One Airline Career

2014-06-05T15:43:00.001-04:00

Since retiring in October 2012 from the 747-400, I've not been contributing to this blogsite, primarily because there are so many well written blogs available from active duty pilots. Their viewpoint and experiences are much more up to date than mine. On the other hand, surprisingly, this site still see's more than 200 hits per day from around the world, so obviously many are still enjoying the pictures, stories and experiences.

If you'd like to see a more updated version, I've created a new website, Rand Peck Aviation Photography, My Career Through a Lens. This is mostly a photography site that follows my very enjoyable airline career through pictures. Click HERE to transfer to my new site.

So just what have I been up to since retirement? Actually quite a lot but I spend most of my time with this little guy. My almost two year-old grandson.

Thanks...... Rand

2014-02-22T16:28:00.002-05:00

The Mighty DC-9
The end of the line.

For the past week I've been reading of the impending, last commercial flight of a US Air Carrier owned Douglas DC-9. This will take place on 6 January 2014 as DAL 2014 from MSP to ATL. The accolade most often expressed with this event seems to be "workhorse." For a jet transport that has served continuously since 1965, it is certainly that; but this is a word, a noun reserved for detached, earthbound reporters or airline accountants with green eyeshades, tethered to a desk, not for airman. Particularly for airman who have experienced thousands of hours in one, slid down slippery runways, skirted towering, magnificent thunderstorms and delivered families home for Christmas. I certainly don't mean to anthropomorphize this airplane, but she's far more than a reliable, old jet aircraft that has outlived its usefulness and burns too much fuel.

For both my father and me, as young men of different eras it was our first jet type rating, our first jet captaincy that would prepare us for bigger and better commands. I'd enjoyed thousands of hours in it as a First Officer before my number surfaced for a captains slot. My new category, "DC-9 Captain" realigned my perspective in ground school, simulator and aircraft training. Yes, we still did aircraft training in those days. I was no longer the back-up or "just" the FO but the man in charge, the go to guy when the chips were down and took this training far more seriously than I had before.

The Nine sported a pair of JT8D's that roared as a jet should, had leading edge as well as trailing edge flaps, had complex, yet reliable systems but no moving maps, no FMS. When a system failed it simply wasn't a matter of pulling up a page and identifying a valve that failed to operate. It required a time consuming investigative process, trial and error, isolating segments and identifying the faulty area by temperature or pressure readouts.

There are no "top of descent" indicators to cue the pilot as to when to descend to cross ten west of Gardiner (Gahdnah, in the vernacular) at 8,000 and 250 knots. Our present position on that murky night, during an ILS to 4R in BOS was determined by an NDB needle (located outer marker) and DME rather than a picture on a screen. Not to confuse you, there is a picture, but it was in our brain, cultivated by years of experience. My opinion is that the DC-9 created an atmosphere where a pilot is forced to have more than a vague understanding of his/her equipment and maintain his flying skills. To support my argument, I refer to numerous current articles concerning modern "glass" aircraft and the debate over diminishing pilot skills. Make no mistake, I've flown and recognize the importance of glass, but it has its inherent "reliant" side as well.

On the other hand, I apologize in advance to current professional airman who disconnect the automation frequently and "hand fly" specifically to maintain not only the hand skills, but the "cognitive" skills as well.

Because this is what the DC-9 and later the B-727 taught us. Not just how to fly, but how to think, think in advance of the jet. But the learning didn't stop there, the lessons would continue to unfold.

As a young DC-9 captain I learned the importance of taking care of my passengers, you know, the people who paid my salary, those who trusted that I was rested, prepared and competent. I learned to put myself in their shoes, to understand their concerns and lend a hand beyond just flying the machine. They after all were someones parents, children, brother or sister, aunt or uncle, a returning veteran lying forever silent in the forward cargo hold, to whom the best of my skills are owed. I'd as well learned the importance of taking care of your crew. I'd learned this lesson best from captains with whom I'd flown who had no concept of this thought.

For all of these experiences, I'm forever grateful and indebted to the marvelous old DC-9, as they applied to all other aircraft that followed and to my life for that matter. My familiarity with her aqua colored cockpit, the smoothness of her controls and switches made so by the touch of a thousand hands before mine will never diminish. I can close my eyes and the fragrance of her cockpit remains in my nostrils. It was a love affair of flight, in a marvelous old machine and a young man who loved what he did.

Thank-you,

Rand K. Peck
DC-9 Captain, Ret.

2013-12-04T12:54:00.000-05:00

I still receive many emails asking me to keep writing my blog.

24 left and right at LAX

But my thoughts are that there are many current blogs, most very well written by active airline pilots, who are in a far better position than I to comment on the industry. I've kept my blog up though because surprisingly, it still receives as many as 100 hits per day, so someone out there is still enjoying it.

On the other hand, where I may be able to contribute is with my photography. I've just built a new site that I've made public today. I have thousands of airline photos that many seem to enjoy, so click over and I hope that you enjoy these pics as much as I do.

randpeckaviationphotography

I've only posted a few photos so far, but will add more weekly.

Rand

2013-10-04T12:00:00.000-04:00

I can't believe that its been a year!

It's been quite some time now since I've updated my blog, nearly a year to be exact, but thanks to the kindness of the folks at AIRWAYS, they've allowed me to post the article that they published about my retirement flight in their February 2013 issue.

And now for the rest of the story....

I'm a year into retirement and it's proceeding nicely. Well, more or less. What it comes down to is that I ran at full speed for 38 years and then on 1 October 2012 I came to a dead stop. Not even a cool down period, but that was my choice, I elected to take the early out (18 months) and would do it again. Financially it was a sound decision.

But yes, I miss the airplanes, the people, the layovers and the overall activity that surrounded this wonderful career. Much of it was mundane but the exercising of your brain, contributing to a company and being part of a large organization was rewarding. I continue to follow Delta (among other things) every morning on my internet reading, but it's different now; I have nothing to contribute to it's future success.

However, don't think that I've been sitting home pining away; quite the opposite it's been a very busy time. My daughter Sam and my son-in-law Blair returned to the US from three years in New Zealand and brought Sebastian (our first grandchild) with them. With Blairs new job in the US the necessary accouterments soon followed. After renting a fully furnished apartment in Boston for 9 months and determining their future, they recently purchased a restored, 1800 colonial in "old town" in Marblehead, MA. My pickup has been very busy. They're moments away from Marblehead Harbor and have chosen a wonderful location.

Also, our son Ian, who graduated from BU Law last year earned an LLM at UC Berkeley Law (Boult) just a while ago. The proud parents flew jetBlue nonstop from BOS to SFO for that event. I would have loved to have saved the money and flown DAL out, but that would have required a stop somewhere (JFK, DTW, MSP) and this would have compromised getting their via our new, "retired" non-rev status.

I've also exercised one of my other passions. Antiques. Early American furniture to be exact, some dating to the mid 18th century or 1750's. We've owned two homes during our marriage, the first dated to 1840 and the present to 1790. We've tried hard to furnish them authentically with the appropriate antiques and with relatively few bills in our way have done a pretty good job. A love of history, architecture and American antiques have helped tremendously to fill the void.

To that end, to help promote business, I've created a new blog and website to market our antique business. I'm sorry, there are few airplane pictures here, but that part of my life is over and I have to move on. But I'll never forget about it!

RAND PECK ANTIQUES

AND

RAND PECK ANTIQUES LLC

As usual, thanks very much for taking the time to read my stuff.

Rand

2012-11-03T16:41:00.000-04:00

I have sad news to report.

Air New England DC-3 over Nantucket 1975.

Can't you just hear those magnificent old 1830's just purrrring away as ship 654 turns and heads for Martha's Vineyard? A vast ocean, blue skies with gentle breezes and a windscreen full of white sails on a beautiful summer day in a Douglas racer. I may have retired from a 747 but my heart, forever 25, remains here on the Cape among radial engines and tailwheel airplanes.

Nelson Lee and Joseph Whitney, aviation pioneers to whom I and many others owe much.

I have very sad news to report to my Air New England friends. On Tuesday 30 October 2012, Mr. Whitney passed away. He'd been battling cancer for some time and although he sounded very strong during our last phone conversation a month or so ago, he's now gone. For those who may not know, we lost Mr. Lee on 6 September 2012 as well.

Services will be held for Mr. Whitney at 2 p.m. on Saturday 10 November 2012 at

St Pauls Church

59 Court Street,

Dedham, MA.

Together, these fellows both veterans, founded Executive Airlines in 1964 and when forced out by new investors, founded Air New England in 1970 and put Executive out of business. They were entrepreneurial pioneers in the commuter airline industry who surrounded themselves with a dedicated team and gave hundreds of aspiring young pilots (including me) their start in the industry.

Air New England memorabilia

If you are available and plan to attend these services, please contact Christine Hamersley at

c.hamersley52@gmail.com

or respond below in the response area and I'll pass it along to Chris.

During the early days of Executive Airlines in Florida. Probably around 1965 or so. Mr. Whitney is to the far left and Mr. Lee is to the far right standing by a Beech 99.

January 1975. Mr. Whitney accepting ANE's part 121 certificate from an FAA Representative. The previous small airline to receive certification was Ozark Airlines in 1950.

Mr. Whitney just a couple of years ago at an Air New England reunion.

An article in the Logan Airport newspaper about Mr. Whitney and ANE's newly won certification. The photo was taken on a BOS ramp.

We all think our youth will last forever and that we can put off important things until tomorrow. I never really thanked Mr. Lee or Mr. Whitney for giving me my chance in aviation, although from conversations we had, I know that they knew that I thought it. But right now though, that just doesn't seem to be enough.

Click here to visit my ANE Picasa album.

Hope to see you in Dedham on Saturday.

As a postscript, here's the ANE contingent that attended Mr. Whitney's services. I hadn't seen most of these friends in more than 30 years and it was fun to catch up. Who do you recognize?

Rand

2012-10-01T16:12:00.000-04:00

Today is October first, the first day of the rest of my life... now, what am I going to do? Just a short report to let everyone know that I'm done and that at some time in the future may write more in depth about the day. I'm really not ready to just yet.

My last trip was a roundtrip between Detroit and Nagoya. Delta, meaning my DTW base manager Scott Harris was great and offered to secure most any trip that I wanted, including seats for my wife Linda and a water canon salute back in DTW. I passed on this however due to logistics within my family and simply flew my last assigned trip. Frankly, I didn't want any fanfare. His offer was most generous and if I were still flying London, Paris or Frankfurt I'd have accepted his offer.

This is the cockpit crew for the first leg of this trip. Rob is sitting behind me, Jill is in the first officers seat and Paul, who will be retiring soon is behind Jill. Although I've seen Rob around the property for years, this is the first time that we'd met; he serves the pilot group as a 747 check airman as well. In fact it was my first trip with all of these pilots and they went out of there way to make this trip memorable.

This is my flight attendant crew over to Nagoya with many of the same faces returning as well. I mentioned in the brief that this may be my last trip and they went out of their way to make it a celebration. A wonderful crew, thank-you.

We're moments away from push back at Nagoya here to fly the Anjyo Reversal departure. At this point it hasn't quite penetrated my brain that this will be my last airline flight. Jill is in the right seat, Jeff is in the jump seat and the other captain, Jerry is taking the picture. Jill and I will fly the first half of the flight until passing Anchorage, when Jeff and Jerry will return to the cockpit and continue to DTW. As you might have imagined, when Jill and I returned to the cockpit just prior to the top of descent, Jerry got up and offered me his seat and the landing. Again, much appreciated.

I had very little trouble making it through the flight until the flight attendants, congregated by door two at the end of the flight, gathered round and presented me with a card that they'd purchased in Nagoya. Their kindness was overwhelming and I did my best to maintain my composure. After all, I am.... or was a Captain!

To all of you who left comments on the previous blog and sent emails, thank-you as well for your generosity and taking the time over the years to read my stuff, write and send pictures. It's been a privilege for me to spend time with you.

But now it's time to say good-bye and see what lies beyond the next horizon. I wish you all well and thank-you for your camaraderie.

Rand

2012-08-16T12:49:00.023-04:00

I've waited 38 years for today!

I just didn't know it.

What? What's this??

Six weeks ago, Delta offered an early out program, the third such offer in the last few years. The first two came via NWA, but this last arriving via DAL. I passed on the previous two, but they sweetened the pot a bit and with some reluctance submitted my application. The company was explicit and advised that not all those who applied would necessarily be rewarded. Easily understandable, they can't let all 747 captains or all 777 captains retire as the training requirements would be burdensome.

The application process was open for 30 days, ending on July 30. Then there was a two week revocation period that ended at midnight on 14 August for those who might get cold feet, do a little soul searching and re-think their position. They expect about a 10% revocation. I'll admit to a few sleepless nights during this time period, tossing and turning, weighing the pros and cons and building a financial spreadsheet in my mind. It's now noon on the 15th and I've not seen the final list posted anywhere, not that there's anything I can do about it, my decision became binding last night.

I suspect that my name will be on it but more importantly they will list the separation date for each person. That's what I really want to know. According to some, the earliest seperation date could be as soon as 1 September. Whoa.... that's only a couple of weeks away!

For 38 years I've been flying airliners and have a heck of a collection of uniforms in my closet, but today I'm sitting here on pins and needles wondering if that run is about to close. I'll write about it when it happens.

16 August 2012 @ 1200

Well, the list just came out, I'm on it and my separation or retirement date is 1 October. Let me say that again so it sinks into my brain... I retire on 1 October. As I approached 60 a few years ago, I just wasn't ready to retire and my "luck of the Irish" kicked in and the FAA changed the mandatory retirement age to 65. I lucked out big time. But now at 63.5, spending more time commuting to short call reserve than actually flying, the time has arrived. I'm mentally prepared and ready to pass the baton. So too are those younger than I who have waited patiently for my seat. I leave the responsibility that that seat represents in excellent hands.

As anyone who reads my blog knows, I've loved this job with a passion, even during the bad times when we suffered strikes, furloughs, mergers, pay cuts and other catastrophes. But they've all worked out, the good has far outweighed the bad and in the immortal words of Lou Gerhig, "Today, I'm the luckiest man in the world." I mean really, how many people get to experience flying a Boeing 747? And a 767, 757, 727, A320 and a DC-9 before that.

But please let me leave by clarifying my position to the many who read my blog and want to pursue this career. As good as it has been for me, keep in mind that you are working for a large corporation who really doesn't have your best interests in mind. This is not meant as criticism, it's simply a fact, just like your highest priority is your family, not your employer. Their obligations, any corporation's for that matter, lie with their share holders, this is a LEGAL obligation and they will do what ever is in their interests. Hopefully, we as employees will benefit as well. For the most part, over the last 38 years I have. I've written extensively in the past about having a back up plan when times are less than good. That's enough about that.

So, I have about 45 days remaining and expect to squeeze in a "last flight" somewhere along the line and will certainly chronicle it.

Thanks,

Rand

My father and me on the morning of his retirement flight. January 1980, 32 years ago. He arrived at Delta via the Northeast Airlines merger in 1972, while I arrived at Delta via the Northwest merger in 2008.

This is Tom and me standing in flight ops at JFK. Tom had just returned from Tel Aviv and I was leaving for Tel Aviv. Tom's an ANE buddy and he just retired on the same early out program that I did as a 747-400 captain.

This is Sydney, Tom's wife and another Air New England refugee. She's an A-330 captain and took the early out program too.

Wes and me in a 727 from many years ago. Wes, yes... another ANE pal, isn't leaving but as a result of the early out program, will be replacing Tom and me in the 747-400. Currently he's a JFK 767-400ER captain.

Tom, Syd and Wes all left ANE for MSP based North Central Airlines and have experienced several mergers now. They merged with Southern Airways to form Republic Airlines, then they brought Hughes Airwest into the fold, then merged with Northwest Airlines and now will retire from Delta. Let this be an example that the airline that first hires you may have little to do with whom you retire from.

And yet another ANE friend Tony Q who took the last buy out and has been retired now for nearly a year.

A few days have passed since I was awarded my retirement date and its begun to sink in that my time here is finite.

2012-07-17T08:43:00.004-04:00

Just a quick note before I get into the blog.

I'd like to thank whom ever found my 747 book and very kindly brought it back to DTW and put it in my mailbox. Thank-you.

I carry a note book, full of hard to find information for quick reference. As you know I fly only rarely, so I keep copious notes that help with uncommon procedures. It's my own personal "How To Fly a 747, Volume 1." I left this aboard a flight recently and someone not only found it, but then had to carry it around for a while until returning to DTW. And then, rather than running to catch a commuter flight or going directly home, diverted to Flight Ops to put the book in my mailbox. Very thoughtful and much appreciated.

* * *

I recently commuted out to DTW for a day of "short call" reserve, which means that I have to be within two hours of the airport. The function of the short call reserve pilot (among others) is to be able to fill in immediately if another pilot calls in sick at the last minute or if a weather delay or mechanical event causes a crew to exceed FAR time restrictions. The consequences of delaying 400 passengers or pushing them back until the next day, when those flights are already full are significant.

Long call reserve on the other hand is far more flexible. As you're aware, the airline has a "plan" for each and every day, but unlike many businesses, those plans change regularly as global conditions shift. A typhoon in Japan can cause 747 crew problems in Tel Aviv, or an airplane that just came out of heavy maintenance needs to be ferried into position. So for a little longer range problem solving, long call reserve pilots have a 12 hour call out window. The system works well and each fleet has it's own pilots standing by to insure as smooth an operation as possible.

There's a formula that crew sched uses to determine who will be on either short or long call reserve for a particular day. It factors in previous short calls, vacation, if trips have been flown already and seniority, but I'm not sure that anyone really understands it though. I'm liable for six short call assignments a month but have rarely been called in for more than two. Short calls are posted on the computer the day ahead.

- PART I -

Flight 629

DTW to NGO

19 June 2012

1550 local 1950Z

Our reflection at gate 38 in DTW in aircraft 6313 (constructed Aug 1999) awaiting pushback.

I'd just finished my short call assignment and was heading to the gate to catch my commuter flight back to BOS when my cell phone rang and displayed the familiar "404" area code. Crew scheduling in Atlanta is looking for me! "Rand, you're flying sequence 3001 tomorrow to Nagoya, leaving DTW at 1550 local."

Sequence 3001 is a "devised" or "made up " pairing that crew scheduling created to work around weather problems in Asia. This particular headache for crew scheds, known as "Typhoon Guchol," was located southwest of Japan in the East China Sea. Moving towards Japan and South Korea at 65 kilometers per hour, it dropped heavy rain and had sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour. About the same ferocity as a level 3 hurricane. JAL and ANA would eventually cancel some 500 flights between them as the massive storm moved over Japan. I know that it's not always apparent, but when problems arise, whether you're in Topeka or Shanghai, central planning is always searching for alternatives to move you safely and efficiently from Point A to B. Really!

Typhon Guchol's position the day before I arrived in Nagoya.

During weather delays I've had passengers come up to me and say, "I just called my Aunt Jane, and she said that her cousins, dentist (who flies a Cessna) said that the weather near Denver looks pretty good to him." Unfortunately we don't land at the dentists office!

Sequence 3001 was a six day trip that looked like this: Day 1. Flt 629 DTW-NGO 13:05, Day 3. Flt 629 NGO-MNL 3:55, Day 5. Flt 630 MNL-NGO 4:00 and Day 6. Flt 630 NGO-DTW 12:05. (NGO = Nagoya, MNL = Manila) Nagoya is a port city located 175 kilometers southwest of Tokyo.

Brad, a former USAF C141 Commander/Instructor

Flight 629 today would cover 5,720 nautical miles in 12 hours 21 minutes, therefore two flight deck crews are assigned. Brad, seen here checking to insure that I've loaded the flight plan properly, and I would make the takeoff and fly to a point beyond Anchorage and then retire to the bunkroom as Captain Les Gorden and his FO would fly the remainder of the flight and land in Nagoya.

I was on a mission though and that was to fly as many takeoffs and landings as I could during this trip to avoid having to trek out to MSP and jump into the simulator to maintain currency. As you know, we have to perform three takeoffs and landings within a running 90 day period to remain legal and current. If you're a domestic pilot flying an 80 hour month you're probably scratching your head in disbelief. I know, but satisfying this FAR on long haul flights with two crews, particularly as a reserve pilot is difficult. Fortunately all the pilots with whom I flew on this trip were "block holders" with few impediments to this rule. They took pity on this "reservist" and helped me out. I satisfied the FAR with four days to spare.

Looking north on uniform taxiway on the A Terminal ramp.

"Brakes released, cleared to push, tail south," I relate to our pushback crew as Brad and I finish our Before Start Checklist and I turn on the rotating beacon. During the push we're cleared to start as Brad reaches up and starts engines 3 and 4 simultaniously. When stabilized he'll then start 1 and 2 which is where we are now as I set the brakes and call for the After Start Check. Our procedure is to utilize all four engines for the taxi out, so we'll shut the APU down as soon as it's gone through a cooling cycle.

During the pushback we received our WDR (Weight Data Record... we have an acronym for everything!) or takeoff numbers. Brad rips it off the printer and hands it to me for my inspection. The second crew prints a copy as well and back me up to insure that I've chosen the correct numbers out of the many possible combinations. I check for the appropriate runway, temperature and power settings, then look for our ramp weight, stab setting and V speeds as I call them off and Brad enters them into the computer. Runway 21R, Detroit's longest is closed today so we'll use the shorter 22R which creates problems, because we're very heavy today at 817,904 pounds. We're too heavy to use this runway, but, according to the WDR we can accept it if we have at least an 8 knot headwind. We're saved, towers calling the wind 210 at 10.

With this task complete, as well as the After Start Checklist and the Performance Checklist, I call for "flaps 20 taxi clearance" as Brad calls the ramp tower and selects and verifies that the flaps have traveled to 20 degrees. Ramp tower is controlled by Delta personnel and replies with "629, taxi north on uniform, contact ground at 3 north."

We're underway only 12 plus hours to go!

We're approaching Yellowknife (YZF) in the Northwest Territories at 62 North 114 West, home to Buffalo Airways made famous by the TV show ICE PILOTS. Owning a Delta or Northwest Airlines cap is good, but if you want to be really cool you need to visit BuffaloAirWear and purchase one of theirs.

ANE DC-3 on the BOS ramp in 1974

I have some DC-3 experience, a lot of tailwheel time, much radial engine experience too and would love to fly for Buffalo Airways after retirement. If I showed up in their hangar with my resume full of jet experience though, Buffalo Joe McBryan, his son Mikey and former Chief Pilot Arnie Schreder would laugh me out of the hangar. Though no where near as rugged, this reminds me of my early days flying in northern New England at Air New England. I'm sorry to learn that Arnie has recently died, but suspected problems when he retired from Buffalo in a recent episode.

We're now passing over Kotzebue (OTZ) just above the Arctic Circle before stepping out over the Bering Straits into Russian airspace. But look south by the crease and you'll see Unakleet, home to Jim Tweto and family of FLYING WILD ALASKA fame. I want to fly here too. Jim, I can bring my own Cub!!

Jim, just in case you're looking, I'm here on the ground... or more accurately, on Lake Winnipesaukee in NH with two Luscombes and my Cessna 140. Note the ice and vast amount of snow. Don't be fooled by the blue sky though, it was snowing and blowing heavily just this morning and we flew down a valley with poor visibility to find Alton Bay. I'm available to relocate to Alaska in April of 2014.

Sincerely,

Rand

We've switched now from a Jeppesen Chart to a DELTA N. PACIFIC, CANADA ORIENTATION CHART. This can be confusing at first glance. Note that land is shown in blue and water is white. I'd prefer to see this depicted just the opposite. We depart OTZ on B244 over Kotzebue Sound. We're flying far to the north today, you can see the majority of tracks that lead to Japan below.

Two of the charts that we've used for reference through Canada, Alaska and along the track through Russian airspace.

The Flight Release for 629 today from DTW to NGO or RJGG as it's depicted here. Just about everything that you need to know is shown on this document. Tim, this is a release that I referred to in the last comment section. It displays the most pertinent information and is at the beginning of all of our flight paperwork.

(Above and below) Views from the cockpit as we step out over the Bering Straits. We're at 67 degrees north latitude and this is what it looks like on 19 June. It's still very ice choked, can you imagine what it's like in December or January? Moments after I took this shot the other crew returned to the cockpit from their break and I briefed Les concerning our position, fuel state, progress, and maintenance. Actually, we have a briefing card that you refer to so as to not miss any vital items during the crew change over. Then Brad and I retire to the bunk room for the next six hours.

I've posted this picture before but is just about the best shot I've been able to get of the bunk room. Located directly behind the cockpit you need a "special" key to gain entry. Yup... I have one. Our linens; a blanket, pillow and sheet, cleaned and wrapped in plastic are put in here before each flight. Extras packages are included as well so those of us who use two pillows and an extra blanket to make the bunk softer are available. You can barely discern the 'bunk curtain" on the lower unit that you pull closed once in position. It's very private, cool and dark in here; perfect for sleeping. Each bunk is furnished with a reading light and gasper outlet for air flow. The wall, just out of view to the left has hangers where we can hang our uniforms. I've tried leaving my shoes just outside the door, as we used to do in Europe, to see if someone will shine them. It's never happened!

We'll be in here today for 6 hours before returning to the cockpit for the descent and landing. You may have heard the term "dozing for dollars." It came about because of this room. I have no problem sleeping in here but some do and will seek out a first class seat to watch a movie or read or eat their crew meal. If not too tired I'll get up and stroll around the airplane for a short while to stretch and visit with the rest of the crew.

My normal routine is to climb into the top bunk with what ever book I'm reading. Presently I'm enjoying and learning much from Milton and Rose Friedman's book, FREE TO CHOOSE, read for an hour or so, shut off the light and quickly drift off. When our break is over, the pilots in the cockpit ring our alarm to awaken us and we simply bang on the wall to let them know we're awake.

Les made an uneventful landing in NGO, just rolled it on as we cleared customs and headed downtown for our layover. It's a 45 minute ride into town.

- PART II -

Flight 630

MNL to NGO

23 June 2012

0630 local 1530Z

After about a 30 hour layover in Manila, where I enjoy probably one of the best breakfast buffets in the system, Brad and I shove off to return to Nagoya. One day I'll bring my camera into the buffet and share that with you, but I'd look like such a tourist.

This is the high altitude chart that we used to navigate back to NRT and you can see that we'll be flying directly over Okinawa. I've flown here before but this is the first time that I'll be able to see it. Located about 400 miles south of the main island, it's the fifth largest in the chain and site to the 82 day "Battle of Okinawa," also known as Operation Iceberg that was fought from April - June 1945.

There it is over our nose

and as it passes beneath our left wing.

This is an older shot that I took from the jumpseat some time ago. The airport at Nagoya (Chubu Centrair) is a single runway located on a man made island specifically for this purpose. Opened in 2005, this is the third of five offshore airports in Japan. We fly from here to Guam, Saipan, Manila, Detroit and Honolulu.

- PART III -

FLIGHT 630

NGO - DTW

24 June 2012

1315 Local 0415 Z

The release for DAL 630 from NGO back to DTW

We've left NGO for DTW and I took this shot just east of Anchorage at 0200 local on 23 June, just two days after the summer solstice or the longest day of the year. We'd been watching the sun descend to set for a while, but just as it touched the horizon it started back up.

It's late June and this very remote Canadian area is still full of snow.

We're flying on NCA 13 just past Yeska to Whitehorse (YXY) as we enjoy a moderate tailwind delivering a groundspeed of 532 knots. Jagit is located right on the US - Canadian border as we'll soon be in Canadian airspace.

This is what it looks like out the window however with very tall mountains and glaciers. Beautiful isn't it?

Ho hum... more mountains and glaciers. Truthfully though, this is a sight that I never tire of.

This brings up an interesting point though. If we were to experience a pressurization failure, our procedure is to descend to 10,000 feet. What do you think? You're right, that just wouldn't work here due to the snow covered granite. Our dispatcher has identified what we call Critical Terrain Routes that allow us to descend to a safe altitude and fly towards a prearranged alternate airport. It's a little complicated, but we enter the route into the FMC under Route 2. We're flying via Route 1, but if needed we'd switch to Route 2 and descend on the profile towards our alternate. There's always a plan!!

Brian, who has more than 10 years experience in the 747-400. At least once every hour I get out of my seat to stretch, move about and take a photo or two.

Presently we're burning from "Tank to Engine" having exhausted the fuel in both the center and stab fuel tanks. Main tanks 1 through 4 are all just about even with each supplying its own engine. We have 64,100 pounds of fuel remaining, but we're only 860 miles west of DTW and will be there in no time, landing at 1601Z, five minutes early with 37,200 pounds of fuel remaining.

Before I leave, I'd like to introduce you to the folks at the Stop Over Store in DTW. Elizabeth, Greg and Katherine run the shop and offer excellent service. This is where I bought my "tough" Purdy Neat Stuff roll around bag twenty years ago and it's still in great shape. If you need just about anything airline related click on their site and enjoy shopping. Just before I started this trip I had a zipper failure on my bag that would have cost me serious storage space on a ten day trip. Greg dropped everything and fixed my bag while I was in flight planning with the rest of my crew. Thank-you Greg!

Once again, thanks very much for following along.

Rand

tick..tick..tick..tick..tick........

Visitors from the U.K.

2012-06-25T15:08:00.004-04:00

I just returned home for a six day trip through Nagoya and Manila, but before I write about it I wanted to post pictures of the Applefords from England.

This is Robert and Katy with their daughters Sophia and Claudia. They're from Sevenoaks near London and were on holiday in the US. They'd visited Boston and the Cape and were on their way to New York to span the Atlantic and return home.

Rand, Robert, Sophia, Claudia, Katy and John

I'd just run into my good friend John Vivenetto as we were commuting to DTW to start trips. John's an A-320 captain and was scheduled to return to BOS for an overnite and I was commuting out for yet another shortcall when we met the Applefords and engaged in conversation. It turns out that this was Sophia's sixth birthday and we were happy that she was able to celebrate it in the US.

I have to apologize here. I promised Robert and Katy that I'd send these photos to Claudia and Sophia, but as luck would have it, my shortcall reserve day turned into a six day trip. My organizational skills are apparently lacking though as I've misplaced their email address. I'd mentioned my blog so can only hope that they see the pictures here. Should you read this though, please leave an email address in the comment section and I'll be more careful this time.

Once again, happy birthday to Sophia, thanks for flying with Delta and journeying to visit us Yanks this summer.

An interesting sidenote: John has an identical twin brother, Tony, who's an NYC 757 captain with us and John's wife Peggy flies for USAirways. Tony and John and I think Peggy too, all flew for PBA.

And thanks very much to the Airbus crew who got us to work on time.

Jacob, who is a Navy Corpsman and has just returned to the airline from active duty, Ashley and Sakura...

Charlie

and Doug

Name that Bridge!

2012-06-12T17:50:00.000-04:00

This was the photo and the question was. What bridge is this?

Congratulations to Daniel Sallee from Port Angeles, WA. who correctly identified the bridge as the Verrazano Narrows Bridge in New York Harbor. Completed in 1964, this masterful engineering feat was the worlds longest suspension bridge at the time (4,260') and connects the boroughs of Brooklyn and Staten Island. ("You lookin at me?")

Daniel is a 757/767 First Officer for Omni Air International flying world-wide charters to (as he puts it) "just about everywhere I ever wanted to go and a few places I'd rather not." Daniel's grandfather flew for Braniff Airways and he's continuing his family's tradition of commercial flight. His grandfather, while flying at Braniff knew one of my all time favorite aviation writers; Len Morgan.

After I wrote this, I received two more answers. One was from Tony who correctly answered the question and fellow blogger and aviation photographer Mark Lawrence. Thanks everyone for taking the time to respond.

Now, here's where I turn green with envy. Daniel, as well as flying for Omni, flies part time for Kenmore Air in Seattle. He's a seaplane pilot too. I've always wanted to do this.

Out on a 10 day excursion.

2012-05-27T20:17:00.001-04:00

A few weeks ago I was called out for a ten day trip. Although I preferred these long sojourns a few years ago, because they reduced the number of commutes I'd have to make, I find them a bit tedious now. But I enjoyed New York, Narita, Manila and Taipei layovers with some great crews. Let me tell you about just one of these legs from Narita to Manila.

Fraser and I left flight planning and made our way to gate 17 at Narita. While he went outside to start his walk around inspection I met our cabin crew in the forward section of business class doing their brief. Though a comparatively short flight, we're full to Manila today so these folks will be very busy for four hours. This is aircraft 6312, constructed in July of 1999 and has not gone through the lie flat bed conversion yet as you can see here. A few posts ago I displayed pictures of the new seats in the upper deck. They're fantastic as everyone has easy access to an aisle without having to climb over someone else's extended footrest as they sleep. A great improvement!

It's a beautiful day here in Narita so I couldn't help myself and went outside to take a few pictures. Fraser and me by the nosewheel. If you look closely in the background you'll notice four other DAL aircraft. We have a huge presence in Japan due primarily to the former NWA hub that served Narita for years. I've seen as many as 20 of our aircraft parked at gates and ramps at one time.

But how did that Hub come to be? Bear with me, I'm reaching way back into the recesses of my brain to come up with this stuff. Following WWII, while General Douglas Mac Arthur was the provisional head of the Japanese government, he set out to rebuild Japan, much like the Marshall Plan had done in Europe. He saw transportation as vital to the country's growth, and to make a very long story short, engaged Northwest Airlines to help build Japan Airlines. In return, NWA was given "Fifth Freedom Rights" in Japan. These rights allowed NWA to not only fly into Japan, but also to fly passengers from Japan to another foreign country and to repeat the process in reverse creating "inter Asian" flying. NWA inaugurated Asian service on 15 July 1947 flying a Douglas DC-4 from the US to Tokyo, Seoul, Shanghai and Manila. This is when the term "Orient" was added to Northwest's name; Northwest Orient Airlines. The flight originated in Minneapolis and via stops on the west coast and Alaska consumed 33 hours of flying. The day before yesterday, Fraser and I flew from New York to Narita in 12:57.

I've taken a few pictures of Fraser while he preflights to give you a perspective of the size of our 747-400.

OK, back in the cockpit with the computers loaded, preflight inspections complete and clearance received; we'll be underway shortly.

Our routing tonight is:

RJAA DCT PAPAS Y80 FAIRY Y84 GULEG Y83 BUBDO A590 MUPOB DTC KANDU DCT POLIO DCT MIA DCT RPLL.

Ramp weight: 644,834, Block fuel: 129,400 Reserve Fuel: 23,582 Flight level: 360

Pax: 395, Cargo: 18,000, Miles: 1,721 nm, TAS: 487,

TO Weight: 641,134, Land Weight: 548,183, ZFW: 515,434

Depart RJAA: 0930Z/1830L

Arrive RPLL: 1415Z/2215L

Flight Time: 3:58

We're underway.

By the way, this is an "interport" flight, so unlike the long-haul flights, Fraser and I are the only pilots on board; there is no relief crew. The cockpit feels rather empty during the taxi in/out and during the departure/arrival. What's nice about this, each of us are guaranteed a takeoff and landing to help maintain qualification. Logging three takeoffs and landings in this airplane, flown mostly with two flight crews is very difficult.

After a very quick flight of just under four hours, we've arrived in Manila and secure the airplane for the night. We'll now head for customs, meet our crew and head downtown for a 33 hour layover. I have something special planned for tomorrow, a visit that I've wanted to make for a while. See you in the lobby tomorrow morning.

Good Morning!

I just finished breakfast in one of the best buffets that I've ever enjoyed, I should have taken a picture. Back in our lobby, I'm awaiting my driver who will take me to the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial. It's only a short drive away and it will also give me the chance to see much of the city from an air conditioned vehicle. It's nearly 100 degrees outside with probably 90% humidity. Being a native northern New Englander, my tolerance for these conditions is low.

After passing security, my driver dropped me off at the entrance and I climbed a short set of stairs to enter the memorial. It's beautiful. The American Battle Monuments Commission oversee's 24 American burial grounds around the world with 124,905 interned service members. This facility, here in Manila, is the largest of all theses memorials with 17,097 headstones throughout the 152 acres.

There are two hemicycles that flank a chapel with a carillon that define the center of the memorial that are faced with travertine limestone. These hemicycles, curved, enclosed walkways bear 36,286 names, engraved on their walls representing those who are listed as missing in action (MIA) from the Pacific, China, Burma and India Theaters of Operations during WWII. This equates to 1/3 of all those missing in action from the war. There are 29 Medal of Honor winners here and twenty sets of brothers buried side by side.

This is but one of the 11 burial sites that are arranged in concentric circles around the memorial. The crosses or Stars of David are made of white Italian marble.

Just one of the limestone walls displaying the names of those missing in action from the Pacific Theater.

There are four rooms in the memorial that display these detailed, artistic, mosaic battle maps from the Pacific Theater.

Let me tell you a little about these two. Many of you who read my posts are familiar with my writings concerning my travels to Saipan and Guam from Tokyo. These flights pass directly over Iwo Jima where the Marine 3rd, 4th and 5th Divisions of the Fifth Marine Amphibious Corps endured more than 26,000 casualties, more than 6,800 dead during the 36 day assault that started on 15 June 1944. You may know of Joe Rosenthal's famous photograph showing five Marines and a Navy Corpsman raising the American flag atop Mt. Suribachi. (If you've never read James Bradley's Flags of our Fathers concerning this event, you've missed a wonderful read.)

So I was particularly interested in this campaign and eagerly read every word hoping to learn more about this significant WWII battle. While I was reading, a large group of Japanese tourists came into the room, their guide speaking very loudly as he explained the map and its history. Two women, about my age I guessed, looked at each other and shook their heads slightly. They then went to their guide, laid their hand on his arm and spoke softly to him. They then looked my way with a slight bow and stood in silence. As they said to me a little later, "we had no wish to disturb you."

I've spoken before about the kindness I've received while flying in Asia, particularly in Japan and I think that this typifies what I've spoken about.

I walked over to thank them for their thoughtfulness and ended up in a lengthly conversation. They were all from Osaka it turned out and were in Manila to celebrate their high school graduation. And I was right, we'd all graduated from high school between 1967 and '68. Anyway, if the memorial wasn't moving enough, this little encounter certainly made it even more so.

One of the two hemicircles that meet at the Chapel. Each of the slabs, or walls that you see here contain the 36,000 names that I previously mentioned.

I was preparing to meet my driver and head back to the hotel as I gazed out upon one of the burial fields one final time. It suddenly occurred to me that I'm not just looking at marble grave markers of old men, I'm looking at the graves of thousands of "kids." Yes, kids who ranged in age from probably 17 to 21 who died before I was even born.

There was no one else around, not that it made any difference to me, but I snapped my heels together, stood erect and offered a hand salute as best I could remember to do. It's been a while. My vision became badly blurred as I thought of how much has been given to me by so many. How many lives, how many dreams were cut short and how many loved ones mourned those in these hallowed fields more than a half a century before? Memorials like this certainly have a way of putting things into perspective.

Here's a little different perspective of the Cemetery and Memorial after take off from Manila as we turn en route to join N884 to Tokyo. Here's another interesting site with more information.

Many confuse Veterans Day and Memorial Day. Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, was to commemorate fallen Union soldiers from the Civil War. Soldiers families would gather for the day at family grave sites and decorate the stone with flags, flowers and pictures, thus the term Decoration Day. Today it's to recognize all US military personnel who have died while serving in the Armed Forces. Veterans Day, started in 1954, is simply a day to honor all US veterans of the armed services.

As usual, thanks very much for reading my stuff and I hope that you have an enjoyable Memorial Day with your families and friends.

Rand

So long Jim...

2012-04-27T09:32:00.000-04:00

I'm sorry to have to announce that Captain Jim Baker died just a couple of days ago, 25 April 2012. Jim was a Korean War, Marine veteran who was hired by Northeast Airlines in 1957. Jim was also the BOS Chief Pilot for Delta Airlines when he retired in 1993. Not ready to hang up his flight bag just yet, Jim became the Director of Flight Operations at Lawrence, MA based King Air Charters and later at the New Pan Am based in Portsmouth, NH.

Jim landing at Plymouth, NH during a recent Northeast Airlines reunion

Jim was a regular at the Plymouth, NH, Northeast Airlines reunions held twice a year and hosted by retired NEA/DAL captain Bill Grady, where he enjoyed flying low passes in his North American AT6. If you spent any time at retired NEA/DAL captain Mike Harts Hampton Airfield, a magnet for antique, classic and tailwheel airplanes, you'd see Jim regularly in his Husky, enjoying lunch in the company of pilots.

Jim in his Husky (with his NEA cap) at Hampton Airfield in Hampton, NH

My first encounter with Jim was next to the pool at the Miami Skyways Motel just behind the old National Airlines Hanger on LeJeune Road by MIA. I was a ten year old boy with my parents on vacation in Miami and Jim was a DC-6B Flight Engineer on layover. This was the Northeast Airlines MIA layover hotel with DC-6's, DC-3's, Connies and Convairs departing overhead constantly and was just about the most exciting place this 10 year old had ever seen. Jim was an accomplished diver, took me under his wing and taught me the complexities of an inward pike (without hitting my head on the board!)

Years later after Air New England went out of business I approached Jim for advice concerning airline employment. He offered helpful insight but DAL wasn't hiring at that time, in fact few airlines were as the nation wallowed in recession. Does this sound like a familiar scenario?

As time passed, even though many years separated us, every encounter with Jim always included a big "Hey Rand, what's going on" as he'd enquire about my airline career and tell he how proud my Dad would have been to have seen this. Like almost everyone at Northeast Airlines that I've known, Jim was a genuinely nice guy and a pleasure to have known.

Jim leaving Plymouth, NH at the end of another great "Yellowbird" reunion.

Headed West.

Though Jim retired from a Delta L-1011 he was equally at home flying antique taildraggers from a small grass airfields in New England.

Rand

A video test...

2012-04-25T11:28:00.000-04:00

I don't often post videos, most every time in the past that I've tried I've somehow managed to do damage to the HTML somewhere in the blog. But let me try again with these two short videos.

Taxiing out of JFK for a Narita departure.

A friend recently sent me this video of a DAL 747-451 departing DTW for AMS, which is interesting because I just read on DELTANET that we're resuming 747 service to Amsterdam very shortly. I hope that I'll be able to hold a few of these as Narita is getting just a tad bit old. Anyway, click here to see this video.

Here's a little video that I made some time ago in LAX that will give you a ramp side perspective of a 747-400 walk around inspection. Hopefully these two efforts won't mess up the blog. The aircraft in this video, ship 6316 was just withdrawn from service and has gone into maintenance to receive her new lie-flat seats and GPS nav system.

Rand

Is that Venus or another airplane out there?

2012-04-18T17:27:00.001-04:00

Just a quick blog post concerning Air Canada flight 878 from Toronto to Zurich that mistook Venus for an oncoming airplane about a year ago, but is just making the news. First, the press has treated this very fairly, or at least the reports that I've seen or read anyway. Normally, our uninformed, quick to react to be the first to report something news media, has treated this objectively. Usually, they're second guessing the cause of an accident as the aircraft is still sliding down a runway headed for disaster or sticking a microphone in the face of a crying passenger as they're loaded into an ambulance. "What can you tell us?"

In the case of ABC News, which I rarely watch, they consulted with John Nance, there "go to guy" concerning aviation matters and objectively reported the situation. I wish that other news outlets would follow their lead with an experienced pilot filling in the blanks. To there credit, my tiny ABC affiliate here in Manchester, NH, WMUR calls to ask my opinion when an aviation anomaly occurs in this area.

Most networks consult doctors, lawyers, politicians and economists to clarify specific matters in those fields, it seems only prudent to follow the same course with regard to aviation concerns.

Air Canada Boeing 767

I've had several friends not associated with aviation, express their skepticism about this situation. "Come on Rand, how could you possibly think that a distant planet is an approaching jet?"

Air Canada Boeing 777

I understand their dismay, but from personal experience can easily understand how this incident could have occurred.

The moon dead ahead over the North Atlantic from Tel Aviv to New York.

Out over a dark and desolate North Atlantic and North Pacific I've peered out of my windscreen at both Venus and Pluto and wondered if they were an oncoming airliner in the track system. There is no radar coverage out here so visual contact and TCAS (Traffic Collision Avoidance System) backs up the track reporting system. I'll try to illustrate my position with these two aerial moon shots.

According to reports, the FO was just awakening from a nap when the captain advised that they had traffic a thousand feet low at 12 o'clock. Looking out the window and seeing roughly what you see here, the FO thought that they were in immediate danger and reacted. He or she misinterpreted the picture and an abrupt descent was initiated resulting in injuries.

Did the FO over react? Should he have deferred to the captain and raised the point first? Possibly yes to both questions, but I can easily see how this incident unfolded. A point of light on the horizon, not moving laterally across your windscreen, appears to becoming directly at you. I've written this post not in his/her defense, but merely to point out that this situation has easily gotten many aviators attention... and will again.

I researched my photo data base again and found what I'd been looking for. Here's a shot of Venus through our windscreen at 33,000 feet. Tell me that that point of light ahead doesn't look like another aircraft with its lights on. I've heard it many times from pilots sitting next to me... "is that Venus or an airplane in front of us?"

Now to another matter; napping in the cockpit. Apparently this is condoned in Canada, but as you know is not tolerated in the US. I agree with the Canadians in this matter. Long haul, back of the clock flying over oceans is both tedious and boring with little stimulation. We're also not allowed extraneous reading material and I've seen pilots pull out an aircraft systems manual and look through electrical or hydraulic schematics to exercise their brain.

Sitting for hours on end, looking at instrumentation after conversations have come to an end is mind numbing. When sitting at home working on my computer in the late afternoon, fatigue will set in and it's amazing what a 20 minute cat nap will do to revive both my interest level and cognitive abilities. I suspect that it would do the same in a cockpit prior to a complex arrival procedure into Paris, Frankfurt or LAX.

The cockpit of a 747-400 with its exercise yard in the rear.

In order to combat this as well as physical problems that can arise from sitting too long, I make it a habit to get out of my seat to stretch and move about every hour or so. With a 757, 767 and 747 background, I'm fortunate to be flying airplanes with a substantial cockpit to enjoy this freedom. I'm basically adhering to the videos that we used to show passengers concerning exercising in your seat as well as getting up and walking occasionally. Napping in the cockpit is an area that I'd certainly like to see the FAA revisit and reconsider their position.

At both NWA and now at DAL our flight attendants bring up several 1.5 liter bottles of water to help keep us hydrated. Rarely does my bottle have any water remaining at the end of the flight.

Envision yourself sitting here for up to six hours in the middle of the night and trying to maintain a high level of concentration. Good luck!

And lastly, when we give our spiel about keeping your seat belt fastened, even if the sign is extinguished, please heed our advice. This Air Canada situation certainly adds credence to that announcement as does American Airlines flight 980 from Brazil to Miami on 17 April. Don't forget, you're in an aluminum tube 6 or 7 miles above the earth, traveling through a thin atmosphere at say 80 to 85% of the speed of sound through a jet stream that can whistle right along at 150 mph. Hit a little unstable air and you're a missile within the tube.

As usual, thanks very much for following along and reading my thoughts concerning this matter.

Rand

On the road again...

2012-04-05T21:56:00.001-04:00

I was called out again recently to fly another trip, crew sched must have found my number hidden deep within their rolodex. This was a five day trip that started and ended with a deadhead to/from Narita. The actual flying consisted of operating Delta flights 96 and 97 from Narita to Guam and back. I've flown these flights many times in the past in a 757 on what NWA called "Interport" flights and looked forward to returning to Guam.

This is the beginning of "Golden Week," which really runs from April 29 through May 5 but seems to have gotten an early start this year with Japanese tourists on the move. Golden Week incorporates nine official holidays and is the longest holiday period of the year here. As I'd mentioned, these flights normally operate with a B-757, but the company has been selectively substituting 747-400's along this route and they're full. We don't have extra 747 qualified pilots just hanging around Narita, so Shang (you'll meet him a little later) and I were called out and deadheaded over.

After arriving in NRT and resting for 24 hours, Shang and I are driven to spot 830, a remote boarding area and await our flight attendants and passengers. While there though, I looked out the window and watched Japan Airlines personnel tow this brand new 787 into the maintenance area. You can see it parked here next to an ANA 767.

Here's a little better look at it. Other than flying over Boeing Field in Seattle, this is my first glimpse of this new airplane.

Shang and I have pushed from spot 830, taxied to runway 16R, departed and climbed to altitude and now have time to enjoy dinner. This is my first 747 experience without an augmented crew. Normally when we fly from the US to Japan we have two cockpit crews, each of which fly half the flight. But this is a mere three hour jaunt and requires only one cockpit crew.

"Where is everyone?" It feels very different and unbelievably less crowded without another captain and FO with whom to share our space. Company procedure dictates that only one pilot eats at a time; I suppose so at least one of us has easy access to the controls should a problem arise.

Years ago in a DC-9 I was descending into Tampa through 31,000 feet with captain Vern Hysell when we heard a loud BANG, that scared the hell out of us; we thought that the windscreen had failed. It sounded as though someone had discharged a double-barrelled shotgun in the cockpit. We both ducked for cover and our meal trays went flying as we anticipated catastrophic problems. After a moment or two with the situation stabilized we looked up to see our center windscreen shattered, but the inner or structural pane was fully intact and functioning. We continued our descent and landed, but our return flight to DTW didn't operate.

What did I learn from this experience? Well, if I hadn't been eating and had waited my turn I wouldn't have lost my chocolate cheese cake which I could have enjoyed later after landing while speaking with maintenance. Life's full of little lessons!

Holy Moly only 81,000 pounds of fuel. I'm more accustomed to seeing 330,000 pound fuel loads from DTW to NRT. Note we have no fuel in either the center tank or the stab tank. There are many tank and pump configurations, this one is referred to as "tank to engine," where each individual tank is supplying fuel directly to its own engine. The fuel page is a great way to visualize configurations, check pump functions, valve positions and eliminate ambiguity. After all, we have 8 tanks, 16 pumps, a bunch of crossfeed valves and can carry 382,000 pounds of fuel and have dumping capability too.

I've received questions about stab tank fuel recently so let me address this. It's difficult to tell from this picture, but the stab tank is the only fuel source that cannot feed an engine directly. When the center tank burns down below a certain level, we activate the stab pumps which transfers its fuel into the center tank. Now that fuel can be distributed to engines via the center fuel pumps and cross feed valves. Also, when we activate the stab pumps in the overhead fuel panel, a line appears between the stab and center tanks, visually confirming that the valves are open and the fuel is flowing. When the stab tank is empty and its fuel is in the center tank, we simply extinguish the stab pumps and we're back to normal.

Here's a picture that better illustrates my point. The fuel in the center tank has dropped to 80,000 pounds, we've activated the stab pumps and the fuel line appears and the stab pumps turn green indicating activation. The small amount of fuel in RES 2 and 3 will simply gravity feed into MAIN 1 and 4 when room permits. In these schematics, the square boxes are AC driven pumps and the circles are AC driven valves. All the main fuel pumps here are green indicating activation, but do you see the four blue pumps that are dormant? These are AC driven over ride pumps that have a higher psi output than the main pumps and, as their name implies, overpowers them. They're located in tanks 2 and 3 which you'll notice are high capacity tanks and also aid in fuel jettisoning. And yes there is a temperature range that the fuel must remain in or actions need to be taken. It's -43C to plus 54C. That's about it... you're ready to take an oral on the 747-400 fuel system.

We're flying a published airway between Japan and Guam, I'll show the chart a little later, but are communicating via HF with Tokyo Radio as we're out of VHF range. We're 186 nm north of SAGOP and will cross it at 1217Z. We're zipping right along at 485 knots over the water with a strong crosswind that started out as a tailwind but has shifted significantly over the last 30 minutes. If you couldn't read our altitude here, is there anyway of knowing if we're above the transition level? In the US the transition level is 18,000' but out of Narita it's 14,000'. Am I hand flying or is there an autopilot engaged?

Here's our flight plan as seen on the ACARS. There's a lot of information here; headings between fixes, distances between fixes, projected mach number and altitude. Press the RTE DATA button and you'll see ETA's for each fix as well. If ATC were to ask me for a TERYY estimate, I'd select the RTE DATA button and I'd immediately see a zulu time appear in the far right column.

If you read the header you'll notice that we're "active" on RTE 1. We also have a button at the lower left that will take us to RTE 2. This key is a matter of technique. On the 757 when we finished loading the flight plan into RTE 1, we'd then copy it to RTE 2. Our thinking was if we lost the route or somehow butchered it while trying to make changes, we could simply switch to RTE 2 and continue on our way. I've also seen pilots put a different track across the North Atlantic in anticipation of receiving a clearance other than expected. I'm not a fan of this technique as I can see how one might end up on the wrong track inadvertently by hitting a wrong button.

Something I learned when flying as a 727 engineer a long time ago; when you press a button or move a switch, check to insure that something actually happened, like a valve moving, a light extinguishing, a flap moving or possibly a route changing. It's easy to become complacent and not verify an action but very embarrassing to have to explain your way out of it.

It was a popular sim lesson for a new engineer to fail the fuel dump valves in the open position when dumping fuel for an over weight landing on two engines. The engineer is very busy during this exercise and can easily become overloaded and attempt short cuts. Particularly if it's accompanied with a hydraulic failure and he needs to manually crank the gear down too. If he or she failed to take note of the actual dump valve position not moving closed, the next thing you know is that you're running out of gas and the pilots are in a real bind now. This was not done maliciously, but done to make a point and was a great learning experience. If you move a switch... check to insure that the corresponding action occurred.

Shang drew out an orientation chart as we're required to by procedure, but this FAR EAST HIGH/LOW ALTITUDE ENROUTE CHART is far more effective and informative. I'll show you the routes we flew a little later.

I can't tell you how many emails I receive regarding takeoff weight, flap settings and stab trim position. It seems that every few years or so someone comes up with a new idea of how to use, display and convey this information. Here's the latest version called the WDR update.

Normally, just prior to pushback or during pushback we'll receive this ACARS message which we'll print. The FO will rip it off and hand it to me to examine. If we have a second crew he'll hand it to them to peruse. One way or another several of us will confirm the information that I've highlighted in yellow. I'll read off certain numbers that the FO will input and we'll then have our flap setting, stab setting and V speeds. After the engines have started and we reach the Performance Checklist, we'll check these numbers one more time. These numbers are vitally important so it's check, check and recheck!

You'll notice that we have numbers for both runways 16R and 34L from intersection A12 that also show headwind and tailwind components. Precision is important here to insure that you use numbers from the correct runway. This is why so many eyes scan this little document.

Here's the flight release for DAL 96 from NRT to GUM. By now, most of you can read this form as well as I can, but if you need help, my quick reference notes can be found to the right.

For those unfamiliar with this form, it tells me just about everything I need to know. Our route of flight tonight is: NRT, CUPID departure, Y820, A337, G205 to UNZ which is the Nimitz VOR, vectors for an ILS to 6R. We'll build a point 40 miles north of the UNZ VOR to cross at 10,000 feet which will set us up for the approach perfectly. Normally we create this point at 30 miles from the airport, but this arrival seems to always turn into a slam dunk event so I'll give myself a little more room to maneuver comfortably.

Well out of radar contact, Shang is giving a position report on HF to either Tokyo Radio or San Francisco Radio.

Here's our "How Go's it" form which Shang was reading from in the previous picture. We gather a lot of info from this document after it's filled out. It looks like we've just passed SAGOP so we're still with Tokyo Radio on HF frequency 11384. We passed SAGOP one minute late at 1216Z at FL 390 with 73,000 pounds of fuel and estimate TEGOD at 1246Z. Everything looks great, the winds are on forecast, we're on time and 2,100 pounds below our projected fuel burn. This fuel savings will contribute to my profit sharing check!

If you're familiar with HF communications you know that it's scratchy and uncomfortable to listen to, so we don't maintain a constant listening watch out here. After giving his report, we simply switch this radios receiver off. Seven photos earlier you may have noticed our SELCAL identifier on the forward panel. If either San Francisco or Tokyo Radio need to speak with us, they'll send a radio signal that activates a tone in the cockpit that we'll respond to. We leave VHF1 on a designated air to air frequency so that we can communicate with aircraft in our vicinity and VHF2 on the emergency frequency so we can aid another should we hear a distress call.

After reporting our position at TEGOD to San Francisco Radio, we were instructed to contact Guam Approach Control 250 miles north if UNZ. OK, where do you suppose that might be? Actually it's pretty easy to figure out. On the FMC we select the fix page, enter UNZ and ask for a circle, or radius of 250 miles. There it is in the photo above, so when we approach the circle we'll call Approach and check in. This point is so close to TERYY, I don't know why we weren't advised to contact approach at TERYY, but I don't always have the big picture.

If you look closely you'll see the top of descent (T/D) indicator that I mentioned earlier. We'll put this request in with Approach and when we cross that point, the nose pitches over, the power retards to idle and we'll descend to cross 40 miles north of UNZ at 10,000' and 250 knots with the descent and approach checklists and approach briefings complete. Part of our approach briefing includes which turnoff we anticipate, our assigned gate and the expected taxi route. This is a small airport with few taxiways, but at places like Narita or JFK the taxi brief is very important, particularly with NOTAMS about closed taxiways or runways. It can save you from being surprised!

A quick story. Many years ago in a 727 I made my first CAT II approach into Denver. The weather was bad, the ceiling was low and the vis poor. We don't make CAT II's often and as I mentioned this was my first real experience other than in a simulator. I concentrated so hard on the actual approach briefing and callouts, that after we landed and were rolling out in this murky soup, I'd forgotten whether it was a left or right turn off the runway. I casually asked my Flight Engineer who had the taxi diagram handy and he saved the day. Another lesson learned!

This was a very short layover in Guam, but here's the view from my balcony the next morning.

It was Shang's leg north, back to NRT so I went out and did the walk around inspection. It's a magnificent machine isn't it?

In a previous post I spoke about the articulating "Body Gear." This is it and it makes taxiing the airplane a lot easier. Keep in mind that there are two more landing gear, or trucks, that flank these. That's a lot of wheels!

China United Airlines taxied past in this 737-800 as I completed my walk around.

This may possibly be Shang's last 747 flight as he got bumped off the airplane on the previous system bid award, so we took a lot of pictures around the jet. As we did this, many of our passengers gathered at the windows and took pictures of us. Ship 6310 was built in August 1990. Here's another view of the body gear behind us.

The view down GUM runway 6R just before departure.

Somewhere over the North Pacific as Shang enjoys his last moments as a 747 pilot.

This is the FAR EAST HI/LOW 13 CHART that I mentioned earlier. On our southbound flight we followed the yellow line to the right, but flying back to NRT we're on the one to the left, which you can see passes nearly directly over Iwo Jima. Iwo is the large yellow spot about halfway up the chart. I don't care how often I fly this route, flying near Iwo Jima is an emotional experience for me.

DAL 97, north to Tokyo. There's that placard that I spoke of earlier bearing our SELCAL identifier; EH-GP. When we make our first HF communication, we give the operator this code who will send us a test chime to insure that it's working. If for some reason it's not, then we do need to constantly monitor our assigned HF frequency.

We've just parked at gate 24 in NRT and I'm off and running to catch my flight home. After arriving in NRT we're scheduled for a 23 hour layover and then deadhead home the next day. It's a contract thing! But I've arranged with crew scheduling to waive my layover and depart on the JFK flight that leaves in an hour and will get me home 24 hours early. This is a 12 hour flight and I'll have plenty of time to sleep. After arriving in JFK, I'll have one hour to get off the airplane, clear customs, find gate 1 and check in for the 1630 flight to BOS. It's amazing what you'll do when your nose is pointed home.

But before I rush off, I'd like to introduce you to a few more people that I met on this trip. Sumiko is a Japanese interpreter who is also flying her last 747 flight and will now fly the interport flights. Janne is a DTW manager who introduced me to Sumiko before we left DTW to start this trip.

I'd finished clearing security in Guam, grabbed my bag and started to head to my gate when I heard, "HEY RAND." I didn't even need to turn to see who it was, I recognized the voice of one of my good friends, Ralph Freeman. Ralph was one of the first captains I flew with when hired at Air New England in 1974. After we went out of business in October 1981, Ralph hired on with People Express and migrated to Continental. He's now the Director of Operations for United Airlines in Guam; formally known as Air Mic. He was on his way to Singapore to pick up a 737 after a heavy check. It was wonderful to see him again.

While Shang and I took pictures by the nosewheel and waved to our passengers overhead, this TSA agent came out and wanted her picture taken too. Sure jump in!

And lastly, Brian and his wife came up to say hello so we put them in our seats and emailed them this picture. I wish more passengers would come up and say hello but most think that it's contrary to some rule or another.

Before I go I wanted to mention this article that I just read in the WSJ concerning Delta's investigation into buying an oil refinery. It's the CONOCO-PHILLIPS refinery near Philadelphia that's for sale. Is it a good idea? I don't know, but I admire the forward thinking and leadership to explore such an idea. I'm anxious to learn more about this process.

Thanks very much for flying along with us on 96 and 97 to Guam and back. I leave tomorrow for a ten day... yes ten day trip with layovers in Narita, Manila, Taipei and JFK.

Happy Easter,

Rand

The OE Phase (Operating Experience)

2012-03-26T10:43:00.009-04:00

Looks like I'll have a few new things to write about. Just this morning, 4/5/12, crew sched assigned me a ten day trip with layovers in Narita, Taipei, Manila and JFK. Should be fun, I look forward to it.

I'd like to thank Chad Griffin for writing and reminding me of the name of our retired captain who flew the Miramar buzz scene in TOPGUN. His name is Lloyd "BOZO" Abel and he was a Lieutenant Commander at the time. To see Lloyd speak of the experience and to see the footage, CLICK HERE. Once again, thanks Chad!

This is how I started my OE last year with captain Gene Peterson, by leaving BOS in the jumpseat of this A-320. Do you remember the scene in Top Gun when Maverick flies an unauthorized low pass by the carrier (USS Enterprise) and the Air Boss spills his coffee? Well, the captain here in this shot (I can't remember his name, he recently retired) was the guy flying that F14. If you know it, please respond via my comment section. Thanks.

Taxiing out to 22L in BOS to depart for DTW

I flew my 747-400 OE (Operating Experience) nearly a year ago with Gene Peterson and we really had a wonderful time. Now what does that tell you about this mans ability to instruct? OE is usually one of those events that you tolerate but would rather be done with and on your own. I've suffered through some OE's and line checks where the instructor just never seems to stop talking and chatters on and on about all sorts of stuff. Your first thought is, "when will this ever end?" I can only absorb so much information and much of it served up in the middle of the night over a vast ocean is just too much.

But not in this case, where I even enjoyed Gene's company after hours for dinner. The conversation was stimulating, varied and friendly. To be fair though, I've enjoyed OE with others as well; Ted Williams in the DC-9, Bruce Brock in the 727 and Paul Aust in the 757. They were experienced, which is key and knew what to bring to the students attention and what to leave for him to discover on his own. Checking out in a jet airliner is much like receiving your private pilots license, it's a license to learn.

Gene and me in the cockpit of ship 6315 (built 13 March 02) preparing to fly flight 173 from JFK to Tokyo Narita. OK, I can't help myself, here are some numbers. Our ramp weight is 871,094 pounds carrying 360,500 pounds of fuel. We even carry fuel in the horizontal stabilizer of this airplane! We'll fly nearly 400 passengers, 6,045 nautical miles in 13 hours and 1 minute and fly as far north as 75 degrees north latitude.

Gene's son Cord, who just recently earned his Private Pilots License, joined us for the first few legs of the trip. Cord works the MSP ramp for DAL and NWA before that and was a pleasure to have on the trip. Would it surprise you to learn that he plans to follow in his fathers footsteps and fly commercially? I know a little about that goal myself.

My OE schedule is 11 days long and flies JFK-NRT-MNL-NRT-JFK-NRT-DTW. With the exception of the NRT-MNL legs every leg is double crewed, but with everyones cooperation I received both the takeoff and landing on all legs. This is tough on the other pilots as we all fight for takeoffs and landings to maintain recency. Thanks everyone!

A couple of days later after a 30 hour layover in NRT, we taxi into Manila in the Philippines at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

The next day we're taxiing out to depart from Manila back to NRT. This is a relatively short three and a half hour flight so we have no augmented crew on board. I didn't save the numbers from this flight but we were very light by -400 standards and the airplane leaps off the ground. Landing a light 747 is interesting too, it just never wants to stop flying.

We're number two here for departure at Manila behind Hong Kong Airlines.

Let me address landing a normally loaded -400 for just a moment though. This airplane is so stable, like every other Boeing I've flown, that once trimmed and configured with gear down and landing flaps in position, you can practically take your hands of the controls and watch it fly to the ground. For those who consider us little more than bus drivers, maybe I should eliminate this sentence, but the Boeing engineers, led by Joe Sutter, father of the 747 did a fabulous job.

Here's the drill: When near the ground and configured, you'll hear three tones. Ignore the first one... do nothing, really. Moments later when you hear the second tone, pitch the nose up a degree or degree and a half or so. Moments later when you hear the third tone, smoothly bring the throttles to idle... that's it! Now wait. In a few moments your 747 rolls onto the ground, decelerating as more and more rubber hits the road and your nose now starts to descend. Now fly your nose wheel onto the runway to complete a perfect landing. As the airplane slows below 20 knots, the body gear unlocks. Continue to slow to 10 knots or slower and you're at an ideal speed to make turns.

This is one of those airplanes that is easy to make turns and bring to a stop without your passengers even noticing it. You can do this in most any airplane (or should at least try) but it takes some effort in most... but not this one. That's it.. now go out and find a 747 to land, it's simple.

We're standing on the upper deck with our back to the galley looking forward towards the cockpit and down the stairs to the main passenger deck. The -400 has 403 passenger seats, 24 of which are up here on the upper deck. It's a great place to to pass 13 hours as you're far removed from the general crowd in your own "little airplane." Business Class is in the process of morphing into something special with lie flat seats with even fewer seats up here. There are two lavatory's forward and your own private galley in the rear providing great service.

I've received many questions about this little room, called the "crew bunk room" located on the upper deck, left side, just behind the cockpit. Here you see the two bunks, upper and lower, outfitted with pillows, blankets and sheets. Each bunk has it's own reading light, air vent and sliding curtain to close you in. On a 13 hour flight with two cockpit crews, each crew spends about six hours resting in here. Some crews choose to spend a part of that time in a business class seat if available before retiring to the bunk room.

Not me. I hang up my uniform, climb into the bunk with a book, read for an hour and then I'm out cold for the next five hours. Some guys don't seem to sleep well in here, but to me it's cool, dark and quiet, perfect for sleeping.

Gene talking with someone.

This is our release for flight 172 from NRT back to JFK. If you compare this with flight 172 you'll notice that this flight is 366 miles longer but one hour and five minutes shorter. Of course we're eastbound today flying with the aid of a significant tailwind. And with todays fuel prices based on $125/barrel oil, dispatchers seek these winds out.

Westbound from JFK to NRT we flew as far north as 75 degrees north latitude to avoid headwinds, spending much of our time in very remote Russian airspace. Eastbound, depicted by the yellow line here on our orientation chart, we remain well south of Russian airspace, remaining over the North Pacific between 43 and 48 degrees north. We're well south of Alaska's Aleutian Island Chain on a random track and go feet dry in Canadian airspace just northwest of Seattle, WA.

What's a random track you may be thinking? Just out of view on the orientation chart above there are solid blue lines labeled A590, R220, G344 and many others that signify permanent or fixed tracks across the North Pacific from Alaska, south of Russia into Japanese airspace. When assigned one of these tracks, it will appear on your release and flight plan as labeled. But today, in order to take full advantage of jet stream winds we'll fly south of these tracks on a "made up" track. This will appear on your release and flight plan as lat/long coordinates that we'll enter individually into the FMC and look like this; 43/170E, 45/180, and 45/170W. You've no doubt noticed that there is no East or West designation at the 45/180 coordinate. That's because this is the International Date Line located on the opposite side of the globe from the Prime Meridian that runs through Greenwich, England. These two lines divide the globe into eastern and western hemispheres.

At 75 degrees north, we're nearly 10 degrees north of the Arctic Circle which is located at 66 degrees 33 minutes. At or north of this latitude, the sun will be continuously above and below the horizon for a full 24 hours at least once a year. This is where the term land of the midnight sun derives. The area south of the Arctic Circle is known as the Northern Temperate Zone.

For me, with a keystoke or two I can immediately retrieve my LAT/LONGS and then consult my orientation chart to determine my exact spot over our globe. The FMC will also give me an ETA, fuel burn, fuel remaining, winds aloft and OAT. But my hats off to the guys who flew these routes in DC-7's, Connies and Stratocruisers, taking sun shots or searching the sky for certain stars to triangulate their position with a sexton.

Do you see the pink line running perpendicular to our route line labeled SEA and CDB? This identifies that sectors diversion airports and where that point changes should we suffer a catastrophic failure of some sort. In this case Cold Bay in Alaska and Seattle, Washington. Because we're a four engine airplane, we're not restricted by ETOPS rules, but do note places to divert to for quick reference.

Just some of the paperwork generated by DAL 172 on 29 May 2011

This is the nice part of being the "flying pilot." Gene is completing "non-flying pilot" duties by entering in the winds aloft data. This is tedious and time consuming, but please note that I offered to do it myself. Gene wouldn't hear of it! Time permitting we complete this procedure on the ground before takeoff, but when other factors such as fuel, maintenance or catering require our attention and time, we'll enter the winds for the first hour or so of flight and return to this task once level at our first cruise altitude of FL310. Sounds low doesn't it? But we're so heavy that it will take many hours of fuel burn to allow a climb to higher, more efficient altitudes.

When I flew the B-767, winds aloft were "uploaded" with a few keystrokes saving all sorts of time, but our computer on the 747-400 doesn't feature that software.

Here's a closer look as Gene enters the information found in the flight plan. He's entering numbers for FL's 310, 350 and eventually 370. For each fix, he'll enter wind direction, speed and temperature at the appropriate altitude, which the computer will use to maintain speed and calculate fuel burn and ETA. Just to clarify, the FMC can determine the wind at its present location, but can't predict anything beyond that point; therefore we help it out with this procedure. Note the numbers by Gene's right thumb. These are the descent forecast winds that the computer uses to determines top of descent and the best, most efficient descent profile.

You'll also notice from this picture which system page we normally leave up for continuous reference. The fuel page. We have 280,200 pounds remaining among the eight fuel tanks, but have exhausted our stabilizer fuel. At a predetermined center tank fuel weight, we'll receive a message to reconfigure our fuel pumps to drain the stab tank contents into the center tank. We'll receive another message when this task is complete to reconfigure the pumps back again. The stab tank is unable to feed an engine or engines directly, but simply moves its fuel to a tank that can.

We're back in New York and the weather is nice so Gene has taken me outside to teach me what to look for during a walk-around inspection. Normally we don't climb up into an engine for inspection purposes, but we thought that this pic might look good on my office wall. These are Pratt & Whitney PW4056 high bypass turbofans that produce 57,000 pounds of thrust. Outwardly, by todays standards they actually look small when compared to the engines on a B-777 or A-330, but we have four of them versus their two.

Where's Waldo?

Here are two shots that put the immensity of this empennage into perspective. Gene beneath the tail and then closer to me with the tail and JFK tower in the background. This is ship 6308 built in July of 1990.

Preparing to leave for Narita again.

Number four engine. When we start these engines we start them two at a time. Really! Normally we start engines 3 and 4 simultaneously and when they've stabilized proceed to start numbers 1 and 2. I've explained in previous posts why the white stripe is painted across the nose dome. Do you remember?

How many tires do you see here? Yes, that's correct 18. Don't forget the two nosewheel tires flanked by the body gear doors. The two outward gear are called main gear and the two inboard gear are called body gear and are articulating or steerable. Have you ever wondered how a 747 can make a 90 degree turn on a taxiway that a DC-9 or 737 can? It's because the bodygear is steerable and turns in the opposite direction to the nosewheel allowing for tight turns. Without this feature a much larger radius would be required. The body gear lock and unlock during taxi as a result of speed, 15 knots if I remember.

Release for flight 173, JFK to NRT (from another date)

We're getting ready to leave JFK to NRT. We've finished OE so Gene will administer a line check on this leg and determine if he'll release me to the line. Once in NRT I deadhead back to DTW and Gene to MSP, so I better get it right! I have to admit though at this stage of my career I just don't sweat checks anymore. I prepare as best I can and historically that preparation has always yielded good results. I wish that I'd figured this out years ago! And the check airman has much to do with it too. Gene has created a very comfortable, learning atmosphere, has been complimentary of my performance thus far and placed me at ease.

We've completed a before start checklist, started our pushback and have been cleared to start our engines. What I'm still unaccustomed to is how high we sit above the ground. I think that it's 34 feet and we can actually see the top of the MD88's stabilizer at the gate straight ahead.

Our engines are running, the after start checklist complete and we've received a taxi clearance to runway 31L via Kilo Kilo, Alpha, Juliet and Zulu taxiways behind this DAL 767-400. At 14,572 feet, 31L is the second longest runway in North America behind Denver's 16,000 foot runway 16R/34L. 31L was also designated as a space shuttle alternate landing runway, like the reef runway in Honolulu which I've written about before.

A full load of fuel, 324,000 pounds with 19,600 pounds in the stab tank. The stab fuel doesn't represent that much gas, but we'll need it considering headwinds and all legal requirements.

I love this airplane. The screens are large and easy to read, the seats comfortable and I have four engines.

We're deep into Russian airspace with not much going on as we comminicate with Russian controllers via both VHF and HF. The panel layout is much the same as I was accustomed to on the 757 and 767 and the FMC is the same as well making the learning curve considerably less sharp. One noticible difference between this and all other Boeings that I've flown is that my side widow is fixed and doesn't open. On those other Boeings the sliding cockpit windows serve as an emergency egress. On the -400 though we have an emergency exit through the top of the roof, located in the center of the cockpit ceiling. On your way out you grab an emergency inertial reel and click it into position before jumping off the roof. I'm sure you know how an inertial reel works... I just hope I never have to try it.

This reminds me of a funny story. Years ago, flying a 727 between Miami and MSP, I opened the emergency rope access door above my head. This is the rope that you toss out the window and use to lower yourself to the ground in case of an emergency, hopefully avoiding the hot pitot tube on your way down. Somebody had written on the inside of the door flap: "Not to be used above 25,000 feet."

Evergreen Airlines passes beneath us in a 747 out in the middle of no where.

This is only the second jet that I've flown that I can see my wingtips. In this case I can also see my outboard engine as well. Can you see the curvature of the earth in this photo? It looks as though you can doesn't it, but we're a long way from that altitude. I've never been any higher than 41,000 feet but understand that to see the earths curvature we must be somewhere near 80,000 feet.

The pictures above and below were taken in Russian airspace and show the desolation of our route. Interesting glacial activity in both shots.

We're not too awfully far from our top of descent into NRT and as you can see by my expression, things have gone smoothly; I anticipate being released to line duty shortly. This has been a wonderful experience, the only drawback to my position as a reserve pilot is that I fly infrequently and travel to MSP every 90 days to maintain recency in the simulator. The airline is in the process of closing down NATCO and moving the NWA sims to ATL, so my destination for this activity will change shortly.

The simulator guys are great too; once we've completed what is legally necessary, they ask what I'd like to do for my own comfort level. After practicing a high speed abort, an engine failure after rotation, and a non precision approach or two I'm on my way home and feeling good.

OK, I'm done, Gene signed me off and I'm deadheading back to DTW while these guys fly the airplane. Remember those comfortable seats that I showed you earlier on the upper deck? Well, one of them has my name on it, allowing me a comfortable spot to pass the next 12 hours. I don't care too much for movies, so will crank up my macbook pro occasionally between chapters of Road to Serfdom.

Back in DTW

I'm sorry that it took me so long to get this out, but once again, as usual, thanks for joining me across the Pacific a couple of times to complete my OE.

Rand

I finally flew a trip!

2012-03-17T18:22:00.059-04:00

I'll have a new post up tomorrow, concerning my 747 OE

I apologize for my lengthy absence, but I seem to fly so infrequently as a B-747 captain that I have little to write about. But, crew scheduling must have been desperate a few weeks ago and called me to fly a DTW to Nagoya trip. Really, I have a few photos to prove it! Now, they didn't want to over tax me so they had me fly the west bound leg (well, at least half of it) and deadhead back in a business class seat in the upper deck.

Now let me give credit where credit is due and explain the reserve system. We have both short call and long call reserve, both designed to complete the mission. Short call reserve actually has standby pilots out at the airport, ready to leave on a moments notice if a pilot issue arises that jeopardizes an on time international departure. Long call on the other hand gives the pilot a 12 hour notice to be in position to depart his or her domicile or any airport for that matter that they could deadhead you to. Both give the crew scheduler a variety of options or tools to make things work.

The reason for this is to avoid a cancellation or delay of an international flight that will inconvenience our clientele. If a flight with 400 passengers cancels today and tomorrows 400 passenger flight is already full... what do you do? Avoid it in the first place, which is the reason for the reserve pilot. He or she is an insurance policy that crew sched hopes they never have to use. But they do on occasion and it may save the day.

There is a similar option in place for domestic flights, but with many departures a day to these destinations and smaller aircraft assigned to those flights, it's a bit easier to get everyone where they need to be. Maintenance and weather problems occurring half way around the globe are other issues that factor in, but it's all about logistics. The bottom line though, is that safety is never compromised. If it can't be done safely... well, then it will just have to wait.

Everyone gets involved in these decisions, the crew, crew scheduling, maintenance, meteorology and crew planning to make every effort to complete the mission and get you on your way. After all, that's why were here.

Here we are in DTW as I went outside to assist my copilot with the walk around duties.

And just to prove that I was there, he took a picture of me by the nosewheel.

I'm part of Crew B here and watch Crew A depart DTW

As you know, we crew these flights with two complete cockpit crews as they're scheduled for nearly 14 hours of flight time. The captain and FO in the seats here made the DTW takeoff and the second FO and I would return from break seven hours later and guide us through the remainder of Russian airspace, descend and land at Nagoya.

Nearly 14 hours later we've arrived at Nagoya, bound from the airplane full of energy and head downtown.

A system bid closed just a couple of days ago (15 March) and one of the categories suggested that the airline was overstaffed with DTW744A's. That would be me, DTW 747-400 captains and that six positions would be eliminated. I only have three pilots beneath me so I'd need three pilots senior to me to bid off the airplane to another category in order to remain. That's not likely to happen so my fall back position will be NYC765A which translates to JFK 767-400 captain. Although I'd miss the 747, I look forward to this should it occur and return to regularly scheduled line flying. This has been my first reserve experience in 37 years of airline flying and I've had enough, but we'll see what happens with the bid.

All seems to be going well at DAL; we're expanding, particularly out of New York with many new flights from both JFK and LGA. For the second year in a row we've received substantial profit sharing checks, so everyone must be doing their job well. The most positive statement that I can make is that we have leadership, determined to make money by flying people in airplanes. Coming from NWA this is a breath of fresh air.

I'd like to thank my friends over at AIRWAYS Magazine for publishing one of my recent submissions in the May 2012 issue. It concerns an eager, young, nine year old boy, anxious to follow in his fathers footsteps, watch him guide a majestic, Douglas DC-6B from Boston to Miami, through Idlewild in 1958.

There's much to enjoy in this issue, it's packed with great writing and photography.

And, speaking of Northeast Airlines DC-6B's, here's a photo taken in BOS a few years ago by Jon Proctor. I'm sure that many of you recognize his name as the former editor of AIRLINERS MAGAZINE and author of several civil aviation books. I've recently started emailing with Jon, as he now writes for AIRWAYS Magazine. We apparently share not only a love of airline flying but a familial attachment to it as well. Jon's father, Captain Willis Proctor retired from American Airlines in 1950 and he, his brothers and many other relatives enjoyed airline careers as well.

To learn more about Jon and his connections to civil aviation, I'll let him tell the story. Just click here to see his new website and follow his adventures. I thought that I had a huge collection of airline photography. After you've enjoyed his photography page click over to see Jon's airline collection posted on JetPhotos. Between John Wegg and Jon Proctor, they have without a doubt, the finest collection of airline photography available for our enjoyment. Most photographers take the standard 90 degree side shot of an airplane, but these guys mix it up with interesting angles and vantage points that hold the viewers interest. And here's one last site to enjoy. The TWA DCS ALUMNI ASSOC that Jon maintains as the secretary and webmaster. More interesting stuff for airline enthusiasts to enjoy.

I start another stretch on reserve tomorrow... we'll see if I'm able to get out and fly a little. Once again, thanks for reading and I hope to see you soon.

Rand

747 Reserve... oh, and the ill-behaved pax on American

2011-12-12T09:19:00.002-05:00

I've received many emails lately, the latest from Rob in Oklahoma, asking where I've been. Why aren't you writing? Where are your pictures? Are you still alive? Firstly, thanks very much for your notes and concern for my welfare, it's much appreciated.

Captain Gene Peterson and myself preparing to leave JFK for Narita during my OE training.

Let me explain my absence. I completed ground-school and simulator training by mid May and then OE with Gene sometime in June and excitedly looked forward to getting out and flying the B-747-400. I could hardly wait! But as most of you know I was awarded this position in the "Reserve" category. As it turns out 747 reserves do very little flying. And I mean VERY LITTLE FLYING, two trips in eight months in my case.

We have only 16 of these aircraft, the airlines smallest fleet and see only two departures a day from DTW, our only 747 domicile. There are of course daily departures from JFK, Narita, Nagoya, Tel Aviv etc, but they're staffed and unlikely to change once the trip has begun.

I seem to spend most of my time commuting to MSP and visiting the simulator to maintain currency which means three takeoffs and landings every 90 days. These sim sessions of course expose us to much more than just the minimum criteria, such as engine failures, max crosswind landings, instrument takeoffs, aborts and a variety of precision and non precision approaches. But it's still just a simulator.

Some relish this lack of activity or what some consider "time off" but I'm not part of that group. I miss flying and its associated camaraderie. I miss wandering through Paris, Mainz, or London and enjoying dinner in restaurants that I've frequented for years. So, as soon as my training freeze expires next September I plan to bid the 767-400 in JFK and get back to that which I enjoy.... flying, exploring, eating and writing about it.

Now, before I complain too much, I've re-roofed my garage, painted my house, built an addition, constructed a garden with my wife, waxed my vehicles, built a few pieces of furniture, visited Switzerland and have read to my hearts content. It's been wonderful, but I would like to get out and fly occasionally. I miss the airplanes, the people and the activity.

I've had many offers though from several DC-9 and A-320 captains who would like to change positions! Hmmm....... I think not. As they say, "been there and done that," but thanks for your kind offer.

Hopefully crew sched will assign me a trip sometime soon so I can fire up my camera, activate my word processor and get back at it. Thanks again for your concerns and Merry Christmas.

But before I go indulge me; I can't help myself but I'll keep it short.

I know many smart people. But how do I know they're smart? It's simple, I determine this from conversation, how they handle themselves, how they relate to others, express their positions and live their lives. Are they loud, flamboyant, and like to be heard? Or do they listen as well as they speak and speak calmly with purpose and authority? I touched upon this in an earlier blog post when I stated, "the minute a captain has to raise his voice and remind someone that he is the captain... he's lost his authority."

When someone has to tell me that he or she is smart, because they're worried I may not notice it on my own... a red flag goes up. Alec Baldwin thought it was important to tell you and me he's smart because he plays games designed for "smart people." Oh!!

When that same person rants and raves, slams doors, thinks that the rules don't apply to him and resorts to name calling, "retired catholic school gym teachers" I'm unlikely to categorize him as smart as much as I'd label him "needy" of attention.

He's a celebrity, a movie star and lives in a different world than the rest of us. But it is "us" who give him his importance. Without "us" he'd not enjoy his elevated status. What's difficult for me to grasp though, is why we do.

Rand

2011-10-21T11:53:00.001-04:00

If you're former Air New England.....

What are you doing on 29 October 2011?

Hopefully you'll be joining us at the Hyannis Radisson Hotel at 5:00 pm until whenever, to celebrate our 30th anniversary of going out of business. Presently more than 50 ANE people will be there and we hope to see you.

Here's the current guest list and it's growing fast.

Rooms are available at a special ANE rate at the Radisson too: 508-771-1700

A new story about Northeast Airlines is out.

2011-07-25T10:28:00.009-04:00

Here's an interesting story, let's see if authorities finally take a crew assault seriously!

Just a quick note please before we get into NEA...

I met Jack Hartery yesterday who worked for Air New England from 1974 until 1979 while he was visiting his sister in NH. After ANE he enjoyed a 25 year career with United Airlines as a dispatcher. He donated much to my ANE collection and my ANE friends can learn more by visiting our Picasa album. Great to see you again Jack and thanks for contacting me.

Northeast Airlines 1931 - 1972

My Dad in a B-727 during his retirement flight in 1980

As many of you know, I have a penchant for Northeast Airlines. An unabashed admiration for those who formed it, flew for it, maintained it, invested in it and otherwise served to keep the colorful airline aloft. Organized in 1931 under contract with Juan Trippe at Pan American Airways, it survived on its own until merging with Delta in 1972. It also had a long railroad affiliation until changing its name from Boston-Maine Airways to Northeast Airlines in 1940 with the introduction of its first, brand new, Douglas DC-3. It's fleet over the years grew from its core of Stinsons, to Lockheed 10A's, DC-3's, Convair 240's, DC-4's, DC-6B's, Viscounts, FH-227's, Convair 880's, 727's and DC-9's. In fact they flew a Curtis-Wright Commando for a short period of time.

My father as a Convair 240 and DC-3 captain and a B-727 captain

Dad hired on at NEA in 1946 after serving during WWII with the US Army Air Force, flying C-47's, B25's and B26's. He hung around the NEA East Boston hangar complex for days, pestering Chief Pilot Pappy Wheeler until he hired him as a DC-3 copilot. Other names that I grew up with as a kid were captain Andy Anderson, the airlines first pilot who flew their Stinson Tri-motors acquired from The Ludington Line. He retired in the mid sixties flying a Convair 880. Not bad for a little "shoe string" airline. Captain Anderson had also served the airline and its pilots as VP of Flight Ops and later as it's ALPA MEC Chairman.

There's not much written about Northeast, a trunk carrier that flew pretty much as a regional airline until breaking out in 1957 when the CAB (Civil Aeronautics Board, now defunct) awarded it Florida rights, much to the consternation of Rickenbacker at Eastern and Baker at National. However, captain Bob Mudge undertook the challenge and wrote the airlines biography, Adventures of a Yellowbird, that chronicled the airline from 1931 until its entry into the jet age. Bob is another hero of mine, along with retired captain Norman Houle, the official, unofficial company historian. I've spent hours sitting with these men listening to stories that only whet my appetite more to become an airline pilot.

Do an Amazon or Ebay search for captain Mudge's book and you might, just might find one for under a hundred dollars. That's how rare it is. I have three signed copies, but don't ask to borrow one; it's the only book in my collection that I will NOT lend out. Several years ago at an NEA reunion, TWA captain Bob Buck, another legend, asked if I knew of Bob's book concerning meteorology. According to captain Buck, it is "the most scholarly book written in its field." I have one of these too and of course, Bob Mudge mocked me when I asked him to autograph it. "That old thing Rand, why in the world would you want me to sign it?"

Because it's a masterpiece, a piece of history that has contributed to the level of safety that we enjoy today.

My father and "Red's Boy" as his contemporaries refer to me.

I'm very proud of that moniker!

Above, my Dad and me in the cockpit of a B-727 on his retirement flight in January 1980. My four stripes were earned at the time flying as a Twin Otter captain at BOS based Air New England. I loved my time at ANE and flew there right up until they closed the doors in October of 1981. It was as close as I'd get to flying for NEA, over the same routes out of BOS and LGA. As a boy in the late 1950's, I remember flying to Florida with my father in the jumpseat of a DC-6B.

NEA DC-6B

We departed BOS at midnight in a roaring Noreaster, dumping massive amounts of snow throughout New England. Seven or so hours later, after listening to four Pratt & Whitney R2800's beat flawlessly and navigating a dark and foreboding Eastern Seaboard, the shining city of Miami appeared through the windscreen. White beaches, aqua water, sailboats and glimmering buildings in the sun, erased any thoughts of inclement weather left behind in Boston and further drove me to seek this life aloft. The food was pretty good too, but it would be years later until I acquired a taste for "airline coffee."

1954 NEA timetable, before the Florida route award.

As a side-note, I interviewed with Delta in 1978 in ATL. After looking through my application and resume, my inquisitor, apparently happy with what he saw said, "Rand, you're going to love it here at Delta, it's a family operation." Needless to say I was excited as visions of DC-9's and 727's danced in my head. Flying those Beech 18's and Twin Otters finally paid off. But hold on a second...

A few moments later he noticed a section on the application that asked, Do you have any family members in the employ of Delta Airlines? Of course I answered affirmatively with "yes, CK Peck, BOS captain." With that my major airline career hopes were dashed and the Twin Otters replaced the Nines and 727's yet again. Delta had a nepotism clause in those days excluding family members from working at THE FAMILY. I've never understood this but that was their policy, so back to flying my New England routes until deregulation came about and changed everything.

A fleet of Northeast Airlines DC-3's at the Barre-Montipelier Airport in Vermont.

Frankly, I've written about all of this before and most of it can be found on my website under the tab, RAND'S HISTORY, but as you may have guessed there's a reason that I've brought it up again. Author David Stringer has written a three part history of NEA for AIRWAYS MAGAZINE, the last part to appear in the October issue. The first two installments are in the August and September issue of 2011.

As I'd mentioned to Editor Wegg in an email, "I started reading David's story with a jaded eye, after all, how could an outsider possibly get this right." I'm happy to report that my concerns were unfounded as Stringer has done a superb job of portraying the nations smallest trunk airline. He successfully captured it's flavor, it's essence and it's place in history. Captains, Mudge, Houle and Peck I'm sure would be pleased with his work.

I'm also an unabashed supporter of AIRWAYS MAGAZINE, not just because they publish some of my work, (not all of it, they're very selective) but because it's the bible from my perspective, for the tens of thousands of commercial aviation enthusiasts around the globe. I see them everywhere with their cameras on tripods when landing at airfields throughout the U.S., Asia and Europe. It's the premier commercial aviation publication, written by enthusiasts for enthusiasts.

Anyway, if you enjoy airline history, particularly when that history includes round engines, cowl flaps and METO power, you won't want to miss Stringer's three part NEA history.

As usual, thanks for reading.

Rand

Part 3: The Simulator Phase

2011-07-11T05:14:00.001-04:00

Randy, Steve, Doug and I have completed groundschool and the Procedures phase of our 747 training and have moved on to the simulator phase, which, although far more intense, is a lot of fun. That is of course if everything is going well! We've been split off from Steve and Doug enjoying the "A" period that runs from 0500 to 1030 while Randy and I are assigned the "D" period that flies from 1800 until 2330. Surprisingly this period worked well for us. Although we finished late at night I got a good nights sleep and had the entire following day to exercise and study.

As I'd mentioned earlier, Randy and I are both captains which means that half of the four hour simulator period we'll be in the copilots seat assisting the other. Not optimum, but that's the way that it goes.

Our "D" period consists of an hour and a half brief from 1800 until 1930 and then in the simulator from 1930 until 2230. Sounds like a long time doesn't it? But you're so busy that the time literally flies by. Our schedule and syllabus are well laid out for us in our student manual so we know exactly what to expect and when, including the flight paperwork that we'd experience on line.

Randy is entering one of the two 747-400 simulators that the airline operates. This is sim session number 1 of 9 to prepare us for the LOE (Line Oriented Evaluation) nine days from today. But before we get to sim 9 and the LOE we'll have three days to prepare for our MV or Maneuvers Evaluation.

This is how our Singer-Link simulator appears as you step inside. To the uninitiated it looks exactly like a 747-400 cockpit and everything works as it is supposed to. Technically it's a "Six Degrees of Freedom Device" that refers to it's ability to move about in three perpendicular axis's. A little further along I'll show you the hydraulics that support this. It's also referred to as a Level D, full motion, visual flight simulator. It even smells like the airplane!

Let's step back in time and take a look at the old 747-200 flight simulator located just across the hall in a separate bay. Northwest operated its last 747-200 passenger flight on 12 September 2007 from Tokyo to Minneapolis with a stop in Seattle. The -200 entered service with NWA in 1975 and grew to a fleet of 22 aircraft. As an aficionado of the "three man cockpit" I'd loved to have flown this airplane. Click on this Trip Report to see pictures of NWA 76 on 21 July 2007, starring N623US from NRT to SPN.

747-200 Flight Engineer's Panel

Steve in the right seat is a 747 FO and instructor who flew with Randy on his Type Ride or LOE. Let's talk about the MV or Maneuvers Validation as we now approach Day 4 of our sim training. Each MV takes nearly two hours and includes a variety of maneuvers that include engine failures after V1, rejected takeoffs, windshear recovery and stalls, missed approaches with engines out, visual approaches with engines out, CAT I, II, and III approaches some with failed engines and missed approaches, non precision (VNAV) approaches, holding and more.

The best advice that I was given was DON'T PLAN ON LANDING, plan on a missed approach and if you land it's a bonus. Again, if you've paid attention during the previous sim sessions, done a little "chair flying" in your room and are familiar with the procedures and manuals, you'll likely experience a positive conclusion. Another piece of valuable advise included not dwelling on mistakes. We all make them, the check pilot expects to see some, but also wants to see how you handle the adversity. If you allow the mistake to fester and infect the remainder of your ride he or she won't be happy. On the other hand if you recognize the mistake, correct it and move on things will be fine. All you've done is give your instructor something to debrief. I gave them many!

I administered many simulator checkrides in the DC-9 and 727. I anticipated mistakes and a certain level of nervousness and simply looked for a good solid ride, with good crew communications and systems knowledge. Apparently little has changed with this aspect from my days of instructing. The final criteria was and I suspect still is "Would I put my family on board with these guys?"

After successful MV's, Randy and I have been separated as we near our LOE. As Justin, sitting at the instructors panel positions the simulator at Narita, Randy preflights the airplane. Justin never planted any "Easter eggs" for us to find, he simply figured the previous crew as they exited in haste would leave enough as it is... and he was right. While he has one eye on his panel, the other watched us closely as we preflighted the cockpit, interrupting occasionally with questions or guidance.

Another excellent instructor, Justin interspersed practical knowledge and real life scenarios that he'd encountered and passed along his experience. Thought out, scripted scenarios go a long way to effectively introduce problems and solutions, but "let me show you what happened to me one night out of Manila" from a guy thats been there is very effective.

As I back my way out of the simulator Justin, Randy and Steve prepare to depart Narita for Manila for Randy's last sim session before his type ride tomorrow night. This nine days have passed very quickly though as the course nears completion.

From ground level you get a better feel for the size of this machine. When the instructor selects the motion button, the ramp, in the raised position here to the right, raises and frees the simulator from its dock. The hydraulic legs provide all of the motion and direction required, in conjunction with the flight instruments and visual, to create pitch and roll, acceleration and deceleration and create a real time flight. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!

Which incidentally reminds me. Much of the input to new simulators is "touch screen", but keyboards still exist. Years ago, the student could easily hear the instructor "tap tap tapping" away back there and anticipate pending doom through an engine failure or some other catastrophic failure. He may simply be entering the weather at your destination, but you'd be keyed up for a major event. I never heard any keyboard clatter this time around which only added to the realism of the experience.

We're standing in front of the simulator looking back towards the dock and stairs that provide egress to the briefing rooms. There are several emergency motion shutoff switches located throughout the cockpit to take the simulator off motion. Why?? You may wonder. Many years ago when using the US Air 727 sim in PIT, Jerry Helmey and I were tossed about somewhat violently when the motion went "NUTS!" I was standing in the back of the sim with Jerry as the Flight Engineer instructor. The pilots, strapped in and secured, activated their shutoff switches located near their seat control levers and saved the day.

Jerry retired off the 747-200 several years ago, but to see him today drop down to the Air West reunion post and you'll see him in the back row. Jerry, you look great and have hardly changed! Another excellent instructor from whom I learned much.

V1, rotate, as Randy departs off the "A" runway at Narita. The hydraulic legs rapidly thrust the machine forward and gently reach their limit inducing acceleration as he rotates towards 15 degrees of pitch attitude. Believe me... it's realistic, as you hear and feel your nosewheel tires thumping over the runway centerline lights. In reality though, we all move the airplane over just a bit to avoid these lights, but doing so in the simulator is fruitless because these sensations are programmed in.

An A-330 simulator in the adjacent bay.

Twenty-four hours later, this is my view of the corridor that leads to the simulators and briefing rooms as I reach my moment of truth. Within moments I'll meet my simulator partner and check airman who will determine if I've prepared properly. Much goes through your mind as you proceed down the "corridor of truth;" are those my footsteps that I hear or my rapid heartbeat? I've taken this walk many times over the last 26 years at NWA and now DAL experiencing annual checkrides and type rating rides. Although I've acquired much experience over those years and know how the event is administered, this walk is no less apprehensive than my first. Doubt creeps in. You pray that you don't screw up and that you brought your "A" game with you tonight. It's a long, lonely walk as simulator scenarios, procedures and memory items pass through your brain.

I'm here. This is room D248 where in 30 minutes or so we'll brief for my LOE.

I've arrived early to go over a few items in the QRH, Volume 1 and take one last look at the MEL manual. I've also pulled out my license, medical and radio operators license to be prepared when asked for them. It's Saturday night at 1900 hours, I've not seen another human since I entered the building and it's lonely inside my little cubicle as I hear a stall warning horn echo from a distant simulator bay. I'm not here alone after all, another pilot is demonstrating his or her skills tonight too.

Saturday night! Most everyone else I know is out enjoying life on a Saturday night as I await my fate in this little cubicle. What were you doing on Saturday night, 30 April at 1900 hours central time?

Moments later, Gary walks into the room, extends his hand and says hello. After a little small talk we jumped into the computer to pull up and print my paperwork for tonights flight from Narita to Manila. There are eight different LOE flight scenarios; Gary simply enters my employee number and the computer chooses one of them and prints out everything we need. During the ensuing discussion of the flight, the flightplan and our MEL item, Gary has done a wonderful job of setting a comfortable environment. Any anxiety that I may have harbored has dissipated as we move forward.

I didn't have time to take pictures though. I also thought it inappropriate to ask Gary if he'd mind if I periodically interrupted him to take pictures, so stashed my camera until the outcome was determined.

Steve (another Steve, not the fellow who flew with Randy) and I discussed our flightplan and MEL item before entering the simulator to accomplish our preflight inspections. I then briefed Steve and our lead flight attendant (Gary) concerning such items as our taxi route, departure procedure, flaps setting, weather, rides, and time en route.

After taxi out and completing all of the appropriate checklists, we departed off runway 34L, flew a close in community departure and followed a standard LNAV/VNAV departure procedure. As is normally the case departing Narita, ATC stopped our climb at 7,000 feet and started issuing headings. I knew what was coming next!

Using "heading select" I followed the clearances, including a clearance to continue the climb to 10,000 feet when ATC called and cleared us to fly a particular heading to intercept a published airway to a point further along our flightplan. A sincere "thank-you," to Nicole, Justin, Brian and Rusty for squaring me away on these procedures.

While climbing through 25,000 feet at 320 knots, on course, on the airway our comfortable little environment was suddenly jolted to reality as red lights glared and shrill bells shattered the silence. Well, this is a checkride after all and a quick scan of our displays revealed that we were experiencing a forward cargo fire. There are few emergencies that demand your immediate attention, but a fire within the fuselage area is one of them. I handed the airplane over to Steve, asked him to declare an emergency and get a clearance directly back to Narita with an immediate descent while I reached for the QRH and selected the proper procedure.

Steve's job is to FLY THE AIRPLANE AND COMMUNICATE and mine is to attend to the emergency and, as the captain, keep an eye on the airplane and maintain situational awareness. I need to be mindful of where we are, where we're going and catalog in my mind what's been completed and what remains to be accomplished. It's busy, very busy, but performing in an unrushed, methodical manner is crucial.

The index indicates that the Forward Cargo Fire procedure is in section 8.16 which I flip to quickly , read the title out loud and ask Steve if he agrees with the checklist that I've chosen. There's nothing worse on a checkride than working a procedure for many minutes, only to discover that as the procedure unfolds, it's apparent that you've chosen the wrong one. In this case we're in agreement and I move forward. Another important item. When you move a switch, first identify the switch and then confirm that what should have happened ... did! If you're opening or closing a valve, look to insure that the valve moved and that it didn't fail which would change how you proceed. Don't rush... identify your items first.

Upon completing the Forward Cargo Fire checklist, I checked in with Steve to let him know that I'd completed the procedure and to get an update. "Narita is closed" I've learned, it's gone below limits, so I ask the controller for the Haneda weather which is at CAT I limits.

"Steve you still have the airplane and the radio, lets' go to Haneda" as I update the FMS and enter the anticipated runway, it's ILS and pull up an ATIS. At this point I'll leave Steve for a moment, call our lead flight attendant and brief him. "We have a possible forward cargo fire, will land in 10 minutes at Haneda and MAY have to evacuate... any questions?" Then I'll make a quick passenger PA and announce that we have a problem and will be landing in 10 minutes and to please follow the directions of our flight attendants.

The QRH procedure automatically leads me into the Descent and Approach checklists, so everything that I need is handy. I've determined that I don't have time to call my dispatcher, there's not much he can do for me now anyway, so I ask ATC to call them for me. Don't forget, I'm an emergency airplane and can do as I please.... that is as long as I'm right!!

As I'm reviewing what we've accomplished, Steve starts calling for flaps as the localizer comes alive. We've determined to do a flap 30 landing with auto brakes 3 and once more confirm that emergency equipment is standing by. The Emergency checklists, descent and approach checks are complete, the weather is sufficient to land, the radios have been tuned and identified, flight attendants, ATC, company and passengers have been briefed. We're final approach fix inbound, configured and cleared to land. What could possibly go wrong??

As it turned out, nothing. Steve was still flying so I let him continue, freeing me to address anything should it occur. The landing was without incident; we turned off the runway and my ride was over. Gary slapped me on the back, congratulated me and welcomed me to the club.

OK, time to get the camera out!

I was tired, but it was a good feeling. It's still Saturday night though and I have time to celebrate.

Thanks very much to everyone in the training department who sincerely had my best interests in mind as I navigated the 747-400 training course.

Next up, OE with Gene.

A New England Fourth of July

2011-07-06T17:48:00.009-04:00

I've nearly finished Part 3 of my 747-400 check out; hopefully it will be up on Monday. But in the meanwhile, particularly if you're from away, I wanted to share a glimpse of our local Fourth of July celebrations. This July 4th marks America's 235th year of independence. The Declaration of Independence was read aloud to Amherst, NH citizens in the second week of July 1776 by Sheriff Moses Kelley, just to my right here on the Amherst Green. The Green as well served as a training field for Captain Josiah Crosby and the Amherst Militia Company.

The parade at Amherst, NH is quite large for a town of only 12,000 people, but attracts New Englanders from throughout the region. Here, former Amherst Fire Chief Rick Crocker drives his fully restored, 1931 antique fire truck in the parade. This truck actually served our town back in the 1950's and how Rick found it is a great story for another time

The local Revolutionary War contingent marching in the parade. Many Amherst men, led by Captain Josiah Crosby of the Amherst Militia Company served in the War of Independence at Bunker Hill, just north of Boston on 17 June 1775. The New Hampshire contingent was hailed for it's defense of the Hills flanks, avoiding being surrounded by British troops and allowing an orderly retreat by local militias as they exhausted powder and shot. The British eventually triumphed but at the cost of 1,200 casualties including the loss of 70% of its officer corps. As General Gage succinctly stated sometime later. "Too many more victories like this and we'll lose the war."

Amherst resident, Lieutenant Thompson Maxwell, not only participated in the Battle of Bunker Hill with Captain Crosby, but took part in the Boston Tea Party on 16 December 1773 and the Battle of Lexington and Concord on 19 April 1775. The day before on 18 April Paul Revere journeyed north to Lexington and Concord, made famous by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. "Listen my children and you shall hear of the midnight ride of Paul Revere, on the eighteenth of April in seventy-five hardly a man is now alive who remembers that day and year..."

The local Civil War contingent marching through town. Twenty-seven Amherst men died in the Civil War including Amherst native Sergeant Charles Phelps of the Fifth Regiment of New Hampshire Volunteers. He'd survived such savage battles as Antietam, Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville only to die on 4 July 1863 at Gettysburg. Both his gravesite and ancestral home are but a short walk from where we're standing.

The Soldiers Monument, erected in 1871 to honor Sergeant Phelps and his fallen comrades, is but two hundred yards to our right from where we're standing to observe today's parade.

Old time high-wheel bicyclists

Many presidential candidates have marched in the Amherst Fourth of July Celebration due to our "first in the nation primary" status. In fact NH native and 14th president of the United States, Franklin Pierce, was married a short walk off to my right at the Colonel Robert Means Mansion in 1834. Two presidential hopefuls are marching in today's parade; Jon Huntsman and Mitt Romney. Can you find Romney in this shot?

Above and below: As the parades participants disbanded I asked part of the Revolutionary and Civil War groups to pose in front of our home. Our home was built in either 1780 or 1790 depending upon whom you consult and would have witnessed local Civil War veterans returning home. If you choose the earlier date it was here as well when the U.S. Constitution was ratified in June of 1788 before General Washington became President Washington. Interestingly, New Hampshire was the ninth state to vote for the Constitution thus ratifying it for the 13 American Colonies.

While all this is going on in Amherst, NH, just 45 south in Boston, the USS Constitution, or Old Iron Sides as she's more popularly known, was enjoying its' annual cruise and firing her cannon. Constitution, constructed in 1797 in Charlestown, Massachusetts is an active military vessel, still listed in the US Navy's inventory, making it the worlds oldest commissioned warship.

To see what goes on in Boston, click here and take a trip to the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade next to the Charles River that divides Boston from Cambridge. It was from Cambridge that General Washington took command of the Continental Army in 1775. Drop down just below the red band and click on the video. Every Fourth of July Boston Pop's plays Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture as 105 mm howitzers fire and fireworks explode overhead. The rockets red glare as the pungent odor of cordite fills the air. Participating this year is the 101st Field Artillery Regiment, just back from Afghanistan, the U.S. Army Field Band and Soldiers Chorus and the 104th Fighter Wing from the Mass Air National Guard do a fly over with F-15C's. The Mass Air National Guards history stretches back to 1621 when the first Massachusetts militia were formed.

My family and I gathered at my mother's home in Amherst for a day of celebration that included her pool, hot dogs and hamburgers, sparklers with the kids and much political discourse, inspired by the likes of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and his life long friend, John Adams. "Jefferson lives..." Adams last words.

I know that those who read my blog posts do so for my aviation experiences, but until I get Part Three up and running I wanted to share some of our local history and tradition. Thanks once again for following along and Happy Fourth of July.

Rand

Part Two of my 747-400 Checkout.

2011-06-27T08:12:00.004-04:00

A quick thank-you to everyone at jetcareers.com who have discovered my blog and sent along many kind remarks.

And another thank-you to APO Armed Forces, Europe, Middle east and Canada, I appreciate your stopping by and hope that you're safe.

Thanks again, Rand (former 05B20)

OK, time to resume my 747 adventure. Sorry for the delay, but after finishing a ten day Asian trip and a ten day Tel Aviv trip I needed a little recovery time to square myself away. Four Pacific crossings with inter port flying in between, followed by two North Atlantic crossings beyond Europe is fatiguing. Also, Delta is moving much A-330 and A-320 flying from some bases to others, mostly to ATL, thus opening up a new system bid and a reshuffling of the deck. After just a month on the airplane I narrowly avoided getting bumped from the 747 in this large shift of assets.

As much as this would have displeased me after a long training program... that's the way that it goes! You have to be flexible, it's all about seniority.

This is Part 2 of my 747 training that includes ground school and Procedural Training.

On 28 March I showed up at the Delta MSP training center, formally NATCO, to start my 747 training program. I'm still acclimating to the new signage. My classmates and I would be here for approximately one month for ground school, SIT training and simulator training. The training department shipped my manuals a month earlier to my home in New Hampshire allowing me the opportunity to familiarize myself with the airplane. The more you know before arriving the better so I utilized layovers in Narita to learn aircraft systems, limitations and checklists. It was time well spent.

Our accommodations at the downtown St. Paul Holiday Inn along the Mississippi River are excellent. My room is spacious, clean and quiet and the hotel personnel are very accommodating. In fact when I checked out I complimented the manager on his staff.

The hotel makes every effort to sequester flight crews, separating us from the general population thus avoiding crying babies and tourists next door. There are many good restaurants nearby, a small grocery store and ample walking routes for exercise. I learned years ago to get out and walk everyday after school to clear my mind and move my body. Good rest and reasonable exercise are key for me to complete a program.

Before leaving home for training I called the Holiday Inn and requested a corner room with a river view as instructed by my friend and 747 FO Dave Larsen. They graciously accommodated me and here's my view. But the problem was I'd constantly push my books aside to look out the window at river traffic that I found interesting. To make matters worse... downtown St Paul Airport is in the background! Airplanes and boats, how can I be expected to study?

Now out of my room and past the sign, here's the training center. I've spent much time here over the last 26 years checking out in or taking check rides in the DC-9, 727, DC-10, A-320, 757 and now the 747. I had the opportunity to visit the ATL training center when NWA pilots checked out in the 767 a year or so ago. By the sounds of things and a few local newspaper articles though, it appears that all training will be moving to ATL shortly and NATCO will be a thing of the past. I also worked here as a DC-9 and 727 sim instructor and check airman. The difference when you walk through the front door as an instructor rather than a student is entirely different. It's jeopardy versus non jeopardy. This is when you know if you've prepared well enough or wish that you'd done more if your anxiety level rises as you approach the door.

On the other hand, training departments seem to have become much more friendly over the last ten years, so much of this anxiety can be self imposed. With one exception, many years ago, every training event and checkride that I've experienced has been with instructors who have been nothing but helpful, if not encouraging. But that one guy always sticks in your mind.

We're inside the main reception area and many of you will recognize the blue/yellow Link Trainer from previous posts. This migrated here from Wisconsin Central Airlines, the predecessor to North Central Airlines. I had two of these trainers, stored in my barn for years and donated them to the National Museum of Commercial Aviation in Atlanta. Started by former NWA captain, now DAL A-330 captain Chuck Maire, he's accomplished great things with this new museum. I've also reincarnated my old flight bag and given it new work as I used it to transport my new manuals to MSP.

We're in classroom C211 outfitted with the basic podium, computers and aircraft panel layouts. We'll be in this classroom weekdays between 0800 to noon listening to lectures and watching videos with time available for questions and clarification from instructors. Most courses work on the 50 minute hour concept with a ten minute bathroom break or stroll to the cafeteria. I like this approach as it gives your brain a moment to rest, take a break and absorb information. I also appreciate the opportunity to get up and move a bit.

My seat perspective in room C211 as we discuss rudder control. These slides or schematics are generally very good and reveal much with just a glance. The upper and lower rudders are pretty straight forward. The upper rudder is powered from hydraulic systems two and three while the lower rudder is powered from systems two and four. All of the flight controls for that matter receive hydraulic pressure from more than one system insuring redundancy. The electrical system even lends a hand as a backup source of power for some flight controls.

The only component that you may be unfamiliar with is the "Rudder Ratio" system that controls rudder movement by airspeed. In other words the slower you're flying, the more rudder "throw" or authority you have. As airspeed increases your rudder authority diminishes to protect the vertical stabilizer from large movements at high speeds that could do damage. The ailerons operate in the same fashion. The inboard ailerons function at all times, but the outboard ailerons, to avoid unwanted rapid roll rates, diminish with airspeed and lockout entirely above a pre-determined airspeed. Years ago we'd be required to know that speed and likely have it surface during a type rating oral, but today it's enough just to know that they lockout.

During my DC-9 and 727 type rating orals many years ago, I'm convinced that if I'd brought my roll around tool chest with me I could have disassembled and reassembled both airplanes during the oral phase. Fortunately, check airmen rarely delve into such minutia these days. At this age I only have three brain cells left. I use one to remember my first name, another to remember my last name and the third to store everything else!

Generally when the electrical system of most any airplane surfaces you can hear an audible groan from the class. These systems are complex, but for some reason it's one of the systems that gives me the least heartburn. On the other hand I cringe when asked questions about pneumatics. I only hope the next guy to administer my annual training doesn't read this!

Here's the AC electrical system schematic concerning aircraft 6301 through 6314. Apparently aircraft 15 and 16 have subtle differences that require a separate schematic. It's pretty straight forward; we have four engines that drive four generators or IDG's as they're designated (integrated drive generators) that power a variety of AC busses, emergency busses and eventually DC busses through TR's or transformer rectifiers. A TR changes, or rectifies AC to DC and inverters change DC to AC.

The electrical system can as well be powered through its split bus system from ground power or from the APU. What's new for me, is that this is the first jet that I've flown that you're prevented from starting the APU in flight, nor can you use that APU's electrical capability in flight. You can take off with it running and pneumatically power a single air conditioning pack up to 15,000 feet but design engineers determined that with four generators supplying ample electrical power, the APU generator in flight was simply overkill. Three IDG's and even two with some auto load shedding can furnish all electrical capability needed.

On two engine jets, like the 757, 767 or the DC-9, the APU generator is considered a standby source of electrical power in flight should an engine fail or if one or both I suppose, generators should fail. An engine failure checklist or a generator failure checklist would direct you to start the APU and bring its generator on line. Engineers, they think of everything don't they?

Finally, here are my classmates: Randy seated, Steve standing to the left of the cockpit panel and Doug to the right. Robin to the left of the projector screen is our classroom instructor today. He's a former Naval Aviator, A6's and is the voice on most of our video and slide presentations. He's extremely knowledgeable and willing to share that knowledge; attributes of an excellent instructor.

This is the first time in my career that I've been to upgrade training with such a small class as I've generally experienced groups as large as 30 with a variety of captains and copilots. We're all captains here which presents a problem once we get to the simulator phase. We'll be switching seats depending upon whose turn it is to fly which is less than optimum. But once again... that's the way that it goes. Nearing the end of the simulator phase and for our type ride we'll be separated and have a fully qualified FO.

Randy and I were hired together in the same class on 22 April 1985 at Republic and hadn't seen one another in many years. Steve and Doug, whom we'd never met before were senior to us by several months and had been hired at NWA. With the exception of Doug who was coming off the A-330, Randy, Steve and I had years of experience on 757's and 767's certainly giving us a leg up. Probably the most formidable segment of training is learning the FMS or aircraft computer system which Doug, who spoke Airbus needed to learn from scratch.

Steve, Randy and Doug. Robin at the computer.

Earlier I referred to SIT training. It's also known as PT or procedural training. Although I have no idea what the acronym stands for here's what it is. In the afternoons, after classroom lectures, videos and computer work, we take that knowledge into this room and apply what we've learned with some hands on training. Robin, sitting at the control monitor, introduces problems that we discover in the normal course of flying. Using Volume 1 and our QRH we set about solving these problems while we fly, thus performing approved procedures, familiarizing ourselves with manuals and checklists and learning exactly where system controls are located in the cockpit. Solving just one problem covers a large area of learning.

Randy with Brian, another instructor whom we enjoyed. Brian (former Air Force) gave us our PV. Unfortunately I have no pictures of Deb who guided us through the emergency equipment and administered our SV.

This device is interactive and is touchscreen activated. As we solve fuel, hydraulic or electrical problems we can follow along on the systems pages to see our progress or watch exactly what occurs with that system as we move switches.

"Oh, so that's the valve that closes when I move this switch." A picture is worth a thousand words as they say.

Here's a better view of the screens set up like a cockpit. Everything works as it does in the airplane. It really is a great learning and procedural tool. Randy has Volume 1 open on his lap as we'd just finished solving a pneumatic problem.

As nice as our SIT trainer is, this is what the Airbus crews have to work with across the corridor... joystick and all. I remember using these devices when I checked out as an A-320 captain. Rather than using a touch screen, all the switches and computer inputs work exactly as they do in the airplane.

OK, we've had enough for a while so we'll shuffle down the corridor to the social center of NATCO and visit the cafeteria for lunch. It's rather empty now, but shortly will be a bee hive of activity as classes and sims break for lunch. The food here is rather good and the caterer provides a remarkably good variety including Starbucks coffee. I try to stick to the soup and salad bars for lunch to avoid over indulgence and that sleepy feeling that follows in the afternoon.

It's fun to run into old friends here that you've not seen in years attending for annual check rides or checking out in new equipment.

Lunch break times vary from 30 to 60 minutes depending on your afternoon activity and when the class wants to finish for the afternoon. I've even brought lunch back to a classroom and eaten during a lecture to expedite our release time.

A variety of on board life rafts

Today, after our lunch break we'll visit the emergency equipment room and learn about life rafts, doors, fire extinguishers and medical kits. My last visit here a year ago, we needed to travel to another building for this, but now Delta has moved all flight crew training (pilot and flight attendant) under one roof.

One of many door training assemblies

Fire extinguishers and medical kits

Deb is our instructor for our first PT briefing as we go over procedures and learn how to use the QRH, Quick Reference Handbook. We used this computer to practice navigational skills too. For the last eight years in the 757, practically, we pretty much were given "direct to" clearances in flight even though the computer is capable of so much more. But we spent a fair amount of time brushing up on how to fly radials to or from a point, intercept airways and fly non precision approaches. A quick thanks to Nicole for getting me up to speed in this area. It's interesting the information you forget when little used.

I'd mentioned earlier the manuals that DAL issues before the start of training. One of those is "The Student Guide" that lays out specifically what you'll be doing each day of training. It lists exactly what systems you'll cover during each day of ground school with a synopsis of those systems and source references for additional reading. It spells out in detail how your day in the PT trainer will go including flight paperwork that you'd normally receive on a flight. It's a fantastic organizational tool that eliminates guesswork. You won't be sitting in your room wondering "how should I prepare for tomorrows events?".

I found this partially reconstructed 747 cockpit trainer deep in the bowels of the building. It's not yet ready for use, in fact it's a long way from that, but I found it helpful to spend a few minutes each day, sitting in my seat finding switches, locating systems and learning flows and checklists. It helped with PT training and certainly gave me an advantage in the simulator phase.

Speaking of phases, let's discuss the different phases or events that occur during training. Times have changed; when I was typed in the DC-9 and 727 very little checking occurred until the last week or so of training when you'd experience an extensive oral and a type rating ride. This caused high anxiety because you'd still be burning the midnight oil preparing for your oral while in the simulator phase only days away from the type ride. Now, checking events are broken down, almost on a weekly basis rather than piling on at the end. It allows you to "check that box" and move on, far more efficient and far less stressful.

There are four hoops to jump through; the SV, PV, MV and type ride. That's it! Get through these and you graduate from the schoolhouse and move on to OE, or Operating Experience in the airplane.

The SV is the Systems Evaluation or a timed, 100 question systems written exam taken on the computer. An overall 80% is required to pass... but you also must score 80% on each section of which there are ten. In other words, you may score an 80% overall but less than that on say hydraulics or electrics or the dreaded pneumatics system. Fail a section and remedial training is administered by an instructor and a retake of that section follows.

Sounds ominous doesn't it? But you'll be very well prepared when you reach day seven if you've followed the course as designed. Put in a little extra effort ahead of time by studying before showing up and you'll ace the SV. The trick here is to RTFQ, "read the freaken question" entirely and carefully before selecting an answer. There are no tricks, but some answers are "close" particularly questions with diagrams that ask about valve positions.

The reward at the end of successful training... you get to fly this magnificent airplane.
Pushing back at Honolulu, bound for Narita

I probably need to give equal time to the Delta livery, so here's one awaiting departure off the "A" runway at Narita. The problem is that I just don't have that many "new paint" shots in my collection.

A few days later and you'll experience the PV or procedures evaluation. Again, you've been well prepared for this and if you've experienced a problem intercepting radials or airways or finding info in the computer... "what page is that on?" they'll happily give you individual, one on one time with an instructor until you're comfortable. This is administered on the computer as well and is simply an instructor giving you navigational problems and watching you solve them. The other evaluations, the MV and type rating I'll explain later as they're in the simulator phase of training.

And finally here's my "paper trainer" taped to the wall in my room. What's that you ask?

On day one we were issued these slick, colorful aircraft panels that we use to study and make notes on. Many of us tape them to our wall, pull up a chair and practice preflight cockpit setups, flows, checklists, normal, emergency and supplemental procedures. It's learning by rote. After practicing the preflight a dozen times I had it down and could competently perform in the simulator. Delta does things differently here. They have a pilot flying (PF) and a pilot not flying (PNF) cockpit preflight setup. At NWA we simply had a captains and first officers preflight.

Pulling out the QRH and solving problems planned for the next days PT or simulator sessions increase your comfort and confidence levels markedly. If you try to look upon the training experience as fun, or a challenge it will pass quickly and more easily. But if you find reasons to complain, you've done nothing but burden yourself.

With the help of a dedicated training department, many good friends, my family and staff at the hotel and NATCO who supported my every need, I successfully completed my SV and PV and we all moved on to the the simulator stage.

Standby for PART 3, The Simulator!

But before I go, I noticed that this propeller, that's been displayed at NATCO for years, is still here but in a new position. Few at NWA knew its significance so I suspect no one from DAL knows its historical background. Do you have any idea what kind of prop it is? What it came off of? or most importantly where did it come from and why? I only hope that it's not lost in the shuffle as NATCO is shutdown and everything is moved to Atlanta. Maybe they could donate it to Chuck Maire at the Commercial Aviation Museum or relocate it to the Delta Museum in Atlanta. I'm looking forward to your thoughts on "The Prop" or anything here for that matter.

Rand

Hughes Airwest Reunion

2011-06-20T12:46:00.013-04:00

ADDENDUM

I'd like to thank Stefan Sjogren from Sweden for sending along these pictures of a Hughes Airwest 727 and DC-9 that he took many years ago in SEA. They're scans of slides. After reading my post concerning Hughes Airwest he thought to share these shots with us. I spent many enjoyable hours flying this 727 from all three seats. I'm not sure if this DC-9 made it to Republic though, I'll need to do a bit of research.

Stefan just passed along this recent photo of an ex-NWA 757 landing on 19L in Stockholm. Note that he caught the strobe on the left winglet as it flashed... perfect planning Stefan! I miss this airplane. And speaking of great shots, click over to Mark Lawrence's site to learn about Lufthansa's A-380 arrival in MIA.

I just returned home from my first 747-400 trip after OE that included two, JFK - Tel Aviv round trips. This was a 10 day trip that introduced me to Middle Eastern airspace, was extraordinarily interesting to fly and exposed me to many new experiences. But before I get into that trip and my "promised" posts concerning my 747 checkout, I received this photo today from retired NWA captain Jack Kastien.

2011 Hughes Airwest Pilot Reunion

Kneeling-Rick Ames, Tom McGrain, Barry Eckenroth

2nd Row-Lou Smith, Bo Corby, Dan Buskirk, Larry Bingham, Gary Gabbard, Jim Jackson, Tom Flickinger, Don Burnham

Middle Row Kneeling-Tim Hemp, Rich Moynihan, Ernie Prosch, Gary Keilman, Hal Miller

Back Row-Glen Carlson, Bob Brunson, Ken Focht, Bill Crane, Greg Averill, Bob Boyd, John Cosgrave, Dave Trousdale, John Duston, Whitey Sorenson, Jim Bergman, Owen Gladfelder, Gene McClure, Jerry Helmey, Phil Mickelson

This is a photograph of "retired" Hughes Airwest pilots taken on 30 March 2011 in Las Vegas Nevada at a recent reunion. I have to qualify the term retired as I think a couple may still be active pilots today at Delta. Retired NWA and former Hughes Airwest captain Jack Kastien sent it along and I'm appreciative that he did. I flew with many of these fellows when I was hired at Republic Airlines in 1985 as a new 727 flight engineer.

Tom McGrain (first row) had a hand in that training and I later worked with him in the simulator when I joined the training department. Jerry Helmey (back row) was my OE instructor when I checked out as a 727 copilot. I as well spent many enjoyable hours in the simulator with Jerry. I also flew as a DC-9 copilot with Glenn Carlson (back row) who you may recognize as the author of Captain Carlson's Plane Talk and Angie the Aviator. Once again, these are just a few of the outstanding aviators I've met along my career path who have contributed to my success.

Here's Dan Buskirk (second row) on the left a few years ago when he participated in Dick Mott's retirement flight from Paris to DTW. Both were A-330 captains and started their careers at Hughes Airwest. Dan's father flew for Hughes Airwest as well and somewhere in my files I have an ALPA picture of Dan and his father in a HAW cockpit. You may remember a story I wrote a couple of years ago concerning meeting Dick in PHX during a layover when he kindly gave me a ton of Airwest memorabilia. I spent many enjoyable hours aloft with Dick in DC-9's. Kathryn, (who had nothing to do with HAW... she's too young) in the center between these two "old guys", was Dick's copilot on that flight and has recently checked out as a 757 captain at Delta.

If you're new to the airlines or are trying diligently to acquire a cockpit seat there, you may recognize Lou Smith (second row) a co founder of AIRLINE PILOT CENTRAL, the foremost authority on how to get hired at an airline. I took this photo of Lou shortly after his retirement when we had lunch while I enjoyed a Honolulu layover.

Here I am in a 727 cockpit shortly after being hired at Republic in 1985. The captain is Jack Kastien who sent me the photo above of the HAW reunion. Jack also served as a VP of flight operations at HAW before they merged with Republic in 1980. Kent Zimmerman, another HAW pilot is the copilot and retired himself just a couple of years ago. We'd just landed in DTW here completing a five day trip, terminating with a SFO-DTW red eye.

This is how the exterior of the 727 above appeared at that time. Note it's N number, N729RW making it an original Hughes Airwest airplane. For those familiar with 727's, the HAW machines all had -17 engines (JT8D-17) and were screaming machines. Our 727's at NWA on the other hand were -7 powered and lacked the muscle of these airplanes.

Some may be wondering, who was Hughes Airwest? Let me give a quick synopsis. In 1968, three regional airlines, SFO based Pacific Air Lines, PHX based Bonanza Air Lines and SEA based West Coast Airlines merged to form Air West. Just a couple of years later in 1970, Howard Hughes jumped in and purchased the company changing the name to Hughes Airwest. In 1980 Hughes Airwest, flying a fleet of 727's and DC-9's, merged with Republic Airlines formed just a year earlier by the marriage of MSP based North Central Airlines and ATL based Southern Airways. With deregulation and airline consolidation in full swing now, MSP based Republic Airlines was acquired by MSP based Northwest Airlines in 1986. Operations stabilised for more than 20 years until Delta Airlines merged with NWA in 2009. Do you have any idea how many airline uniforms some of these guys have hanging in their closets? An airline wing collector would salivate at their wing collection, still attached to a blouse with four stripes.

Hughes Airwest memorabilia, donated by captain Dick Mott

Anyway, thanks very much to captain Jack Kastien for sending along this wonderful photo and giving me the opportunity to stroll down memory lane. To learn more about Hughes Airwest, move over to my Vintage Airline Sites column and click them on. A little further down the column you'll also find an HAW advertisement.

My Last Hurrah! Part 1 of my 747 Checkout

2011-06-07T09:07:00.003-04:00

The Bruins Prevail!!

Welcome to my multi-part blogging attempt to bring you along on my 747-400 checkout. I'll try to condense what took nearly two months to complete into three or four blog posts. After 37 years of airline flying and enjoying some of the finest commercial jet airliners available, my number finally rose to the level of the Boeing 747.

As many of you know I'd received an advanced entitlement bid to fly the 747-400 out of DTW and anxiously awaited my class date of 27 March. But just before attending school in MSP, I flew a three day 757 trip with a long, downtown SEA layover. My goal was to visit the MUSEUM OF FLIGHT at Boeing Field and experience the number one B-747.

Here she is, Ship #1 and with the help of John Wegg at AIRWAYS MAGAZINE, I'd secured permission to have a cockpit tour of this historically significant machine. You've probably read about this in an earlier post, but I'm here with Evan Elliott, aircraft collections technician who rolled up the stairs and welcomed me aboard. How better to understand the historical significance of Boeings largest and most unique airliner, than to visit the actual aircraft that defined her lineage?

I was privileged to have been given this honor as we sit in the cockpit of Ship #1, The City of Everett, that first flew on 2/9/69 marking the beginning of a long and glorious history of the B-747 line. I'm sitting in captain Jack Waddell's seat here and thought that this would be a great way to kick off my 747 adventure... and I was right. After a couple hours of exploration throughout this ship I returned to my hotel to rest up to fly my last 757 trip back to DTW. I'd flown my last 767 trip to Frankfurt just a week earlier.

747 #1 Serial # 001

The development of the 747, lead by project engineer Joe Sutter, had more than the usual problems to solve for a new aircraft type. Before the worlds largest passenger airliner could take flight, 780 acres of land needed to be purchased, cleared and paved; a railroad spur built and a hangar constructed to house this gargantuan project. A hangar so large in fact, it would become the worlds largest building by volume encompassing 472 million cubic feet or 98 square acres. 747's, as well as 767's and the new 777's and 787's are built in the Everett plant, which is open for tours daily. Here's a Discovery Channel video that should peak your interest in the Everett Plant.

With my last 757 crew on 21 March 2011 leaving SEA for DTW to end my eight year run on the 757 and 767. I've loved flying these airplanes and never dreamed of holding the 747 before retirement, but as I've learned over my long career, you just never know what will happen in a system bid. I'll be junior on the seven-four, giving up excellent seniority on the 757/767, but how could I pass up this opportunity?

Departing SEA for DTW on the red-eye.

My last 767 trip from Frankfurt just a week earlier

And just a week later I've arrived at the old NWA flight training facility, formally known as NATCO, to start a five week training program that includes ground-school and simulator training. I've entered this building many times over the years when I checked out as a captain in the DC-9, 727, A-320 and B-757, but I have a somewhat nostalgic feeling as I know that this will be my final airline checkout. My last great airline adventure so to speak.

Come on in as we stand by the door to classroom C211 where the adventure will continue. The date is wrong for my class and I have some jitters wondering if I'll have the stamina to complete this course... I'm not 35 anymore and these courses are fast and furious. But with the help of several good friends and a dedicated training staff, my concerns are unfounded. I just didn't know it yet.

To be continued.....

Bobby Orr, Boston Bruins, 1970

But until I'm able to continue my story... GO BRUINS!