Position: Over the Great Plains of the Midwest
Ground speed: 381 mph (332 knots)
Altitude: 38,000 feet
Destination: KSFO (San Francisco)
Pax on board: 118
Venus is setting in the west. Behind Fi-Fi's tail, Saturn is rising. Overhead, Orion the Hunter is moving slowly westward, dragging Sirius along behind it. Directly beneath Orion is little ole' me, the co-pilot, three flight attendants, and 118 passengers with our collective noses into the wind. There is a deep philosophical mystery to the geometry of the sky tonight, but I am unable to wrap my feeble mind around it. I will make a note to think about it later.
We flew over cloud covered Omaha a few minutes ago. The co-pilot remarked,"Not much ahead of us for awhile." That depends on what the definition of much is, I guess. Outside, the night sky is pristine and moonless. The Electric Jet is nose forward in a 139 mph (121 knot) headwind and has been since we climbed into the upper flight levels. The dark river of wind is about 8,000 feet thick, hundreds of miles wide, 60 degrees below zero, and absolutely smooth. Unreal!
The half-way point is a few miles ahead. Our fuel status is good. Engines are good. Hydraulics are good. Electrical is good. Oxygen is good. Life is good.
It is a short overnight in KSFO, and then an early morning departure to points east.
Life on the Line continues...
24 comments:
"little ole' me, the co-pilot" - yikes how do you get two co-pilots in the RHS? ;-)
The overhead panel does sort of resemble a starmap :)
My latest leg had me thinking much the same-
I was drifting down over the Chesapeake. Norfolk behind the right wing, Tangier ahead and to the left, I see the Mid-Atlantic Regional Spaceport ahead to the right... Smooth ride, quartering tailwind... I can see the peninsula on which Mrs. JACE is waiting for my drive home.
It is magic to be a few miles over Delmarva and see Baltimore, DC, Philly, and Long Island all at once.
Thanks, Dave. Life IS good when it is good.
JACE
Hi Dave,
you are one of those few old school captains,a dying species of aviators with heart and principles for doing their job as an airline pilot.
Sad to see this "species" go,
but I am really appreciating it to read your thoughts on this blog and would be honored to be your Copilot...anytime!
Ever considered working for a european Airline? ;)
Greetings from Germany
Ooops...I meant Captain with a capital C ! ;D
Hope you get to read that,too..
sorry about that :)
Wish I'd known you were in the neighborhood--I'd have waved or something.
Not that you would have noticed, not only was KMIQ overcast, it was snowing.
Capt Dave,
Thanks for your wonderful years of insightful entries. When you decide to put it all into a book, please publish the news here. I'll have one of the first copies in my 'hot little hands.' Then I'll tell everyone I know.
If you ever run into Capt Sully, let him know that an old West Pointer, thinks that the Zoomie (Air Force Academy Grad) did good!
Good ol' Venus.
I flicked on my landing lights and spent five minutes watching it on a run last week. I was getting ready to check with center when I realized it was a star and not an airplane headed my way.
Life on the line is very good indeed, even when the line is flying freight at night in piston twins across the upper Midwest.
Pilot and poet.
Nice combination.
We've been watching that same sky from a lower vantage point but with no less wonder.
Mysterious traveler.
Just like to picture you above there, wide awake below the stars, cruising past those "fields of sleep".
Beautiful, just beautiful. Thanks again.
Captain, forgive my post that has nothing to do with the blog, but a few questions I just wanted to raise in the hope of getting some opinions from a highly-regarded source!
What were your thoughts of Concorde's service coming to an end. And would you have liked to fly her? What was the first plane you ever flew, both as a student and commercially? What ever happened to that cat that adopted you :)? If you weren't flying what would you want to be doing?
Thank you Dave, keep blogging, you know we all love it :)
I think I'll leave the writing to you. Can't even spell my name right.
"Not much ahead of us for awhile."
Except for Deep Heaven.... Beautifully written, Captain Dave.
It's taken me a while to catch up with everything here since I found your blog Captain Dave, but each entry is a wonderful read of life on the line! Wish I was up there staring at those views that down here staring and photographing those planes!
rich uk- it was a sad day when the Concorde stopped flying. It was a beautiful aircraft, not to mention an engineering marvel.
http://37000.blogspot.com is a new blog from an international airline pilot.
WHAT AM I HEARING?
Hudson Ditching "VICTIMS" ABOUT TO SUE?
Wtf is this?
hope they get in their car and get fu*ked from behind,...then they can sue god for letting it snow..
Finally got to see some stars in the sky tonight as things cleared out over YYZ. Sliver of a moon, and the cold giving me a set of apple red cheeks.
Hopefully one of those 'points east' will be my neck of the woods and the weather will be CAVOK for your arrival.
Hey folks, check this out:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/90669277@N00/3237344760/
Great picture!
@gh: Even if it's fake, it is extremely funny. I just almost died laughing when I saw a cartoon in Germany's satire magazine 'Titanic' about Frankfurt's airport authority now starting to clear land for another new runway, showing some folks in the city with really low-flying and noisy airplanes over their heads. Their words: Another new runway? Can't these morons just land on the river, like any good crash pilot does?
lolz@zb
Radar is kind of like a night light too...
It occurs to me that I probably chat with you occasionally, since I work the east side of Denver Center. Hi :)
-SW
Post a Comment