Position: 30 miles south of SEA-TAC
Altitude: 11,000 feet and climbing...
Groundspeed: 316 mph (275 kts) and accelerating...
The end of a four day trip is only 1,030 miles away and none too soon. Both of us are worn out from late night departures, early morning arrivals, crew meals prepared by the lowest bidder, and hotel cleaning staff knocking on our doors while we are trying to sleep. It is all part of the airline life that young pilots dream about.
The Electric Jet is getting serious about airspeed as it breaks free of the speed limit below 10,000 feet. The slipstream noise is changing from a hissing to a roar as the nose pushes the thick atmosphere aside. The engines have enormous power at this altitude, but there is a downside: the fuel flows are evil. We will not be down here long, though. I reach over my head and turn the engine heat OFF; that keeps ice from forming on the inlet cowling while climbing through cold clouds. We are on top now and no longer need the heat. My eyes go to the exhaust gas pressure ratio gauges and watch both pressures increase a smidgen. Two valves have closed and the hot air that was being bled from the engines to heat their inlets is now thrust. Once again, something that falls under the "major cool" category.
We picked up a new flight attendant crew (in Seattle) that are day number two of a four day. Of course, I made sure they knew that this is our last leg of a four day and that, most likely, they will get a grumpy old captain for their Chicago leg. It is fun to stir the pot a little.
Fi-Fi is in the groove as she passes through 25,000 feet with the vertical speed indicator at the top of the case. The fuel flows have changed from evil to only wicked as we ascend into the cold blue. She carries 150 passengers, 5 crew, 278 bags, 2840 pounds of freight, 1100 pounds of mail, 12 tons of kerosene, and (surely) a few stowaway pocket dogs in First Class.
The Seattle Center ATC controller clears us from our present position direct to a VOR 500 miles down range. This straightens our course line out significantly. I enter the new route via the captain's computer keyboard, and then ask my 33 year old co-pilot to take a look at it. At my age I might be sending us to Hong Kong. He says it looks OK, so I activate the new course with a single keystroke. Fi-Fi's powerful nav computers ask me if I am sure I want to do this... Of course I am sure. The last time I checked, I am still the captain. A second keystroke (confirming my first) releases the nav computers to calculate the new route, which takes about three seconds. They are happy... A new packet of ones and zeros is sent to the flight management computers which command the flight directors. The flight directors, in turn, issue new commands to the auto-pilots which send electric signals to the hydraulics driving the flight controls. Within five seconds, we are banking toward the new nav fix. It is truly amazing.
Amazing... But no more so than a few of the old Captains (with a capital C) of my youth in the 737-100s with raw turbo-jet engines and steam gauges. These guys would routinely fly with no auto-pilot, fancy nav computers, inertial navigation, or (gasp) auto-throttles. The altimeter needle never wavered more than 100 feet, the airspeed more than 10 knots, all the while with a cup of coffee in their hand and flirting with the flight attendants that were always in the cockpit. Those were the days...
These are the days, too. The roar of the slipstream has changed back to a hissing as Fi-Fi goes to Warp speed above 35,000 feet. The fuel flows have settled down. Nine hundred miles to go.
Life on the Line continues...
33 comments:
love that nostalgia of the 737-100 paragraph!
Thanks for publishing your blog.
I'm telling you, your stories totally make my day!
Just wanted to drop you a line and tell you how much I enjoy reading your blogs.
As you pass between EUG and RBL I sooner or later may be watching over you. Say hi next time your on 135.15/134.9/135.35.
ZSE-Chris
I particularly loved your para. on changing course and your humour on the sequence of events that take place when the 'new packet of ones and zeros' are sent.
Just amazing! I never tire of reading these things! Thanks for posting even though you must be exhausted, Dave - enjoy your days off!
It's a pleasure to read you, Captain! (with capital C). Thanks for your amusing and well written stories,they keep me dreaming of what i could have been living if i had the guts (and the money) to go for commercial pilot studies and life,instead of computer science thinguies.
Read you soon :)
Thank you so much! Your posts really enlighten the day for an aviation enthusiast who is not in the air. Thank you!
SWEET! Got love "warp speed" at cruise altitude.
Tracking my bride on a east bound haul the other night AB321 and they were making over 600 knots ground speed at 36,000. Amazing how you can hear the difference too.
Enjoy your few days off.
Aaron
What'a a pocket dog?
Rhea,
Think Paris Hilton with a chihuahua in her purse. That's a pocket dog.
Man, I can't wait until I am in your shoes someday....Your stories are great, and every flight seems like a new adventure.
Cool post Cap-E-Ton. My otherwise rained out flight school day has lifted a bit.
Haven't quite figured out just what makes these post so compelling.
Somehow the mix of technical detail blended with unabashed wonder . . framed by flight . . . a dash of dry humor . . . a nod to the limits of our flesh and blood capacities . .
Heady mix.
I just read it for the pictures! Honest!
Dave, what's your theory on Turkish Air? It looks a little like the BA flight that went down short of the runway last year, when they ran out of gas.
anon, the T7 from BA did not run out of JET Fuel. There was a problem with icing in the fuel lines that feeds the engine. With that, when crew commanded the engine give more thrust to keep the indicated airspeed, the engines did not responded the required increase in the fuel flow due a ice blocking the lines, keeping 'em at inflight idle thrust.
Dave, your posts about the life in the line are awesome. You can make the kid inside us all back to the surface with the easy way you talk about your flight and your airplane.
Unfortunately, this kind of Captains (with capital C) appears to be in extinction danger down to the Ecuador line.
Dave:
Truly wonderful stuff. I am in Seat 11A on a United 757 to Chicago tomorrow AM with my daughter on the way to visit DePaul University for her pre-freshman orientation.
I never ever ever grow tired of listening to the ATC on Channel 9 - what you folks do is amazing, wonderful and just too cool for school.
Keep up the great work, and really great writing.
PS: Found you via the Wall Street Journal article some time back, and I am a devoted reader.
"A classic of the men who sail the upper regions of the earth"
...that refers to "Stranger to the Ground"; a book written by Richard Bach from the times when he flew an F 84 Thunderstreak.
Reading Flight Level 390 I often remember this book, because there is a certain similarity in writing style, so intimate. One just becomes part of the cockpit environment. And everytime I see an A320 I think:
Hey, here's some chap sitting at the front, undergoing all those fine tuned experiences Dave keeps telling me about.
rich- thanks. That was one of the favorite books of my youth.
Dave:
For the non-pilots, what is the reason fuel flow decreases with an increase in altitude? Does it have to do with air density??
Rich and Dave, I I have read 8 (I think) of Richard Bach's books, mostly in my young adulthood, and then re-read some. Sadly, I have never come across a copy of 'Stranger to the Ground'. Yes, I too like the intimate style which is compelling, like Dave's writing.
"that refers to 'Stranger to the Ground'; a book written by Richard Bach from the times when he flew an F 84 Thunderstreak..."
Interesting title for the book. The F-84 apparently was not such a "stranger to the ground" and was in fact known for its excessively long takeoff distance, so much so that pilots coined a little rhyme: "Don't give me an F-84 because it's an earth-loving whore!" Once it got airborne, I guess it was ok, but of its generation, the F-86 Sabre was the preferred fighter.
Love the blog, Dave, and I enjoy the perspective that you give us from the cockpit. Keep it up.
I have to say, one of my favourite sounds is that roar...
Another epic thread dave...keep up the great writing!
BTW...the families on Long Street in Clarence Center, NY have begun moving back in. The crash site is now covered in gravel...but will never be the same. Keep the victims families in your thoughts and prayers...
Anon 3:06.... At lower altitude the aircraft is plowing through thicker air, thicker air means higher drag, the increased drag requires more thrust so that the aircraft can maintain the desired cruising speed, and that increased thrust requires more fuel.
I really enjoy this blog, too, as a former commercial pilot.
I've seen a few pocket puppies on my aircraft, but that was long before 9-11 Lock-Down Security. How do those critters get past the TSA Types???
Dave -- I assume you've seen the report on the 320 crash off the French coast? It appears to be related to a risky maneuver rather than some sort of failure on the part of the airplane or its systems. It's a shame for the victims, but the flying public can take some comfort with regard to the Airbus.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5803949.ece
Can someone confirm this for the anonymous at 3:06. At a lower altitude, with denser air the fuel:air ratio is higher, which I beleive is the main cause of high fuel flows. I think that's it. Am I right?
I discovered your blog last Fall, and look forward to every post. You write beautifully, of course. More to the point, your love of profession shines through every time. You're lucky, you know -- how many people can say they've found their calling, versus just working to pay the bills? I also have the happy good fortune to love my work -- I'm a ship captain -- even on the days when it's all headaches and crummy weather and woe is me. Your similar enjoyment is evident. Thanks for another great post.
You never cease to impress me Dave! I love your appreciation for the complexity of the machine you are in command of.
YOU'RE NOT ONLY A GOOD PILOT BUT A GREAT WRITER. I LIKE YOUR STYLE.
Your style reminds me of Ernest K. Gann. Read Fate is the Hunter for a similarly voiced prudent and eloquently written history of early (50-60's) flight. You show the same open unimpeded mind as Gann, which is, in my view, an absolute requirement in safe flying, where you sometimes have to deal with the unexpected. The best way to do this is "being ready"for anything, and never assess before you are absolutely sure.
Hey there Captain, I'm a retired friendly skies driver. Got about five years flying the Ropestart as we called the 737-100. Fun airplane and I was lucky enough to fly it up and down the West Coast. Lots of takeoffs and landings along with never starting before 0600 and last shut down of the day by 2200.
Retired now for 16 years. Still miss the flying, but not dealing with ATC.
You've got a great blog here. Wish I'd kept a journal or something like this. Then I could tell my stories with something more than a hazy recall.
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