Position: Threshold, Runway 16 Left, KSEA (Sea-Tac)
Groundspeed: 0
Equipment: A319
Pax-on-board: 122
I am the guy in the Corona beer commercial. The wife-of-my-youth, looking hot, is wearing the tiniest bikini I have ever seen. The sun is setting over the Pacific... Ice cold Corona beers with slices of lime in the neck are glistening in the fading light of the Acapulco beach. Can it get any better?
The mighty iphone sounds reveille at 0245 hrs local time. Where am I? This isn't the beach! My beautiful wife is not here... Another cold and dark hotel room. The front desk wake-up call comes a few seconds later; it is a recording, but when I pick up the receiver, I say thank you, anyway. It is a habit... Not so long ago, the desk clerk made the calls personally. My feet are on deck and I am shaking the cobwebs out of my head, when the bed side alarm goes off. OK, OK, give me a break; I am up...
0400 hrs local...
The hotel van is pulling away after dropping us at the departure area. A bit late, I slap my pockets checking for wallet and iphone. Whew! I still have them. As we rebuild our crew bags into rolling eighty pound slices of home, I give my standard early morning, "OK everybody, smiles on... It's time to make donuts."
I can hear a few groans and muted obscenities as we trip the automatic terminal doors and walk into our world of air commerce, with smiles forward.
0501 hrs local...
Captain, you are cleared to start number one. The aircraft's twin red beacons are blasting the jetway every two seconds with bursts of red light as our tug begins the push. I tell the co-pilot to turn number one. She opens the pneumatic start valve and the APU starts pumping air to the starter motor. I used to love keeping my side window open and listen to the rushing air turning the mighty V2500 engine until the ignitors threw a match into the burner cans; a loud WHOOMF would follow ignition... Only a couple of seconds to get the side window closed before the noise level would hammer your left ear drum. And that is why my high frequency hearing is going away... Was it worth it? Absolutely!
No matter, that kind of silliness is strictly forbidden nowadays.
0515 hrs local...
Both engines are stable and warm; all check lists are completed. We are on runway 16 Left and waiting for take-off clearance. A heavy freight wagon departed before us and we are waiting for five miles of spacing... Wake turbulence delay.
0517 hrs local...
"Fly heading 168, cleared for take-off, runway 16 Left."
My co-pilot, a young female with an agile mind and quick reflexes, releases the brakes and advances the thrust levers a bit to bring the engines out of idle. A few seconds later, we are mashed into our seats with ever increasing acceleration. Our A319 is like a sports car compared to it's larger sisters, the A320/321. The airspeed indicator winds up rapidly.
0517:34 hrs local...
The nose gear tires break free from the runway followed, immediately, by the mains. There is no rolling along on the main gear tires in an A319. The co-pilot raises the nose to exactly eighteen (18) degrees and nails it. Darn kids... A pre-geezer (like me) will overshoot eighteen degrees to twenty for a second or two, and then drop it to sixteen, before finally settling on eighteen.
0520 hrs local...
Our landing gear is up and locked, flaps and slats retracted, and we are climbing at 230 mph (200 kts). The vertical speed indicator is north of 4,000 feet per minute. In a few seconds we are at acceleration altitude of 3,000 feet above the ground. The co-pilot lowers the nose to let Fi-Fi accelerate to 287 mph (250 kts).
0538 hrs local...
Looking toward the east from on high... Nothing, as in not a hint of twilight. At 37,000 feet, the dark air mass is glassy smooth. The ATC controller has no ride reports for us, because it is too early. My dispatcher thinks the ride will be smooth, so I turn the seat belt sign OFF and give a very short talk to the sleeping pax.
It is going to be a long day, ending in Philly after following a crooked 2,900 mile route across the Empire, stopping three times en route.
Life on the Line continues... Thirty minutes before twilight.
22 comments:
Beautiful :D
Amazing read!
Oh, and i would like to note that i'd love to trade corona's and an occasional beach for the left seat of Fi-Fi, but hey, that's just me :)
I don't know how crew's wake up. Are you still using the coolpix 8700 Captain?
Always love reading your posts. Once I read them I can't wait for next week's post. Live as a pilot sure seems exciting! Keep up the great blogging!
Martin
Why is it that pilots are always good looking guys with a thick set of hair and always seem sharply dressed?
I am not sure I could ever qualify to be a pilot based on these criteria, regardless of when I wake up
Capt. Dave-
Another nice entry, thank you. I read with interest your flight out of KSEA, and the younger SIC able to nail 18 deg. on the first try.
I still struggle to get it right in my Cirrus, but I will never climb out at 4k fpm, unless I use the rocket out of the CAPS for the plane, but I think big brother would have an issue with me doing that.
Looking forward to the next entry.
Sambo
Captain Dave,
I make it a point to not miss a post from you because you are a great storyteller. I have a question about what you call an "aerodynamic afficiando approach," where you use energy from the airplanes speed and altitude to reach the FAF with the thrust levers at the idle stops. My question is to what extent are you able to do this by looking out the window like I do in the 150? And could you describe what I have heard called "the doughnut" that contains information about the aircraft's energy state and descent profile? Any answers on this or more beautiful descriptions of approaches of this type would be much appreciated.
Best Regards,
Fly West
your wakeup call sounds a lot like mine except mine comes from my mom...and isnt quite so early. Another great post
Thanks,
Andrew
Another nice picture from the left seat Captain Dave. :)
Thanks for continuing to post, it means more than you can know to a sixth grade math teacher from Michigan (love my job), but I love to hear what "life on the line" is like....Keep it up!
Another excellent post!
I always time the take-off roll when riding in back. I like to see how close I get to the actual roll time.
Captain Dave- Wonderful post as always. Your description of a "long day" would put us to shame! Whatever they pay you dedicated pilots is definitely isn't enough! LS-P
Hey Dave!
Must say that I love your posts!
Best Regards from a colleague in Sweden
Hello from Germany :)
I love reading your reports! It´s like being in the situation!
But there is one thing, I don´t know what it is: What is Fi-Fi? I googled it, but I only found some sex-things ^^
And hey, tomorrow is my Pilot-Test! Wish me good luck ;)
Dave,
I'm following your posts here in Brazil for about a year now and must say your reports are awesome!
Keep it up, as much as your job lets you do that.
Have a nice day!
BTW, Where are you based in the U.S.? I've seen you fly a little bit from and to everywhere...
Great read Captain Dave!
Dave,
How come they don't let you have the window open any longer? Does that really constitute a workplace hazard? Also, at some point (if you haven't already) it would be good to hear your opinion on weapons in the cockpit.
Great Entry!
Ladd
lawrence- no, I retired the 8700; I am using a little nikon coolpix S630. Much smaller and as capable.
david- not all pilots look like that, I assure you.
fly west- yeah, I can fly the Electric Jet exactly like a 150 and do it all the time on approach by looking out the window using vasi and the donut if no vasi. The donut is nothing more than a visual reference to the nav computers calculation of the vertical profile leading to the runway or a crossing restriction at altitude. It moves up and down on the side of the artificial hozizon. The "bird" is a little reference to the energy state of the airframe. We use it all the time, too.It is a small reference that pops up in the middle of the artificial horizon representing the nose and tail of the aircraft and their relationship to the horizon. It's kind of hard to verbalize until you see one, then it is "that is neat. Wish I had thought of that." One of many things that makes this aircraft so neat to fly.
Flying Kites Mom- I agree 100%. I think (C)aptain Sully proved that.
Tim- thanks... Fi-Fi, the Electric Jet, the Dark Side, and Sparky are all nicknames for the Airbus Industries jets, no matter what model. The names came mostly from old Boeing pilots who were amazed at the changes that Fi-Fi introduced to our industry.
broward714- well, the checklist says to close the window before engine start, so if you re-opened it, then the checklist would be invalidated. I have no public opinion of weapons in the cockpit.
marcelo wuo lopes- thanks. I live in the southwestern part of the US. I try to stay incognito.
Again, I love all your visual images painted by your writing, Dave. The 3-way waking system always has me chuckling. Beautiful description of take-off sequence - I was right there relishing the build up of speed and first moment of flight. It's still a miracle to me!
Thank you, and keep safe...
Hi Captain Dave,
I should have sent this to you yesterday, but, as you guys say, "we are delayed do to problems with the equipment."
On this, the anniversary of Captain Sullenburger’s Miracle On The Hudson water landing, it is fitting that US Airways introduces their latest new Air Bus, or should I say Air Boat. This plane is a result of an extensive survey US Airways conducted with its Frequent Fliers asking about their concerns with flying.
Go here to view the photo:
http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2091724710105943471HLXaey
Keep up the good work.
Stratocruiser1
Just arrived in Florida after a trip on Northwest/Delta.
The way you've humanized that mysterious space at the tip of that miracle of human engineering has made flying easier for me.
It's nice to know that the capable people at the helm also sleep, dream, get cranky, do their job and still have time for poetry.
As a young guy in his late 20s, I have nothing to do with aviation other than flying maybe 2-3 times a year on vacation or some business. I find myself sitting at work in NYC on a rainy day on the 20th floor of the building overlooking Broadway, drinking my morning coffee with a muffin and reading your blog. It's amazing to see a life of another profession, of another person. I've been reading your blog for a while now. Always enjoy your posts. Thank you.
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