and fuel information. Then it's our responsibility to look over all that data and approve it. All this time we aren't on the clock either. We knew by now that we weren't going to be able to make our flight to Phoenix. That flight would be re-crewed with someone else. Now we were in limbo for what might happen next. It was nice to finally get going though. When we got going, I had already been in uniform for another 5 hours while we waited out this delay.

Once we had the new plane we worked quickly to get ready and pushed off the gate. On our call to ground they gave us some instructions and then told us to call for a new route and clearance. So if you are taxiing out to the runway, and you find yourself sitting for 10-15 minutes without moving, there's a good chance that the plane got a new route from ATC.

When we get a new route we have to make sure that the computer is loaded correctly. We both verify that the routing is correct (very important) and that it's loaded correctly, that we have enough fuel, and whether or not we can go without needing to have the dispatcher involved. Once we are both ok with everything, and confident that we are set up right we made our way to the runway and left for Chicago.

We really had no choice but to try and make up what time we could, but it was hard with another reroute along the way and then the weather. It took all summer, but I finally had a day where I had to play with the radar, and we simply picked and wound our way around one storm, then another. ATC gives you the authorization to deviate and you are responsible to get yourself where you want to be. The hard part on days like today is trying to pick that best path through everything.

Sometimes the options are obvious, but today I really had to examine the storms, play with the radar and not only pick the safest route, but also the most comfortable for the passengers. I'd say that we were dodging massive storms for most of 90 minutes before we broke out into the clear. The rest of the flight was straightforward.

Back on the ground in Chicago and I found out that my schedule had been altered. Instead of heading to Phoenix, I was to stay in Chicago, where I'm at tonight. Tomorrow is something very different from my scheduled trip, but the upside is that instead of going home on Monday, there's a chance that I might get to go home a day early, tomorrow. Even better news? I still get paid for my original schedule. Or to be more correct. I get paid the greater of scheduled or actual. Since I'm doing something completely different. It's not close to what my original scheduled is, so the former is paid out. If they had added more flying I would have gotten increased to the new amount.

In other news, the party that I had been working on for the HOA was today as well. My family worked very hard to cover for me and aside from an incident where the grocery store didn't have our food order ready, and simply had lost the catering order, even though the party started in 20 minutes. Ugh. So much stress, but they did awesome. Everything else went very well, and I was very proud of their efforts. I'd say that the whole thing was very successful, and planned out perfectly, from space usage, to how many people we might expect. We must have had close to 80 people, if not more when you consider little kids. A great effort and bounce back for having gone years without anything and being told that nobody participates. I hope next year I do get more volunteers though.

https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/v/t1.0-9/s526x395/11870651_10204800602438918_697392216448187666_n.jpg?oh=91c98de97c6876a8cf37e720ca688c69&oe=5678B074

This is my sheep boy. His favorite toy when he was little was a little sheep. Now he's a big 8th grader, but he'll always be my little sheep boy.

PilotMan

08-21-2015, 02:30 PM

Ok, I'm going to get some shit posted here so you don't think that I've gotten lost. Procrastination has been borne by busy work schedules and a busy few days at home.

When I left off I was laying over in Chicago. The next day I had been rescheduled to operate a flight to Pittsburgh and back to Chicago. The weather wasn't an issues for us at all, in fact it was quite nice, mostly, where we were going anyway.

We got to Pittsburgh on time, for a recent change, and I had an hour before we had to leave again. That really meant that I had about 15 minutes to do whatever I needed, like eat, shop, pee before I had to get started on our outbound work.

Being a diehard Steeler fan makes trips to Pittsburgh an opportunity to pick up things that I don't typically get access to in Cincinnati. The Sportsburgh store at the airport has tons of merch, from all the local sports teams, and with all of them being the same color, it makes for a nice uniform store appearance. Nothing on the racks screamed buy me today, everything was full price plus and I just couldn't justify it. Great selection though.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150816_131824.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150816_131824.jpg.html)

On the way back to Chicago we had to deal with adjustments because of the Air and Water show going on downtown. In fact, in addition to changing our arrival and landing runway, we had to make some small adjustments because the airshow planes were not staying on their own side of the bed. Back on the ground in Chicago and I was done for the day. That meant that my trip was going to be done early and I was free to go home! Sweet!

I got home about 18 hours earlier than I would have on my regular schedule. That meant that I had some extra time with the family on the last few days of summer break.

My Monday was a lost day just trying to recover from the trip. I just wanted to do nothing and relax. Tuesday I took the family out for dinner and we had out annual mini golf outing. It's something that we've done a few years in a row now. No real reason why, it just seems like a good way to spend the last day of summer. The next day was the first day of school again.

And after that. Back to work. I'm out of time for right now. Yesterday was day 1, and I was in uniform for 20 hours. Quite the day. More to come.

PilotMan

08-22-2015, 01:46 PM

Day 1 of this trip was long on paper. Made even longer with the commute to work, that started at 430a. My flight that morning was very open so getting a seat wasn't an issue. It's that time of the year again. School has started in a lot of places and the summer vacation season is all over. It's the first, post summer, down turn, of the aviation year. Generally that means that there are lighter loads throughout and my commute gets easier until the holidays. The other major low time for travel is Jan-mid March, when spring break kicks up, then again from late April til the end of May.

I slept as much on the plane as I could, didn't really get comfortable though, then got to work and claimed a couch to sleep for another hour and a half. I had to skip breakfast. Sleep was way more important. The first flight was to Denver, we had a mostly full flight. There was weather, and by weather I mean scattered thunderstorms in the northeast, that was causing changes to ATC filed flight plans. We were given a reroute after we started taxiing out to depart. This one was completely different, as opposed to say just a couple of different departure fixes, so it took a little bit longer to get loaded and verified. We had originally planned to be to Denver a few minutes early, but Newark and this reroute conspired against us. The flight was a non-event though, just like I like them, and we arrived in Denver on a hot, hazy day. I couldn't even see the mountains from the airport because of it.

Instead of keeping the plane, or going straight to another for our next flight we had 2.5 hours to kill. It may not seem like much, but breaks in the day not only lengthen the day, but it can halt any momentum that you've got going on. I spent it in ops milling around on my laptop and chatting with the Mrs. We grabbed some dinner before our next flight out to Baltimore. Which just happened to be late inbound.

Tack on another 30 minutes of waiting and finally, at about 815p eastern time we were off. So much of managing the time on the flights is about keeping it in perspective. For example, I'm sure that everyone has had some long drives. I'll play the 10 mile, or 100 mile game, just counting down the miles in groups of 10, figuring the percent remaining, or remaining until I decide to take a break. I do the same thing in the plane. That way I can think about the flight in blocks rather than 3 or 4 hours at a time. That sort of thing is critical when it comes to staying alert, or staving off the boredom of the day. It's all worse in the dark. Winter is coming, the time change comes in November, and that's the worst of it.

I digress.

The weather on the east coast, associated with a cold front moving east, that hindered us in the morning was still a factor for our flight to Baltimore, although it was supposed to have moved off and dissipated by the time we got there. We messaged back and forth with the dispatcher and he told us it shouldn't be an issue. Ultimately, it wasn't but not by much. We were flying directly at this massive thunderstorm that has non-stop lightning for nearly 30 minutes. At night, depth perception is lost. Relying on the radar helps, but you still have to be skeptical. All it takes is one storm that you didn't see, or though you would miss to cause a lot of paperwork, or a severely damaged plane, like Delta had last week. One instance like that might get you 30 days off of work or more, depending on what happened and your actions that lead up to it.

At the most for us, it was distracting. The arrival that we were doing into Baltimore is a busy one, with many altitude step downs and speed reductions, more than enough to deal with, without a big thunderstorm that has just hit the field to worry about. I landed us and we headed to the hotel for some much needed rest. That's how day one ended.

Yesterday started with me heading out for some lunch. This was my first time in downtown Baltimore, my only real goal was to head to Camden Yards and check out the stadium, and eat in one of the pubs close by.

https://scontent-lga1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/p280x280/11232129_10153551253224648_2381207291470890583_n.jpg?oh=2890f594d445684ff81d2787eaa71b46&oe=5640F461

I thought it was great. I wish I could have stayed there and gone to the game that night. They were playing the Twins. Lunch was good, and then it was back to the airport for our next legs.

The flight attendants were already on the plane from the inbound flight and mentioned to us that the pilots had written the plane up and explained why. This one involved the eventual change of the nose wheel tires on the plane and made us over an hour late for our flight to Chicago.

Now the race was on. We had a planeful of people with tight connections in Chicago, and we only had an hour scheduled between our flights to be on time for our next leg. ATC didn't know it, but they helped us out by telling us to fly fast, and giving us some very favorable shortcuts along the way. We landed in Chicago on the best runway for our ramp and gate. I passed along notes to the station to make sure they knew when we would be in and to try and get extra help at the gate to get our passengers to their connecting flights. I have no idea how they did, but we got them into the gate over 15 minutes earlier than I told them to expect getting in.

We got to keep the plane for our next leg to San Diego. Keeping the plane is so nice. I don't have to pack up and unpack all over again. I just get off, grab a snack, and hit the head. Peeing in a real bathroom is a nice perk of an airline pilot. Hey, don't get me wrong, our lavs beat peeing in a bottle, but, peeing while fully upright (not hunched over; as opposed to fully erect (that's a different story)) is better. ;)

The flight to San Diego was obviously delayed. But we managed to cut 13 minutes off that planned departure, and then flew like the wind. The ride was mostly smooth, which is necessary if you are going to go fast. Turbulence is so much worse at mach .80 than it is at .77 or even .78. So with our extra speed we shaved off even more time, and were into the gate only 25 minutes late. If you consider that we left Baltimore an hour and 20 minutes late, kept the plane, turned it in Chicago without much wiggle room, and ended up in San Diego only 25 minutes late, I'd say we did a good job for the day.

Now I've got most of the day here to relax and recuperate before I operate the red eye back to Newark to finish off the trip. Fish taco's here I come.

MacroGuru

08-22-2015, 02:05 PM

Wish I would have known you were here. We are staying at the Marriott and I would have joined you for lunch!

PilotMan

08-22-2015, 04:09 PM

In the same hotel no less! That's crazy!

PilotMan

08-23-2015, 09:51 PM

I made a mistake yesterday. I let myself sleep in and I shouldn't have. It was all the difference in my ability to get sleep in the afternoon/evening before my show time for the flight back to Newark. The result was that things just didn't work out how I wanted them to. The good news was that it didn't seem to impact how I was feeling. I was ready to go, and ready to go home. The Captain and I were getting along pretty good, and all I had to do was get through a 4 hour and 48 minute flight, across the US, in the middle of the night, when I should be sleeping.

We were all set to go early and as we were pulling out the fireworks from Sea World started going off, not far from the field. The flight back was long, but it was manageable. Here's a shot of the routing that we took.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/1968%20Aug%2023.png (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/1968%20Aug%2023.png.html)

You can see that we navigated around some weather over Albuquerque and then this monster of a storm that was over Wichita, KS. The lightening from that system was strobe-like in it's intensity. We stayed well clear of it. But the instability from it was enough for us to have turbulence for almost an hour and a half.

We were originally routed up to Cleveland, but you can tell that we got a nice short cut that was more direct. We ended up getting in almost 15 minutes early. There were almost no tail winds to speak of, so it wasn't crazy early like we get in the winter months, but at least it was early.

I went straight to ops again after we got in. I had over 2 hours to kill and there was a couch with my name on it. When I got up I felt like I was staggering to the plane. I was so tired. I had no problem getting a seat home today and I was barely awake for 10 minutes after we started taxiing. I woke up when the gear came down.

I've got a short couple of days home again before I go back out again. A couple days and a big to do list.

PilotMan

08-23-2015, 10:05 PM

Good luck with your September bid.

So yeah, about that. It really didn't work out like I had hoped and planned. It pretty much came down to me not getting that weekend off under any circumstances and that is frustrating. I gave the bidding software a fairly wide berth to get me those days off and it just told me no. That means no weekend in Columbus with my wife. She's pretty disappointed. Waited 6 years to go, then finally got to go last year, then has to miss again.

The upside of my schedule is that my lesson learned from August paid off and at least I have the 2 birthdays off and few days off between each trip, just like I prefer. Plus the trips that I do have are very productive. That means that I have more days off than I've had, but the trips are only commutable on the back end, which means I'll be sleeping at the crash pad a few nights. I haven't been there in weeks.

PilotMan

08-23-2015, 10:54 PM

I would love to know more about stewardesses and stewards. I think that's been covered here and there but not in depth anywhere (unless I'm forgetting a post in which case just point me back to it).

What exactly did you want to know about? I can tell you that they go through extensive training. Some groups are unionized and some aren't. They can work insanely long hours, longer than mine, but the tradeoff is that they can get all their hours in a much shorter time than I can, and actually have a second job, or more family time to balance. The flight attendants that work in the regionals have a different path. Flight attendants can work on any plane, although the company generally keeps domestic and international flight attendants separate.

I'd love to hear more about the flight that flew through the hail storm last week. How does something like that happen? Isn't that a huge no-no on both the pilots and ATC's part?

I really haven't heard too much about the pilots side of the event. From the passengers it seemed like they knew they were going to go through some turbulence. One thing about hail is that sometimes it doesn't show up on radar as anything much more than light rain. Hail is right up there with fire as very bad things for planes. The rule of thumb about entering a hailstorm is a fast 180, but even in that time it can take a massive beating as you saw there. I'm not even sure how those guys could see out the windshield. Despite the fact that they are most certainly looking at time off because of it, they did a great job getting it on the ground.

:) Happy to keep reading! I feel like a more educated traveler thanks to this dynasty.

Thank you!

Loving this dynasty. I'm only up to page 2 though - don't tell me how it ends!

Thanks!

I vote for year two! :popcorn:

How do all of the upcoming forced retirements of pilots (age 65) affect your seniority status?

Can you be type certified (nomenclature?) on more than one aircraft? For example, 737 and some long haul plane? Do you have a "Dream plane/route" you'd like to be able to have/run?

Getting hired when I did, as one of the first 75-100 guys with no previous connection to the company, once hiring resumed put me into a very enviable position. I'm going to be flowing up the list very, very quickly over the next 10 years. You are right that retirement is at 65, but there are rumors that it'll get pushed to 67 sooner than later. When it moved from 60-65 it was awful. There was no movement, no attrition in any company, no hiring, no expansion, no anything for five full years. As someone who was on the bottom of the list for many of those years I'm not looking forward to another wait.

In addition to the retirements the company is hiring about 1500 people in the next 18 months, and that's going to continue for the foreseeable future. What all this means for me is that I'll be able to pick my plane, my base and my time to upgrade when I want. I'll have choices that I can make that other guys before me never got the chance to. By the time I've been here 15 years, I should be able to hold captain in almost any plane in the fleet. In the meantime I'm going to just cross my fingers that the industry holds together a little bit longer.

Aviation is very cyclical. We just recently went through a very long downurn, companies filed bankruptcies and all the negotiating leverage was with the company. Now they are making money and there are simply fewer numbers to draw from for pilots. We now hold more of the bargaining power, but the hardest part is knowing where to draw the line in negotiation.

To fly the 737 you only need a type rating for it. That rating will let you be able to fly any variant of the plane from the original classic right up to the newest 900ER model. I only fly the 737, but it won't be long before I may get the chance to swap planes and add to my list of type ratings (the CL-65 for the CRJ series is the other.)

As for planes, I'm sure that everyone wants to say that they flew the 747 international. That is still the pilots plane. It may be old and time may be passing it by, but it's still the coolest plane out there.

As for route, I want the chance to see more of the world. I've already gotten to see quite a bit more just being on the 737, but you can't take it over the ocean....yet.

I don't really care. I want to like what I do, have good layovers, get paid, raise my kids well and love my wife everyday. If I fly something else that makes those things easier so be it. After all I've been through in this industry I'm just happy to be here.

I was hoping you would continue your pilot career and how you are handling both home and work. It is a look at a career that many do not get to see, and I have to say inspiring as well! Please continue if you can!

Thanks man, I'm still planning on finishing out the year with it! I've surprised myself by being able to hang in there. It does take work, but knowing that people are enjoying it give me incentive to keep going.

PilotMan

08-28-2015, 11:17 AM

I lose track of what day it is very easily. We have a support worker who comes to our house and works with our oldest son on Tuesdays. He always sees me in my scrubby clothes sitting on the couch watching tv and on my laptop. I had to explain that mostly, that was my Saturday morning and that I didn't just spend my life like that. Lol

After getting up at 630a on my days off to take the kids to school and getting a couple of projects around the house done I was heading back to the airport on Wednesday. My first flight was later that night, so I didn't have to leave until 3p. I didn't get to see the boys home from school that day before I left. Once again, I had a seat and didn't need to worry about the jump seat.

Now that school has started for most people the flights are a little bit easier to get back and forth to work. It'll be like that from now until Thanksgiving, then it'll be dead until Christmas, then after the new year, dead again until spring break in mid March.

I had time to grab a sandwich in the cafeteria and a Mt Dew for the flight. I don't do coffee, so my caffeine fix has to come from somewhere. On this flight you need one. This flight, leaving so late, is like a red eye, but a little bit earlier in the day. So tonight, I was heading to Vegas.

The company has changed some of the cockpit procedures for our final weights and performance data and it's taking some getting used too. We took a little bit longer to go through the flow and double checked that we were getting it right. Taxi out was fast, no issues, and by the time we were off the ground we were already 25 minutes ahead of schedule for our arrival.

The flight itself was easy. We managed to cruise up to 40,000 ft, which is as high as the plane will go heading west (FL410 is the highest, but thats an east bound altitude). It was a smooth ride until we hit the Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska area. It was a little bumpy, then it got worse. We had heard some pilot reports from ATC and messaged with dispatch and they confirmed that there was an area about 200 miles long where planes were getting some bad rides. We dropped down to 36000 where it improved somewhat, but crossing the rockies past Colorado Springs it worsened again. ATC said that higher might be better now so we went back up to 40000ft. It was bumpy off and on until we got quite a bit further west. But eventually we were able to start out decent and landed in Las Vegas.

We were about 30 minutes early now, but must have surprised the ramp guys, because they were nowhere to be seen. A few calls on the radio and 10 minutes later and we were finally in. Still early.

I accomplished a fat load of nothing in Vegas. I was thinking about why I don't get out on each and every layover and a lot of it has to do with time to myself. Growing up an only child of a single mom I had a lot of alone time. As a more introverted person it's just something that I'm really comfortable with. So on my days off, I'm at home with my family, but never alone. When I go to work, my hotel time is my alone time, where I can get caught up on things. I did make it out to lunch at a little joint on the Miracle Mile near Planet Hollywood, but didn't do much of anything else out.

Since we got into Vegas around 3a east coast time, and by the time I went to bed, it was late. I got up kind of late, and immediately recognized that I was suddenly west coast acclimated. Jet lag for me when I get home!

So I don't get to do my favorite activity, besides drinking with Izulde, which is drinking and people watching on the strip, so I head back to the hotel and get ready for my next flight. I've got a two leg day with a break in San Francisco to change planes and find some food. The flight out of Vegas up to SFO was one of best in a while. Very scenic, smooth, quiet and on our arrival into San Francisco we were the only plane inbound. I'm not kidding. Usually, you get in a big long line of arrivals and take your turn, but today, nothing. Not a single other plane on the radio or inbound in our area. It was eerie. We kept thinking we had a radio problem because it was so quiet!

Again we were about 20 min early and our gate was occupied. They were just pushing though, so we only needed to wait for a few minutes. Again, into the gate early. I walked around some, found some food, and sat down to eat, while I downloaded my paperwork for the next flight.

When I got done, they were already boarding our flight to Seattle. So I headed over. I guess they needed to start early because we were so full. This plane is one of the newer ones and it seats a lot of people.

With three jumpseaters on the plane and a couple lap kids we ended up at 189 passengers and crew. Not my leg, so I just ran the radios. We had expected one of the 28 R or L runways leaving, but the wind had died down so they were back to taking off on the 1's (1R and 1L). In case you are wondering and I didn't mention it, the runway number is magnetic heading of the runway. Or closest to it. So the winds were strong out of the west (270), but taking off on runway 1, (heading 010, or north) we were going to have a crosswind. We had to redo all of our performance data and redo the setup to match with our correct departure. In that case, all of our takeoff speeds and flap settings get altered because of the shorter runway and crosswinds.

We actually had a nice flight up to Seattle. Planes above us were getting more turbulence, but we stayed nice at 32000. By the time we landed it was almost 1130p local, or 230a, east coast time. See what I mean? I'm so totally going to be jet lagged when I get home.

The hotel was buzzing. Seriously buzzing. I almost felt like I should stay up and enjoy it. PAX Prime is going on across the street. I'm this close and like Comic-Con in San Diego, have neither the time nor the ability to check any of it out.

It's almost time to head back to the airport. This was a short layover. I haven't left the room here either. Just enough time to get caught up with a couple of people and pound out this update. I love getting out in Seattle but today it's just not happening. I haven't even eaten yet.

My schedule today has me flying back to Newark. This is a three day trip for me, so today is go home day. My flight looks good right now, there are plenty of seats so as long as our plane is on time and we can get out of here, I'll be getting home. Just not until 1230a tomorrow morning. Ugh. That just sounds bad. It still feels like morning. Oh wait. Because it is, in Seattle. West to East is never as much fun as East to West.

CraigSca

08-28-2015, 08:13 PM

PilotMan

08-29-2015, 10:35 AM

Hey, wanted to thank you for answering my question about the hail storm.

Also, earlier this week I flew into CVG - first time I'd been there for a while. My first thoughts were that it was a nice, small airport, but then thought that the gates were WAY too far from the baggage claim area. Only on the return trip out did I notice the train system (argh).

Was thinking, as a pilot I think I'd follow your way of doing things. Meaning - live close to a smaller airport. Sure, you have to have that first trip that takes you where you actually need to fly. But...you also don't have the traffic and other proverbial headaches of living close to a large city. On the way home, I flew out of O'Hare, and I was actively looking to purchase ice picks to stick in my eye after having to deal with 2pm Thursday traffic just trying to get close to the airport. Ugh.

Yeah, CVG used to be one of the biggest airports in the US. At one time Delta operated over 600 flights a day. There were 3 terminals buzzing as late at 1100p. The 40-year contract that the airport had signed with Delta expired this year. 40 year!!! It was both the best and worst thing for the airport. That stranglehold was essentially a seat on the board and allowed the company to get the same deal if the board offered something better to another airline. Before the contract ended Delta had cut flying to about 100 flights a day. Since the signing of the new contract both Allegiant and Frontier have substantially expanded and opened new pilot bases here. So there is a little more life, but still nothing like it once was. If you happen to be driving by overnight you'll see the DHL operation in full swing. Their ramp is quite the thing to observe with so many large cargo planes and the people swarming all over like bees. Here's a photo that I took a few years ago of part of Delta's terminal at about 1100a on a Saturday morning:

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfa1/v/t1.0-9/398412_10150593687474648_1846512098_n.jpg?oh=ac53f4eb4ec4db2ce76a3ffef3f22125&oe=56677963

I like your thoughts on commuting. It's really something that does impact quality of life. We do get the benefit of not getting stuck in rush hour traffic day in and day out, and as all hours as our schedules can be even when we are coming and going, many times we get to avoid the worst of the traffic.

Speaking of traffic.

So yesterday we were supposed to leave the hotel at the same time as PAX was starting across the street. Our shuttle was no where to be found. It wasn't until 10 minutes later that he finally showed and said that traffic into downtown was totally effed. Then we tried to leave. It took us 20 minutes just to get out of downtown. Now we are supposed to be at the gate 45 minutes before the flight, but we weren't even going to be close, coming from downtown. When we finally got there the plane was half loaded and it was only about 25 to departure. Needless to say, an on time departure was not on the books. I worked hard to get everything ready to go and was actually ready to go close to on time, but we were still about 12 minutes late off the gate. Then we taxied out and were about number 20 for takeoff.

The flightplan had us planned in about 12 minutes early, but we had wiped that away off the gate, then the extra time off the ground cost us about 8 more minutes. We got airborne and immediately adjusted our speed to try and recapture some of that time. It would not be a good ride. We had turbulence off and on until we were past Chicago, or about 2.5 hours worth. ATC would have no relief for us today. All I could do was slow the plane down to try and ease the ride until we were clear.

ATC would give us a break through with a nice shortcut, but would later force us to slow early. After all was said and done we landed on time, and now it would be up to the gate to decide if we were going to be on time or not. So here we are, working for the better part of 6 hours to try and get this plane into the gate on time. But it all comes down to this. Ramp tells us to hold short. The plane off of our gate has an issue and needs to return. Crap.

They quickly find a new gate for us, but by the time we get there we are about 5 minutes late. Now, for the DOT numbers, that's good enough, but the company is really pushing this on time or early arrival. Sadly our 6 hours worth of effort would not be enough today.

I had about an hour and a half until my flight home. It had plenty of seats and was running just a few minutes behind schedule. I walked all around the airport and really like these new renovations that are being made to the terminal. It's really going to be nice when it's all said and done. It's going to feel, dare I say, upscale. Which also means expensive, which it will be. But nobody has ever called Newark upscale.

I did roll home around 1230a and true to form, couldn't go to bed until much later. Jet lag ftw. Everyone did let me sleep in though, and I'm actually home on a Saturday for the first time since our vacation last month. But it'll be the last Saturday I'm home for the next month.

PilotMan

08-29-2015, 03:50 PM

I forgot to add this picture I took on our way back into Newark. The moonrise last night was a beautiful thing to see.

https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/v/t1.0-9/11889583_10153569539149648_8530369797213120993_n.jpg?oh=8f15541c12e8436efe6eae7c88668a6a&oe=56619189

PilotMan

09-02-2015, 08:25 PM

Not a whole lot to update right now. Still at home enjoying the break between trips. Tomorrow is the Mrs. birthday and I'm taking her to the comedy club. Happy that I get to spend the day with her though.

I came across this SU-35 demo from a couple of weeks ago on YouTube. I've never seen some of the stunts that this guy does in a fighter jet. It's bonkers.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/1ye3dSi0uf0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

PilotMan

09-05-2015, 08:15 PM

I started off this next trip last night, leaving home around 5p for my flight back to Newark. I found out on my way to the airport that the inbound plane was over 30 min late leaving so the outbound would be delayed. You can learn a lot about your flight by checking the inbound. If it's coming from the place you are going and it's late it's probably bad news for you.

True to form there was plenty of weather causing all kinds of problems. In fact, when I got to the airport, the first thing I did was look at the board to see if there was another flight that was running late enough for me to jump on. Sure enough, a Delta flight that was scheduled to leave at 400p was still here and looked to be boarding. Another flight had just left.

I headed over there straight away, and found that they weren't boarding, but would be supposed to go in about 40 minutes. And they had a seat for me. Good news for me. I should be getting back to Newark about 30 min before I was originally going to. I ran and grabbed some McD's to take on the plane and headed back. They were already boarding so I jumped in and introduced myself to the cockpit for my official permission to ride.

Right about the time we were supposed to be pushing back the pilot came on and said that the wheels up time had been pushed back. This was not good news. There were thunderstorms encroaching on the field, and if we didn't get out it might be a very long time before we did.

We taxied off the gate to go wait for our time at the runway. There was more bad news from the cockpit as the weather was now on the field and unsafe for us to leave. We were going to wait for it to pass.

Every thirty minutes we heard that it would be a little while longer. Around two hours in the crew were just about ready to pack it in and head back to the gate. If that happened it would be after midnight when I got to Newark. The flight that I was supposed to be on was still there, it was delayed too. Then suddenly, we were getting ready to go. The weather had broken just enough to give it a go and we were off.

I landed in Newark around 1030p. The flight that was planning on taking had only left Cincy 5 minutes earlier and wouldn't land until well after midnight. It was fortunate that I was on this one. I made it to the crash pad by 1100. Now I haven't been here in what seems like 2 months. Don't worry though, I was still sending in my $185 each month like a good little tenant.

Up by 530a this morning and back to the airport an hour later. An hour later I was pushing back for our first flight. This one to Houston. Routing was good and weather wasn't an issue for this one. We were out a couple minutes early and off the ground even earlier. We touched down in Houston over 20 min early. The only drawback of that was that we had a 4 hour break before the next leg.

I headed down to ops and scouted out a chair. I had intended to get this update written then, but fell asleep. When I woke up half my break was gone and I had to find some food. I noticed that there was a nice sized thunderstorm heading right for us as I headed out. We were about 10 minutes from pushing back when it hit. Anytime there's lightning near the airport the ramp will close as workers are to seek shelter. Airports are massive draws for lightning and can be very dangerous. I'm sure you've seen the videos.

This cost us 45 minutes on our departure time. Eventually, it cleared up enough, in the meantime we just sat in the cockpit and had to wait it out. The next flight had me going to Tampa, where I'm laying over tonight. It was a short layover to begin with, not it's even shorter. We dodged around thunderstorms for most of the flight across the Gulf. I bet we were off course more than we were on course. The ride wasn't great, but somehow we shaved off about 15 minutes of the flight time. I think it had to do with Tampa switching runways and the new arrivals had us landing to the North instead of the South. That alone saved us lot of vectors and a shorter taxi in.

Like I said, it's a short night tonight, an early wake up tomorrow, then back to Houston to start the day tomorrow.

PilotMan

09-06-2015, 08:10 PM

Well today lived up to the hype!

In truth there was no hype, but in reality it was going to be a long day with some potential challenges.

First leg out of Tampa had us planned through an area of weather over the gulf. The truth of it was dodge and weave all the way to Houston. The weather in Houston showed some fog in the area, but like yesterday it was expected to burn off. The Captain had said that he had diverted more times into Houston in his career because of fog than anywhere else and was always ready for it. On our way in the visibility was varying wildly from visual conditions to instrument conditions. We set up for what's called a CAT III approach, which in the 737 is an auto land. We only need visibility at 50 feet to be able to land the plane. Larger planes can land with 0 vis.

As a pilot one of the strangest feelings is watching the plane land itself and all you do is monitor the controls. It doesn't fly like you fly, it doesn't react like you react, it doesn't flare like you flare, but it does get the job done. We got in and were early to our gate.

I took a bunch of photos of the thunderstorms over the gulf this morning. The sun was coming up and creating some great color and images. Some of these storms were massive as well. We were cruising at 38000 feet, and some of these were well above 40 and over 50 miles long.

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_070521.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_070521.jpg.html)

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_074042.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_074042.jpg.html)

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_074743.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_074743.jpg.html)

I had a little over an hour to myself so I went to our operations and found the same chair I napped in the day before and got comfy for some more shut eye. Early mornings always get me and I knew I could use the rest before the next leg. It doesn't take much, anything from 15 minutes to the hour I had the day before works.

It's been a while since I've been out of the country on a trip so the next leg did have me a little excited. Plus, I have never been there before so that means that I have something to look forward to when I get there, and it was my turn to fly. So where to next? Panama City, Panama.

Looking at the paperwork there was more weather scattered in the Gulf that we would navigate around, but weather in Panama City was holding steady. This time of year though strong storms with lots of rain are common so we always have to be prepared for a diversion. Flying that distance, with an alternate as far away as Costa Rica, like ours was meant that we would only have about 20 minutes of potential holding time to play with before we'd have to make a decision to divert. Obviously, we still wanted Panama, but you have to be prepared and ready to make the call if it comes to that.

We spent a lot of time in and out of the clouds as we headed south east. Even at our cruising altitude of 37000, which can get you above a lot, it wasn't enough. So like the first flight, we had to take the best alternative routing. For the most part it was a typical flight, except that we spent quite a bit of time talking about the approach and what to expect for the arrival down there. So the time passed a little quicker. It's hard to make 3 hours pass quickly generally.

As we got within radar range we started painting a lot of weather on the radar. I thought that maybe it was just ground clutter, but a check of the weather at the airport and the surrounding area confirmed that there were storms all over the area, including right near the airport. As we approached the airport this is what I saw on the radar:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_134245.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_134245.jpg.html)

The airport is that green area at the top of the radar, just about 70 miles away.

The two of us have to work together to decide on the best course to navigate. Plus we have to listen to two languages on the radio and people who's first language probably isn't English. The storms just complicate things as the radio gets congested, it's hard to get clear directions. We had freedom to deviate as we needed to get into the field. We found a weak spot in that mess, but had to navigate to the other side of the airport to line up for the right approach.

On final, we drove through another batch of heavy rain, then got the airport about 8 miles away. It looked like the airport was getting some rain, but I could still see the runway, and things were alright. As we descended through 1000ft I clicked off the auto pilot to get a feel for the winds and the plane. Everything was great until we hit the rain shower. I went from seeing the runway to seeing nothing. That meant that I had to switch back to full instruments for guidance and navigate the weather and try and find the runway again through the rain. It was challenging. Even with the wipers at full speed all I could see was the flash of the approach lights through the rain. We were still coming down, and only a couple of hundred feet above our decision height for the approach. I had to transition back outside so we could land, otherwise we were going around. And with terrain out there, bad weather, and an unfamiliar airport I really didn't want to do that if I didn't have to.

I kept us in a good position to land and concentrated on staying on the path and flaring just as if it was a nice day. The touchdown was soft, and I stood the thrust reversers up to maximum and let the auto brakes slow us down. The runways in Central America aren't grooved like they are in the US, they aren't arched like the US and don't channel the water off the runway like the US. Braking had to be steady because all that works against you in the safety department. It was raining so hard, and everything was flooded. I took a massive breath after we landed and after we parked the Captain shook my hand and congratulated me on a nice job. He knew it was tough too.

So just how bad was it? This was my view out the windscreen after we parked:

<a href="http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_142359.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_142359.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150906_142359.jpg"/></a>

And this was the view from the jetbridge. Note the gushing water coming out of the gutter drain and the "waterfall" coming off the roof of the terminal:

<a href="http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_142909.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150906_142909.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo 20150906_142909.jpg"/></a>

With the weather there's no real reason to go out. My layover is a little longer than last night and while tomorrow is early, it's not nearly as early as today was.

Tomorrow is supposed to be go home day, but I've got 35 scheduled minutes to get from my plane, through customs, and to my ride home, which is over sold. If that doesn't work, I've got a 5.5 hour wait until the next flight. Gotta love working on a holiday.

PilotMan

09-06-2015, 08:27 PM

You may also have seen this going around the interwebs. It's a great view of how an airport deals with thunderstorms. You can see the various arrival corridors get shut down, planes hold, and some divert. You can't just tell planes to stop coming, it's an incredibly dynamic, and complicated set up. The planes never stop coming and ATC and Atlanta especially do a great job of handling this all the time. They have the benefit of owning a lot of airspace, something that the NY guys don't have. They have traffic arriving in 4 quadrants, whereas most of the NY traffic comes from the south and west, with some from the north. It's why bad weather in the NE is so much more damaging to flights than say storms in Atlanta or other Midwestern cities.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eWv4wyy_Jqg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Barkeep49

09-08-2015, 06:09 AM

Wow. Congrats on nailing a tough landing. Thanks for all the detail. I really felt the suspense and difficulty.

PilotMan

09-09-2015, 09:35 AM

I was downloading the paperwork in the morning hoping to see that we were going to be planned in way early. I need that time to make my flight home. I know that it's only 35 minutes scheduled, but looking at the daily averages in Flight Aware, I see that the flight averages being in 20 minutes early. That would give me enough of a buffer to clear customs and hustle to my flight.

The flight plan only said 8 minutes early. Which is ok, but leaving a foreign country is never a sure thing. Everyone worked together, we boarded pretty quick, got our set up and briefings done in the cockpit and waited. I guess the ramp guys didn't get the message. At least it wasn't raining. We still pushed on time, but had to wait a couple of minutes for our final weights and take off date to come through. Then we waited again at the end of the runway for other planes to take off on the parallel runway. Eventually we were off, but I had only gained about 4 minutes on my 8.

Panama is on Central time, even through it almost due south from Newark. We flew straight north toward Cuba on departure. Before I started flying with this company I had never flown south of Florida. So flying in the Caribbean and Central America is a very new thing. Radio communications are also very tricky. The rules aren't exactly the same and the language barrier can be a safety hazard. Normally you wait for controller hand offs to the next controller, then switch frequencies, then talk to the new controller. When flying over different control areas, run by different countries, it can a little different. For one, radar coverage isn't complete. A lot of times you are reporting points and positions, then you have to make contact with the next controller on your own, 10 minutes before you get into his airspace.

Kingston runs a large central section, south of Cuba, but their radios often suck, which means that sometimes they can't hear you, or vice versa. Then you get to Cuba, where things are surprisingly good. They speak pretty good english and are reasonably friendly. Then north of there is Miami, which also want's that radio call early.

We were routed over central Florida this day, when normally we'd stay off the east coast and cross the mainland at Wilmington NC. Weather in that area kept us west. Most of the weather we had to deal with on this day was over the Keys and the southern half of Florida, par for the course in the late summer. After that it was mostly smooth sailing into Newark.

I snapped this picture of Philly on our way in:

http://i224.photobucket.com/albums/dd39/grbaviator/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150907_1338311.jpg (http://s224.photobucket.com/user/grbaviator/media/2015%20Year%20in%20the%20Life/20150907_1338311.jpg.html)

We had made up a good bit of time, and ATC had helped us along the way by having us fly faster. We got to the gate, which was both open, and ready with marshallers. I jumped off the plane and started my journey home. Global Entry is so worth every penny.

I breezed through and went back into the terminal to find my flight. My time to connect had gone from 35 minutes to 55 minutes. Plenty of time. The next problem was going to be the oversold flight home. I needed to get to the gate and get listed on the jumpseat.

It was still available and she gave it to me. I guess I was the only person who needed it. All good things. I get to go home earlier and don't have to spend an extra 5 hours in Newark for fun.

My next order of business is concocting a bid for October. The good news is that I have vacation, and I think, I think it means that my award will be bumped and I'll get more of what I want. We'll see.

PilotMan

09-10-2015, 08:35 PM

I'm not even working today, and it was an interesting day. My biggest accomplishment today was to get the family laundry done and I bought a Christmas present for my youngest son. I found a newer Core i5 HP laptop on Craigs list and snagged it for $130. Then, the text notifications started coming in. I was supposed to be on a 530p flight to Newark, but now that flight cancels do to ATC delays.

Then I get a notification that I've been rebooked on the 830a tomorrow morning. Uh-oh. That means that my backup flight isn't an option. I check the listings and sure enough, not only is my first flight cancelled, by backup flight is cancelled. This is interesting and the first time that I've had anything like that happen.

There's a flight leaving in 2 hours, still scheduled on time. I've got 20 minutes to be out the door and on my way to the airport. I call scheduling and let them know. They inform me that the flight is sold out and they can't put me on it (as in buying me a ticket, making sure I have a seat.) She tells me if I want to try and make it I can, but otherwise I can take a missed trip because I can't make it. That's about 24 hours of pay lost. Now I could look to pick up something else, but it starts to screw up my schedule very quickly, because even in the best case I'll lose work on Friday.

Not feeling very excited about that proposition I hustle up and fly around and get my stuff ready to go. I kiss everyone and make it to the airport on time. The flight is oversold, it's going to have lots of revenue stand by passengers. My only hope is a jumpseat. I'm beaten to the cockpit jumpseat by another pilot, luckily this plane has a rear, flight attendant jump seat that isn't used, and they let us use to commute. It's saved my bacon a time or two, it may be helpful again today.

Then comes the word that they flight is delayed by almost 3 hours. The announcement says new departure 715p. Ten minutes later, the pilot comes up and says that the plane is released and we can go. All hell breaks loose as we now have a tight window to get out and the poor agent is overwhelmed trying to get the people who are supposed to be on, but spread all over, on, and the stand by's who desperately want on, and don't care if the real ticket holders show up. The jump seat proves another savior, and crew is happy to help me out. I'm on.

Try and fail. We miss the time, but all boarded up, we head out anyway. The new time could be minutes or hours away. ATC gives us good news and they let us go in minutes.

When we get to Newark I hear that we were pretty much the only plane flying in, and that the pilots have no idea how they let us go. We decide that there were VIP's on the plane and the company pulled strings to get the plane on it's way. This is actually a thing. When your business account makes up such a high percentage of overall revenue, service happens on a different level.

I'm happy for it either way. Now I'm in position to start my trip tomorrow, I don't have to worry about missing out on 24 hours of pay, and I have a room to myself (so far). Tomorrow starts early. It's a 445a wake up call. A good night's sleep is priority. The only thing that could derail it is this dumbass football game.

Here's a bonus:

Overheard; someone on a phone, in the airport:

"You know what he do? When I leave he sneaks into ma bedroom and goes through my clothes, sniffs my underwear, and messes with ma stuff! He's always messin' with stuff in my room! Can you believe that?"

I wanted to ask SO many follow up questions!