Holy Moly! That is KSFO down there... We lifted off the runway a few minutes ago; flew a heading of 350 degrees for a couple of miles, and then banked hard left to intercept the outbound course-line paralleling the west coast southbound. We are in a fairly new A320; she has 2500 hours on her, which in air carrier terms is very young. Still a teenager, more or less. My co-pilot (not far from his teen years, either...) is the flying pilot. He has 287 mph (250 kts) selected for the speed desired in the climb. The climb rate is set for whatever she will do at 287 mph, which is north of 3000 feet per minute. Every seat is full and the cargo holds are heavy with bags, freight and mail. Each wing is carrying five tons of kerosene. We are a long way from max gross weight, but still a heavy load. Unreal!
In my far away youth, a fast horse with a good cowboy riding low and fast across the prairies was "Packin' the Mail." I am sure it was a hold over expression from the Pony Express days. We have more mail in our cargo holds than the Pony Express could carry in months and will deliver it in a matter of hours.
Well, San Francisco is receding in our six. I had been looking forward to that overnight for a month. Funny how all really sweet things come and go so fast. A few thousand miles ahead, the second overnight of the trip... Cleveland. There is a cold front over Wisconsin, Indiana and Iowa. It could be an interesting afternoon.
As we passed through 10,000 feet (the top of the 250 kt speed limit airspace), the co-pilot let her run. The airspeed indicator rolls up while the wind noise steadily increases, finally covering all other external noise.
Packin' the mail works for me...
16 comments:
I like the analogy with the mail, Dave; really gives one something to ponder!
Do you feel it, particularly on take-off, when you are packed full with a heavy load? You've said before how you can feel the extra power in fairly new engines - I wonder if the load limit is less when the plane (or engines) are fairly old. That is, does the load vary depending on the age ability of the plane?
I agree, that which is looked forward to and is sweet passes so quickly. But our lives are just that bit richer...
From the closing of the Pony Express (1861) to the first American Transcontinental Airmail Service (1921) is only 60 years. I don’t know whether there’s a message in that but I think it is just amazing.
Jobrag
'ey there Noella- the load does not vary with the age of the aircraft, only with the size of the engine. Mother changes the engines (in about eight hours)when they no longer pass the borescope inspection.
What is the wake that leads up to runway 28 R in the photo? It would be amazing if wake turbulence could make the surface of the water look like that.
There are long thin lines of rocks that the approach lights are mounted on. Kind of like paralel breakwaters. I wonder if the wake-like effect is waves breaking on the rocks?
Thanks for the great reading Dave!
lawrence- yep, it is wind and surf on shallow rocks.
In my youth, I "packed the mail" out of KMKE. Never got a pic with Lake Michigan in the background like that, though.
Outstanding.
Great wording and entry Dave. You have always been the best at expressing the true "passion" of flight from all the blogs I've read.
I love the SFO airport. Always some great photos that come out of those parallel runways.
One of my personal favorites are some (company? :-) aircraft landing alongside each other
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v507/moelost/livejournal/sfoparrarellrunwayscrj767_resize.jpg
Great post Dave.
Not sure if I've ever read anywhere on here, but what kind of camera do you shoot with?
chad- Nikon coolpix 8700
Dave you mention that wind noise drowns out all other noises as the plane goes faster.
Can you hold a normal conversation without use of headsets/shouting at max speed?
your posts get me so exited and inspired for the not so distant day that I will be that young co-pilot PF!!
Loving the blog, as ever - wondered what your 'take' on this incident was.....
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7046931.stm
Should have had an 'm' on the end of that url....
anon 906- the wind noise will cover all outside noise, i.e., the engines. Inside it is still reasonably quiet and yes a normal conversation is possible in the A320/319 series. Not so in the B737-100, 200, 300 series. I have not flown any of the newer 737s.
tim- well, maybe we'll fly together someday.
uk fan- yep, I heard about this incident. It is one of my biggest fears; a taxiway incident. I am paranoid during ground ops. My heart goes out to those crews. Lord, please don't let it happen to me.
Amen to that, Dave. Its the second one at Heathrow in a reasonably short time, I believe.
Anyway, fly safe and keep up the fantastic blogging work...
Post a Comment