LOFTs and CAPT 511

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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!

the day is done

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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!

Tragedy at Local SD Airport

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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.

ATP is THIS WEEK!!!

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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...

Wilmington, NC

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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.

MD90 Landing and the FMS!

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The FMS system is such a great way to navigate in a jet, that is once you understand all the qwerks about it. From inputting, calibrating the IRUs to just setting up your route is a small pain at first, but I'm sure it'll all come together soon enough.

You have to love that CBT (computer based training) lab that we have for the MD90 FMS system. "There are alphanumeric keys on the MCDU. You have Alpha keys on the right and the numeric keys on the left." Seriously, that's what it is. You can't speed up nothing either. But you do learn a lot. It just drags quite a bit. CAPT really needs to move the MD90 CBT to Flagler.

Today was the first day that we got to sit inside the sim and actually punch in numbers and "execute" navigational commands. I got to rotate and actually even land the plane. It was an KLAX 24R Departure followed by an ILS back in. We programmed the FMS for the KLAX Loop4.Dagget route, etc, but didn't really need to fly the path so we just turned around. Landing was pretty neat, but once I disengaged the autopilot, the corrections that I made were too much. I wasn't on centerline and I started to oscillate a little back and forth. All of this plus the fact that I was below glideslope the entire time. The landing was that smooth, but I got it down without a bunch of shaking going on. I'm sure that it'll get better with practice. I didn't red screen the thing, so, so far so good! I can't wait to actually learn more about flying this airplane.