Mall of America

I slept sound for two hours and thirty minutes, then I forced myself to arise because I must sleep tonight. In the airline business this is known as a flip-flop schedule. A pilot goes from flying nights/sleeping days to sleeping nights/flying days in a 24 hour period. It is tough, but you can train yourself to do it if you have the will. After I treadmilled and showered I walked over to the Mall of America, about 1,200 meters south of the hotel. It is a huge mall; at one time the largest in the world. Possibly, it still may be so. The day is gorgeous with blue skies and a crisp, cool lower atmosphere. I had an excellent day there with a good meal and a bit of shopping.

Tomorrow our schedule takes us to Las Vegas then on to Phoenix. I have the weekend off. Yeah!! Back to the cloud mines on Monday, August 2. 

 

Night Winds

What a day yesterday turned out to be! We left Atlanta on schedule with 145 passengers and one infant bound for Las Vegas. The take off time was 10:10 P.M. local and the weather was OK. We were assigned one of our older A320 models; she's a good old bird and I have flown her a lot in the past. She has the low thrust engines which came as original equipment. I gently eased back on the stick (yes, the A320 has a stick ) and she lifted into the atmosphere. I have noticed that the young co-pilots always complain about the old birds; my young German was no exception. Well, I guess they are in a hurry. Not me; these grand old ladies have hauled countless passengers through the worst weather and new co-pilot landings and never complained. I let her level off at 28,000 feet and burn off fuel weight before we climbed further. Eventually we leveled at 35,000 feet enroute to Las Vegas. The headwinds were light and the turbulence light. Passing south of Dallas-Ft.Worth we were witness to a fantastic light show generated by a level 6 thunderstorm. It was a big momma! Later, south of Lubbock, we listened to another airline crew talking to air traffic control about the huge thunderstorm over the Lubbock airport ( heavy rainfall and 60 m.p.h. winds with blowing dirt ). They were in a holding pattern south of the airport at 16,000 feet considering their options, i.e., looking at their fuel situation very carefully. It was such a relief to be flying past and only listening, instead of being in their shoes. One and a half hours later we landed at Las Vegas on time. The passengers were very happy leaving the airplane. I was giggling to myself; wait until you go home next week broke.

What! More flying? Oh yes, on to Minneapolis for we pilots. Only enough time for a quick Taco Bell stop; then, to the gate. I met my new flight attendants, all of whom I have flown with on previous occasions. Our bird was a new A319 with the new high thrust engines. Oh boy, these are great airplanes. We loaded up 124 passengers and left at 1:30 A.M. local time for Minneapolis. My German co-pilot was the flying pilot; I, the radio man and paperwork guy.
We roared into the dark night at 1:38 A.M. These new airplanes will climb like homesick angels and a few minutes later we were level at 37,000 feet. The Milky Way was directly overhead, bright and lovely. The Seven Sisters were about twenty degrees above the eastern horizon. An hour later Venus rose in the east; then Taurus; finally Orion the Hunter came into view with the first hints of twilight. We were running with the night winds.

As the sun cracked the horizon we were making a high energy descent into the twin cities area. The visibility was good as the co-pilot gently touched the main gear down at 6:12 A.M. local time. Needless to say, both of us were very tired. Continued later....

Yeh, but it's a dry heat

It has been nine days since last entry. I am ready with an excuse! I had a trip to Cananda a few days ago and I usually do not carry my laptop on international flights because of lack of free internet connections. Weak, I know, but it's the best I can do at the moment.

Summer is on us in the valley of the sun. Days are brutally hot with solar winds blowing all the moisture out of my plants. At night the temperatures fall below 100 degrees for a few hours, then the sun rises again and the cycle begins anew.  My workshop in the garage is almost unusable. In the afternoon we usually get big thunderstorms north of Phoenix along the rising terrain. These storms inevitably roll into the valley about sunset with blowing dirt and enough rain to coat vehicles with mud. Sixty more days and the heat will break...

This morning I woke up in Atlanta, day one of a four day trip. It is warm and muggy with poor visibility caused by haze. We landed under a storm in moderate rainfall a bit after midnight. The weather conditions were unforecast, therefore we had no alternate airport or alternate fuel. This is the kind of stuff that makes a Captain's hair prematurely gray. Why not carry alternate fuel all the time, you ask? Good question, however in the real world we carry only enough fuel to get the mission done plus a forty five minute reserve. It costs money to carry fuel because of it's weight. Memphis was in our fuel range, barely, if things got out of hand with the weather at Atlanta. Thankfully, all worked out OK. 

My co-pilot is a thirty something German male. He is very precise in his flying and non-flying duties, as one would expect from a German pilot. Three of his uncles (mom's brothers) were in the German armed forces of WW2. Two were in the Kriegsmarine, U-boats; only one of them survived. The third uncle was in the Wermacht as infantry on the eastern front and did not survive. Very interesting stuff! 

Crystal City

I walked over to the mall south of the Pentagon named Crystal City. My intentions were to eat lunch, however it was standing room only (lunch crowd). So, instead I ordered a fruit smoothie and walked back to the hotel. It is always interesting to see all the military type folks in this area. Bird colonels are as common as weeds in my yard. Most of them are punching the career ticket for eighteen months. I am sure they would rather be anywhere else. The buildings in the area surrounding the Pentagon are all government agencies. Since Sept.11 security has been beefed up. More cameras and the guards are now armed.
 
The day is warm, humid and cloudy. Typical for this time of year in our nation's capital. I am hoping the little gnomes in crew scheduling leave me alone today. I have two scheduled days off beginning tomorrow. 

Oops!

Darn!! I answered my cell phone at 7:16 AM and guess who was on the other end? Yep, crew scheduling!! Involuntary assignment for a flight to Washington D.C., overnight, and then back to Phoenix. They nailed me big time. I was on my scheduled days off with a dentist appointment for which I have been waiting a month. Too bad, so sad! In the cockpit or else! Well, I held my tongue and rounded up my flight gear for the trip to D.C. I wasn't mentally or physically prepared for the trip, but was Federal Aviation Regulations legal. Flying to D.C. since September 11, 2001, is serious stuff and requires a maximum effort on the part of the crew. And that's all I can say about that subject. When I arrived at the aircraft in Phoenix I was met by a spanking new co-pilot fresh from the "school house." It kept getting better and better. After arriving in the D.C. area and flying a technically difficult approach I was very tired and had a throbbing headache behind my eyes. I am now relaxing in a nice hotel with my wonderful Dell laptop and peering out the window at the Pentagon, Washington monument, and the Capital building. Not all bad, I guess...

Fuel

We arrived, this morning, on schedule in Miami with 146 passengers. Our day started yesterday afternoon in Oakland. We flew to Las Vegas and then the red eye to Miami. I was aware of the potential weather problems enroute, especially in the southern U.S. I viewed a weather radar in the Las Vegas dispatch office, and it showed a large weather area covering the panhandle of Florida. My scheduled fuel load included about thirty minutes of discretionary time, but no alternate airport fuel ( costs $ to carry extra fuel because of added weight). Hmmm...I called my dispatcher and discussed the issue with him (yes, many times it is a her...see, PC training kicking in again). The dispatcher felt the weather in question would dissipate before we arrived. Personally, I thought the whole area looked like a snake pit of thunderstorms. Airlines are on a huge fuel saving kick, for obvious reasons. Pilots get weekly reminders about saving fuel anyway we can; but, management always ends their requests with "be safe."  I really like my job (very risky thing to admit) so I always try to protect the bottom line. On to Miami we go without an alternate airport. Of course, you know what happens next. Huge thunderstorms in all quadrants around the Miami airport. Luckily, we were able to slip in between cells. I guess we did not need an alternate airport after all. Whew!
 
I was able to sleep well this morning. Outside my motel window there is a large storm pelting the area with rain and impressive bolts of lightning. The satellite TV service to the hotel is temporarily out of service. It's a real turd floater.

Day Two

This is day two of a four day. I am in San Francisco this morning. The weather is beautiful and cool. It is actually a bit too cool for shorts. Unbelievable difference of temperatures in this country. Yesterday we were in Baltimore. Today we leave for Miami, where the weather is hot and humid, I'm sure.
 
Just returned from an epic walk in San Francisco. I made my way down to Pier 39 and had lunch at the Pier Market restaurant. I then walked to view and photograph a WW2 submarine, USS Pampanito, and a WW2 liberty ship freighter. The meal was excellent and so far, this day has been a success.  A few observations on San Francisco;  There are not many older people in the heart of the city, i.e., the work force is young and vibrant. The number of expensive sports and luxury cars is staggering. The service workers are mostly Mexicans; probably illegals. The bums, oops (PC training kicking in...), I mean homeless, are numerous.  Living here would be a good thing if one had a large bank account. Yes, San Francisco rates high on my list of great American cities.
 
I need to attempt a nap to prepare for the night's flying. Later...

Frying pan

Holy moly, it is a week since my last entry. Yesterday in Phoenix (at my casa) it was 115 degrees. Not a record, not even close, but hotter than Hades. Today, back to the cloud mines! We went from Phoenix to Baltimore with 147 passengers. We were assigned an older 320 with A-1 engines (less thrust than A-5s). I used every trick in the book to get airborne safely. Our summer loads are heavy with tourists, thank goodness. The temperature at Phoenix airport was only 108 degrees. After getting airborne and climbing a few thousand feet the temperature dropped dramatically. The rest of the four hour trip to Baltimore was rather uneventful, thank you. This evening I went to a first class sports bar and watched the all star game. Excellent!

Heavy Chevy

The take off from Columbus, OH, this morning was at maximum weight. The planned route was south of a vast area of weather in the Midwestern U.S. which required a lot of extra fuel. The performance figures called for a flaps three/max thrust take off from an 8,000 foot runway. These type of take offs always worry me. Airline pilots are trained to hope for the best but expect the worst. Fighting a catastrophic engine failure in the simulator is pretty cool, but the thought of a real life event with 154 souls counting on my skills as Captain is very sobering, to say the least. I am wound as tight as a coiled spring until the aircraft climbs 1,000 feet above the ground. At that point we reduce the engine's thrust from max power to climb power. I breathe a sigh of relief watching the lowering engine temperatures. Talking about engines...
occasionally, when atmospheric/gross weight conditions are conducive, the engines sound like wailing spirits while I am taxiing to the runway for take off. The wailing changes to a roar when the tower clears us for take off. The feelings of thrust, real thrust, is...Therapeutic.

Tonight, I am in Seattle. The atmosphere is calm and cool; the sky is still light at 9:30 PM. In the morning, I have a 5:45 PM departure for Phoenix. That is a 3:30 AM get up. Yikes! To bed I go...good night everyone.

What holiday?

Airlines do not take holidays off, therefore I am flying on our countries birthday celebration. It has been a long day. Report time was 6:35 AM with a take off time of 7:35 AM for Orange County (the postage stamp runway), then back to Phoenix. After refueling and resupplying we left for Columbus, Ohio, where we will spend the night. We arrived eighteen minutes early due to strong upper level tailwinds. I had two co-pilots today. The first is a young single kid whom I have flown with on several occasions. He turns wrenches in his spare time on "Dago Red" , one of the fastest piston powered aircraft on earth (500+mph). "Dago Red", a highly modified P-51 Mustang, runs at the Reno Air Races in September. I love flying with him because he paints clear pictures with words about air racing. Air combat without bullets. The second co-pilot is a fulltime management type who flies about ten hours a month. Obviously the airline is short on pilots today if they are robbing the flight operation offices. OK, more tomorrow... Good night all.

Day of the Black Cats

Today is the day of the Black Cat, i.e., fourth of July craziness. As a child I would buy Black Cat firecrackers from stands set up outside of city limits. They were the best! Reliable and loud! I would loosen each fire cracker from the main string to pop separately. My string of Black Cats would last for a couple of weeks, much to my parents horror. My favorite fire cracker thing was blowing cans into the air. Ah, yes, such good fourth memories.

Land of Enchantment

What a great day this has been! I hit the deck in Albuquerque at 5:30 AM; after a good breakfast (huevos rancheros), my crew and I reported for duty at Sunport on schedule. Our aircraft was a brand new A320 which we loaded to the gills with passengers and blasted off for Phoenix on time. After a smooth ride to Phoenix we swapped aircraft for an old but good A320 and left for Las Vegas on schedule, completely full, of course. In Las Vegas, the airline allowed us enough time to eat lunch and then on the New York City in a brand new A319. I believe we had ten empty seats on the last leg. The First Officer was the flying pilot. She did a really good job and made a highly technical and successful approach into JFK landing on runway 13L. She landed with a howling crosswind and made it look easy. Very nice!! We had a interesting forty one minute van ride to the hotel in Manhattan. The driver was very skilled and navigated the streets with ease (I could not drive in Manhattan). This is a "happening place." We arrived at the hotel just as the Broadway shows were ending. There were thousands of people on the streets. Very cool...a good nights rest and I will, I think go on a photo mission in the morning.