*-)- welcome aboard *-)-
just me. my current interests and stories for the interwebs.
I have to say that as I am typing this message, there has been a constant array of lightning and thunder for the last 20-30 minutes. It is banging, crackling and bright as hell! Check out the link of Thunderstorms on the WX radar. I'm right where the red is passing through. It should be over shortly, but this was definitely one of the ones I'll be remembering. Woke me up and kept me up for the entire time.
just something fun in lieu of the CAPT news.
Co-worker #1: Who was in the bathroom just a minute ago?
Co-worker #2: I don't know.
Co-worker #1: Someone was in there taking a dump, and I could see under the stall that he had his shoes off.
Co-worker #2: Wait, like barefoot?
Co-worker #1: Well, with his socks on. Who would take their shoes off, though?
Co-worker #3: I don't know, but I think I might start doing that. Not a bad idea!
712 South McClintock Drive
Tempe, Arizona
this was taken from: http://overheardintheoffice.com/ check it out! its quite funny.
It is a truly sad day for the CAPT program. It will be missed as well as all the instructors and academics, but WE WILL make this last few months (till the newest class ends) the best ever! We'll show those main campus people and the rest of the industry what we are made out of! Bowling tonight and Superbowl Party this weekend at my house!
http://www.erau.edu/er/newsmedia/newsreleases/2006/captends.html
http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID=21013842-c47f-46ba-8050-af7b1ef3de91#d
Here's a pic of the simulator on the outside and another with me at the controls. I'm still chasing the plane a little bit, but things are slowly coming together. Kevin reminded me that we are in a transition course and not the actual MD90 ground lab. We have a lot more to go over tomorrow, but I'm sure that everything will come into place.
I executed the Freedom Visual 9L into Philadelphia and had an engine fire prior to V1 departing on 27L. They were both pretty awesome, but the first engine out as FO was quite a shocker. When they said that you would just sit there and not do anything at first, I didn't realize that I was doing just that. That engine out siren is really loud and making an announcement for the passengers to standby, etc, its crazy! This pic is before I started breaking into a sweat trying to get everything straight.
We got some flight director experience today and did a stall too. I'm loving the jet!
Check out trelijah for a quick update. --> click the phone!
First official student flight in the MD90 in CAPT 511. I did the River Visual into Reagan which ended pretty well. Flying wasn't that bad with Kevin and Rick doing all the landing checklist items and such, but the actual touchdown included a good balloon and rough touchdown / bounce. No red screen, but definitely not comfortable. I can't wait till tomorrow!
My flight partner during the first of many late night briefings in the SIM room!
LOFTS: LOFTS stand for (line-oriented flight training) and over the last few days, Kurt, Manoj, Ryan and I have been just flying all over the state of Florida trying to gain some experience and build up hours with the ones that CAPT has allotted us. From Pensacola to Tamiami (twice) I've burned off quite a bit. It's definitely been lots of fun. On the way to Pensacola with about 1.5 hours left enroute, I decided that we not divert for a bathroom break at Tallahasse. It was not a wise choice. I ended up enduring some of the worse lower-abdomen pain in my life. I broke into a cold sweat about 10 mins. prior to touchdown. I was just hurting. Finally running to the bathroom at Pensacola Aviation, I relieved myself and still was feeling some pain. Don't think that I didn't use the restroom prior to leaving but I did two times. I didn't even drink anything in between. It was a good lesson. The weekend prior we diverted for a restroom break and that worked out well to Charleston, SC. I have learned well!
While Ryan and I were at Tamiami, we encountered two pilots who also wanted to grab a quick bite to eat and we all ended up going to a place called Kegs. It was almost like High Jackers but they did have a good selection of food. I had a Gyro (it was alright) and we just chatted away. One of the individuals was the assitant cheif pilot for Flight Safety in Vero Beach. So of course, he asked us quite a few questions about the program and we just compared back and forth. The other gentleman was a flight photographer, and he had a lot of stories to tell. Yesterday, on the way home from Tamiami, we got vectored right over Miami International and that was a site! THere was also some good actual instrument along the way and surprisingly it wasn't that bumpy at all!
CAPT 511: With the news that the King Air Mechtronic simulator is down for another week, CAPT has decided that we proceed with our jet transition course in the MD90. A great choice that we do not get behind. I'm rather excited that we proceed but I did want to get some experience in the mechtronics. I actually want to fly a King Air and grab a few hours with a pilot out there. If you are reading this, leave a comment.
My plan today is to study some flows with my flight partner and just go over the simple motions of a preflight in the MD90 cockpit. It's going to be an interesting week. As of now, my first LOFT in the MD90 is at 2000 (8:00pm) tomorrow. Good stuff!
Check it ou! Romaine Lettuce, tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, and some freshly squeezed half lemon. I had to add cheese though. Here's to my mom's diet!
The day is done with 1 more test to take (ADX - Dispatcher FAA Written) within the next couple of days while the ATP stuff is still sort of fresh in my head. I can't say that I did stellar or that I was able to score anywhere where I wanted to be. It is my own fault I guess, but there were a few questions that I didn't recognize. For those who really want to know, I scored a measly 85%. Trust me, that isn't that good knowing that the rest of the class scored above you. What does stink is that out of a bank of ~1300 questions you are provided with a selection of 80 random questions. They could be of the hardest or the easiest. It's just all random. Someone could get away with a 100% or a 70% just by the chance that they got screwed or blessed. I like to think that I got away with being blessed. I didn't fail or score any lower. Of course, 85% was my line for failure.
I am too many things on my mind at the moment and sometimes, standardized tests don't mean a thing, ya know? As those who score low would say, "Give me a pracitical situation where I need to demonstrate my knowledge and I'll do just fine, but give me a test that the FAA expects you to come up with the right answer, I'll fail..." I mean, some problems were so gross in that each answer was separated by only a few numbers and if you rounded before, in the middle or after you completed the problem, you would wind up in between two different choices. Its just ridiculous! Oh well, on to bigger and better toys!
http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/01/24/plane.crash.ap/index.html
Sad times up there at Palomar. It's always saddening to know when an fatal accident occurs, but more so when it involves an aircraft. Perhaps it is the thought of me in their position and or the reality that pilots deal with everyday situations such as these. I like to think that we are one great family. I pray for the continued safety for all those that are up in the air to know when to go around and try again for another approach. Going around is definitely one of the hardest things to do with fuel and time knocking at your door. Condolences to the families of all those onboard.
RANT: Of course, there are people out there who still think that we get paid "too much" and don't realize the continued training that we go through nor the responsibilities that we carry every time we are planning and are at the controls. There is the other reality of first year pilots only making ~$18K to ~$22K varying on airline. Wage increases don't happen that frequently or abruptly either. But that's all knowledge that the common travelers don't care about really. They don't realize that the cheaper they want their fares, that maintenance is cut and so is safety. Just remember to say hello to your flight crew and be nice to them.
Before you go on, I just added two posts total. This one and the other about my LOFT the past weekend. Check it out!
So, I have about 48 hours left to cram whatever I can into my head before heading into the ATP test. It's going to be an exciting next few hours trust me. Red Bull, Coffee, salads I guess. Any other nutritional ideas for me people?
Today for lunch, Manoj and I headed to Burger King (rememeber that there isn't that much of a selection around Flagler) and I ended up spending $8.01! That was for the Angus Burger Medium Meal (much better taste of meat and bun selection) along with a Resces' Pie. I should have just gone to Subway or tried to find something else. Is it me or are fast food places getting to be just as expensive as TGI Friday's?
I read that there was a new Burger Joint that opened in San Diego called Tommy's. It's one of the more popular places in the LA area and this is the first for SD. The Chili is what sets it apart from all the others. I have never tried it before and am looking forward to giving it a shot when I get back. So far though, you can't go wrong with In-N-Out or Islands for sit down burgers!
Back to studying...
Last Saturday, Ryan and I decided to take a DA40 to Wilmington, North Carolina. We still have quite a few hours to burn in the DA40 so these long trips always help out with taking care of those. It's all about building hours from now on. I just wish that we could get a couple more Multi-Engine time. I'm so close to 100 hours (89.1). I had my first real life diversion which occurred around Charleston, South Carolina. Bathrooms are an amazing thing in airplanes, but these little buggers give you no choice but to land. We got vectored around a landing DC5 and felt just a little bit of his wake turbulence but stayed above the path the entire time. It was a huge Air Force Facility with large heavy aircraft lined around the airport.
Passing Myrtle Beach was a first. The view from above definitely led us to believe that they are that nice. The sand was bright white and the water was a lighter shade of blue. Looked pretty neat. It even looked like there was quite a few tourist spots along the way. We encountered only a few cloudes and I got to log .1 actual. That's always fun. We keep each others count pretty accurate using a timer in the plane. It definitely feels like a lot longer when you are in the clouds.
We got to the Air Wilmington and they had a crew car available for us to take out. We chose the Jeep Wrangler over the Chevy Tahoe and as far as I can remember, it was my first time in a Jeep. It was stick too! Had some good power but was definitely fit more for an offroad drive. Coming out from the airport down 23rd, we passed by a place that was reminicent of Forrest Gump's home town. Brick houses and trees along larger than my normal plots of land. It was homey I guess you can call it. Southern is probably a better term. The real estate definitely gave you the feeling of "experienced." I don't know a better adjective at 12:37 in the morning. I just know that I have to get back to studying. But I'll keep writing just a little bit more. Here's a pic of a house on Midway just at the end of 23rd. Pretty quaint eh?
Oh yeah, we ate at another place that was #1 in 2005 for BBQ. That was the 2nd time Ryan and I tried a place that said they were the best. Never again and we'll leave it at that, or not. I'm just glad that I didn't let it out on the way home. I was ready though with the sic sack at my side just in case. It was probably the banana cream that pushed me over the edge.
On the way home, we had to stop by St. Augustine to refuel because we would have landed below our reserves. That was a quick flight and fuel. Ryan caught the women punching in wrong numbers into the machine to charge us. She almost rang us up for 49 gallons. If you didn't know the DA40 only holds 40 max! It was a little fishy and we got it corrected. So, make sure that you verify all the time how much they are charging you.