A few minutes after I switched the fuel flows off and completed the shutdown checklist, the check airman handed me a form and pointed to the signature block at the bottom. He said, "Sign there." I quickly looked for any boxes checked Unsatisfactory. There were none. Hallelujah! I scribbled my signature, then handed the form back to the check pilot. He shook my hand, grabbed his flight case and said, "Good job, Captain. We'll see you next year."
I looked at my co-pilot and breathed a sigh of relief. We had just completed my annual line check. The last piece of the training pie, so to speak. That would be a physical, ground school, simulator training, and a line check. It feels so good when it is behind me.
Even though the line check was completed, our day was far from over. Ahead of us lay thousands of miles yet to fly.
And we are doing just that...
17 comments:
Congratulations, Dave. Another 12 months of top-notch flying and hopefully another year of Level 390.
Congratulation for your check-flight :)
Dave - so what happens if you fail your line check? Do you get more training? Is there a limit on the number of times you can fail your line check in your career?
Congratulations.
I do a lot of business trips in Europe and thoroughly enjoy reading your blog as it brings home to me what lies behind my successful journeys.
Keep up the postings please.
More congratulations, Dave, on Flight Level 390 becoming a finalist in two sections of the 2007 Travvies (Best Single-Author Travel Blog and Best Photography on a Travel Blog).
Now, fellow-readers, this is our chance to show our appreciation of Dave’s gifted writing and photography and encourage him in his efforts. Please check out
http://www.upgradetravelbetter.com/ 2007/02/21/2007-travvies-meet-the- finalists-meet-the-judges-and-vote/
and cast your ballot.
All round it's been a pretty good day, eh Dave!
That link is broken, here is the link you want: http://upgradetravelbetter.com/travvies-survey/index.php?sid=1
I see that your photography is also up for an award - rightly so. Good luck.
That is such a cool picture.
Aw, no simulator stories this time around of engine fires, sick passengers, and bingo fuel?
Good Job Dave. I hope you get to fly me somewhere sometime soon.
amulbunny
Thanks for correcting the link, Chalkman.
Isn't the above photo a beauty? Most creative!
NP. Yeah it truly is. It inspires hacks such as myself. :P
Congratulations, Cpt. Dave!
This is a question concerning something I haven't read about in any of your posts yet, still I am very interested in it. I really enjoy the pictures of airports that are storage facilities or plane graveyards, too (mhv, mzj, vcv, ...). Have You ever flown to one of these places to put planes in storage or pick them up back into service? What are these flights like? What does it feel like going into an airport full of planes but with almost no one there? I assume it is very different not flying passengers around but just having a crew of two; when getting to an airport like the ones above, you probably don't taxi to a terminal but into the "parking lot". Maybe you could do a post about such a special flight if you find the time... Is it line pilots like you who do these fligts? Are the desert airports just used for storage and scrapping or are there other uses, too, like crew training or some kind of ferry flights? What's the equipment of these airports? Are the landings there maybe even VFR with big planes that otherwise always have IFR flight plans?
Thanks Dave! Your passion for both your career and life is inspiring! Keep writing!
Hi Dave, Congrats for ur check-flight. I really enjoy your postings keep up the good work and do chk out Private PilotsLicense it might be informative to u and all those who have a passion for flying
Congratulations on the TWO nominations for the blog awards. You know it's traditional for you to TELL us that sort of thing, so we can vote for you. Next year we'll make sure you win.
sky roamer- if you fail, it's remedial training. Not a good place to be. It is like waking the dragon... It knows you are in the area and wants to take a close look at you.
zb- yes, I have flown into the storage yards. It is weird... Those birds, if they could talk, would have lots of stories. Some of the yards cut the aircraft into little pieces.
Ahhh..the dreaded .299 Line Check. You never know what mood the check airman is in. A good friend of mine was gigged on a non-tested leg of his check flight..not following the checklist. It happens, but try explaining that to the Chief Pilot! Thanks for the good reading...Robert the Flight Standards Guy!
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