Wrapping up 2014 with a new look
I’m going to be honest with you: A few weeks ago, I thought I was done. I was a little bored of writing, sick of the blog’s “look” and a little concerned that the media was starting to turn on pilots...
View ArticleQuito
At first, I thought a vent above the terminal was releasing steam. It was flowing at such an alarming rate that it caught my attention from the corner of my eye. After a few seconds of staring, I...
View ArticleThat “Living the Dream” video…
I get a little annoyed when I click on an article and it regurgitates another author’s material. There are many people making decent money by simply commenting on the works of others. I find it lazy...
View ArticleChameleon on the right
(Picture by Poreddy Sagar (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons) While sitting on a bar stool having dinner in Orlando, I glanced up at the “Breaking News” on the television screen. The...
View ArticleLet’s Play Ball!
Author’s note: This is a fictional story. Any similarities to the aviation industry are purely coincidental. — The game was hyped as a scrimmage for the ages. For the first time in baseball history,...
View ArticleGuatemala City
Waiting in the lobby, I started to feel a bit self conscious. It was almost midnight and I was surrounded by attractive people dressed to the nines in suits, tuxedos and formal dresses. I couldn’t...
View ArticleMama said there’d be days like this…
The day started with my bottom parked on a chair under a thatched umbrella on the beach in the Dominican Republic. I enjoy the beach and clear blue water, but there was no sense in burning my milky...
View ArticleAnswering mail
Three and a half years ago, I wrote a blog post about the “barking noise” on the A320. In that post, I did my best to explain the source of the noise and when the passengers are likely to hear it. The...
View ArticleDisplaced
About 8:30 in the morning, we returned home from dropping off our youngest two children at the elementary school. As I walked across the kitchen, I happened to notice a voicemail notification on our...
View ArticleDouble duty day sleep
On paper, the trips look rough. The first time I saw one of the pairings, I thought pilots would have to be insane to bid them. I felt sorry for the junior pilots forced to fly them. I wondered how...
View ArticleWhen a pilot becomes incapacitated
Twice this week, a pilot of a commercial airline flight has become incapacitated. An American Airlines pilot passed away during a red-eye flight from Phoenix to Boston. The next day, a United...
View ArticlePointless
When I opened the letter from the big hotel chain, I really wasn’t sure how to react. Some would say it was funny… others, infuriating. My emotions fell somewhere in the middle. The letter informed me...
View ArticleThe hypocritical briefing
(Photo by RAF-YYC from Calgary, Canada [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons) Prior to two pilots flying together for the first time, the captain briefs the first officer. A thorough initial briefing...
View ArticleFlying, feats and family
As we climbed through 10,000′, I glanced down at the flight management computer. The PROG page predicted a touchdown in Newark at 19:20 zulu. With nearly an entire trans-con flight from San Diego...
View ArticleWrapping up 2015
The last trip of 2015 has been entered into the logbook: Day One: EWR-AUA (deadhead/not in logbook) AUA-IAH Day Two: IAH-RTB RTB-IAH IAH-DFW Day Three: DFW-DEN DEN-EWR The pairing finished a few days...
View ArticleLet’s fly south for the winter
The captain placed his suitcase on the floor and introduced himself as he shook my hand. I was already sitting on board the 737-800 completing the initial cockpit setup. I watched him attempt to stow...
View ArticleVacation
My parents operated their own business for forty years. Every year, they shut down “the shop” during the first week of July and took a well deserved vacation. One week a year. Except for taking a rare...
View ArticleHello again, longevity date…
Let’s take a quick trip back to 1999. The day I walked into my airline’s training center became my date of hire. After two weeks of basic indoctrination, a month off, ground school and simulator...
View ArticleTIME to fly home
I stood in the gate area with absolutely no expectations of boarding the flight. What was keeping me there? The universally understood jump-seating rule that says never walk away until the airplane...
View ArticleWhoosh! (There It Is)
Whoosh! The first officer heard the strange noise and immediately turned towards the pilot-in-command. He wasn’t surprised to see the captain looking forward seemingly unaware of the loud surge of air....
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