Flight Level 390

I am back in the flight deck after three days at home. Those three days were very busy with Christmas stuff, such as helping my wife buy the tree, gifts, and Christmas cards. This morning, before work, I wrapped and mailed three large boxes full of gifts. We are trying to break the habit of waiting until the last week before Christmas.

Anyway, the weather in Phoenix today is fit only for ducks; low IFR conditions with cold rain. Brrrr! I checked in for my trip via computer in the pilot lounge, gathered all the required paperwork, met the co-pilot, met the flight attendants, loaded 72 passengers for San Jose and blasted off a wet runway into the muck right on schedule. We broke out into the clear blue at about 15,000 feet. Arrival at San Jose was right on time. This airport is one of the few where we still use airstairs instead of jetways. In fact, in the summertime they use airstairs at both ends of the aircraft. I think it is very nostalgic. From California we flew to Las Vegas with 32 passengers. The loads are tapering off a bit between Thanksgiving and Christmas. At Las Vegas we had a bag drag, airline parlance for an aircraft change. The distance between the gates was so great, that the airline sent a crew van to pick us up so we would not be late for the Chicago departure. We traded our A319, a 124 passenger aircraft, for an A320, a 150 passenger aircraft. After 107 Chicago passengers boarded, noticeably less cheerful than when they arrived, we left for Chicago's O'hare airport; named after Butch O'hare- a Navy fighter pilot killed during World War II.

We level off at 37,000 feet in a clear night sky. The wind is on our tail at 77 mph giving us a groundspeed of 575 mph. Over our first cruise checkpoint, an intersection in the sky named Mosbi, I am pleased to see we have 500 pounds more fuel than forecast and are one minute ahead of our ETA. The flight plan says our true airspeed should be 517 mph and groundspeed should be 578 mph. The actual figures are 514 and 575. That is impressive! Obviously, my dispatcher is in the groove.

Later, we watch the half moon rise in the east. Now, there is an undercast far below us. The moon is softly illuminating the cloud tops. It is a lovely sight. We are close to my father's house in northern New Mexico. I am sure he is sound asleep under the cloud blanket. I tune in the NDB (non-directional beacon) located at the small airport one mile from his home. I listen to the never ending transmission of the same three letters in Morse code. That radio signal keeps going forever into time and space. It fascinated me as a youth; it was a siren song beckoning me to the sky. I watch the ADF receiver needle swing to the tail of the aircraft as we speed away toward the east.

We climb to Flight Level 390 to decrease our fuel burn even further. That is not a correct eastbound altitude, but at 3:15 AM, the ATC folks will accommodate us. The arrival into Chicago O'hare, one of the busiest airports in the world, at 4:20 AM was anti-climatic. We were the only aircraft in the vicinity, thankfully. The gray hair factor can be extremely high operating at O'hare airport. Outside temperature is 27 degrees with light winds. Of course, one of my flight attendants, a 21 year old new hire, is without a coat. I offer her mine but she refuses. I think she is embarrassed. Oh well, I tried...

In the hotel room, I am so tired I could lay on top of the bed, uniform and shoes still on, and be instantly asleep. First, I will work on this blog for a few minutes...